THAILAND...land of smiles :-)

I know that it has literally been forever since i've last updated. I realize now it's because i've been so busy and I feel like so many things have happened and it just seems hopeless to try to fill everyone in on everything now. also i feel like nobody reads this...i could be wrong. maybe it would encourage me to post more if I got more comments....eh? :-) i jest. but...i'm gonna try to update this okay? starting with my awesome trip to Thailand this summer. Still to this day I miss Thailand so much. I have sooo many pictures I could post but had to limit myself.

This is the team at 5 AM at DFW airport...beginning of our thirty-something hour day of travelling nonstop. fun!....

There were two college campuses in the area so we split our team in half; one team went to one campus and the other team went to the other,every day, to talk to students and people on campus about Jesus. My team went to Thaksin University in Songhkla...like 30 minutes of travelling. It was really fun...by the end of the trip I felt like a TU student. I kinda even wanted one of their cute little uniform outfits! haha.

This is Susna. Her and her husband Tony own this little french toast place really close to where our apartments were. The first night we went there and we got to pray for them and they told us that they feel peace when we pray for them. Since that night we went and saw them at least 4 times a week and they would always provide us with alllll free food. Susna was soooo sweet. We gave her a bible one night and the next day when we visited, she told us she read a lot of it and found a lot of answers to life in there. She was so hungry for Jesus and had so many questions. She was soooo precious, had a great sense of humor and personality, and was one of our favorite Thai people to spend time with. One time we were leaving to go out of town at 7 AM and she stopped by our apartment after working until 4 AM the night before to bring us breakfast.. See what I mean?

This is at a beach in thailand. We went to the beach during low season, a.k.a not as pretty season...so we got to stay on the beach for really cheap with very few people surrounding us. It was great. and soooo beautiful. I witnessed the most amazing sunsets i've ever seen in my life. The water was so clear and wonderful...I couldnt believe that it got any better than that!!

These are some girls we had conversations with more frequently. Two of them, Nanny and Phon, were english majors which helped a lot. They originally wanted to talk to us because they wanted to practice their english and talk about America, but then we got to pray for them and encourage them and one of them gave their lives to Jesus. They are such sweet fun girls and are so hilarious!!

I thought this picture was really cool. every morning we got up early to pray at our friend Kat's house. We would have meetings, eat breakfast together, and worship and ministry time, which is what is going on here I think. I really miss it.

This was actually on my birthday!!we had a get together with the campus crusade staff and got to invite a lot of students that were interested in Jesus. This pictures has a few of us on the team, P'Boy, who led the campus crusade staff (and was hilarious!) and some muslim girls who were so sweet and even brought me a present for my birthday! It was great...we had sooo much fun with them.

This is our team one of the last few days we were in Thailand. We went to the beach (like I said earlier) and we also were able to get these shirts that are very popular in Thailand. The boys are wearing the Yellow shirts, which were the King's shirts (his favorite color is yellow) and everyone wears those on Mondays. The girls are wearing the Queen's shirts, which are worn every Tuesday in honor of the queen. The Thai people looove their king and queen so much...and from what I've heard he seems like a really nice guy. All I know is that on the Baht bill (the currency in Thailand) there's a picture of the king with a camera around his neck...one of his hobbies is photography. It always amused me because it was like a "hey, the king is a normal person too" picture and I think that's why people love him so much!

I hope that was a good update about Thailand. I have so many more pictures and things that happened....such as riding elephants, karaoke on my birthday, baptizing my friend in the ocean, and of course, Thai food. but i think this is enough for now. I will try to update later with more current happenings in my life.

