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Monday, October 11, 2010
Puerta Vallarta 2010 (125 photos), by Lynnlee massarelli
I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Puerta Vallarta Recap..
I know I did good at blogging earlier in the trip with a couple pictures and info from the first couple of days...But then the week got busier and we had to walk to burger king in order to use wi-fi needless to say I was not able to post again. So here is a little recap
On Tuesday we spent the the full day working, which meant more pole scrapping for me. (on that day we discovered that we had access to the pressure washer...hmmm, high pressure water that would peel the paper off in seconds..hmmm..)After a long day of work, we took the kids to Las Carmelitas which is on a mountain-top overlooking the entire city, beach, and ocean. It was an absolutely breath-taking view, the kiddos were astonished and kept mumbling "bonnnitttttaaaaa". Now we had like 30 people so it was a very long dinner and apparently they run the restaurant off of generators but at 10:00 they turn off automatically...guess who was still there eating at 10pm, We were, and it went pitch black! Now the stars and the view of the city was still beautiful and we just sort of laughed it off. Shaun even made everyone sing me happy birthday but I couldn't blow out the candle because it was our only source of light.
On Wednesday-We worked a half day at the mission, they guys began working on putting the roof together and we began mixing and making bricks/concrete. Even though we worked for a handful of hours we all worked hard and then we took the afternoon off and took the kiddos to the beach/pool at one of the hotels. Reminder - none of them ever get the opportunity to do anything of the sort and so we decided to experience it all together. It was a whole lot of fun, we ordered pizza by the pool, swam, walked the beach, and played games. Then for dinner we ate at the church whom we were working with and attended their Wednesday night service.
On Thursday - this kind of felt like the slump day, seeming like the rest of the week was catching up to us all. But we pulled through and worked a long day on the roof, the wall, and making and laying bricks. I personally helped to lay the bricks for the wall which was something new that I have never done before, but hey they wall is still standing...hopefully! =) The making of the bricks is horribly tough and the kiddos worked extremely hard with it, it involved shoveling dirt and cement together and then shovel that mixture into this machine that compresses it all within in minutes and creates a brick. It is definitely manual labor at its finest. After a very long day we all went to eat as this lovely restaurant on a cliff side right on the beach/ocean...and imagine this - the kids loved it. The food was great and then after dinner we went and hung on the beach for a minute and there was an abundance of hermit-like crabs - i found them sort of creepy but nonetheless we were all amused.
On Friday - this would be the last full day in PV and our last day working at the mission. We worked a "half-day" at the mission which involved more brick making/laying and roof work. We did not finish the wall or the roof but made great progress on them and made enough brick that other workers can get most of the work done in the coming week. Before we left the mission we had a last prayer all together and it was a great end to the working. After cleaning up we all went to eat lunch at this little taco stand on the side of the road and let me tell you...it was PHENOMENAL. (as was almost everything I ate there) but I had fish and shrimp tacos and oh my goodness they were so good. Then a group of us went downtown to the Malecon and walked along the beach and the shops and let all of the kiddos grab some souvenirs. It was blazing hot but a fun afternoon, we were so hot and so we decided to go back to the hotel and SWIM, we ended up also watching the sun set. We spent so much time doing these things that by time we were going to eat it was after 8 or so and we decided not to fight traffic or people and merely walked to Burger King. But hey we were all fine with it.. I had eaten enough guacamole, fajitas, chips, etc that week that some nice french fries and a burger sounded pretty tasty. We then had to tell the kiddos bye...which is never a fun thing to do. Matthew and I crammed in the van and rode back to the house with them and Shaun to drop them off. Shaun talked to them and then we gave many hugs and said bye.
On Saturday we all flew out at different times and said various goodbyes with all of the different people working with us.
All in all, this was an incredible week...it was sort of a mission within a mission. We had a purpose there to help and serve the Calvary Chapel church in Puerta Vallarta and at the mission school. But we also desired to take the older kids from Casa Hogar Elim on a trip like this to let them be able to experience new things and see new places outside of Nuevo Laredo. Matthew and Shaun and I began discussing this about a year-ish ago and the thought of taking these kids somewhere so they could serve and do things that we have previously done FOR them.
