Good morning!

I've had this plant (hibiscus?) for a long time and when we got it, it had a few of these lovely flowers. Since then, it has done nothing but grow leaves and be boring. This morning I was in the living room and heard Ariel shouting, "Jessi, come look!!!" and went to see the first beautiful flower in months! It literally sprouted and bloomed overnight and, well, I'm pretty excited about that.

Jazz Festival

We went to the Dominican Jazz Festival last night in Cabarete. It was a fun time to be with friends and talk and listen to some jazz music. We had a great spot on the beach with blankets and the whole set-up, but then the rain came so everyone packed under the tent. Little by little we got chairs and ended up getting to sit together. The bands were excellent and pretty creative!

Some tailoring

So I have some clothes that don't fit so well but haven't ever been able to get rid of them. Ariel said we'd just take them to the tailor and have them fixed. I first pulled out a few skirts and then he suggested I take some dresses that aren't too fitted either. I was hesitant because it's never a priority when money isn't abounding and I'm okay to wear something else. I share this because in the end, this is what we're fixing:

2 skirts
3 dresses
1 polo shirt
1 men's shirt
2 men's dress pants.

All for the low price of 370 pesos...10 little dollars! Can you believe it??!! Why didn't I do this before. And it's not just a little seam, we're talking tapering skirts and removing zippers to do some tucks, etc. Amazing. This country is amazing.

Experiences

When Candace went back to Canada in February, she accidently left her book My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers. Although I've meant to send it to her a few times, I just can't seem to let it go! I love to read it every morning because this is the kind of quality reading I get:



"If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way."



How great is that?! How often I find myself being self-centered and thinking the problems and ups and downs in life are simply to teach me something. But what if it is for others, what if I get to do great things because of the hard and difficult times that I've gone through? How much better I understand others' struggles now because of my own personal struggles in life. How much more I feel I can relate when someone faces an obstacle, a hard decision, a hurt or pain. So I thank God for the hard times and continue to pray that I will be used, that He will use the experience I've had so that I may be more useful to Him.



And thanks, Candace, for forgetting your book! I'm just going to have to get you a new one though.

Christmastime is...near.

It's that time of the year already...sponsorship Christmas cards! We've been working with the kids this week to get the Christmas cards ready to be sent to the Kids Alive office where they'll then be sent off to their waiting sponsors! It's a fun time, really, as the kids get excited about not only getting out of class but coloring and writing to their sponsor. It's amazing seeing what they come up with to decorate their Christmas tree...from dots to bright pink. At first I wanted make them do it in green but, well they're kids and if they want to have a pink tree, let it be!

Counting down

Yubi continues well and is counting down the days to her baby boy. She's due in just over a month and is more than ready to meet this little man. Her belly is getting so big for her little body and I got to feel him kicking and moving yesterday. She's started having some contractions but nothing more than warming-up for the big day! Can't wait!

Bouncing bunnies

Remember these gross things???!!!




They are now these lovely little fluffy bunnies! I was hoping that they would get better, and just like they promised, about a week later they opened their eyes and grew some hair. They're now amazing and soft and cuddly. I might even pick them up every now and then because they're kind of irresitible to touch! The runty white one died but the other three are going strong and eating lettuce already! I'm glad they changed from their ugly first few days...they were pretty gross!

Change is good

The great thing about life is the constant change, the continual motion, the refusal to stay the same. I used to get really frustrated with changes and had a hard time with it. My mom has sent me a lot of (amazing) Fall pictures lately (a few of my favorites on the left) which made me think more about changes. How each season, just like in our lives, brings about great things and fun stuff to look forward to.

I feel like my life is finishing a season now and getting ready for a new one. I'm not sure why, we aren't solid on any plans, but I just feel that stirring, that something is on the horizon. I have been feeling strong and healthy now and pain-free for 4.5 weeks now. That is a very, very good change. I almost forgot what healthy felt like! The school is changing so much, as I've been blogging about, and it's exciting to see and be a part of that. I've been reading some great books that help me grow in who I am too, more changes.

So I've committed to embracing whatever is ahead, whatever change is next. I'm going to stop resisiting them, because, well it doesn't matter anyhow...change still happens. But I feel excited and ready and am looking forward to all the ups and downs that changes will bring!

Baby bunnies

I've never seen a baby bunny before but they are pretty much one of the ugliest things I've seen! Mama bunny gave birth last night to 4 little blobs. I'm hopeful they'll be cute and fluffy someday, but it's hard at the moment.

Burn, baby, burn

We have been surrounded by burning sugar cane for a few days now, but thankfully it has seemed to stop, mostly because it's all been destroyed. I've heard various rumors as to why they're burning it, but the most common rumor is that it is a sort of strike because the bank doesn't want to sell the land to interested people who would then provide jobs for numerous people. Who knows? All I know is that we are now being rained on with black ash and it is endless.

The air now smells sweet, a very distinct burnt sugar cane smell. Kinda like when you burn sugar in a pot. As the cafeteria doesn't have windows that close, the ash is flowing in to no end. Today it got swept out a few times, but even still, as the kids were eating breakfast ash was falling into their food...not good.

On the flip side, I do kind of like it after the cane has been burned because it makes everything "clean" and the once sky high leaves and stalks are knocked down for greater vision. But don't worry, it'll be growing again soon, nothing seems to stop the sugar cane.

Fall

In honor of Fall, I've changed my blog background. It's about the only glimpse of Autumn that we're gonna' have on this island! It's still hitting the 90's in the daytime...hard to believe some of you have already seen snow!