Stephanie's Stories

sickness...

2009-06-25T04:42:00.000-07:00

I am sick right now. It is aweful. I got up before 7am today. And now I have nothing to do. I am awake and miserable. So what better time to write in my blog then now. Wow that sounded real depressing. Its bad, but i will live another day.

Whats going on in my life right now, you ask? Well we have some fabulous missionaries to help us out at the Vine this summer. They rock!! I get the privlage to be roomies with 2 of them. We have 3. I love meeting new people and teaching them the ropes. This summer is going to be great!

After this summer, I will be in Savannah for one more semester. Its weird to think I have lived here for almost 2 years, and that I am almost finished. Its bittersweet. I love it here, but I also feel God is telling me to move on to something else. That something else is not planned out yet, but it will be. It is exciting to know that I can go anywhere I want to, with God's leading that is. We will see what he has in store for me. Mysteries are fun...

25 Random Things about myself....

2009-02-16T18:46:00.000-08:00

1. The first thing I do in the morning (besides get dressed) is eat breakfast.
2. I am a coffee Addict. If I were rich, I would get White Chocolate Mocha's from Starbucks everyday!!
3. I am 5'3", in other words, really short.
4. I love peanut butter.
5. I can not walk straight, ever. If the cops pulled me over, cus they thought i was drinking, I would fail the walk the line test. And I DO NOT Drink.
6.I'm not particularly a fan of shoes.
7. I spontaneously got a tattoo with two very close friends. I don't reccommend for anyone to do that. But I don't regret it either.
8. I LOVE MUSIC!!
9. But I can't keep rhythem or play an instrament for the life of me.
10. OK, I did play alto saxaphone in high school. But that was 6 years ago. I don't remember.
11. I graduated college 2 years ago. But I look like I'm still in high school.
12. My mom tells me constantly, that one day when I'm older looking young will be a compliment.
13. I love middle school aged kids.
14. I have a twin sister. She lives far away from me right now :(
15. I have lived in two different states: Missouri and Georgia.
16. I want to live in Africa someday. I could probably be content there my entire life.
17. I got my first pair of Chacos a few days ago. I love them already!
18. My favorite food is a cheeseburger! Full out American.
19. My favorite resturant is Red Robin, and there is not one of them in Savannah. sad day
20. I live in a house with 15 women. dang Gena.
21. I have lived in a living room for 5 months. but I love you Sarah!
22. My toe nails grow freakishly fast. Its really weird and gross.
23. I want to one day own a rotwieler and a german shepard. I love big dogs.
24. I love to organize.
25. I told myself I would never say "ya'll" or fixin'". But I say both now. Ya'll is in my everyday vocab.

2009-01-25T19:26:00.000-08:00

My Sunday School Christmas Party

All the Vine Staff

Sarah and I at our Vine Christmas party

This is my ugly ugly dress from my "white elephant" gift

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-21T19:35:00.000-08:00

I hope all of you had a good Christmas and New Year. I love Chrsitmas, a time to reflect on the holiness of our Lord. I went home for Christmas, and I brought the warm weather from Savannah along with me. I was bummed that there was no snow because of it. But it was probably a good thing, cus it would have been too cold, knowing St. Louis weather.

The new year has been good, so far. I have been hanging out the youth at my church on Wednesday nights. We have started small groups at the end of the night, just for more one on one time with the kids, and to dig a bit deeper into their lives. Me, along with another girl, get to minister to the 7th and 8th grade girls. They are a crazy loud bunch of girls, but really sweet and funny. They are good girl. I'm having fun with our small groups.

God has been really growing me in the last few months, I have been more disciplined in staying in His Word, and prayer and all that good stuff. God has shown me a lot about His protection. The protection God has on us is usually taken for granted, especially for me, but it is incredible how He protects me all the time. He protects the Vine, all 4 Blessingdales stores, and our vehicles. He is a good God!!

living in a living room

2008-11-24T16:27:00.000-08:00

Let me start back where I left off with the pevious post. The day after I last wrote was my 1st anniversery at The Living Vine, and in Savannah too! Yay! I had a party.

