Christmas Tree Biscuits

For Christmas our friends The Crocketts gave us biscuit mix. Now for my British friends...this is American biscuits not cookies. And the directions said to use a biscuit cutter to make the biscuits (or a cup) but I decided to use the tree cutter. And this is how they looked before cooking...man did they rise and they were huge and yummy!!! We very much enjoyed!!

The story....

Adam and I met almost 4 years ago. We both helped in the wedding of our good friends Butch and Sandra Bradley. I met Adam and remembering thinking that he was a great guy. He was really easy to talk to, funny, and he was active in the church we both attended. But..... I was leaving for Africa soon and had just recently broke up with someone to so that I could get on the field. So I was not thinking about a relationship by any means.

Fast forward to about 8 weeks ago. I went to see my friend Kevin speak in Oklahoma City and I called Butch and Sandra and told them that I would be in the area. They told me I better stay the night. It was a Sunday night and I went for pizza with Butch and Sandra after church. And Adam came in...he looked familiar but I couldn't totally place him. Sandra leaned over and told me it was Adam Coe and that we should re-meet. So Adam and I sat down and chatted away. And it went from there. We started writing emails and calling each other everyday. And then I went back the next weekend. The thing that impressed me the most was how Adam interacted at church. How he was respectful to those around him as well as them being respectful of him.

I spent the holidays with Adam and his family and while we were there his mom mentioned that my ring should be coming and maybe I will get it when we get back home. Adam kind of looked at me and said he was hoping it to be a little bit more a surprise than that. We came home on Sunday after thankgiving and sure enough in the mail was the letter from the post saying he had a parcel. So Monday morning we went to the post office...(yeah I was with him when he was picking up MY ring) haha. So he gets in the car and opens it...turns it sideways so I cant see it and proceeds to say, "I think you are really going to like it, but I am going to wait until Christmas," with that I laughed and said... uhm no. So from the post office we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Side note....when my parents came the first week of november for a family reunion, Adam asked their permission at breakfast at Cracker barrel..haha. So we are at breakfast at Cracker barrel, when we finish eating Adam goes to the bathroom and when he gets back he tells me that he doesn't need to sit down quite yet and gets down on one knee. It wasn't too busy, but we did have 3 or 4 couples watching and smiling really big. Adam said a bunch of really really sweet things that I cant quite remember, but ended with the fact that he knew the Lord gave him his soul mate and his heart belongs to me and he is so thankful for what the Lord has done in our lives. Oh...I did say yes. =)

So nothing crazy and extravagant, but something perfect for me. And even though I knew he had the ring in his pocket at Cracker barrel, he still managed to surprise me when he popped the question. Thanks so much to all of you that are praying for our new relationship and the next steps. Our wedding will be June 18th, 2011.

The first picture is the day Adam asked my parents permission and then ofcourse the other picture is the day of the engagement.

Swaziland

Yesterday I arrived in South Africa, and then today I drove almost 5 hours to the cute kingdom of Swaziland. I will be here for the next 10 days. I am looking forward to meeting new people and seeing what is in store for Swaziland!

1 Day...eesh! Dedza and thanksgiving in July!

Today Kim, Jeff and I went to Dedza. Janet (my boss, friend, mom.. you name it) needed me to pick up and order and since Kim and Jeff had never been I thought it only appropriate that they come with!! We had a wonderful time! Then tonight for dinner the baptist threw a Thanksgiving in July dinner. It was DELICIOUS!! The Pumpellys, Farmers, Colliers, Lawrences (it was their party too), and the Cearleys were there to send me off. And Jeff and Kim got to come too!!

Thank you Baptist family for making Malawi feel like home! For loving on me unconditionally and also being so fun.. and Amazing cooks!! whoop whoop. I love you all lots and lots.

2 days..Dinner with two of the coolest people!

Over the past two weeks I have been blessed in meeting Kim and Jeff Witte(they are brother and sister). They are here working with Children of the Nation (same organization as my roommate Annie). They are just awesome, fun people!! I look forward to getting to know you guys even more. =)

3 days..Mensers Fairwell

Tonight we said goodbye to a very sweet family, the Mensers. We will truly miss you guys!! This message is just short and sweet to give a shout out to them!