Most/all have never been outside of Nuevo Laredo, where Casa Hogar is located, or flown in an airplane or seen the beach or anything away from what they have always known. These kids know Jesus and have been taught to depend on Him and love and serve him and it was awesome to sit back and watch them do things for other people that we had previously done for them. They are some of the hardest workers I have ever seen. I loved, absolutely loved, getting to hang out and build even better relationships with the older kids.
Normally when we spend time at Casa Hogar the older kids are the ones in charge and they are the ones cooking, cleaning, working, attending school, etc and so we do not always get to see them much or if we do they are quite busy and focused on their responsibilities...but this week they were responsibility free and instead of working for them we were able to work with them. It was awesome, truly awesome. These guys have such a special place in my heart, not to mention they are absolutely hilarious. The week was great, I have tones of pictures and funny stories to go along with them. I hope to post the pictures tomorrow (some) and add a link to the rest of them. Thanks for all of your prayers and well wishes. Thank you Lord for granting me these opportunities.
On Tuesday we spent the the full day working, which meant more pole scrapping for me. (on that day we discovered that we had access to the pressure washer...hmmm, high pressure water that would peel the paper off in seconds..hmmm..)After a long day of work, we took the kids to Las Carmelitas which is on a mountain-top overlooking the entire city, beach, and ocean. It was an absolutely breath-taking view, the kiddos were astonished and kept mumbling "bonnnitttttaaaaa". Now we had like 30 people so it was a very long dinner and apparently they run the restaurant off of generators but at 10:00 they turn off automatically...guess who was still there eating at 10pm, We were, and it went pitch black! Now the stars and the view of the city was still beautiful and we just sort of laughed it off. Shaun even made everyone sing me happy birthday but I couldn't blow out the candle because it was our only source of light.
On Wednesday-We worked a half day at the mission, they guys began working on putting the roof together and we began mixing and making bricks/concrete. Even though we worked for a handful of hours we all worked hard and then we took the afternoon off and took the kiddos to the beach/pool at one of the hotels. Reminder - none of them ever get the opportunity to do anything of the sort and so we decided to experience it all together. It was a whole lot of fun, we ordered pizza by the pool, swam, walked the beach, and played games. Then for dinner we ate at the church whom we were working with and attended their Wednesday night service.
On Thursday - this kind of felt like the slump day, seeming like the rest of the week was catching up to us all. But we pulled through and worked a long day on the roof, the wall, and making and laying bricks. I personally helped to lay the bricks for the wall which was something new that I have never done before, but hey they wall is still standing...hopefully! =) The making of the bricks is horribly tough and the kiddos worked extremely hard with it, it involved shoveling dirt and cement together and then shovel that mixture into this machine that compresses it all within in minutes and creates a brick. It is definitely manual labor at its finest. After a very long day we all went to eat as this lovely restaurant on a cliff side right on the beach/ocean...and imagine this - the kids loved it. The food was great and then after dinner we went and hung on the beach for a minute and there was an abundance of hermit-like crabs - i found them sort of creepy but nonetheless we were all amused.
On Friday - this would be the last full day in PV and our last day working at the mission. We worked a "half-day" at the mission which involved more brick making/laying and roof work. We did not finish the wall or the roof but made great progress on them and made enough brick that other workers can get most of the work done in the coming week. Before we left the mission we had a last prayer all together and it was a great end to the working. After cleaning up we all went to eat lunch at this little taco stand on the side of the road and let me tell you...it was PHENOMENAL. (as was almost everything I ate there) but I had fish and shrimp tacos and oh my goodness they were so good. Then a group of us went downtown to the Malecon and walked along the beach and the shops and let all of the kiddos grab some souvenirs. It was blazing hot but a fun afternoon, we were so hot and so we decided to go back to the hotel and SWIM, we ended up also watching the sun set. We spent so much time doing these things that by time we were going to eat it was after 8 or so and we decided not to fight traffic or people and merely walked to Burger King. But hey we were all fine with it.. I had eaten enough guacamole, fajitas, chips, etc that week that some nice french fries and a burger sounded pretty tasty. We then had to tell the kiddos bye...which is never a fun thing to do. Matthew and I crammed in the van and rode back to the house with them and Shaun to drop them off. Shaun talked to them and then we gave many hugs and said bye.
