Picture time!

I haven't posted many pictures here lately so I thought I'd put a few up. The Christmas pictures were taken with my parents' camera, so I don't have those yet...

Brian, Jr. and I before the Carolina game! Go Heels!!


Miss Jenny and I at the "pajama party" on the last day of school for the kids before "Winter break." Heaven forbid we have a Christmas party or call it Christmas break!


Helping the kids make Reindeer food!!


It was SOOO cold outside. Amy didn't bring gloves, so her hands found warm residence in my fleece lined coat pockets.


The between Christmas and New Years tradition! Shannon, Sarah and I have been best friends since high school. We even all went to the same college and had an apartment together. We figured out tonight that we have been getting together to exchange presents since 1997. There used to be more of us, but well... you know how that goes. We now have little Savannah too though! (Shannon's baby) Shannon and Sarah got together without me last year to keep the tradition going. :) Hooray for great friends!!


Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Hooray for long-distance friends!

Today was a wonderful day for many reasons... I am off of work today for school holidays. I got to cook dinner for my Mom and Dad and I did a farely good job. My brother and his wife and baby came over and I got to play with the beautiful Lauryn. But most of all... I got to talk to my friend Casey on the phone this morning!!! She's probably the best South African friend I had when I was there. I guess it's hard to narrow it to one person because I had various "groups" of friends at different times during my term, but all in all, Casey knew/knows me the best and understands me the most. You see, Casey was a missionary for over 2 years before I met her. She served on the Doulos, a missions ship that goes all over the world. I met her only a couple months after she'd come home, so I was there to see some of what she went through in coming back "home" to a place she'd been away from for 2 years. She knows what I'm feeling now, and can somewhat prepare me for what is probably still to come. She has been and is a God-send to my life. I only wish I could be the same for her!! It was awesome to talk to her today and hear her sweet voice. She and I decided to plan a 1 person mission trip for me over my school holidays in the summer. I'm definitely keen! I'd give anything to be back there now. Being home has been and is great, but my heart longs to be back in South Africa. If only my whole family would move with me so I wouldn't have to miss them! :) Oh well, I can't have the best of all worlds I guess. Right now I will enjoy where God has placed me for this time. He has a reason for me to be here now. I am loving being there for my family again and being able to be Aunt Bonnie (and not just the far away Aunt Bonnie). And speaking of being Aunt Bonnie, my sister in law is bringing baby Lauryn here bright and early at 6:15 tomorrow morning! I'd better get my beauty sleep!

Goodnight!
Bonnie B.

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Merry belated Christmas!

Wow, I really should have updated before now! I'm as bad now as I was when I first got to South Africa. I guess it takes me a while to get adjusted and into a routine... eventually blogging becomes part of that routine, but it takes me a while to get back into it!

I hope everyone out there had a great Christmas. I know it was nice to be home this year with my family. We actually celebrated together on Christmas Eve so that my brothers could go to their inlaws houses. It's sad that family events always center around the married kids and their plans. Us single ones have the joy of going along with what everyone else decides is best. That's ok. One of these days I'll be married too and they'll finally ask me(us) what I(we) want to do!! mwahaha :) Of course, I'll probably be the one to throw a monkey wrench into everything and be in another country or something... but oh well, they managed without me last year. ;) I actually missed the Saner family this year on Christmas. They kinda took me in last Christmas and let me celebrate with them. Their Gran even bought me a present and I hadn't even met her before. That was fun. :) But really, being with my family this year was absolutely wonderful, and though I joke, we had a great time. The nephews and nieces all had fun opening and playing with lots of presents and they all looked adorable. I'll try to post a few pictures a little later but right now I'm not using my computer... so that'll come later!

My job continues to go very well. Last week I got a new student, so now I have 17 students and 9 of them are Spanish speakers!! A couple of the Spanish speaking parents have agreed to help me learn more conversational Spanish, so when they come in in the mornings they only speak Spanish to me even though they can speak English! They're so sweet. I've even written a couple class notes and sent them home in both English AND Spanish. I'm so surprised at how quickly it's coming back to me.

