Anchored Adventures: bows & the Bachelor- who is she??

Questions of the week: How old is your brother? and When is your boyfriend coming to visit? (neither of whom exist).

Things I miss this week: Snooky's breakfast (still served at RJ's- go get you some), & hot shower water.

As 1 of my best friends, Gracie always says, "keep calm & put your pearls on." Yall should follow her blog too, at Southern Sass with Class. Together we like to remind the world to "keep it classy, keep it sassy." This week has been crazy busy but awesome. Every day is different. Now I don't have pearls here to put on, so if I start to get overwhelmed I usually just go hold a baby and everything ends up alright. The longer I'm here, the more comfortable I am. My best friend right now is a 9 year old boy. He helps me learn Creole and I help him with his spelling. I'm sure I'll have more stories about him soon. I've had a cough for all of this week, which is super annoying, because I'm not sick, it's just the weather- it's so dry and dusty. You know how when it's super foggy, if you are driving and turn on your brights you can't see? Well that's how it is right now with the dust. So, until the dust goes away, here's to hacking up a lung. This week we celebrated as a set of twins went home with their forever family. It was so sweet- we had cake and gave a ton of hugs. I also got to meet some other adoptive parents this week, and get to know them a little bit. This helps me as I assess the child's development, because it gives me a good picture of where the child is headed after adoption, and talk to the parents a little bit about how I best relate to their child. And it's just fun to meet more Americans, who doesn't want that? I also cleaned out 2 huge cabinets in order to find a mouse that has been terrorizing the office for way too long now. We think he finally died, and the cabinets are clean, so yes, this has been a successful week for the intern.

So, gonna bring out my girly side for a little bit- I let Shugs use my eye shadow in the hotel and I accidentally left it with her. While this is not a huge deal and seems dumb to most of you, it really bothers me sometimes. On days where I feel particularly missionary-like and unflattering (because really, this whole tank top and Old Navy skirt thing gets old after a while) a girl just really needs her eye shadow. So instead, I pull my bangs back with a cute little bow. I know, Lollar is wearing bows and talking about eye shadow. But it works and makes me not miss eye shadow, so I'll keep wearing bows. Bows over bros baby. But really, because the only "bros" I have met are high school seniors that were here on a mission trip, and this girl is not on the cougar trail. So for now we'll stick to bows.
I also caught up on The Bachelor this week- now before you judge- it's the only reality tv that I like and I didn't even care about the show until this summer when I watched it with ALL BOYS so there. But it's Sean and who doesn't want the best for him so of course I had to weigh in on the situation. And let me tell you, I have had so much fun discussing this show with some of my classmates in Statesboro. In case you're wondering, yes I do like Desiree, Sarah is nice but not gonna happen, Sean is way too smart for Tierra's bs, Kristy is all body and no personality, Kacie B is wise but at an unfair advantage, and Amanda creepy weird. So there's that, and now the girly rant is over.

It's these light-hearted things that make the emotionally draining things easier. Sometimes when I sit with a child one-on-one, they will totally zone out. One child in particular just seemed to look right past me as I was talking to him. I sit there and wonder, "What is he remembering? What is he thinking about? What is he afraid of" And I have no answers to these questions. If I dwell on it long enough it really gets to me. But this week I have been sitting in class with the older kids, and watching them learn, recite things, and get to know them on a different level as I "grade"/help them with their spelling and math. It's these times, when I see their joy in learning and accomplishing something, or when I see a few of the babies just laugh at each other, that I know that things are good here. I know that the kids are learning, growing, developing, and experiencing things that they should. Not that life is always a walk in the park- the entire process of adoption takes an emotional toll- I know this just from papers and classes and research I've done myself. But it's so worth it, and that is what is motivating. I am confident that God has placed me here for His purpose, and as the days go by I am realizing that it may have less to do with what "I can bring to the table," and more about what He's doing in my heart.