On Saturday we all flew out at different times and said various goodbyes with all of the different people working with us.
All in all, this was an incredible week...it was sort of a mission within a mission. We had a purpose there to help and serve the Calvary Chapel church in Puerta Vallarta and at the mission school. But we also desired to take the older kids from Casa Hogar Elim on a trip like this to let them be able to experience new things and see new places outside of Nuevo Laredo. Matthew and Shaun and I began discussing this about a year-ish ago and the thought of taking these kids somewhere so they could serve and do things that we have previously done FOR them.
Most/all have never been outside of Nuevo Laredo, where Casa Hogar is located, or flown in an airplane or seen the beach or anything away from what they have always known. These kids know Jesus and have been taught to depend on Him and love and serve him and it was awesome to sit back and watch them do things for other people that we had previously done for them. They are some of the hardest workers I have ever seen. I loved, absolutely loved, getting to hang out and build even better relationships with the older kids.
Normally when we spend time at Casa Hogar the older kids are the ones in charge and they are the ones cooking, cleaning, working, attending school, etc and so we do not always get to see them much or if we do they are quite busy and focused on their responsibilities...but this week they were responsibility free and instead of working for them we were able to work with them. It was awesome, truly awesome. These guys have such a special place in my heart, not to mention they are absolutely hilarious. The week was great, I have tones of pictures and funny stories to go along with them. I hope to post the pictures tomorrow (some) and add a link to the rest of them. Thanks for all of your prayers and well wishes. Thank you Lord for granting me these opportunities.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Mexico Day 1&2
They were infatuated with the sandman!
Happy Belated birthday Juan!
The Beach!!Yesterday was a very early day for Matthew and I, we arrived in Puerta Vallarta a little after noon and came straight to the hotel we are staying at. We quickly put our stuff down and walked to the beach to meet up with Shaun and the kids from Casa Hogar Elim! It was such a blessed sight to see, from someone who sees the beach almost daily to see the reaction of a group of teenagers who have never seen anything of the sort. A group ran straight into the water with no hesitation and no worry of being in their regular clothes..others just stared. It was so awesome to see them enjoying it so much.
After that we went to eat dinner at Pipi's restaurant and it was DELICIOUS. I had the best guacamole that I have ever eaten. At the restaurant (where all the food was delicious...real mexican!) we also celebrated some birthdays (i threatened matthew not to make mention of mine!) but the lucky ones got a peice of dessert and whipped cream in the face. Juan..LOVED it! We then walked "downtown" where a lot of the tourist attractions where and the kids just marveled at it all.
Today, we went to the "Dump" and began our work for the week...but my thoughts for the day is how awesome it is to spend time with these older kids when they have no other responsibilities and we are working along WITH them and not FOR them. Its a totally different perspective and as always they are incredibly skilled and hard workers. They somehow found out it was my birthday and sang to me this morning..I am fearful of dinner.. =) but there will be more to come here is just some brief notes. Thanks for all of the prayers...it has been so awesome for us all, already and I cannot wait to see what the week has in store.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
21...really? Mexico, here I come.
Now by that title, one could only assume...
On Monday I will officially be twenty-one years of age - can you sense the excitement? - All 21 means to me is that I can get into casinos, get into any bar type area and uhm.. get a horizontal drivers license in the state of Florida?
Haha, birthdays are exciting and I am happy to celebrate it but this year I get to celebrate mine doing something that I love...Matthew and I will be traveling to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico on Sunday to meet up with a group that will have arrived a day before us. On this trip we are getting the opportunity to take a group of pre-teens and teenagers from Casa Hogar Elim on a mission trio of their own. This is an idea that has been in the works for a while and I am so pumped to be able to see it play it and even better getting to do it in person...I will be phone-less for the week but may have some moments of Internet access, if so, I will update on here so check it out next week to see whats going on in PV!