And I am now living back at the Vine just like when I first came here. God is faithful in providing!! I have lived in 3 of the 6 or 7 staff room in my year at the Vine (it is more than anyone else in 1 year :). I am currently living in another staff member's living room. Sarah and I have transformed it into my room, before it was mainly a storage area. It doesn't look 1/2 bad now. I do have to share the room with 2 couches, a ton of books, and a washer and dryer (my favorite part!). Its been good to share a room with Sarah, we have definatly gotten to know each other better.

It is cold in Savannah right now. I know I know, how could it be cold here. I was sceptical myself for a good while, but now "I have been educated" as someone so sweetly put it. Rachel has stolen my coat and has it in Branson. But I have found a new one today, so now I won't be freezing.

I have also just started helping my church youth group about a month ago. We had a D-Now weekend 2 weeks ago. It was extremely fun, and extremely exhusting. I got to co-teach with someone I work with at the Vine. We taught 7th and 8th grade girls. They were alot of fun!! I'm excited to know some more people at my church, and continue to build relationships with the youth outside of work.

Thats all the excitement in my life right now. I will write sooner, next time.

~Stephanie

2008-09-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

So its been forever since I have written in this, I know. And I am sorry! But as I am writing this I am freezing in Panera Bread Co., look at the sacrifice I am make for ya'll!

An update on my life as of now is...

My two roommates and I are looking for a new place to live. We are currently living in a beautiful house that was on the market. The owners have been letting us live in it (with free rent, Praise God) while it was on the market. We have been living in this house for free since December, but I have been living there since March. The house has not sold, but the owners son, who is coming back from Iraq, and his wife are going to live there starting October 1st. So that mean we have to move. We are looking for a new place (for free) and have not found one yet. We know God will bless us with a house, but if you can pray for our missionary housing, the donors of the house, the hearts of all the people involved in the proccess and our faith to continue to grow in this situation. All of the Vine and myself would much appreciate added prayer!

We have been so blessed with this house, and know God is working!

I wish I had more time to update, but I have to go.. more to come soon, I promise.

Stephanie

my birthday party(s)

2008-02-27T17:10:00.000-08:00

Birthday parties are a big deal at the vine! I mean huge! So here was my weekend!

Thursday: I was working at B1 Thursday with my normal crew of Miranda, Karen, and Elaine. Elaine is nice enough to come help us out on Thursdays so Mir and I can go to staff meeting (which is always on thursday). Well Mir didn't go that day, because she was doing something else right before the meeting. I was late. That is never good. But they had a cake waiting for me at the beginning of the meeting, so ooops for my lateness. Cake is usually done after the meeting so that was a suprise! It was my favorite cake: chocolate with chocolate icing! I love chocolate!!!

Friday: I went out to dinner with Melissa, Rachel, Kori, and Anna. I wanted to go to TGI Friday's because its my favorite. But they don't have one in Savannah. So we went to Applebee's instead. It was great! The girls told the waitress it was my birthday, so I got an ice cream sundae! yum! We went back to the Vine and hung out, watch the new episode of Lost (always a good time), and played a game of "Where in the World".

Saturday: I had to work at B2. I'm in the real world now, but its not fun to work on my birthday. It wasn't so so bad. I did get about a million phone calls though, I felt very loved! Except I could talk long-Sorry ya'll! Saturday night I had a surprise!!! I was told I had a surprise, but that is all I knew. I was to dress dressy casual. Who ever knows what that means, haha. But I was not satisfied with anything I owned. So I swung by JCPenny after work cus i had a bit of time. I went to the dresses. I always go to the clearence rack first. Well, the first thing I found was what I got! It was georgous!!! So I went home to get ready. I had to be at Mel and Mir's house at 6:40. I was late, a problem I need to work on. I got there and was suprised by everyone there. I was told the plan, and it sounded fantastic! Pizza at VinnyVanGoGo's, ice cream, and then hanging out and playing games afterwards.

So we go pizza and ate it on the square next to the resturant.

We were about to leave, but there were 10 of us total. Such a fun group!!!

The got me Ben and Jerry's-Phish Food! I have good friends who know my love for ice cream!! And parents who get the credit for getting me hooked on it. After ice cream, we played Taboo. Fun Fun!!!!

It was an amazing birthday- my golden! Filled with friends, ice cream, and chocolate!

