Birthday Blessings

I woke up Feb. 20th thinking, "How can I be 31?". I certainly don't feel like I'm in my 30's. I feel about 26. But, I think my 31st year will be a good one. In fact, I think I could say with confidence that it will be good and full of adventure and challenges. I was a bit sad to be away from family and friends at home, but I felt very blessed that I was able to celebrate it with new some of my close good friends and some awesome new ones. I'll let the pictures tell the rest.

When I woke in the morning and walked into our kitchen, I was greeted by Marlen and Cynthia singing, "Happy Birthday" to me and holding Marlen's homemade cake.

Cynthia (Our cleaner) and Marlen (German volunteer)

Then, I went out to Olievenhautbosch to have a prayer meeting with the other workers and do some training on taking blood pressures. It was an awesome time of prayer and I got sung to again.

Then, I went over to the babies home for a good-bye celebration for Carina, a German volunteer who left. I got to hang out with the kids and they sang happy birthday to me also! I've never been sung to so many times.

Then, I went to coffee with Rebecca, Abigail, and Lexi and ate delicious crumpets and had strawberry juice.

Me with baby Abigail

Lexi (Brittish volunteer), Rebecca, and I

Then, I went to the best Thai restaurant with a bunch of friends and had a fantastic dinner!

Annie (Brittish), Me, Aimee (Brittish), Johanna (American), and Susie (American)

The birthday crew!

When we returned to our place, we enjoyed the cake that Marlen had made. It was delicious!

I also recieved lots of emails and facebook messages throughout the weekend. Thanks for helping me feel loved and blessed on my birthday.

Here comes the sun

The sun finally came out today after a week of Oregon weather. I've decided that I have a bit of SADD disorder and need the sun. Otherwise, it makes me miss home. But the rain did cause some interesting creatures to appear and I showered twice with a frog and had an outbreak of baby spiders in my room. I think its preparing me for Malawi where there are sure to be lots more creatures.

Some updates from around here:

• We've started having a prayer session every Friday in Olievenhautbosch, the township I work in which has been really good and I'm feeling more encouraged and refreshed for this type of work.
• The oldest kid at the babies home (5 years) just got his adoption finalized and he will be meeting his parents in March and then heading home to Sweden with them. I'm so excited for him because he is a great kid and deserves a family. He's talking about it a lot and though he's a little unsure of Sweden, hes liking the fact that he will have a family.
• I'm gaining more independance at the clinic. Feeling like I'm finally getting the hang of things. And I've been doing lots of blood draws which is good because I hadn't done them in awhile and needed to improve this skill.
• My good friends, John and Erin, are coming to visit on March 10th!! I can't wait. They are doing an around the world trip so coming here on one of their stops. I'll get to spend a few days with them before heading into "Africa".
• Below are some photos of food packing for Zimbabwe. We packed 1000 bags of food parcels for future groups to take to Zimbabwe. We all sang Disney and Broadway songs to make it go easier. I'm priviledged to get to help this country in a small way.

I hope you all have a blessed week. For those who have commented, thanks for the encouragement and prayers. I miss you guys.