So there is a good possibility that I will be lacking sleep the morning after my 21st birthday but probably not for the reasons some would expect.
This weekend is the big Alabama-Florida game and I will get to see my mom and step-mike, Chelsea baker and Nancy newell (2/7)...not to mention my wonderful friends and boyfriend here AND eat cake! I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and of course, ROLL TIDE! =)
On Monday I will officially be twenty-one years of age - can you sense the excitement? - All 21 means to me is that I can get into casinos, get into any bar type area and uhm.. get a horizontal drivers license in the state of Florida?
Haha, birthdays are exciting and I am happy to celebrate it but this year I get to celebrate mine doing something that I love...Matthew and I will be traveling to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico on Sunday to meet up with a group that will have arrived a day before us. On this trip we are getting the opportunity to take a group of pre-teens and teenagers from Casa Hogar Elim on a mission trio of their own. This is an idea that has been in the works for a while and I am so pumped to be able to see it play it and even better getting to do it in person...I will be phone-less for the week but may have some moments of Internet access, if so, I will update on here so check it out next week to see whats going on in PV!
So there is a good possibility that I will be lacking sleep the morning after my 21st birthday but probably not for the reasons some would expect.
This weekend is the big Alabama-Florida game and I will get to see my mom and step-mike, Chelsea baker and Nancy newell (2/7)...not to mention my wonderful friends and boyfriend here AND eat cake! I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and of course, ROLL TIDE! =)
This past weekend Matthew, myself and our friend Garrett ventured into Hog territory. It was overall a very fun weekend. We stayed in Conway and visited with all of my family (on mom's side). Here are some pics to chronicle our weekend....
This is Garrett as we tried to find where we parked in Fayetteville, Garrett said he could hear the banjos playing.
We felt like we were in a scene from deliverance.
Matthew, my cousin Hart, and Uncle Craig
That would be Matthew and I with THE Barry Switzer
Awaiting the start of the game...
Dad invited Matthew and I to sit with him in Spook's box (my dads bff), it was a great atmosphere...well besides being surrounded by Arkansas fans while we were losing for most of the game...
Cousin Hart...he USED to be my little cousin? After his football game on Friday night where the Conway High School Wampus Cats were victorious.
In case you were wondering... THAT is a wampus cat.
Garrett was amused at the Wampus Cat and really wanted his picture, do you know what a wampus cat is??
Monday, September 27, 2010
What's in my DVR?
My roommate and I get every pennies worth of our DVR.
Monday - The View 10am-11am
Dancing With The Stars (anywhere from 7pm-10pm)
Tuesday - The View 10am-11am
Melissa & Joey 7pm- 7:30pm
Glee 7pm-8pm
*Glee is my favorite show...ever.
Wednesday - The View
Thursday - The View and possibly Greys Anatomy and Private Practice
Sunday - Brothers & Sisters 9pm-10pm
I know, this is bad and I have even tried to cut down on my tv watching or at least be "less obsessive" =)
This post courtesy of The Blue Eyed Bride
Monday - The View 10am-11am
Dancing With The Stars (anywhere from 7pm-10pm)
Tuesday - The View 10am-11am
Melissa & Joey 7pm- 7:30pm
Glee 7pm-8pm
*Glee is my favorite show...ever.
Wednesday - The View
Thursday - The View and possibly Greys Anatomy and Private Practice
Sunday - Brothers & Sisters 9pm-10pm
I know, this is bad and I have even tried to cut down on my tv watching or at least be "less obsessive" =)
This post courtesy of The Blue Eyed Bride
Anna's Cupcakes!
Earlier I posted some pictures of cupcakes that I made this summer (and got paid for!!) for Anna's first birthday. Here are some pictures of them displayed at the party...These pictures are courtesy of Anna's parents and they set up everything, all I did was bake!!
I am impressed with how they turned out, I am also glad I went with the pink icing!!
Whoops...those were apparently a little burned on the edges...
It looks like I need to bake and hire Ashley as a set designer, she did a great job displaying them!
I hope Anna had a great birthday and I want to thank Keith and Ashley Williams for being brave and hiring me to do such a job. (I told them that if people complained to say they came from Publix!)
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