And yes Kori, I stole all the pictures you took. If I find my camera I can start using my own again. And if anyone else puts pictures up from that night i will put more on here.

schedule:

Saturday: House-all day

Sunday: Off

Mon: Off

Tues: B1

Wed: B2

Thurs: B1

Fri: House-3 to 11

Sat: B1

I know my schedule!!

2008-01-13T20:08:00.000-08:00

Mon- Store (1) 9:30am-5:30pm
Tues-Store (1) 9:30am-5:30pm
Wed- OFF
Thur-Breakfast w/girls and then Store (1) 9am-5:30pm
Fri- Store (1) 9:30am-5:30pm
Sat- Store (2) 10:30am-4:30pm

Sun- OFF
Mon- OFF
Tues- Store (2) 10:30am-6:15pm
Wed- Store (3) 9am-6pm
Thurs-OFF
Fri-Breakfast w/girls and the Store (1) 9:30am-5:30pm
Sat-All Day at House

Writing is hard for me. It always takes me so long to figure out how to word things so that they will make sense to more people than just myself. I have always been this way I guess, but it all just kinda clicked the other day as to way, the above sentance. I was writing my monthly NAMB report and it took me 2 hours to do. I think it is a mixture of not being able to sit down for a period of time and focus on only one thing. All that to say, sorry I have not been writing in this very much. I hope to get better. I am being more organized as to how to spend my free time and what I do. I will try to make my post on here of a priority.

Christmas was fantastic here! I worked Christmas Eve night and all day on Christmas, and I had so much fun!! We did all the normal christmas stuff, read the christmas story in the bible, sang carols, watched christmas movies, ate a ton of food, opened presents..it was packed with christmas joy!!

New Year's Eve was great too!!! I went to the beach and watched fireworks. I have never been to the beach on New Years, or in December at all before I came to good ol' Savannah. It was fun to hang out with friends and celebrate!!

Not much has been going on, just working. Oh, I am going to be transitioning into a kind of "assistant manager" of the thrift stores. Or you could call it a Miranda sidekick position. But that will be good I think. One, because there will be less pressure on Mir. Two, because I will help contribute to making the stores look better and more organized. I am excited about it!!

Here is a song that has really touched me lately, and how I am satisfied with where I am right now and knowing His will for me is perfect!

My Savior My God ~ Aaron Shust

I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned
I only know at His right hand
Stands one who is my Savior

I take Him at His word and deed
Christ died to save me; this I read
And in my heart I find a need
Of Him to be my savior

That He would leave His place on high
And come for sinful man to die
You count it strange, so once did I
Before I knew my Savior

Chorus (2x's)
My Savior loves, My Savior lives
My Savior's always there for me
My God: He was, my God;He is
My God is always gonna be

Yes, living, dying, let me bring
My strength, my solace from this spring;
That He who lives to be my King
Once died to be my Savior

That He would leave His place on high
And come for sinful man to die
You count it strange, so once did I
Before I knew my Savior

Chorus (2x's)

Chorus: (2x's)
My Savior loves, My Savior lives
My Savior loves, My Savior lives

culture shock

2007-12-10T13:21:00.000-08:00

I was working this saturday night and we got a donation of fried shrimp, fries, and cornbread for dinner from a resturand called Uncle Bubba's, a relative of Paula Dean. It was some deep southern food! So since I have been here, this is my idea of all southern food-greasy, everything is fried (the southern way to say it is fri-d), and the cornbread is used to soak up all the grease. Because everything i have hearn about southern food is there is always cornbread. I honestly don't think I could have handled so much grease if i grew up down here.

One of the other staff told me that even being in a different area of the U.S. is like a culture shock. And it is so true! Filled with unfamiliar activities, foods, languages, and even the way people look at you. Crazy South! And yet I love it!!

Be sure and read my updated list of what you would never see or hear in St. Louis below this post.

more pictures

2007-11-06T22:24:00.000-08:00

Camping in Comer, GA last weekend. This is the group, minus 3 and a dog. Yay for camping! and yay for friends!!!!

Watson Mill Bridge-is georgeous!!! God is pretty amazing and a great artist!!!

The Vines Girls

Coffee Shop #3. I have a goal to find the best coffeeshop in savannah. and this is #3. It was ok.

Domino's at Mir and Mel's Apartment!!

