Ballerinas, Fried Oreos, and Nose Rings

Today. Was. Awesome.

Well... it didn't start out amazing - I didn't get to surf :(

BUT it was fine because I got to sleep in until 7 and I had raisin toast for breakfast. AND I got to skype with my daddy for a while! And Aaron! AND my mom, too! It was amazing! I love talking with all of them SO much!

After my skyping dates I had assessments, then about a 2 hour break. So, during that time I applied for college! Well...I tried. I'm about 98% finished. It was super weird having to put down on paper (well...my generation's version of paper is the internet) everything you've ever done in your life that might even sound impressive to someone. Under the community service and volunteering part I basically wanted to say, "I just volunteer at my church ALL the time, okay?!" But...I couldn't. :)

Then I went and ate a salad for lunch while sitting on the steps outside. Today was incredibly hot and sunny and delicious. After lunch I found a few minutes to sit by myself and listen to John Mayer while just soaking up the sun...however, when you live with 30 missionaries it's hard to sit on the steps alone in the sun with your eyes closed because automatically everyone thinks you're having a bad day so they all come and try to cheer you up...it's sweet...yet annoying. :)So, I only got through about 3/4 of a song, but it was a nice little escape.

After a few meetings I stole another 30 minutes to take a quick nap. When I woke up it was soooooo hard to muster up the energy to go hang out with 10-15 year olds but somehow God energized me...well, at least enough to roll out of bed.

This week in Youth Street Dance Team we learned modern dance...and oh my goodness...I've found my heart's song. It was delicious - literally, I felt like my soul could soar. We all learned some rough choreography and then performed it by ourselves. However, I made everyone in my class close their eyes when it was my time to perform so I could have real freedom to move - heaven.

After about an hour of dance we all went outside to eat apples! And then I came back inside and found out that Emily really wanted to be a part of the dance team but we had too many members so I switched with her so she could learn at least the last half of the class.

I spent the next hour cutting about 55 apples and talking with Laura and Josh which was fabulous. I love conversation, so much.

For dinner we had Sloppy Joes but Emily and I made egg whites with tomatoes and onions as well as some green beans so we could avoid eating our weight in oil :)

After youth street was over I went and helped Josh out in the kitchen and he taught me how to make homemade FROM SCRATCH apple sauce!! It was awesome! We just hung out in the kitchen for like an hour making apple sauce and apple cobbler while everyone else was in a meeting that we probably should have attended. But, it was great getting to know him - I've technically known him for 2 months but I didn't really even know his last name! :)

After eating some cobbler I went upstairs for a massage...let me explain: As a fundraiser for our outreach a few girls were giving massages. So, I bought a 10 minute massage for five dollars, and it was SO worth it! It was full on, too! Complete with candles, ambiance music, comfy mattresses, and even massage oil! Definitely worth it.

I went downstairs, fully relaxed, and found out that they were having a "Deep Fried Party" where basically they were deep frying everything in sight. They basically shoved a deep fried oreo in my face...so I HAAAAD to swallow it ;) and it was DELICIOUS.

And then....the best part of my day happened....maybe even the best part of my week....even my month maybe!!! I went upstairs to the dance studio, locked the door, plugged in an ipod, and danced with God. Seriously, it was INCREDIBLE! I danced wildly, softly, weirdly, and completely unashamed. It was the most free I've felt since I've been here. For an entire song I closed my eyes and moved for Jesus as an act of worship and intimacy. It was addicting! I didn't ever want to stop! But, after about 45 minutes of constant cardio I had to cool down. So I just laid there listening to music, stretching, talking to God, listening, smiling, feeling, and being. I can't believe I've missed out on this my whole life!

One of the things I've most regretted about my life is not getting into dance as a little girl. I've always always always wanted to be a ballerina, when I was little I had this one dance move that I always did and I still remember how it made me feel. I would always spin around (gracefully, of course) and then put both hands on the ground while lifting my back leg as high into the air as I could. Looking back it was so awkward and clumsy looking; but, as a little girl it made me feel like I was the tallest, most beautiful, eye-catching, heart-captivating, graceful ballerina that ever lived. I was just sure that I made up the move and when people would see it they would want to ask me how they could ever learn how to be so graceful too.

And that's how I felt again tonight. I felt like God was watching me dance all by myself in the upstairs room of a brick building in Sydney Australia thinking, "how graceful and beautiful you are - thank you for dancing for me, it's the best gift you could ever give me."

Ohhh I think I could write for hours about how wonderful and spiritual it was - but I think two paragraphs is enough for right now. :)

Then I had a shower date with Laura and talked about what love is and if we really know or not. I won't tell you what we came up with, it's a secret.

After my shower I skyped with my mom before she had to head over to the arena for Women of Faith - she's awesome. And beautiful. And in love with God. And in love with me. I would be so incredibly happy if I ended up like her one day.

Now I think I am going to head to bed even though it's our weekend and I guess I could stay up all night! But, sleep is one of my favorite things in the world, so I think I'm going to go enjoy that now.

Oh, another thing I realized today: I liked my nose ring. I have a stud in my nose and a month or two ago I bought a ring to put in, and I LOVED it. But, my family said they liked the stud better...and if I'm being completely honest I really changed it back to the stud because Kev said he liked it more. But, you know what?! I liked the ring more!! And, I think I'm going to put it back in!! But...I'm nervous, because it's a lot smaller in width than my stud so last time I put it in the hole shrank so when I tried to put my stud back in I basically had to re-pierce it....and it wasn't comfortable.

Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that I'm taking yet another step closer to having a completely firm foundation on God alone without looking to my sides for approval. And I think that my nose ring is going to be a statement of that - along with the tattoo I'm getting. (I just gave you a HUGE hint as to what it is!!)

Isn't it weird that different things have so many vastly different meanings for people? Who would ever ever ever think that a nose ring could really mean anything to anyone more than just a fashion statement. And I would NEVER think that it actually was a statement about God...I mean hello...it's a nose ring...only Satan wears nose rings, right? ;)

Well, I have no real idea why I said all of that - but then again, sometimes I think that a lot about my blogs. But, then I remember that this is also kind of serving as my journal for these months while I'm here. One day I'm even going to print them all out and bind them into a book! And, in my book I want it to talk about nose rings and tattoos...so, that's what I'm writing about! :)

Alright...I'm done! I will blog again tomorrow! I think LaChelle and I are going to Hillsong so I'm sure I'll have a lot to blog about!

G'Night!