4 days...Oh Lake Malawi

So I am going to combine two days because I messed up a little on my countdown. I was one day off. whoops! Yesterday we left for the lake and spent the night. We had a wonderful relaxing time. It was awesome! The team was great to be with. It was my last trip to the lake for a very long time, so it was a bittersweet trip. I spent time with Phillip this amazing drum maker. He is a deacon at the Baptist church. He is so passionate about Jesus and a blessing to spend time with. He wanted to give me this gift.. and it was a cute little minni drum. I love it!!!

Mat and Janet Lawrence are one of my adopted parents here in Malawi. They not only love on me and treat as one of their own, the are dear friends. We are sarcastic and pick on each other like regular family members. I love them lots and lots!!

Here is the sunrise that we watched..


on the way home from the lake we stopped and bought mice..and I definetely ate a mouse! Whoop whoop!

5 days...Fairwell with CPET

Today was our fairwell with all of our translators. The team "CPET" means Church planting evangelism team. =) It was an awesome afternoon. Many speeches and words of wisdom and many many telling me next time I come I will have a husband to introduce to them. Very funny and sweet. I think the part that blessed me so much is one of my friends, Gift, shared that even though I am leaving I have a legacy and when people ask about me they have many good things to share. It was very nice and I felt very loved and touched!!

Then this evening I had dinner with two of the lovliest people. Jeff and Kim Witte. They are here for the summer and I have truly enjoyed spending time with them and they are from Washington. Whoop whoop!! You guys were great, thanks for the company!!

6 days, Sweet Anita

Today one of translators came by the house to say goodbye because she is unable to come to the fairwell tomorrow. Anita has become a dear friend to me. She is so talented and uses her gifts to glorify the Lord. I am so thankful for getting to know her!! Anita took some material to her taylor for me and she brought me the skirt today. After I tried it on, she then gave me a necklace, earrings, ring, and bracelet that matched my skirt. So cute!! Then I gave her some earrings, so here are some pictures of our earrings and my skirt. I love it!

7 days...day with the roommie!

Today I had a day with my roommie!! We first started our morning at Mat and Janet's for breakfast. We had yummy cinnabon cinamon rolls...wowzers. Then Annie had an appoitment for a hair cut, then we went to our friend Lori's house for a visit, then to the office to pick some items up, then off to Henry's house for a visit, then home where we had about an hour, then our friend Sharon came over. We had tea and cake and it was delicious! Then we went to the Farmers for dinner and a lovely time of visiting and laughing really really hard!!! I love you Farmers and Annie.
This picture is our 4th attempt with Sharon. =) I like it!!

8 days...Last day at COTN

Today I had the opportunity of going to Children of the Nation where my roommate Annie is a teacher and I have been one in the past. Although it was a very emotional day for Annie, it also showed her how much those kids love her and she loves them. The students did some dancing for me and I hope that I captured some of it for you. They are such amazing talented students!! They will surely miss their Auntie Annie!!

9 days... part two of Soul care

Today we had a second day of our souls being taken care of. In the morning we talked about where we were from. We also were given some goodie bags with makeup. So...Lauren and I of course decided to get some bold colors and put them on!! This would be the end product of that!! And.. it looks like Im glowing.. I am! I couldn't figure out the buttons on the camera I borrow. =) The team that is putting on the soul care is from Virginia so what more to think of but the beach... So Janet had to try on the beautiful shades. Lastly the team had Lauren over for dinner and they surprised her with a belated bday present and some extra loving. It was a great day!!! And my evening included dinner with Annie, Kim, Jenn, Jeff and the wonderful people in Mtsiliza. My camera was missing at the dinner, but it was so amazing to see how much the people in Mtsiliza just love Annie!! Annie Brown, you rock!!

I apologize... pictures are a coming!!

10 days..Soul Care day!

Today and tomorrow we are being spoiled. Some American friends have come here for a mission trip and part of their trip is to provide two days of "soul" care for us. This could be anything from sharing our testimonies to having our hands washed by each other. It varies each year. In the morning today we had a time of sharing and this afternoon we had a great time rewriting great songs into songs to Jesus. It was fun!! Here are some pictures from the day. This is the first group and they sang "do you love me?"