Halloween!!!! I dressed up as an 80's punk rocker, Lori dressed up as a granny

savannah pictures

2007-10-23T22:40:00.001-07:00

the beautiful oak trees and the spanish moss

beautiful walkway at Forsyth park this house looks like the perfect princess doll house
the name cracks me up! it reminds me of the movie 'Win a Date with Tad Hamilton'. These stores are everywhere!!

the coolest thrift store ever!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is the georgia lottery sign, i just think its funny because it is a peach-a georgia peach!
me by a beautiful fountain in Forsyth Park downtown
i just wanted to take a picture of a tree because i liked it. It has a good shape. This tree is in a park that is 2 minutes from my house
Rachel (my roomate) and I took a silly picture in the kitchen.

2007-10-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

Mon-B3 (9-6)
Tues-B3 (9-6)
Wed-OFF
Thurs-OFF
Fri-B3 (9-6)
Sat-All Day at the House (9-11)

**Anything with a B and then a # by it means Blessingsdales, the thrift stores (ex: B3)**

I tried out a new church today! Live Oak Community. It was good. But I didn't get the whole effect of the church during normal church days though. It's actually a funny story, so here goes...2 weeks ago a revival team called LifeAction came to Southside Baptist. Today I pull into the parking lot (after I get lost..of course) and saw LifeAction trailers. Whoa, that would be crazy if it was the same team. But it wasn't. But the speaker was good from LifeAction. But I will have to go back to get the full experience of Live Oak.

I had a terrible encounter with bugs yesterday. I hate bugs. I don't care if they are good for something or not. They are not good for anything when they are in the house. But I had to kill about 10 of them, all at the same time. It was scary and got my heart racing so fast! I ran in the
kitchen to tell Ms. Sarah and asked her to kill them for me. She didn't and said I had to do it. EEEEwwwwwwwww!!! I was thinking she was a jerk, but she really isn't. I love you Sarah!!!! But it was really good. I needed to get over it and just do it because bugs in the house are bad. I don't like them, I might scream if it comes near me, but I can work up enough strength to eventually kill it.

I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~Stephanie

Things You Would Never See or Hear in Missouri....

2007-10-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

...U-turns are legal
...Spanish Moss is gorgeous!!!!!! (that's what hangs off the trees)
...Pedestrians come out of nowhere and don't use crosswalks-and it is the drivers job to stop for them no matter what the situation
...free standing Chick-fil-A's!!!!!!!!!!!!
...It's not "Thank You" it's "Thank Ya'll"
...Purses are always called Pocketbooks
...You are an oddball if you have never eaten grits.
...a palm tree that is decorated of christmas lights and wreaths.
...somebody wearing short sleeves in December.

I really want a southern accent!

Brave

2007-10-06T00:36:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night I did not have to work. So Sarah said I should go to bible study with Southside. So I did. It was really good. There were about 12 people there. We had awesome burritos, and then bible study time. I had met a lot of the people there already before and some other Vine girls were there too. I enjoy Southside, its really good!

Thursday night, after a crazy Bear Club. I decideded to go to a different bible study through a chuch called Live Oak Community. I was really nervous because I have never ever been to church or a bible study all by myself before. And I have never been to Live Oak before either. There were about 40 people there, I was semi-in-shock. I met a few people, but I thought I meet a decent about of people compared to the entire group. I couldn't say hi to everyone with that big of a crowd. But it was really good and great fun! I was also very proud of myself for getting outside of my box. But I have kind of been out of my box this entire time it seems, and definatly outside my box moving down here and not knowing a single person. The people at bible study thought it was amazing how I got here, and what I did. I was amazed at their bible study that lasted 3 1/2 hours and completly student led.

God is amazing and beyond any words or description that I want to represent his holiness, power, grace, salvation, and greatness!

I need to sleep. I am basically on 24 hours with the girls this weekend. Its been fun tonight, and am just getting to bed at 4 am. Eeek! I am going to be tired in the morning.

A Life Lesson

2007-09-28T21:01:00.001-07:00

I have learned this week that Satan has seeped his way into parts of my life. I don't like that he has had semi-control over things. And I like to not really think of Satan because he is un-pleasent and mean. I am not a fan! But he is definatly a crafty and sneaky person. But some of my thoughts, fears, and attitudes have been controlled by Satan and those are things that I need to give over to Jesus. Jesus is the only one who can heal the broken peices and areas of my life.