I'm finding myself really missing South Africa (and South Africans) a lot lately. I think about 2 months into being in SA I really missed people from here, so I guess the timing is about right, but that doesn't make it much easier. When I left SA, my friend Casey gave me a bracelet... she left SA to be a missionary and returned to Joburg about halfway through my term, which is about when I met her. Anyway... she said that her Mom had given her this bracelet to wear and remember South Africa. And then she gave it to me to remember South Africa by!! I've been wearing it a lot lately!!! At my farewell party in SA, a video of lots of my friends recording messages to me was made, and I've watched it a late lately too. It's hard to miss people! But like I said when I was missing my American friends, "at least I know I have friends who are worth missing."

Well, I am quite sleepy now and am looking forward to dreamland! I have off of work all this week - and I'm being paid for it! That's a first for me, and I'm loving it. :) goodnight!!

Cheers,
Bonnie B.
Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Here are a few picures from the kids Christmas program at church tonight. Brian (the guy on the left in the first picture) had a solo and he was great! Now, I know I'm biased, but for real... he was the only one who was on pitch the entire time he sang his solo. He's such a Boisvert. ;) Santa always comes to see the kids after the program. It was funny because I remembed singing and then going and seeing Santa when I was little... same fellowship hall and all. Ah - the memories. :) Brian and Zachary were cool with Santa, but their little sister Eliza Jane was not so thrilled!! Poor thing. The next pictures are ones where we were playing with the camera. Fun times. The first one is Mom and I, the second, Dad and I, the third, JR (my nephews cousin, but like a nephew too) and the last one is Jennifer in the front (JR's sister), Kelly (their Mom), and Jacob (the other brother). Fun times all around.

On a different note, I started a new "job" at church today! I am at the welcome table before and after the 2nd service. Hooray - I have a place! I also get to work the table with Susan Baker (aka my "Summit Mom"). She's the coolest. :) It's good to be getting plugged back in. I still really miss Northcliff Union Church though. Oh well... the Summit's awesome, so I canNOT complain.

Well, it's time for me to go to bed so I can face the kiddo's tomorrow! G'night!

Bonnie B.









Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

a note before work

I don't have a lot of time right now since I need to be leaving for school soon, but I just wanted to update real quick and let you know how my new job is going. I absoluely love it! I have 16 kids on roll (there hasn't been a day yet when they're all there though) and 8 of them are Spanish speakers! A couple of them are fluently bilingual, some are ok, and a couple of them don't speak or understand much English at all! It's a challenge, but a challenge that I was looking for when I applied for jobs. It's surprising me how much of my Spanish is coming back to me. The kids love it when I start speaking Spanish. Yesterday during center time, I read some of my Spanish books with a couple kids in the reading center. One of the little guys who knows very little English cuddled up right beside me and was captivated by the book. It's sad that that may have been the first time he actually understood a story, but it also reminds me that I am right where I am supposed to be. I also have some great co-workers, which really helps me get back into teacher-mode. I knew I was back into being a preschool teacher when I got really excited about the fact that a madnet wand will attract jingle bells even through plastic and splenda (I put splenda "snow" in clear bottle with some jingle bells to see if the magnet could still get them and it did!) I ... I mean ... the KIDS loved it! haha :) Ok, time to go to school. Oh, on another no so nice note, my car died on Tuesday on my way to work. I was late on my 2nd day on the job! I was thinking of buying a new car... guess I'd better start doing more than thinking! Thank goodness I have a brother who's willing to let me drive his extra car. :)
Cheers,
Bonnie
Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Finally!

Here are some pictures of reasons I'm glad to be home! :)


Lots of time to hang out with the coolest almost-10-yr-old in the world!!!


"3-generations" get togethers. Here I'm with my Grandmother and my Mom for dinner at Springmoor, the extremely nice "retirement village" where my Grandparents live. Wish I could live there too! haha :)


A WHOLE day of shopping with Shannon, my best friend since the 6th grade. Wow...the 6th grade. I can hardly believe we've known each other that long. She knows everything about me, and she STILL wants to be my friend. ;) What a blessing she is to me! I've also loved seeing her precious baby girl, Savannah, who is about 1 1/2 years old now.




Babysitting Lauryn and having a ball. I'm so thankful I am able to be here to see this stage of her life!! She's so much fun, and such a sweet baby.



















Here she is all ready for game day! Go panthers!! Daddy's training her right from the beginning. Poor girl doesn't stand a chance. ;)















Thanksgiving day: Mom and Dad working together to get the cooked Turkey to the carving platter. My first Thanksgiving at home in three years!!