This group sang...Im a believer

My great friend Florisa is so cute and so pregnant, I felt I must have a cute picture of her! here is the cheezy one.. Then the cute one. =)

11 days...Chiwengo and my sweet friend Kat

Today Annie asked if I would like to travel about an hour and half north to Chiwengo. This is where there are homes set up for orphans. Annie wanted to say goodbye and get to play with the kids. And our friend Kat came so she could meet one of the kids and see if he could come to school with her. We had a great time. I would just like to brag on Kat for a minute. She is amazing! She has been in Malawi now for 5 years, she loves it and is here indefinetely! She is beautiful, witty, funny, honest, loving, etc! She is transparent with you and I think that is so important! When you see her in action with the kids, your heart melts. I love you Kat!!

12 days...Explorers of Tomorrow

Today I went to visit Explorers of Tomorrow for the last time. Last week I met with the director and his wife to say goodbye and he then asked if I could come and speak to the teachers. This school was the very first school that Johanna and I taught at. So it has been so neat to see how much it is growing and what the Lord is doing in the lives of the students as well as the teachers. The sweet little man in the middle is the new dean of students and he is precious!! The school also presented me with a wrap and a beautiful painting! It was such a great time with all the staff!!

13 days...area 3 Baptist

Today I went to Area 3 Baptist for my last time. What a wonderful day filled wiht great music and fellowship. The pastor had me come forward and share a few words and then they presented me with a gift. Then the choir came forward and Gome led the choir. Gome is my supervisors helpers son. He is 8 and he did a great job! It was so cool to see!! I did make the silly mistake of remembering the camera, but forgetting the SD card that was sitting in my computer at home. And sure enough I don't have anyway of retreiveing those pictures. So all that to say, I did take pictures!! just wont get them. But here is an awesome picture from the drive home from Karonga.

14 days..Great times with Mary

We drove home today from Mzuzu to Lilongwe and it is so good to be home!! Nothing like a shower and my own bed. =) I was blessed to get to spend the week with Mary Polglase and she is just a sweet great lady!! Mary you are awesome! And then this morning Lauren cooked us pancakes and bacon. Thank you friend, it was wonderful and thank you so much for my AMAZING chitenjes. I love love them!

15 days, wow!

Today we drove halfway home from Karonga and stopped in Mzuzu. We had a wonderful lunch(twice baked potatoes, salad and brownies..yum!!) and afternoon with the Laffoons and then a wonderful evening with Lauren. She took us to have awesome Indian food, then we watched Persuasion and enjoyed a great night together! Tomorrow I head home and am looking forward to being in my own room and seeing my roommie!! It was an awesome week!
Here are two different scenes we saw on our drive home today! So pretty!! And there was fish everywhere! haha


The Laffoons dogs had puppies..4 of them and this is one of them that will belong to the Pumpellys. I thought I would take a picture of their new puppy! they were quite cute!

Lisa and Anna Marie Laffoon. Two of the sweetest gals!!

16 days...Day 3 of training

Today was our final day of training. And today is the day they get to go out and teach what they have been learning and studying. They did an AWESOME job! They are now traveling back to their home villages where they will group up and share this information with the youth in their areas. I’m excited to see what God is doing and will do through these youth that were trained. They had such an excitement and passion to share. =) This one of the schools that we shared at. There were lots of students, but not many who signed the cards. This was very discouraging to my crew. I think they wanted to see many make the decision to abstain until they are married. It was a very cool time to share that its not about number but about the sincerity of the students.
This is the other school that we shared with. They were so rowdy and got the giggles alot, but we had a amazing response. It was very cool!!!

This is the whole crew with their certificates. You can see everyones faces, but they were all smiling. =)


Need I say anything about this cute little man?!! He hung out with us most days.

17 days... day 2 of training

Today was another long great day. WOW! Everyone practiced their parts in the presentation and got used to being in front of each other. Here are some pictures from yesterday and today..Here's a picture of the church that the training was at. It was cute, small, and quaint.

One of the things I like to teach everyone is to make the youth feel at home. And there is nothing like singing a silly dumb song to get the youth warmed up. Here we are singing doodie bop. Fun Fun!!

The crew responding and singing along! love it!