One example that I have is in the area of my prayer life. I have basically belived that I am not good at praying. I get too easily distracted (which is true) and that I can not change that. That is a lie. And since I do get easily distracted, I get frustrated. Prayer is hard for me, and praying out loud in public is even harder for me. I get lost in what words to use, I am sometime repetitive, or don't even make sense. I kind of get embarrested that people are listening or that I am making a mistake. But the bottom line is that it is a conversation between me and and God, and only God. There is no one else that I need to focus my attention. And Satan has a stronghold on that area in my life. I need to pray away my fear and pray away Satan.

I have been told I am going to learn alot here. I am going to learn alot about how to do my job. But more importantly, I am going to learn alot about myself. I have already learned so much in the 2 weeks since I have been here. And I know I am going to learn so much more.

I will have to share the acorn story to you guy. But I have to hear it a few more time before I re-tell it.
-------------
I went to my first navigators meeting on Thursday after Bear Club. We were late, as is the normal i later picked up. So we got there at the time where they split up guys/girls. It was good. The topic was fellowship. I meet a few new people. I was the girl that was from Katherine's home town, haha. And then 2 other girls from the Vine and a girl named Joy from Hunter Air Field went to Ihop. It was the Vine girls dinner time at 9pm. It was fun. I think I will go back.

Tonight I went to a pizza place called Mellow Mushroom. The other girl from Missouri, Sarah Dale, her parents came down to visit her and wanted to meet us all so they took us out to dinner. They were very nice, and it was good to talk to everyone. After pizza, we went to Forsyth park and listened to the Jazz festival. It was really good and I enjoyed it alot. The park is beautiful along with all of downtown Savannah. I really need to be one of the dorky tourist and take thousand of pictures so ya'll can see the beauty of Savannah as well.

Schedule for the upcoming week:

Sun-OFF
Mon- Thrift Store (9:00-5:30)
Tues-Thrift Store (9:00-5:30)
Wed-OFF
Thurs- Bear Club (all day)
Fri-House (5-11)
Sat-House (9-5)

Random Cool Things

2007-09-25T22:53:00.000-07:00

I saw a girl that grew up with me at Rock Hill on Friday night. She is 4 or 5 years older than, and moved to Savannah with her husband 2 years ago. When some ladies at my church found out I was going to Savannah, they told me that is where Katie Eggers lived, now goes by Katherine Pier. I knew she was here, but she had no clue I had moved here. I walked into her house for girls' movie night and she was so so suprised to see me. It was fun!

Saturday I went to the beach with my friend Sarah. It was gorgeous!!!!!!! Such a nice day, and the beach is only 25 minutes away. Its on this island called Tybee, so adorable. But I did get sunburnt. Its awful and hurts so bad. The worst is the burn on the back of my knees.

Sunday after church I went over to see my boss Joanie. I had not really talked or seen Joanie all week, so we decided to hang out a bit. Debbie, the admin person, made us lunch. It was really good. The three of us talked, it was great. I learned more about the Vine and how everything works.

Then I worked all of sunday afternoon and night. It was fun. We went to this service called LateChurch. It was basically a bunch of college students and then some worshiping God to loud praise and worship and an animated message at the end. I really like it. I am sure I will go back.

I had to work tonight. It was really really good. We watched the movie Radio. The girls and Julie (the other staff I worked with) stapled our quarterly newsletter and labeled them. I took notes for part of the new cirruclum that they are setting up. I had to come up with 10 or more questions to make up a quiz for the girls. But anyways I feel like I am getting to know these girls better. And I really got connected with one of the girls. We go into each of the girls rooms at night and pray outloud for them. And one of the girls i was praying for cried and showed me part of her heart. It was neat.