Cheryl and I putting the lights on the Christmas tree. Notice I am wearing a sweat
shirt. That's because it's COLD outside... as it SHOULD be at Christmas. No more hot Christmas like last year. Hooray!




Hope you all enjoyed this as much as me. :) Goodnight.
Bonnie B.

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

adjusting...

Well... since last time I updated a few things have happened. This past Thursday was Thanksgiving. I hadn't been able to be with my family the last 2 years at Thanksgiving, so it was nice to be with everyone this year. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to enjoy all the amazing food that everyone prepared! As of Wednesday of last week I was still feeling fluish and I was really praying to feel better on Thursday... I would've been so upset if after 2 years of missing Thanksgiving I still wasn't able to enjoy it! But, all was well, and though I couldn't handle very much food, I was able to at least taste everyone's culinary creations! :) Maybe it was good that I wasn't feeling 100%... that way I didn't overeat like everyone always does on Thanksgiving! It was so awesome to be with my family though. It's times like that that I am glad to be home.

Tonight we put our Christmas tree up in the house. That was also something I'd missed out on the last 2 years. Though I was home for Christmas 2 years ago, I was away at training until right before Christmas, so I missed all of the preparations. Again I say, it these things that makes me happy to be here.

Overall though... it's really weird to be here, and to be staying here. This would all be absolutely wonderful if this were a vacation... even if it were a long vacation! I could settle my nerves more if I knew I could enjoy this time, and then go back to Jo'burg. But I'm set to teach here for 2 years. 2 years... I wasn't even in Jo'burg a whole 2 years and my life was changed by the time I left. Anything could happen here in 2 years. Who knows what that will be? In all honesty, it freaks me out to be applying and interviewing for a full-time job. It's exciting - it really is! And I look forward to having my own classroom again and being in one place. But at the same time I feel like I don't know where I'm going half the time. I mean, I don't have a goal in mind. In school you always have a destination - graduation. College is the same... After I graduated college I knew I had to work for about 5 months and then I'd be off to training and then to South Africa. When I was in SA, I knew I had 2 years there. But now I don't know what's next. I was chatting with a friend of mine here who is a couple years older than me and she said she went through the same thing when she finished seminary last year. She gave me some good advice. She said she'd always trusted God with the segments of her life, but that she now had to learn to trust Him with the whole picture. So that's what I'm trying to learn and do now... trust Him with my life... my whole life. It's so hard to explain what I'm feeling right now, and if you're reading this and somehow understand what I'm trying to say, I'd love to hear your comments. Anyone out there felt like this before? I guess I'm just in the midst of a big transition point right now. It has its good points and its bad points. I'll try to post some photos soon to show you some of the good points! :) I'd better be going to bed soon...

Cheers,
Bonnie

PS - today at my parent's church a lady whom I adore came up to me and said that she had just met a guy from Johannesburg who in in Harnett county (a neighbouring county). He's here teaching through an international faculty program. Her husband is going to call me with his phone number. I may have found a South African friend. Hooray! :)

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

in recovery...

Sorry it's been a few days since I last updated... I'm getting slack! Actually though, I have a bit of an excuse. Sunday after church I finally got to go out to lunch at a Mexican restaurant with some friends. It's the first time since I've been back. I was so excited. Well, about an hour after lunch I started feeling bad. So, no problemo... I laid down, thinking I'd be fine after a nap. Well, after about an hour of no sleeping, I got up... walked around my room a bit in a daze, and proceded to... umm... get sick. Now, I haven't really been sick is YEARS! I literally can't remember the last time I was sick. Well, Mom rushed to the rescue to take care of me and I downed some Pepto Bismol right away. It didn't help any though... I was up till 12:30 going through a process of stomach cramp, stomach purge, stomach feeling great, stomach cramp... you get the picture. Pepto became my drink of choice, that's for sure... don't know how much good it did though. I couldn't sleep Sunday night because I was so sick... well, I think I slept 2 hours... On Monday I was extremely exhausted from lack of sleep and no food being in my system. I was supposed to have an interview on Monday, but that obviously did NOT happen! I could hardly even manage to drink some dilluted gatorade and eat a few saltine crackers. Ugh - it is NOT fun being sick!!! I've been pretty much ok today, though my stomach's felt a little "iffy" at times. We had stir-fry for dinner tonight and that was definately a mistake. Needless to say, the Pepto came back out. Blah... I'm going to bed!!