Here is the crew studying and preparing for their presentations. They were great great students!!
After the training today we were invited to the Mphande's home. We had a delicious meal including rice, meat, greens, and bananas. I was very full and this was my first time to have beef liver served in Malawi. She put some amazing flavoring on it. It was yummy!!

Here is the family, they were so giving and so inviting. I had a wonderful time!

18 Days...Training and more

Today was our first day of training. We had the training at Karonga Baptist Church, old town. There were about 23 that came for the training. The training consists of me presenting the material with two other guys helping (sky and Jonathan), then by afternoon we distribute the manuals and everyone gets to start studying the materials. I can not get the internet to stay connected long enough to add pictures, so please be patient with me. But we had 23 students just excited to learn more and full of questions. It was a long, but great day!!!

19 Days...Karonga

Today Mary Polglase and I traveled to the North. It was about an 8-9 hour drive. We had company along the way. I drove mostly, so I did not take any pictures. But dont worry, there are some to come! I will be here for about a week and we are right off of the lake. Its beautiful, but we also have mosquitos and heat that come with it. ugh. this week I am doing a true love waits training and I am looking forward to seeing how many come and are interested in learning more. Pictures will arrive tomorrow.

20 days....Flood

Some Sundays I get the opportunity of going to Flood, which a great Church. The music is wonderful and the pastor is a blessing.He always challenges you! And the members of the church are so nice to fellowship with. Here are some of my former students from Children of the Nation. These boys ask to go to church almost every sunday. So sweet!!

Sean is the name of the pastor and his wife is Tapiwa. They have two beautiful children and are a great example for the church!! Here is Tapiwa with their newest addition, Jordan. Beautiful!!

This last picture is Edith and I. Edith has the gift of speaking and teaching. I have been blessed to see both of those things. She is also a part of our tuesday night girls and I truly enjoy her fun sweet spirit!

21 Days, The Basikolos

Today I had a lovely brunch with my sweet friend Kat. It was so nice to have a relaxing morning with a good friend, and I got to bless her with lots of clothes as well as lots of spices! Funny story, I am putting the spices in the box for her and I drop the whole tray...whats in that tray you ask? A bottle of red food coloring. It went everywhere, the best part though was that it looked just like blood all over the kitchen floor. You could look at the situation two ways and we chose to laugh.
After brunch I went to Chinsapo to visit with the Basikolos. They are a family that I have gotten to know over the years. Mr. Basikolo is the head master at the very first school we taught at called Explorers of Tomorrow. The school has continued to grow and develop. We had some great tea and biscuits and a lovely visit. Here is Mr. and Mrs. Basikolo.

Mr. Basikolo had to leave the room and Mrs doesn't speak too much English so I got out the camera and showed her pictures then we took this one. She just loved it and so do I!!

They have 7 beautiful children, this is just one of them. Isn't she just gorgeous!!!

Pizza & the Mensers, whoop! 22 days

Today, I cleaned out my house..I know, really exciting, then I cleaned some more. =) Charles our gaurd, gardener, and house cleaner was excited because my give away pile just kept growing and growing. I went over the Lawrences house in the afternoon to drop off some clothes and I took an awesome picture of Gome...but I had taken out my SD card, so its on the actual camera and not the card... and ofcourse I dont have the chord for it. Haha. So this blog is pictureless, and I do apologize. In the evening I also had the priviledge of having dinner with the Mensers. They are a sweet, fun, awesome family. They will be heading back around the same time as me. We had pizza and good fellowship. We are baptist, we know how to eat and visit with the best!! =) Tomorrow, there will be a new picture, sorry about that.

Driving...Driving...Driving, 23 days

So this picture may not be as exciting to you as some of the previous, but I think its kind of cool. Yesterday we drove to Blantyre, then today we drove back. Yesterday Janet and I were together, so it was quite nice, but today she had to drive another car back to Lilongwe...so it was about 4 hours in the car and I forgot my Ipod. Yeah, I know! But I found it kind of cool that that there are some kids running in the shot, you also get a great side view of my truck in the mirror, then there is the fact that I didn't roll my window down all the way, so it makes the picture kind of two toned. Yes, its the little things, and I love that you can really see the contrast of the grass.

This is what I get to see when I am driving, but its really way better than what I can catch on camera. Imagine when the sun is setting!! Wowzers!