2007-09-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

the beach!!!!!!!!!!!! Tybee Island I am 20 minutes away from it!!

palm trees! at the beach!

that door goes to the bathroom. we have big window

my bed-it's pretty messy

Rachel (my roommate) bed

long days

2007-09-21T21:40:00.000-07:00

Thursday: Bona Bella day! Bona bella is the kid's club, if you don't remember read the above post. It was a crazy day. I didn't know what to expect really. It has been a "i don't know what to expect so i won't expect anything in my mind" kind of mindset this week. We started the day out at 10:30 and heading over to the church where we have our club, Southside Baptist. We went in, got the room all ready for the evening-made posters, put duck tape down, practiced the story, sound check, and other various odds and ends. Around noon we headed back to the Vine to eat lunch. The other girls said they normally have more to do at the church for set up and then scramble around for about 15 minutes when back at the Vine for lunch. We were fortunate to have more time yesterday.
At 1:00-3:00 we had our weekly staff meeting. A big chuck of the time I had no idea what they were talking about, but tried to listen anyways. That is how alot of my time here so far has been. Just listening, watching, and only understanding a little bit at a time. They all say it will take quite a bit of time. And it is something I have to have patience with and just learn how to adjust the best I can. But staff meeting was good to be able to finally meet everyone. Except for Joanie, and I don't know when I am going to meet her. Eventually.
So after staff meeting was over, Bona Bella people headed back out around 3:30. Back to the church, for prayer, and more practice, and waiting for kids to arrive. They get shuttled to the church. They have a bus route system so we can pick up the kids from their houses, which I think is really neat. So the kids started coming at 4:30. Club starts at 5 and goes until 6. Then they get shuttled back to their houses after club. The schedule for the night is Pre-opening/free time games, opening/group games, songs/dance time, story time, prayer time, and then praise and worship time and closing. Everything was fast-paced, and moved along smoothly. There is high energy and lots going on. The kids were great for the most part, but they all struggle with disiplinary skills. You can definatly tell that they don't get alot or any disipline at home. But they have a great time. And many of them look forward to club all week long.
After club, I went and got some down time in my room. At about 9:00 I decided to venture out to a wal-mart trip. I decided later that it was a terrible idea. It was rainy, dark, and I didn't know where I was going. If I was not already directionally challenged, those things whould be a recipe for dissaster. But since I am directionally challenged, I of course got lost. Whoa...I know you are things, why on earth did she decide to find a walmart at the end of the night. haha. But I found wal-mart and came back to the Vine. I talked to Sarah for a bit, and then went to bed.

next post...will talk about the weekend!!! yay

I will start from the beginning

2007-09-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

Flight #1: I said goodbye to the family, got some Starbucks coffee, and headed for the terminal in the St. Louis airport around 9:30. I didn't want to miss my flight, so I gave myself plenty of time. I sat down at gate A2, and started reading my book. I would occasionally look around and notice there were not may people. I thought that was odd. Luckily, I heard on the intercom "Last call for Atlanta, Georgia". Oh no..So i looked at the ticket and realized I was supposted to be at gate A4. I hurried over there, and was the last one to board the plane. It was a 2 hour flight, super short. I listened to my Georgia mix that Rachel made for me. It was good! I was so exhusted from staying up all night packing, that I think I also took a tiny nap as well.

Flight #2: I got to the Atlanta airport, and immediatly found my next gate. I wondered if that time had changed yet or not. I called my mom, it had changed. I got out my book and started reading. I periodically checked the time on my phone, making sure I wouldn't be late. Well it turned out that I had forgot to change the clock time on my phone. OH NO- I missed my flight!!!! I felt so dumb, I went up to the desk near me and told the man that I had missed my flight. He gave me a new one, free of charge (thank the Lord). So I had to wait in the airport for 2 hours longer than planned. And I had to buy expensive airport food, but it was tasty! I had not eaten all day. So I got on the plane at the new time. A 1/2 hour later I would be in Savannah!!!!

Savannah airport: The plane landed. I called Rachel, my new roommate, who was picking me up that I was finally in Savannah. Yay! And then I called my mom, to tell her that I had arrived as well. So I decided to multi-task (bad idea for me) and walk with my stuff, off the airplane as I am still on the phone. I get to the "step-off" of the airplane and forgot to step-off. So I fell. And it hurt. And I was embarrassed. So then I had to find my luggage that was still revolving around the carousel from 3 hours earlier. I finally found Rachel and we were off to my new home-The Living Vine!!!

And now for all the exciting stuff that is so much more interesting...

Saturday night: The Living Vine is so adorable! I got to the kitchen first, where the residents (the pregnant girls) were making dinner. They all introduced themselves and were very nice. I met most of the other missionaries at that same time as well. I found my room, set my stuff down and was there just long enough to turn around again and tour the rest of the house. After my tour, I went out to eat dinner with Sarah Dale, the only person I had semi-already know before I got here. We ate at Mo's, it was my first time eating there, and it was delicious! We talked about live, some more about the Vine, and about my summer. After dinner we went to wal-mart. I got all of the shower stuff I forgot at home. And then we came back, and I went straight to bed. It was a long day!