On a positive note, I did manage to go to my interview today and I think it went fairly well. I'll let you know soon!

Cheers!!
Bonnie

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

The search begins (well... kinda)

I'm about to seriously start looking for a job, and I'd really appreciate people's prayers. I'm really nervous about the whole process. I'm trying to remain calm and trust God though! Knowing and trusting that He already has my job picked out for me does help. The whole finding it part isn't so fun though! I haven't done a real interview in a long time. I also haven't taught in a real classroom in a long time. It'll be nice though... to have my own classroom again, and to spend time really getting to know my students. That's something I missed in SA... I LOVED my students, and got to know a few, but getting to know over 400 kids is quite difficult when you only see them once a week at best. :) I found my official State teaching license tonight... *big sigh of relief* Now I just have to tweak my resume and start sending it out... fun fun. Hopefully soon I'll be posting that I have a new job! (if I don't, the evil scholarship people may start harping on me again, and that's no fun). Well, it's almost 1am here and time for me to go to bed. It's crazy for me to think that if I were in SA I'd probably be waking up now! So... goodnight America and good morning South Africa. :)

Bonnie B.

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Going to get my luggage!

Tuesday morning, early, my Mom and I are driving up to Washington, DC to get my final 2 pieces of luggage. It will be so nice to finally have everything in one place... my cats, me, and all 4 pieces of luggage.

I've finally got a cell phone that can send and receive messages to and from South Africa! So... South Africans, send me a note and let me know how much you miss me!! :) To sms me, you'd dial 09-1-919-721-1591

This past weekend was my friend, Candace's, wedding. It's crazy... the people I grew up with are all getting married! My Mom and I babysat Lauryn all day on Saturday. I'm sure some people there probably thought Lauryn was mine, but that's ok. She's adorable, so I'd claim her any day! I did earn a new appreciation for mothers though... I'm great with toddlers and preschoolers... but infants are another story! I'm sure it will be different when I have one of my own, but it's hard work taking care of a baby... and Lauryn's a GOOD baby - I'd hate to have a bad one! :)

Well, I'd better go to bed since I have to wake up early and I don't want to be too sleepy for the driving. I'll put some pictures online soon...

<><>

The long awaited visit...

I finally got to go to Starbucks Coffee today!!! I ordered a Grande Peppermint Mocha Frappachino. It was all I was hoping it would be. I visited with my Grandmother today and we did a little shopping and before we went home, she treated me to my first Starbucks since being back in the States... mmm mmm good!




Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Why I came home...

Today for the first time I got a little sad... I was driving home from a great lunch with my friend Chris and for some reason I just started being sad about not being in South Africa. Well, tonight was the kids events and choirs at my parents' church and my nephews finished their activities before the adults get out of choir. They usually have to wait for their Dad to finish choir, but since I was free, I picked them up and brought them back to the house. We enjoyed some ice cream and then I got to do something I haven't done in 2 years. I got to read to them!! I am a kids-book-aholic. So, we picked out some classics and had some good old fashioned fun. Ahh... this is why I came back. :)

Zachary

Brian, Jr.

Reading to the boys!!!


Aunt Bonnie and the boys! :)

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Catching up...

For those of you still reading... :)

I've spent these first few days trying to see old friends and catch up with them. On Sunday all of my local family came over for dinner after church and then Sunday night my best friend, Shannon, came over with her little girl, Savannah. Savannah was born only a few months after I arrived in South Africa, so she's already toddling around and getting into trouble! She's adorable though. It's so strange to see my best friend, whom I've known since the 6th grade, as a Mom!

Monday my Dad was brave enough to ride in the car with me as I practiced and relearned to drive on thr left side of the car on the right side of the road. My car here's automatic too, so I kept wanting to change gears! But I think I did pretty well. No catastophes. :) The hardest part is turning because I still have a tendancy to want to turn into the left side of the road. But I had the same problem in South Africa when I started driving, so I'm sure it'll get easier as I drive more. Today I'll drive to Durham by myself, so pray all goes well!!

Yesterday (Tuesday) my friend Candace picked me up and I rode with her go to pick up flowers for her wedding on Saturday. Then we came back to Sanford and processes flowers ALL day long! (meaning we took the leaves off, de-thorned them, and cut the bottoms off). It was a new experience and it was great to catch up with Candace and see her new house!

