this is all i got so far

Hi guys!! So I have only been able to get these two but give me some more time and I will put some more up here!
These two pictures are not even where I live, they are at a place called Worchester (pronounced vooster) where I was all last week attending a conference.
Love you all

friends and family TIA!

TIA (this is africa) happens to be one of my most favorite sayings while working here.
So far:
-I have attended a protocal/rapid response meeting where the first line of the meeting was what happens when we get a phone call that people suspect human trafficking (that's how you spell human tafficking :)) .....call the ngo? (non goverment organization) or do you call the saps? (south african police).....my suggestion was "why don't we call both?" they stared at me.....(white american 21 year old girl) and then stared at eachother....then were like "good idea". haha! i love my job!!
-attended a conference with lots of YWAM leaders
-met a lot of the street children around and get to continually love on them with smiles and high fives
-attempted surfing
-visited an amazing women named Angline, she is fighting HIV/AIDS and loosing with a small two year old daughter
-getting a passion to create deep community and trying how to figure out how
-meeting incredible people with a passion to do anything that serves God
-looking for a flat with my new (potential) flat mate, hopefully a place were we can entertain and bring about many successful parties!
-trying to find either a scooter or a car I can buy for transport (please pray)
-realizing I should have packed more coats (I moved to africa, who knew I would be freezing?!)
-trying really hard to avoid being proposed to


I love it here so much you guys! It is beautiful. I have a camera but I only have a few minutes I will try and put up more pictures later tonight. The internet here sucks...like bad so I am just going to write a few notes of here to people so I don't have to sit for an hour trying to open AOL.
Love

Patricia- I would love for you and Jack to come!! I think it would be so much fun and I think you would really enjoy it. There is so much beauty and hard things to see that you absolutely have to come! Give me more details whenever possible. I love you cousin!

Katie B- I love texting you! That whole conversation made my week and I can not stop talking about how my amazing sister is getting to come and see all that we do. Lydia (my flatmate) and I are already planning a sister party for you!! And I found daddy a perfect room because of course you will be staying with me. Oh! and I had a prophecy spoke over me that totally was about you!! We will skype about it! love you sissy~!

Mama- I love you and miss you!! So I was at this prayer meeting last night and Myriam stopped it and was like I feel like we should pray you in more to the S-cape house (the restoration house) and so they did and lots of scriptures were given to me, and then one of the ladies told me "I just feel like God is telling me to be a mother to you, so I will be your south african mum" haha i told her i think that would make my mama very happy to hear that you offered that :)

Michelle- you are so amazing. I can't even begin. I don't think you would want me to make public all the reasons...or maybe you would ;) but just to let you know you and my dear brother have almost completely coverd my need for transport. Such such such a blessing! oh my goodness thank you sister! p.s. tell my brother i love him? and kiss my baby please.

everyone else,
you support is incredible and it has been crazy busy but as soon as i get a second to breathe i will write out a proper letter.
please keep sending the family and friend updates i love getting them!
love

new stuff!!

The time has almost come! In 24 hours I will be sitting in a hotel room getting ready to fly out (yikes!).
But before I left God had to make sure and give me a few more surprises.
#1. A new ipod
well Nicole gave me her old one
#2 a new camera
a friend gave me money to buy something nice for myself
so....fun and exciting blogs to come!!
love you all

Goodbye portland and a quick stop in phx

So i am sitting here with my sissy in the sunny computer room and it does not even seem possible that I am leaving for two years.
The last few days have been a hectic and sad goodbyes (except my brother luke who is hoping to visit real quick!!). I love portland so much and especially the people in it.
God has given me this amazing oppurtunity to pour out and serve in my most favorite way. He has blessed me countless times over the last few months and has constantly reassured me this is what His heart desires. I am going knowing the I am going to miss a lot. I am going to miss memories, babies, weddings, and parties, and most of all I am going miss just sitting and having life with my friends and families.
Oh and really good news!! my passport and visa will be sent to kates house via express mail tomorrow!! Hallulujah!
Thank you all for everything. I have the most amazing family in all the world, and the best friends anyone could ask for.

I love you all! Kate and I are going today to get a new camera so I can get pictures!

17 days!!!

So there are 17 days till I leave for Africa!!
I am so so excited. There has been a lot to do but luckily God gave me a pretty incredible sister that has calmed me down at anytime I start to loose my calm. Katie B you have been incredible! I don't know how many times I can say it but I would have no idea what to do without you!
Cousin party in three days!! Totally excited for that, cresent lake after that.
On the 22 (a sat) I am having a last night bbq at my parents house to say goodbye for real.

Love you all!!

Best Phx friends ever!