Sunday: I got up and went to church with Rachel. She goes to Southside Baptist. So do alot of the other girls. We went to sunday school, which I really liked, and then to church service. Both were very good. The pastor talked about true friends. I thought it was a good sermon for where I am at right now. After church, I met Debbie, Joanie, and Andrea, three of the ladies that are full time workers at the vine. Then me and all the other missionaries at church went out to eat. We went downtown and ate at this place called Cafe Ambrosia. It was adorable! The whole downtown was cute, and very quaint.
I had to work at the house at 3:00. Working at the house means just being there for the residents, hanging out with them and getting to know them better. Andrea showed me around the house a little more, told me what I am supposted to do when I am at work. It was a good night. We ate dinner, played some cards, watched a movie, and then the girls went to bed. The only part of the evening I didn't like was that I had to take my 3 cartilage piercings out of my ears. I was super sad. But all in all it was a great day!!!

Monday: On Monday I worked at the thrift store. The Vine owns 3 thrift stores around Savannah. And all the profit they make go to help out the Vine. I worked with a girl named Miranda. She showed me what I was supposted to do, how to work the register, and organize clothes, and go through donations given to us. I greeted cutomers as they came in, and helped them if they needed it. The main purpose of the thrift stores is to build relationships with the community. It was really fun! I enjoyed it alot.
That night, Rachel and I went to go get ice cream at Cold Stone. We sat and talked while we ate. It was a good time to get to know her better. After ice cream, we went downtown to hang out with Miranda and another missonary named Melissa. They live in an apartment that is owned by the Vine. We all hung out and played Rummicube and then watched Mash. It was really fun!

Tuesday: Today I thought I had a day off. I ventured out into the streets of Savannah to try to find a Cingular/At&t store. I had dropped my phone about a month ago, and it just keeps getting worse. And I need to fix it. So someone had drawn me a map, and I was off on my adventure in a big red truck. oh how funny. My directions sent me to the mall. The kiosk in the mall could not fix damaged phones. So I was off again to find the other Cingular store. But this was not before I got some Starbucks, I couldn't let a destination go to waste without an outcome. I found the other store, and as soon as I was told my phone was un-fixable I got a phone call from the Vine. They had been looking for me because I was on the schedule to work. Ooops! I was late by an hour. I hurried back to the house and went to work. It was ok, they said I was not the only one to do that. The schedule is hard to understand. I worked with a girl named Julie. She was sweet, and very helpful when I didn't know what to do. She went to go visit a resident that had a baby a few days ago for about an hour. So that meant I was alone by myself with the girls for that hour. It went well though. The night was a success!

Wednesday: Today I actually did have the day off. I slept til noon, it was fantastic! And figured out the wireless internet. I was so excited! So that is why you are just now seeing my updates. I spent some quality time with my dear computer. And then at 4:30 I went to go visit kids with Zoe around the neighborhood that go to the kid's club on thursdays. Kid's club is a once a week program for kids age 4-12 where they play games, get candy, and learn about Jesus for an hour. It was really neat to see where they live and get to know some of them. I will for sure need to work on their names better though. Some of them are real hard.
We came back, ate dinner, and then had our kids club, which is called Bona Bella Bear Club, meeting. Our meeting was from 8-10. We just talked about what needs to be done for the next day and prayed.
Today was not nearly as eventful, but still good.

In summary...
What I am doing is a mix of 3 things for the most part. Working at the house, working at a thrift store, or doing Bona Bella Club. I have 40 set hours each week. And I will try my hardest to put my work schedule up on here each week. Here is what it is so far.

Thursday-Bona Bella (all day)
Friday-Thift Store (9-5)
Saturday- OFF *that mean its the best time to call*
Sunday-House (3-11)
Monday-Thrift Store (9-5)
Tuesday-House (3-11)
Wednesdsay-OFF
Thursday-Bona Bella
Friday-OFF
Saturday-Thrift Store (9-3)

Have a great rest of the week everybody! Check back alot, you never know when I might post!!!!

Sending my love from down in Georgia!