Today I'm going to Durham to have lunch with Chris and Amber. That'll be fun. Haven't seen them in a while (although they both came to South Africa at different times during my time there).

My kitties are doing well. Oreo is the braver of the two and ventures out of my room on occaion. Bud (my old 17 year old cat) isn't real fond of her, but he has no claws and no teeth, so he just tries to intimidate her by hissing. She stands her ground though! They'll get used to each other eventually. Wallace hangs out in my room 99% of the time. He at least comes out from under the bed now! Right now they're both sitting beside me on my bed. Sweet kitties. :) Even though I'm flat broke now (more so than I EVER was in SA), they were worth every penny.

Well, better go get this day started!! Thanks for checking in on me. :)

Cheers,
Bonnie

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Back in NC

Well... I'm back! It's pretty crazy when I really think about it. Sometimes I feel like it was just a wierd dream that I just woke up from. Then I realize that it wasn't a dream and that I'm really here. I am very sleepy right now... I really should be in bed, but I just wanted to update here and let you all know that I'm home. I had quite an ordeal in DC where they canceled my flight and put me on a 10pm flight. There was an earlier flight with another airline, but they wouldn't switch it to that one. And if I'd taken the 10pm flight, most of my family wouldn't have been able to stay up and come to the airport. So, I paid $150 out of my own little pocket to book the earlier flight! Then my luggage came through with the late flight! So my wonderful Dad went back to the airport that night to fetch my luggage. Crazy... the whole time I was in DC, I never got to sit down (literally) because I was going from terminal to terminal trying to figure out what was going on. When I finally bought the ticket for the 7:50 flight, it was about 7:00. Then as I was going through the check-point, they "randomly selected" me for a more thorough security check. It was all I could do not to cry (I think I was actually pretty teary-eyed). I'd already been through so much already that if I'd missed the flight I would've just lost it!! After getting through the check point I had to ride a little bus to get to the right terminal, and then when I got to the terminal, my gate was literally the farthest away!! The feeling that I had once I sat down on that airplane was so indescribably wonderful. I knew that in less than an hour I'd see my family! Well, not much later I finally got to NC and got to see my family!!!! It was so incredible to see them all. A few of my friends from the Summit also surprised me at the airport. :) So nice! Well, before I fall alseep at the computer, here are some photos from my arrival... Enjoy.

Waiting for me to arrive...

Me coming down the escalator to the baggage claim area where my family was waiting!
My nephew, Brian :)

Meeting my baby niece, Lauryn for the first time!!



Some of my friends from the Summit came to say hello too!
Well, I have a lot more pictures, but I'm having trouble getting them online. These will have to do for now! Enjoy... I'm going to bed!! :)

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Happy Birthday to you...

Well, it's the 3rd here in South Africa, but in NC it's still the 2nd and that means it's my Dad's birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! Incase you don't know, my Dad's awesome... he's going all the way to DC just to get my ktties for me on Friday!! Hooray for Dad. :)

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

and the wacked out sleep schedule begins...

Well, I can't sleep. My stomach's in knots. *sigh* I figure I'll just go ahead and get up and hang out with Jesus for longer than normal this morning. :) I'll even get to see the sun rise, so that'll be nice. Maybe I'll be able to take a nap later this afternoon after college. Tonight some friends are coming over to hang out and say final goodbyes. I could really use everyone's prayers. Final goodbyes are not my forte... especially on little sleep. I'm pretty sure I won't sleep much tonight (Thursday night) either... too much to think about for Friday. And of course after that I'll be flying and dealing with jet lag! Any bets as to the next night I'll actually have a solid night's rest?? As for now... let's get this day started. :)

Cheers,
Bonnie
Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Try things for yourself...

This is the lesson I've just learnt. When I first came to SA, my roommate told me that rooibos tea is gross. I believed her. Did I ever try it? Nope... not until last night when I randomly bought some and decided to try it. Who would've thunk it... I like the stuff. Shame I'm leaving SA!! I'll have to take it back with me. :)

On another note, my kitties are airborne now! They're on their way to Amsterdam and then to Washington, DC. I promise those boxes are bigger than they look! Happy travels kitties...