Love,

Alexa :-)

a long time...

i'm a horrible blogger! i am terribly sorry!

some updates on my life:

1) so at the beginning of the summer, my sister suckered me in to watching this season of The Bachelorette with her every Monday night as a sisterly bonding night when we can spend precious time together while I'm here. Now, I havent watched any season (nor had any desire to) of the Bachelor or Bachelorette since I was in intermediate school back in 2001...seriously. Trista and Ryan were the last ones for me! I couldn't take it anymore! But I agreed to the nonsense of my sister because that's how great of a sister I am....anyways. I didn't expect it, but I got pretty hooked this summer. It even got to a point where my sister and I were counting down the days until Monday. it was ridiculous....to say the least! As you know, my favorite since the first night won DeAnna's heart and that makes me so happy! I think in the beginning, I liked him so much because he's a snowboarder but throughout the season saw how great of a guy he is! I'm glad that DeAnna gave him a chance that first night when he was crazily dressed....i know a lot of people didn't think that he would make it very far....but he finished at the top and i'm glad she fell in love with him because of what's on the inside!

2) I realize now that I have about two weeks left of my summer!!! I have so much to do in so little time! As some of you know, I am going to Thailand for three weeks. We leave July 25th and don't get back until August 16th.....then I'm moving in to my apartment on Aug 17th. It will be mayhem! That means I must pack everything before I leave in a couple weeks...plus figure out all these things for the apartment such as electricity and internet and we (the other girls and I included) have NO IDEA what we're doing!!!! seriously! it's crazy...but when I think about it...I'm glad I get to take this first step into adulthood with them. because they're awesome!

3) the library. is awesome. I just discovered this about a week ago because I love to read but finshed all the books I bought back in May to read this summer. Aaaand I have no more money to buy any more....so I thought "hey, I'm gonna do this old-school and head over to the library." The mansfield library is brand new and beautiful...I had maybe been there ONCE before. Oh, but it was a fun adventure. reading is really the best....I really don't understand how some people loathe reading books so much...especially the ones you don't even have to purchase! I have already read 8 books this summer thus far...and I still have time for more so I plan to do so. Yay for the library!

4) I went to Puerto Rico for a family reunion in June. It was so much fun! my extended family on the puerto rican side is LOCO!!! they are the craziest, funniest, nicest people ever! i just loved it! plus, laying out on the beach all day every day for a full week wasn't so bad either ;-)

5) I also went up to Portland a few weeks ago to visit my bro. It was awesome! we went snowboarding together (yes, it was the end of june and we went snowboarding), white water rafting, and did loooots of hiking. it was really awesome, and beautiful!!! it makes me very non-appreciative of the hot, awful, ugly, brown texas landscape I have to look at every day here at home. blah!

roomie fun day!!

Well to celebrate our last weekend living together...my roommate and I had a fun day today. after our 9 AM final (and a little nap) we went to Teryaki Park (yummmy) and then to the suspension bridge/random places downtown to take pictures. My rooommate is really cool and artsy, and she has a really nice camera and tripod so we did this all on our own! nifty! We're a little cooky and crazy....but overall I think they're pretty fun!! I will really miss her next year! we've had some really fun times this year and she's a great roommate!

typical caitlin&alexa-ness

you betta not mess with us!

awww see....we're cute!

this is the lovely display (I think its supposed to be art) at the suspension bridge in waco.

we had fun with it...

bahh!

we just like to hang out at random abandoned buildings downtown...

cool

trying to be pretty serious...

jumping!

with flowers!

p.s. i have a new look.

bye byeee long unmanagable tangly hair with a mind of its own!

hello sleek new SHORT look

bye bye little nosie stud

hello little nosie RING!!

:-)

Its been a while (again)...

friends!


Our easter trip to Oregon...we found Roloff farm! (little people, big world!)






Hello all!

I have been really unfaithful in my blogging so i'm sorry! But I feel like my life is not very exciting at the moment!!! I've been going to school....next week is our last week of classes and then finals. I'm so excited!! I've liked all my classes this semester, but I'm ready to be done. I need a break! This summer will be a really good one, I can feel it!


