a weekend in raleigh

"delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." -Psalm 37:4

have i mentioned that i have the most awesome roommate? well guess what - as the saying goes: the apple doesnt fall far from the tree. not only is stacie great/awesome/wonderful, but her family is THE BOMB. this past weekend, on friday, my parents visited and we all went out for dinner and cupcakes together.

for dinner, we tried out a little diner called, 'the diner,' in downtown raleigh - i know, so original. but my food was delicious and the milkshakes were even better!

im thinking this should be hung in saylor's room.

awesome mommas.

after dinner, we went to steph's favorite dessert place around the corner: the cupcake shoppe.

stacie and i were VERY excited about our cupcakes!

i got a red velvet (no surprise).




renate and stacie enjoyed a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting mmmmm

danny was also loving his red velvet.

YAY for cupcakes and family and raleigh!

syd and her cookies and cream cupcake.

cutie pie lindsey!

had to get one of these.

later that weekend, on sunday, stacie and i met up with some of our favorite people for a girls night spaghetti dinner party. thanks to janel and dennette, we had a lovely dinner with DE-licious food. i probably could've continued eating all night long.

*dont worry girls, ive already finished the leftover brownies yall sent home with me.

group pic! and im especially loving the cityscape in the background. :) love you girls!



this must happen on a regular basis, please.

home sweet home

"by wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches." -Proverbs 24:3-4

many of you having been asking for pictures of my new house in raleigh - well, i finally got around to it and im ready to share my new home sweet home with you. :)

here is the kitchen - my favorite part is definitely the chalkboard wall.





the dining room.

the sitting room - not quite finished yet.



the hallway to the living room.

the living room - we currently have our tv in front of the fireplace because we havent gotten something to hang it in the corner yet. but its totally working for us!

we are also waiting on fabric to come in to re-cover that chair with. its the cutest fabric with little dragonflies on it!

the stairs to the second floor...

my room!





the guest room.

stacie's office.

back downstairs! the laundry room.

the room to the garage.

our garage!

our awesome backyard!




well thats about it! and i give all decorating props to my roomie, stacie snipes - shes pretty much awesome and she did an amazing job with the entire house!

now you MUST come visit us!

hay un amigo en mi

saturday, august 7th: san salvador, el salvador

"in everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'it is more blessed to give than to receive." -Acts 20:35

we arrived back in san salvador late friday night. after a good nights rest, we were up the next morning and on the vans to the volcano. on our way up the mountain we saw many el salvadorans selling things like fruits, vegetables, and clothing. when we arrived to our destination, there was a small market in the street.



soon we were hiking up to the top of the trail.

along the way, there was a beautiful heart made of foliage.

dad and i stopped for a photo op. :)

at the top, we could see the entire volcano and where it had erupted.

here is a closer look at where the volcano erupted. in the middle, the words "E.S. para Jesus" are written - el salvador for Jesus! how awesome.

while we were up there, we spent some time taking pictures before it started raining. here is eric secrist, me, caleb norton, & yan sim - my late night hang out buddies.

they have actually decided to start a band and this will be the cover of their album.

dad, rene mejia & rene gonzalez.

dad and aunt connie - sibling love <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-4zKmhuZyybIqT57q7Mqz2ko5p1VZO042qJuWH04KCsnOAifBNTB0ybmaUIHWMNWmMLweKgU28TdfhEMK8WGq2CBMAbJ-DtQGbIRanxZaPkfiuzuT019p5p9cHPaC5ovqiwWCnztp/s1600/DSC_4038.JPG">here i am with all of the translators/my amazing el salvadoran family! love you all so much!

renecito with his daddy.

the beautiful alicia with her mom.

the peck family.

carlos, cody, & diego, looking so nice in their flowers.

once it started raining, everyone took cover. it didnt last long though.

taylor moser & larry causey in their matching rain gear.



dad and dr. wade in deep conversation, as usual.

my beautiful marce!

the girls.

my el salvadoran sister! love you gabi!

after visiting the volcano, we left to go to lunch at a nearby restaurant.

here is the view from our seats on the porch.





there were coca-colas to drink

and cheese dip for appetizers.

to pass the time, we played with baby alicia.





andrea ward and david friedman decided to spend their free time dancing. i love it



finally the food arrived - chicken, beans, bananas, lime, & cheese. mmmm

after lunch, some of the team went to the local market to pick up some souvenirs.





for dinner that night, the entire team met up with many of our translators and friends from the past week. we ate dinner...



sang songs...

and celebrated the birth of lindsey peck. :)





and then it was time for a group pic! first, the GHO team.

then an attempt at everybody!

of course its pablo!

ana moran, dad, & me.

DIEGO! miss you bff

the eye glass clinic! go team!

me, eu & dad.

some crazy boys with a crazy flash happenstance on my camera.

majo & me.

dad & jamie campbell.

cara, KJ, cody, meghan, & me.

love you ana!

later that night, some of the translators came to our hotel and hung out. after they left, some of the younger, crazier people, stayed up all night before leaving for the airport. im pretty sure i only got about 15 minutes of sleep that night, but it was all worth it in the end!

I LOVE EL SALVADOR! and i cant wait to be back in ... less than a year! (ive started the countdown already)

mis amigos salvadorenos querido el: gracias por una semana increible. te has convertido en mi segunda familia y me encanta todos, muchas gracias. Estoy orando por ti y pensando en ti todos los dias.