the differences

comparing fort lauderdale to coaldale, there is huge differences....you wouldn't believe the humidity and you would think that when it rains it is cold but it has rain on/off all day. this morning we had this enormous downpour no jokes. bet none of anyone of you have seen it huge raindrops and it was like 30 degress celsius out....sooo cool. we just got a break from drama practice.casting was last night i got to be a mime. not just any mime. do not underestimate my mime skills now....my mime position is a tree...very very fun. we stand in the centre..super cool.
last night we stayed up late...just so happens we weren't tired and had a hyper time...just jumping from bed to bed...screaming ect....i'm surprised we didn't get kicked out.
Auntie caroyln, tyler, kaitlyin, lins,andrew, grace, rachel, ben, dan, i say hi back...hopefully your' having a great summer.
also we had a great service last night. talked about giving your all. 110%....um yeh...
so anyways.... i have limited time. theres like a billion ppl behind me for the comput so talk to y'all later (i have a texan in my room hahah) oh yah an i'm ahead 2 hours. it's like 3 o clock here and 1 o clock there. anywho
love always,

I HAVE ARRIVED

hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
so i have arrived in Miami, and currently just hangin until 6:00....it's like 5:15 here ....and then we will have supper. tonite we have a service FUAGNEM....which i'm super excited for.
we are actually in fort lauderdale in a beautiful hotel. i have pictures they are wonderful....it's so beautiful .Embassy Suites. I have received my room and card....whooo! the rooms are soooo beautiful. o my goodness. anywho..
our flights went well...i discovered I don't really like landing all that much...i like taking off much better.
we got here around 4....and teens just keep arriving. there are yellow Guatemala bird shirts EVERYWHERE!!
anyways...after tons of walking through HUGE airports...i think i am feeling a little tired...but i'll be fine....mom and dad i tried to call but u weren't home...i try later....
love you all,

a few hours and tons of excitment

11 hours 3 minutes and 42 seconds
until I actually technically leave. I can't explain how excited I am to go and make tons of new friends and travel for this. So many planes, different foods, experiences...ahh...the excitement. surprisingly i don't have any jitters or nervousness yet. my stomach isn't doing flops..maybe it will once we get to the airport i think we are planning to leave in like an hour so we have plenty of time.
we had an awesome church service this morning, and the pastors came up and prayer for me... i i can't thank everyone enough for all the prayer support and financial support for my trip and my health :)
i think that i have computer access when i get down there...so i should be updating this. i need to go and collect all my luggage.
So Long for now...have a wonderful 2 weeks.

well...

So as I am writing this it is 11:22 P.M, and there is 3 days 0 hours 37 minutes and 2 seconds until I leave on an Air Canada flight to Miami, Flordia to meet over 400 other teenages who have are set in the same mind-frame that I am in. To go out and do God's work.

Today has been an exhausting long day. I'm talking from 9:30 (morning) to 10:30 at night just going and going and not really ever stopping except for supper at grandma's (which was de-lish by the way) So i'm not quite sure why I'm writing this now, but with only 3 days to go i figured people maybe wanted an update. today we got the majority of my stuff with only a couple items to go...which is such a relief. I mean nothing is in suitcases yet, but everythiing is bought and in my hands. Today my book order (how to get ready for short-term missions by anne-geri fann) also came in. Now i know its a bit late to start ready on how to prepare your-self in different ways, but i still have time and lots of flying hours i guess. i will start reading tonight maybe...not...way to tired.
My testimony is ...ummm....still the same as the last time you read about it sooo...i know! i'm getting to it. I'm going to type it out...and then see how it is.
I've actually met up (for more then 5 minutes) and talked to Ashley (and her parents), and discovered i'll love hangin with her. she's one of the 4 girls I'm flying with and I'm so uber excited to meet the rest of them. Before we fly off we (families and girls) are all meeting at a restaurant to meet, which will be so cool.
Anywho, it is late, i'm tired, and have much on the mind. I best be going. so long.

7 DAYS TO GO

This morning I woke up, (like usual)...only to starting thinking (also like usual) and discovered something rather fantastic and somewhat frightening.

I am LEAVIN in 7 days.
Sooooo after my stomach flipping a few times I got up and reveled the news to my papa. (happy fathers day!!) and we came to the conclusion that, yes, I am leaving in 7 days.