Some goals for this summer include:

-Read a few books (finish Victory Over the Darkness, Same Kind of Different as Me, Perfect Match, and more that I can't think of currently!)
-Get up before 11 am every day (may not seem difficult but this will be a challenge for me)
-Work a lot (Gotta get money for Thailand!)
-Soak up some sun!
-Exercise at least a few times a week (any exercise at all, really)
-Work on my Spanish
-Spend lots of time with Jesus
-Keep up with my friends
-No relationships! no "summer flings"! no temptations! (this actually will be easier than it sounds :-))
-Encourage friends from school that I won't see everyday, hold people accountable
-Get some better eating habits!
-See nuggs and huddy as much as possible!!!
-Attend a church at home in mansfield




Some trips I'll be going on include Puerto Rico (for a family reunion), Oregon (my favorite place ever), and Thailand. I'm exciting to be travelling (a part of) the world this summer!! :-) Plus, next weekend I'm taking a mini road trip with some girls before finals week begins...we're going to stay with my friend in Austin friday night, then get up early the next day and drive to San Antonio to hit up Fiesta Texas!! alll day! It'll be really fun...I haven't ridden a rollercoaster in years and I feel like I've been craving them lately. I'll be going with two very awsome girl friends and it will be great bonding time! Plus I'll be staying in Waco three extra days after finals are over for School For the Nations...it will be weird but nice to have Baylor campus (aka Common Grounds) uncrowded and peaceful! haha.





Maybe more later. School's almost over!!! whooo!!

ASK...you shall receive!!

Hi friends and family!!
Well, I just wanted to quickly post some pictures from the most life-changing spring break i've ever encountered in my life. i went with the college ministry at my church in waco (antioch) to juarez, mexico! it was sooo fun. over 500 people went, so we were all split into 12 lifegroup "sections." I grew especially attached to my section during this time, and it feels weird now to not be with them 24/7. I was on the dance team for my section..it was so fun!! the outreaches were amazing. it's cool how you go on a trip like this expecting to only pour out to/share with others...but the Lord just filled me up and worked in me so much at the same time!! I saw some pretty amazing things happen. It was a very needed trip and allowed me to spend a week devoted to God. who doesnt want that??


work day


i just LOVE how attractive we all look while worshipping! haha

dance team! (last day, right before we got on the bus to leave)

dancing at an outreach!!

the best girls on the planet. i spent a majority of my time with them.

first night excitement!!

more dancing at the outreaches!!

elba and i!! people say we look almost identical but i really dont believe them...

dance team!!!

p.s. i was too preoccupied to take pictures during most of the trip so only a select few of these were actually taken by me. I stole these from my friend Wemmy and Gerry Whisler.

this weekend im off to portland oregon to snowboard with my bro!!!

well, i need to get some sleep now!

love you guys!


P.S. IM GOING TO THAILAND THIS SUMMER...its official. :-)

Tag...even though i wasnt really tagged.

10 years ago:
I was 8 years old and in 3rd grade. I got a perm that I thought was the best thing ever but now i realize it was not that attractive...ummm i really liked American Girl Dolls and my teacher's name was Mrs. Tittle.

Things on my to-do list today: well, since its currently 1:15 am, i will make a to-do list for tomorrow. Go to church, eat lunch, Juarez dance practice, Spanish LAC lab work, Wal-Mart run, STUDY STUDY STUDY

What would I do if I suddenly became a Billionaire? hmm! I think I would give a hefty chunk to my sister, my brother, and of course pay my parents for everything theyve paid for for me the past 18 years. after that I think i would send my best friends to Uganda and go on a trip somewhere cool. then I would give the rest to someone else who would have something else better to do with it than myself.

Three of my bad habits are:1. selifshness 2. lack of self-confidence 3. picking

Five jobs I have had: 1. Chick-fil-a! 2. Fantastic Sam's receptionist! 3. Moody Library "labbie"

Five things people don't know about me: 1. I drive stick shift....represent! 2. my worst fear is a spinal tap/epidural...anything that enters my spine. 3. I can do this really weird thing where I roll my stomach. 4. i like to do pilates. 5. when i was 6 i wanted to change my name to Ivy. ha..