So I have some pretty amazing friends down south in the desert of Phx, but two girls especially are just my absolute favorites! Nicole and Michelle. They are both smart, beautiful, loving and a blast and a half to hang out with! So imagine my excitement when Nicole calls me and askes if she can come up for my birthday...umm yeah alright that works!! I was talking non stop about how excited I was to see her at the same time still talking to michelle just about normal life stuff, trying hard not to rub it in to hard that she can't come to. I never even asked, just assumed if she could have come she would have and I did not want to be the naggy friend, because she always talks about how busy and stressful life is.
well....on the night of my 21 (which was quite a party!!!) I realized oh no! I am late to go pick up nicole! so i run and grab my friend andrews hand while grabbing the keys off my brother, dogging my cousins who were confused where I was running and sprinted to the car yelling direction to andrew the whole way.
we get to the airport 20 minutes late (impressive driving andrew :) ) and there she is bags ready for some adventure (and cold of course, she is from the desert) so I rush out scream loudly like the girl I am, jump around a little, big hugs, but then i know the party is waiting so I rush grab her bag and tell her to hop in we gotta role. she stops me and was like wait (at this point I was like "what nicole there is a party just waiting for us!!") but then she said some of my favorite words i love to hear from other people about me ...I have a surprise for you!...awesome she had my attention in full.

As I then turn away from the car to look at what she is talking about I see michelle!!! I don't think say "freaking out" was words enough to describe the feeling of absolute shock, excitment, and overall devestation of all senses! I was one loudly happy girl!!
We partied all night, hung out and showed them portland all friday, camping on sat, and I just dropped them off at the airport..a girl could not ask for better friends. :)

Golden Birthday!!

Hey everyone so I just wanted to remind you about all the plans!! There is a slight change in that we are meeting at Claim Jumpers at 5:30 instead of 5. Just makes it easier for people to get there without stress. So CJ is just the family part and then afterwards we are all meeting at Henery's at 8-8:30. That is the part were a few more family members (people who can't make it to the dinner (patty anne) and such) and probably a few close friends. I don't know who all is going to show up because it is a thursday night. so excited to see everyone!
oh and i don't think my mom has sent out an email yet but nays birthday is on the sixteenth (sat) and she is having a bbq deal. alright love you all :)

and if you are worried about a present for her she likes anything pink, teenage, and girly.

love

job hunt

So yesterday was my last day of work! how exciting!! well today i was on the hunt for jobs...more like i woke up at ten and looked at craigslist for awhile. anyway i found some really fun jobs one example being a dounut sales women at a farmers market on the weekends! oh my gosh how fun!! i have an interview on thursday. another was a homeless shelter cooridinator in vancouver, and the last on i applied for was an activities director for a boys and girls club! could any of those jobs be any sweeter?? i think not

tattoos!!

so on tues i woke up and felt sick to my stomache...never good. then my dentist called and asked if i could come in (such a blessing because my insurance in over in a few days). So I was feeling really sick and when I got home my whole face was swollen from being drilled...and I had to go to work in a few hours...then not only moments later I started getting cramps and a headache....awsome.

anyway i could not be in more pain right? So what to do on such a seemingly terrible day?! call in sick and get a tattoo!

almost there....

three months and i am out...of a job! haha i am so excited! my favorite co-worker and i decided that we are going to quit the same day. we also decided that that gave us complete power. if we wanted we could be completely manupulative and say we are both quitting because of the same person...we had one in mind....and she would be toast!! muhahaha! (evil laugh) but then we decided that would probably not be very nice so we nixed they idea, but just knowing we had that kind of power has put a bounce in my step every since

waiting for my brothers

hmmm.....so I love my brothers, I do. However timeliness is not their spiritual gift to be sure. I am waiting oh so patiently for them to arrive at my door step so we can get this show on the road!!

Today my two older brothers and I are going to go and visit my favorite older sister (in laws discluded in this list of favorites) and my favorite brother in law! And bonus!!! Savannah!! I was so excited to be there for the birth of Savannah and the week after, and when I came home I was so incredibly sad to have to leave that precious baby. I don't know how it is possible to love someone so much! Anyway since we made the plans to go I have been just picturing savannah how she was when she was born, my sister Katie blew my mind when she said "kimberly, you are not even going to recognize her!" what? what I will not recognize the child that I have known since she took her first breath? so sufficiet to say I am so excited to have a whole long trip with my big brothers (whom I adore) hug my sissy, to be beat up by my brother in law (it just happens there is no getting around it) and to hold my baby!! This weekend is such a huge blessing.

Oh and just a little note for the people who may not know or realize how co-dependant we (we being anyone is Sara Middlebrooks life) are of my mom.

So I am at work taking a little break talking to all the girls at my work, they were asking me what I was going to do with my weekend off, and why I took thursday off

I answered "Oh I am going to phx! I am so excited!"
Friends replied "oh what time are you leaving thursday?"
My answer" um I don't know I can not get a hold of my mom"
Ok so this would probably like the girls at work make you role your eyes, ask me how old I was, and tell me to grow up. Well just wait!