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Last Bible study at Northcliff :(

Well, tonight was my last Northcliff Young Adult Bible study. Sad night! But you know what? I didn't cry! God is so good. He's giving me more peace everyday about going home. South Africans, don't get me wrong... I am VERY sad about leaving, and I'm sure I'll have plenty of cry moments in the States, but I was reminded tonight that God has placed me back in America for such a time as this. And who am I to argue with God?! Anyway, I'm sleepy now. Here are a couple pictures from tonight. (Chris, does my nose ring still look like mole?? Better not!)

Meet Pastor Dan...

Go ahead and say it... we look hot. It's ok... We know it. ;)

You all should know Eric by now. :)

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

singleness... oh joy... :)

Remember me mentioning that I was asked to be an adult table leader for the Chrysalis Flight weekend this coming January?  At the time I was asked to lead the talk on prayer.  That’s very cool… I’m a big fan of prayer. :)  I’ve seen so obviously the results of people praying all over the world.  But this morning I awoke to find a new challenge presented to me.  I was emailed and asked if instead of the prayer talk, I could do the talk on singleness.  My first reaction?? I’ll be honest.  It was something along the lines of… “ouch, it’s beginning… the lovely life of singleness and assuring those younger than me that ‘it’ll be ok’.”  But once I prayed about it and really thought  it through, I consider it an honour to be able to talk to these girls and share a real part of my life with them.  Not that prayer isn’t a real part of my life, but I have no choice but to be single right now.  So I think it will be a challenge to prepare and to give this talk, but I know it’s God’s way of assuring me that I am walking in His path right now. :)  I sure do hope I’m not giving this talk for all the years to come though!

<><Bonnie

nice quote

I just watched the movie, "Shall we Dance"... and this quote from it is quite profound. :) Just thought I'd share...

Why is it that people get married?
Because we need a witness to our lives.
There’s a billion people on the planet.
What does any one life really mean?
But in a marriage, you’re promising to care about everything…
The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things,
All of it… all the time, every day.
You’re saying “Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it.
Your life will not go unwitnessed - because I will be your witness.”
Mrs. Clark, "Shall We Dance?" 2004


Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

cleaning

I don't have all that much to update on right now. Last night I went to a real Southern Baptist pot-luck (so maybe there are some good things about going home! haha). All the missionaries from around Johannesburg got together to have a farewell dinner for the Bryants (who are going to Kenya) and the Lechners (who are going to Mozambique). I didn't know this, but they also included me! (who's going to America... man, those people need Jesus! hehe --- just kiddin' --- sort of ---) Anyway, I thought that was really sweet of them, and I didn't even know about it. I tell you what though, a lot of people used their American ingredients to make some of the dishes, and it was so wonderful! I mean, South Africa definitely has plenty of it's own awesome stuff, and I don't really miss much from the States, but when you have something you haven't had in a while, it's quite nice. :) So anyway, that was fun. And Melissa came too, which was also really nice. Glad to be hanging out with her a little more before I go back to NC.

I'm about to go pick up a friend of mine who's going to help me clean up my flat. It's pretty much empty now, but it needs one last good cleaning before the landlord comes to check it out. It still needs to be cleaned up from the flood a few weeks ago. My kitties are still living in there with a few pillows and blankets. Poor lonely kitties. Still don't have a solution for them. I'm working on bringing them home though! (the 2 little ones) I'm still waiting on a price for what that will cost... check out this cute website... http://www.globalpaws.co.za/travel.htm That's the one company that at least has contacted me (but still not with a price!). I so hope I can afford to get them home!! I might not be as sad if I knew I'd have my African kitties with me! haha Oh well... I'd better go get to cleaning.

Tonight's my last Friday night in Joburg - how very crazy is that!? And I don't even have plans... now THAT is sad. I'm sure something will come up before too long. :)

Cheers,
Bonnie B.

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Mom

Tonight my Mom called me right before Bible study. It was perfect timing. She gave me some much needed and highly appreciated advice. Moms are good for that. But what’s funny is that for a long time I wasn’t sure if we held the same views on the subject we were discussing. But for once she gave me the advice that I knew I needed to follow. God’s teaching us both – He’s cool like that. Sorry I can’t elaborate more on here, but hey, mother-daughter talks aren’t always meant for public display. ;) The important thing here is that my Mom is the coolest, and I can honestly say that I am looking forward to living under her (and dad’s) roof again and learning more from her. God is good! Amen :)

Hello from the Holiday House

I’m in the Holiday’s house now. It’s nice, but very quiet and I miss my kitties very much. The DLS has been acting up today for some reason, so I couldn’t really enjoy it much, but that’s ok… I have it now and it’s SO nice not to be in a big hurry while I’m online.

