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sarakristen
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Name: sarakristen
Interests: Xanga
Expertise: Kristen could talk her way out of a paper bag, Sara could decorate the hell out of a paper bag.
Occupation: If we told you we'd have to ki
Message: message me
Member Since:
5/29/2006
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| Kristen, well done on the update. I have been feeling pretty guilty about not getting you all caught up on what's happening here. As K mentioned, Chris is here and it is so fun and exciting to be together in the big city of DC. He's hitting up the museums today while I am at work with Brandon, who while somehow in charge of the entire house, manages to have all the time in the world to explore and lay around (that was yesterdays activities). Tonight we are planning to see the monuments at night and have dinner somewhere fun before heading back to College Park.
Tomorrow is Pirate day, where we celebrate the new release of the Pirates of the Carribean as Kristen touched on in her update. WE are currently seraching for eye patches and attire to wear to the theaters. There is talk of going dancing later in the evening, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Saturday will be fun. Chris and Kristen and I are going to the Holaucaust museum in the afternoon and then later in the evening Chris and I are going with Lea to the Nationals baseball game. So fun and a recent development!
There are more picutres to update and hopefully we can get those to you guys soon.
Being home for Bonnie's wedding was wonderful! I miss you all so much and had such a great time being with the girls, seeing roommates, and dancing the night away! I can't wait to come back to COMO! | | |
| I'm sitting at my cubicle attempting to write this so I apologize in advance if I have to cut it short. The first great news is that Sara's wonderful boyfriend is here in D.C. with us! Chris will be here until Saturday and it thrills Sara and myself that we get to hang out with him...hey Jaeger, you're great.
The weekend flew by and since we didn't have to work on Monday or Tuesday, I feel like the week is flying be even faster. The 4th of July was a great day but strangely enough--considering that we're in the Capitol City--it didn't really seem that much like the 4th. That's probably because we didn't choose to spend it at the national mall like most people in D.C. probably would. We went there for awhile during the day but then it started to thunder storm so we headed back to College Park. A group of us went to Annapolis (the same house Sara was at a few weeks ago when I was in Missouri) and just hung out together. Our friend Emily's brother was in town who graced us with his guitar skills so we spent a lot of time sitting around making requests and just singing. Anyone who knows me knows I love to sing...although I do not have the voice for it. There were a few fireworks out above the water but not anything too extravagant. All in all, it was a good day of fellowship.
This weekend we plan on having a "pirate day" to celebrate the sequel of Pirates of the Caribbean coming out in the theatre. This may involve a little dinner and some pirate dancing--more details to come later. It is amazing that I have only known the people here for 4 weeks and I feel like they know me so well and vice versa. Perhaps this is what happens when people take the time to really discover who someone is. I know I'm not here to make best friends but rather to learn how to love others and walk through life fully engaging myself with people and with God--but the friendships I've made are definitely a bonus to that.
On a side note, although I'm not a huge fan of giving capitol tours, I do get to meet a lot of awesome people. I mentioned the muslim girls last week and yesterday I gave a tour to a family of 9. They had seven kids, six of which were adopted (all boys). The lady and her husband adopted two sets of 3 brothers and I was so encouraged by that. I have such a desire to adopt someday and although it may be a difficult journey, I get to see some of the fruits of adoption when I hung out with that family yesterday.
I will try to write again soon..
Kristen | | |
| Sara successfully made it back to Co-Mo (hey boo if you read this!!!) I got her to the airport and made it home and back to bed all before 6:30 am. Sweetness. Work went really well today. I don't know if I've said this or not but one of my duties is to give capitol tours to constituents of our district. Two girls in this study abroad program from Indonesia who currently live in Alabama were in D.C. They have taken a year off from high school, are both 18 yrs.old, and moved to a foreign country which is very impressive to me. Anyways, we got to talking and had an amazing conversation. They both had two of the sweetest hearts and it amazed me how much we could relate when they live on the other side of the world. Actually, it really made me miss Thailand. These girls are Muslim and they were telling me how much it hurts them to see how we Americans mispercieve Islam all because of a few radicals. I think it was completely relavant to what I've been learning about trying to really know people and not assume they are one way or the other because these young women were wonderful and I definitely had a connection--if only for a small time--with them. Likewise, I never want people to get the wrong idea about Jesus because of how we portray him to others.
