NEWS....

I chatted with my neighbor Jake again today....he asked me if I could fit in the trunk of my car (which, so that it makes more sense, was open when he asked)....but still, a little odd. I think the thing is that he's very friendly and outgoing, he just doesn't know what are appropriate topics of conversation. So yeah....anyway......

Newest headlines in my life:

Washington Mutual (my work) was bought out by JP, Morgan & Chase. What does that change for me? Absolutely nothing! Lol, and it doesn't change anything for WaMu customers either......

This weekend I went "home" to Sequim (hometown) for the wild celebration of my Grandma's and Mother's birthdays :) It was a great weekend (albeit quiet) with the family and my cat. I really enjoyed my time away, simply relaxing and laughing over a birthday steak dinner on Saturday. This pic isn't the most recent (it's actually from *my* birthday, in August) but I finally stole it off my mom's camera, so I'm adding it....

good ol' fashioned....

Well, thanks for the positive reinforcement guys, you have officially aided in my decision to continue writing....I will no longer be mentioning such things as riots and tear gas, toilet paper outages, and crazy chance encounters with local crazies in the street, however, here is the latest anecdote in my currently mild life....

Today (I wrote this yesterday) I met one of my neighbors! Weird right? Maybe this is not true where you live, but in Seattle - we really don't go out of our way to talk to people we don't know, as a general rule. I include myself in that, although I've even been known to be a little more outgoing than most (which has resulted in startling and confusing poor elevator riders simply hoping to get to their floors and locked safely behind apartment doors without any human contact). However today I was in a 'Seattle state of mind'...and I walked up the stairs at a brisk pace, pausing momentarily to smile politely and nod at the fellow on the stairs. He however, awkwardly said hello with the courteous nod as well, but then....launched into conversation! But, because I was already in motion and not expecting him to begin with any sort of real dialogue did not anticipate the need to halt soon enough. So we began to have a conversation as I slowly halted my ascent on the stairwell (by this time I was a good 5-6 stairs above him) and had a conversation from there. Mostly it consisted of, introductions and then him asking if my sister drove 'that car' (pointing to my car...) I, mildly amused, and more so confused, corrected him that it was in fact my car (as I had just exited it, moments before climbing the stairs) and that I didn't have a sister. Apparently he either thought that Tracy was my sister, or that the other girl he had seen was not me, but in fact someone who looked similar to me and drove my car. He then proceeded to ask me about the BMW parked next to my car, and if my sister owned that one. LOL. Needless to say - it was a rather awkward and forced conversation but I enjoyed it immensely nonetheless. It's nice to know your neighbors - even if their perception of you is a little bit skewed. So, now I have met Jake, the Asian man in (I'm totally guessing) his mid 40s, who smiles a lot, wears sandals that remind me of Chris Cho's, and doesn't seem to have a good grasp on reality. But who knows....maybe now if I ever need to borrow a cup of sugar, I'll know where to go :)

maybe....just maybe

Hey friends, I don't know that there are many left of you out there who still look at this...but I wanted you to know that I am contemplating keeping it open. I recognize that I'm no longer on such an up-front adventure as I was this past year - however, you never know what life is going to throw your way. That said, I'm going to leave this open for occasional anecdotes from my life, photos or perhaps book/movie reviews.

As for a quick update on my life, I'm living in Lynnwood with Tracy (good friend from college), working at Washington Mutual in Edmonds, and taking this year to figure out what I want to do with my life (and work on paying those students loans!) Right now, the plan is to head towards getting my teaching credential next fall, but who really knows, the Big Guy upstairs is always changin' my plans. I really miss Venezuela, and I miss my teammates, but I'm doing my best to start-over here in the US. Right now, my best friend is the local library (as I have no money, and no friends within visiting distance....free book usage will substitute for company for the time being). I'm eager to see how the next year of my life will unfold....

Presentation

For all you Sequim/Port Angeles people out there, I am doing a presentation this Sunday about my time and work in Venezuela, I would love for you to be there! I'm hoping to be able to answer a lot of questions and share my incredible experience with all of you :)

Sunday, August 24th 6:30 pm
Olympic Vineyard Christian Fellowship
3415 South Peabody Street, Port Angeles, WA

Hope to see you there, Chelsea

Welcome Home Us

We're back...dun dun dun. That's right folks, I stepped foot on American soil last Wednesday. After 2 days of travel and 11 hours on planes, almost missing a connecting flight, 3 hour delays, and one lost bag....We made it! Praise the Lord :) Seeing my parents and Grandma at the airport was the most amazing feeling. Here are the three of us, after many many hours on planes, but oh so happy to be back....

7

We had our final meeting with our servant team and officially handed over the ministry to them. How exciting! Here they are, they are great students truly committed to the Lord.

19

19 days, less than 3 weeks! Until we leave Merida....I can't believe it. It feels very surreal....My mix of emotions includes excitement/sadness/worry/confusion/anxiousness/glee/anticipation....and a million others. These last three weeks we are mainly focusing on making sure the students are fully equipped to run everything without us...as well as concluding all the details of living here (ie: moving everything into the storage facility (that's an hour away...ugh), re-painting the apartment, paying/ending bills, flight information, storage of weekly meeting equipment, etc etc etc...) Therefore I don't have anything super exciting to write about...However....here are a few picture updates of life recently.

Like I said in my last blog, my friend Rafael came to visit from the States (although...he could easily pass for a Venezuelan with his Salvadorian heritage) and we had a great time hanging out....like the old days when I was on project!
Lucia, my closest friend and disciple here, finished her classes and headed off for family vacation in England (to visit a sister there) and so for our last lunch together we went up into the mountains to a castle! It was freezing, but fun :) Rafa and I took a trip to the zoo....

The summer project took over English Club, and they're doing a great job leading it with a ton of enthusiasm!We had a goodbye fiesta for Eben...he got to dance with EVERY lady in the house!

Rafa and I also had fun trying to figure out what we were doing...haha.
Riots have begun again...this time they are protesting death. Ironically, the day after the first protest, a medicine student was shot. This has only spurred on the riots....
The whole apartment needs to be repainted as we're moving out, so Amanda have been using our nights and weekends to do that.....and having a little fun with it as well ;)

I apologize for the lack of ministry updates at this time, we are definitely in the winding down process. This week will be my last discipleship appointments with my girls, and the rest will mostly be moving out stuff....Today is our last big meeting with the servant team, and we will be commissioning the new leaders to LEAD their movement next year...I'm excited to see how it goes....and see them take ownership.