Last night i had my 'going away' 'welcome summer' type party. We had a fire, s'mores, played sardines and wow it was so much fun. This morning I'm a little tired (going to bed at like 2 in the morning doesn't do the body much good) but it was well worth it. We are having a family BBQ at my grandpas...in like well 20 mins and i still smell like camp fire smoke. How lovely. So despite that having nothing to do with my trip...

As for my trip: my testimony is still at a partial standstill...we shall work on it soon....my limit that i can recieve for funds from the church has come in (so if you are reading this and still were thinking of sending some $$, please send it directly to me).....I might meet up with one of the girls I'm flying with on Monday.....i have 3 finals this week.,,,and lastly i still have to pack o my. this will maybe prove to be a challenge but we've set aside i think thursday to pack....and that's bout all..,

oh ya....I'M SO EXCITED I CAN'T WAIT!!!

a few days to go

Hey everybody!
so the days are going quite quickly these days. and i leave in only a few short days. it seemed like just yesterday that i signed up for this trip and is was like 100's of days away. everything is coming true. it is truly exciting.
so this weekend we decided to have my garage sale and discovered that we have...well...lots and lots of stuff. it's actually mind boggling how much we pulled out of our basement. it seems so empty...and clean. my my what a little late spring-cleaning can do! It is quite refreshing.
The weather was relatively nice, and we had lots of help. Only like 10 tables with the lawn covered and the driveway covered in stuff. ahhh. it looked like a challenge but we definitely got through it. only tomorrow 9-12 to go. part of the funds received will go toward my trip.
so much money has come in and i think that I'm nearly to my fundraising goal. nearly there!
the only worry now is to pack. pack. and pack a little more. only 50 pounds worth for 2 weeks means packing smart and how is a 16 year old girl supposed to do that?? yeesh. that's not the biggest worry though.
anyways, oh yeah one more worry. so up till this point I've been so consumed with so much other stuff I've sort of failed to write my testimony. (sort of a really vital part of this trip) I've struggled with writing it for a couple weeks (thinking that i really didn't have a testimony at all...)and then read somewhere that before you write your testimony you have to honestly believe that you have one.
so the other night i thought, and thinked, and thought hard, and i prayed then just sat down and wrote it. now i re-read it to my parents d my-self but i believe I'll have to re-visit it in a couple days. there is some adjustments that need to be made, but i believe that is finally coming along...plz keep this in prayer...i need to have it memorized before i go.
thanks for all the prayers

23 days....

ok...so...23 days....oh boy
So now that this trip has become a little more realistic I have 23 days to get my stuff together. Packing everything, learning some spanish, writing my testimony, finishing fundraising, there is really tons to do. for some good news...

1. I recieved my t-shirt that i'll be wearing when I get off the plane in Miami, it has this bird type animal on it with some plants and the shirt is an oragne-y/yellow color. Its quite beautiful in it's own special way! :)
2. I also recieved the team lists, so I am on TEAM 6 and I know exactly who's on my team! It appears that there is like 5 or 6 people from Canada and 41 people in total. This was very exciting to recieve.
3. thirdly i also recieved my costume assignment, which is a MIME. the costume is for the evengestical skit we will mainly be doing. This is what we will be practicing and rehersing in Miami when we arrive. Technically I may not be the mime, i may play a different part, but this is the costume I need to get. whoo!!
4. i recieved an e-mail from my team leaders and they sound like very wonderful people.
5. I met Ashley, one of the 4 girls i'm flying with to Miami at YC Alberta 2009 which was also uber exciting. I'm so excited and rready to get to know these girls and make new friends!

So that about sums up the new news....um.. besides being super busy with preperation for my trip, I have a couple of medical appointments this month. just an update...my doctors have a-okayed my trip and my MRI results showed that I have 2 new 'enhancing' lesions, and the other older ones, have decreased which is good. that's about all on the medical front.

the garage sale we are planning (the funds will go to my trip) is still in the air for a date. Everything is so busy i dont' have a clue when to do it. it just may happen >after my trip:)

donations are still coming in...and I'm so thankful for that. so much prayer and support is really....i don't really know how to describe it. overwhelmingly wonderful?

So the main focus for this weekend it getting my suitcase out and starting to go through my packing list. the packing list is rather long, and we do have the option to bring gifts for the kids down in guatemala city everything has to fit into 2 carry-ons and a 5o pound suitcase. yikes.

tasha