So then the question came up "well your brothers are going, why don't you ask them?"
"yeah" I relplied "I did, they could not get a hold of her either"


hmmm you might ask, what did She do to her children? Or maybe rather just those people need to grow up. But if you really need to ask those question than you don't know my mom. She is able to jugle 100 peoples life in her head and still take a nap every day from 2-3. I don't know how she does it....superwomen I think and I will feel no shame for letting my very capable mother run my social life!

It has been awhile

So for all the things that I have not blogged about

Apt:
My room mate Ari is wonderful we both like to go out and have fun, so we have been on many an adventure. In actuality when I said "hey lets move out together"! I was half way joking but the next night she said oh guess what?! we are moving out....alright. So we did.
Our new apt is so super cute! I love it.

Job:
Still not my favorite but I have just decided to be excited when I work with my friend caitlyn and just deal with it when I am working with anyone else. This is a huge challenge for learing to love people who do not nessasarily love me back. Oh and I am looking for another one real soon. I turned in a resume at snap fitness, a really cute little gym.

Missions:
This is going to be a bit ambigius because I am not quite sure myself. I am still wanting to go but there is a lot of changes about times, dates, places....yikes!

Sugar: I am quitting sugar. Well I am quitting till March 12. I am goin to phx and I am accepting the fact that I will be the white friend of all my friends and family however since it is still winter here and I still have that holiday love I will be refusing sugar of all sorts so that I am not the double whamy of both white and chuby.

savannah update

so savannah is ok. i am sure there has been lots of emails and prayers sent out but I just wanted to get a little update out there so everyone can be assured that our newest addittion is safe and sound.
Well she is. Ok now that you know that she is ok....
savannah has a hole in her heart. This is very common the doctors say. The heart has four chambers and you can think of it as two sets. The set that is the concern are the bottom set. There is a wall between the two sets and that is where the hole is. It is a big enough hold to cause a heart murmer and maybe cause problems, but the really good news is that it is looking like it is already healing itself. The doctors are having the new family come in in six weeks, and until then get bi weekly updates from there pediatrition.
-her heart has not enlarged
- she has not lost more than the normal amount
- her breathing is not labored
and several other reason of why the doctors were not worried.
ok so worst case senerio is it does not heal itself is surgery. Which sounds scary. And it is except for how easy the doctor seemed it would be. In his words it would be "walk in the park". Very routine and very safe. now it would be open heart because her little body is to small any other way, but her doctor said afterwards everything would heal up and she would be ready for anything. when her nurse saw her she said she is going to grow up to be a little volleyball player (awsome!) ok keep her in her prayers and know that savannah joy is a trooper! (along with both of her very impressibly strong parents)

Savannah Joy is here!!

So to all the family in Portland I am sorry it has taken me this long. I have been meaning to write about our perfect new addition to our family but have not found the time.
Since I am tired and I am pretty sure she needs her aunt to hold her right now I am going to give you guys a few details then head to bed.

• the dogs have been great, not real interested. (just a side note I have been sleeping with the dogs and have not hated it...they are warm)
• Kate is just an amazing champ. She is a natural born mother, she is calm and loving to her precious new born. She has been so welcoming and loving to everyone around her even though I know she is wiped
• Matty has been great. Lets just say very very careful! It is so cute to see him watching people just to make sure his little girl is being handeled properly.
• Both my parents and matty's were heros, getting anything and everything that was needed.
• All of katies friends down here are awsome, they have taken good care of her and it is nice to know that when I leave she has as good as family down here watching out for them
• Daniel. matt's brother got into town a few hours ago after driving all the way from s. california by himself so he could get a few hours with savannah before leaving tomorrow morning
• Now some details about little savvy (her daddy does not like this nickname but i do...therefore i plan on making it stick.
• she is absolutely and without a doubt beautiful.
• she is so strong you guys! she lifts herself up and without making her sound possessed she bends her back so her head is inches from her bottom! it is so scary and just takes you off guard that the first time she did it i screamed which made several people in the room jump up.
• she is so small the only one premee (spelling?) outfit fits. Katie is very disappointed. :)
• There is lots more to tell but i will fill you guys in on it all later. love you

Noc shift....

So I am sitting at work and it is 1:45 am. I worked this double being assured that it was "gravy" in my boss's words. Hmm... I would like to hear an oxford definition for that term. I guess it can not be that bad because I am sitting here typing. But call lights have been going off like crazy. Yuck! Well I just keep telling myself three more days and then three weeks off! It is a mantra that is working quite well.

boy cousins

I was looking at my cousin pattys myspace and i saw a picture of all the boy cousins (a few of them missing) and I realized how lucky I am, well how lucky we all are in my family!

love you boys!!