This morning I realized that there was no bread in the house… I don’t eat bread all that often, but for some reason this morning I was sad that I didn’t have any! (not like really sad, but more like, “man… wish I had some bread…”) :) So… I made some! Granted, it would’ve been much faster to just go buy some, but hey, I wanted the experience. So now I have learned how to make bread. And it’s pretty yummy if I do say so myself! Looks good, don’t you think? I also baked brownies for Bible study tonight. That was fun.

Oh, my tooth seems to be fine now. Apparently, the whole area around my tooth was “traumatized” by the root canal and that was what was hurting. Interesting… well, I think I’m off to bed soon. Thanks for checking in on me!

Cheers-
Bonnie

I'm a mess!

So, it's 3:30am, and I am awake. Why am I awake when I should be asleep!? Well, the way I figure, there are many factors in this equation: 1)the movers are coming in the morning and I am anxious about that 2)I have a cold, and a really sore throat right now and 3)my tooth still hurts. Now, the first 2 are normal, but my Mom assured me last night that the 3rd is not normal. And she has to be right. I think I'm going to call my dentist in the morning and say something to the effect of, "umm... if you deadened the root, then HOW is it still hurting!?" I mean really... common sense tells me that it shouldn't hurt enough to wake me up, and I am pretty sure that the tooth is what actually woke me up since I tend to grind my teeth when I sleep (my bad). The sad thing is, I originally had a dentist appointment for tomorrow but I had to move it because of the movers coming - dang! Bad timing! Oh well... so I've probably just ODed on ibuprofren and I'm just waiting for it to take effect. I'm hoping it will help my sore throat too. I really am a mess!! So while I wait for the meds to take effect, I thought I'd put a few pictures here for you of my last day yesterday at Rand Leases. I'll write more soon about how it went, but for now visuals will have to do. :) I'm too tired to write much more than this!! :)

(singing with the kids at Rand Leases)

(Momo - pronounced "moo moo" - when I first started coming to Rand Leases back in February, Momo was so scared of us. If I tried to hold her or even get too close she'd cringe and run away as soon as possible. Now she's the life of the party! It's been awesome to see the change in this little girl!!)
(Momo is Gareth's little pride and joy. They're inseperable at Rand Leases. It really is quite cute!)
(This is Hope, Nurse's baby sister. She also used to be scared of me! But now I think we're cool. ;))
(I will write more about this next time I write, but these are 2 young guys from the Braamfischerville church who are now helping Nurse teach Sunday School! What an answer to prayer these guys are!!!!!)

Link to pictures: http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

more fun with the Allens

The Allens (missionary family from Swaziland) came into Jo'burg to pick up Steve's parents from the airport. They invited me to come for dinner and they treated me! Lovely... :) Isn't this an adorable picture of their daughter, Lacie? She's such a wonderful baby! I hope I can be so lucky as to have a little girl like her some day!!

My mood has much improved since my last post. But please keep praying for me. I know that these next 2 weeks are going to be an emotional roller coaster for me, but I also know that God's wonderful grace will bring me through! Yesterday I read Psalm 145 and one particular verse really stood out to me...

"The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works." Psalm 145:9

Eph. 2:10 (which is very special to me on many levels... it was the first verse that I ever chose to memorize, and I learned it the same weekend I gave my life to Christ) reminds me that I am His workmanship... His masterpiece... His art work. So, therefore, His tender mercies are over ME! I am so glad to know that the God we serve is tender. Sometimes when I'm feeling emotionally drained and don't even want to talk to God, it's awesome to know that He's tender, and His mercies are still here for me. God is good!

On another note, PRAY FOR ME tomorrow! I'm going in the morning to have a root canal. OUCH! I've never had one before, but I have a feeling it's going to be painful. I'm still taking tylenol for the work the dentist did on my tooth on Tuesday! He might need to prescribe something strong for me this time. Yikes!

Oh... and just so you know... I just killed the 3rd parktown prawn of THIS WEEK! I am so ready to be out of this flat and rid of these stinkin' (literally) bugs!

And on that note... goodnight! :)
Bonnie B.

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81