back in the US

my impressions on being back in the US:

• lots of painting - and to me that is a good thing
  
• lots and lots of laughing; lots and lots of fun people.
  
• lots of eating. i am preetty sure i've gained 5 lb since arriving on this continent..(including my time spent in CR)
  
• so many english speaking people!! now i can eavesdrop on other people's conversations and understand every word!!
• giant bookstores!
• lots of english tv, lots of crappy tv and commercials. i know, last time i got scolded for using the word crappy, but... if the shoe fits...

so, yeah...i just wrote out this list trying to get myself started writing, but now i'll just leave that and think...what else have we done since i last wrote...
OH, so we got to see an old friend here in colorado! all you ARC people know her as joanna brenner. now she is joanna nash and she lives in colorado springs, just 45 minutes from where we're at, and so we got to see her! she took us out to a mexican restaurant called Amanda's Fonda where we ate Larger than Life Burritos - delic! it was a good time catching up a bit with her, having some good conversations, some fun conversations. wandering through wallmart, frosties at wendy's - good time!! thanks jonah!
so yeah we each painted between 35 and 40 hours a piece this week. combined, that's 70+ hours! i loved it. lots of time for silence, lots of time for music, lots of time for laughing. we have finished, but i think gabe (the designer behind it all) wants to add just a few more things - birds on the ceiling. most people are against it because if he is not stopped, he will just keep adding stuff forever. kendra and i would think we finished a wall, and then come back to find he added more stuff for us to paint. anyways, i said i don't mind painting whatever he wants to add, as long as he finds scaffolding for me to lie down on as i am painting, just like michaelangelo. :)
painting is not the ONLY thing we've been up to tho. this weekend there was a work group from a church in denver. it was nice having 30+ people hanging around the campground. while they were working some major projects around the property, we were part of the kitchen crew. very full days; between early morning in the kitchen preparing breakfast, late nights hanging out with the group, and lots of other kitchen time in between, i am really glad for a day off tomorrow to sleep in. it was a fun weekend tho. i was thinking that if i were to be living in the united states these would be the kind of people i would hang out with.

so, only 4 days left til we leave for the philippines! back to warm weather (really warm!!), new culture, and SHORT PEOPLE!!! i am very excited.
i don't think i will be blogging again in the next four days, so i'm gonna end this blog with saying how very thankful for the willoughby's. they are fun to be with and are taking such good care of us. treating us to all sorts of things, going out of their way to make us feel at home - even doing our laundry! i am being a good girl with proper etiquette and am saying all my "thank yous" but i don't think thank yous out of politeness really express my appreciation. so this paragraph is for the willoughbys - i really appreciate it.


(pictures coming soon)