Tonight was the Congressional baseball game which was a blast. It was a bunch of reps and a few senators who have this annual baseball game at the Nationals stadium which is pretty hyped up. I basically felt like I was at a pro baseball game with fewer fans and really crappy players (at least compared to major leagues.) The competition is democrats versus republicans and when I left at the end of the 5th inning, the republicans were killing the dems 10-1 which I guess happens every year. Five of the men who live at c-street were in the game so it was fun to actually know people and be able to cheer them on. Our Columbia congressman Kenny Hulshof also played and he actually was really good. He wore a Mizzou jersey...yah!!! On the way home my friends convinced me to play the ipod game were they picked a song and i would sing it at the top of my lungs. Oh yeah, did I mention we were on a crowded metro? If people wouldn't have been laughing along with me, it may have been the most embarassing thing ever. I was in the front of the metro car standing up and did a 1/2 hour production for the passengers. When I exited the metro, I was given a huge applause. I hope to post some pics of the event later. It's always a joy to make other people laugh...seriously nothing better.
Tomorrow morning we have a few leadership seminars and then maybe a museum visit or two? Oh yeah, here are a few pics from the wedding.
Kristen
http://community.webshots.com/album/551830269tYoRXS | | |
| Although I was sad to leave D.C., the wedding was amazing and now I’m back! I feel like the week is flying by but probably because I got in late on Monday night. My flight was delayed due to the crazy weather in the Washington area (floods, floods and more floods.) While I was gone parts of the metro even closed. Sara was gracious enough to pick me up at 11:40 p.m. in Baltimore so it was a long night. I had an interesting conversation with a Mormon on the flight and the coolest thing was that I hardly spoke and instead just listened to him. That’s definitely something huge that I’m learning how to do this summer…listen. I know there’s nothing wrong with talking and people have always told me that they enjoy the way I love to share my thoughts. However, the more I crave to love people, the more I desire just to listen to them and know their hearts. I seriously want to know why people are who they are, what life experiences have shaped them into that, and what their goals and dreams are. A few weeks ago a wonderful man named Dick Foth spoke to us about how to love others. He said the first step was simply to know them. Not surface know, but actually know who they are. Without knowing someone well, it’s nearly impossible to love them with depth. Therefore, I’ve been attempting to really listen to people and engage them with questions that allow me to see into their heart. Furthermore, Marty Sherman talked with us last night about having a fractured heart and how damaging it can be in a marriage. A fractured heart is a result of painful experiences from the past or present which haven’t been dealt with or even acknowledged which could include abusive relationships, guilt, or anything remotely out of line with what’s good for our hearts. If we don’t go through the healing process and instead live in denial, it will surely affect our interactions with friends, family, and spouses. Therefore, it is so crucial that we allow healing to occur in order to give and receive love. I could write a lot more but I’ve got to give Sara a ride to the airport at 5:45am.
I did want to mention how cool lunch was on Tuesday. I got to serve at c-street for an annual ambassadors luncheon where several country’s ambassadors were present including Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan, Algeria, Armenia, Egypt, Belarus, Mongolia, Latvia, and Moldova. It excites me to know that these country’s representatives are able to have lunch in an intimate setting that gives them the freedom to set aside politics and just be with each other, people relating with people. Hopefully relationships like this will lead to cultures understanding each other which would ultimately lead to a peaceful world. I mean why is there so much conflict? Because different countries don’t talk out their issues basically…so this ambassador’s luncheon is a wonderful beginning.
Also on Tuesday, I went to a lecture for interns given by Ralph Nader…kinda crazy but you gotta hand it to the man—he has a lot of passion for his beliefs. He discussed a lot of interesting things but I won’t go into that here. I’ll try to keep updating you all. Hope everyone is having a wonderful night.
Kristen
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