Birthday Week!

Happy Birthday Week! Well, it's officially over actually. But here's a happy birthday shout-out to Paul, Megan, and Bethany! Birthday Week started back in 2009 when Paul and I, who both have birthdays on the 12th, decided to celebrate our birthdays with Bethany and Megs, whose birthday is on the 13th. What started as one day celebration turned into a week-long list of activities and the beginning of a beautiful friendship. :)



My birthday here was really laid back. I actually forgot about it and had invited some youth from my church to my house for dinner. But, Lisa reminded me the night before that maybe I wanted to have a special dinner with the Laffoons on my birthday. ha. Of course. So I rescheduled with my friends for later on.

Here's Charlie welcoming me to the Laffoons for my birthday dinner: enchiladas!

Luckily, Anna Marie had gone to the post office that day and found a letter for me.
It was my Hogwart's Acceptance Letter...I was pretty excited. :)

And then there was Jeremiah just being his usual cute self.

The kids made a sign for me. It was really cute.

Yay! Cheers for year 27!

27 seven candles looks really old when once they are on the cake. :(

Our big news from the past month was that Itunes is letting Malawi buy things now, so the Laffoons bought me a movie off Itunes. It was so nice of them.

However, the highlight of the night was Anna Marie.

She made me a 9 minute video montage of different Harry Potter characters...but the kicker is that she dressed up as each one of them! And they were GREAT costumes! In fact, I didn't recognize her as "Harry" when it first came up. It was incredible! I wish I had good enough internet to post it up here. She gives these hilarious responses as each character is interviewed about this last Harry Potter movie. 

It was perfect.

Then, later on in the week, we had a really cold day. It was actually really fun because Mzuzu was covered in a cloud most of the day. Here is what my backyard looked like:

It did make the spider webs look really cool though. I have SEVERAL of those around the outside of my house.

The foggy weather in the middle of winter made for a really cold day. And it was a wet cold. So, I built a fire and we huddled next to the space heaters. We did most of our school day by the fireplace. 

Then, my two new students were here on Friday. They brought me a present!! How sweet is that?! They gave me two little vases with artificial flowers in them. We played scrabble and just had the best time! They really opened up and were joking around with me. The oldest girl even wrote her story on "Why You Should Stay in Mzuzu." :) 

There names are Saba and Sheroze.

Friday night, I had the youth from my church over. It was the 3 pastor's kids and a girl visiting from Germany. We had such a wonderful time! I made mexican and 2 of them had never had it before, but they loved it. I had forgotten though how much I miss group fellowship with my peers. I really enjoyed spending time with them.

And of course, Anna Marie came over for our weekly movie/tv fest/sleepover. And they are always full of silliness, me saying really stupid/embarrassing things, giggling, and Chuck.

Gosh, I'm gonna miss that when I go.

The next morning, I went to a prison ministry fundraiser and had coffee and cake with some friends. I even met a young girl from Michigan who is going to join Anna Marie and I this Friday night for our sillyfest. 

But, later that night, one of the best things about the week happened. I got to watch Dustin, one of my very good friends, get married on live video feed!! I found out a few hours before it happened, that they were going to do a live stream online. Its a miracle my internet worked and actually let me stream the video. Afterwards, I got to see Bethany, Setnick, and even the bride and groom got to yell up at camera at me. It was the perfect end to birthday week.

I actually wrote a post a while ago about how I was really bummed that I was going to be missing this big event back home. Well, his wedding was the event, and God worked it out so that I didn't miss it!
-fistbumpwithGod-

It's kind of hard to believe my next birthday will be in America. 

-sigh-

Here's my last picture of Birthday Week 2011!
Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Happy "We Beat the British" Day!

The Laffoons and I celebrate the Fourth of July on Monday, which is just two days before Malawi's Independence Day which was on Wednesday. I'm sure people thought we got our dates mixed up and jumped the gun on partying, but whatev.


I was really excited about our celebration for two reasons:
1. We were grilling out!

 

2.  We were eating outside under the little hut thing. It has a name but I can't spell it. Phonetically its "Ron-dov-al".

We had chicken, baked beans, corn, and coleslaw. Deelish.

It was the first time we ate under the hut, which was a lot of fun. We made little paper lanterns (shout out to Tangled) which added a nice ambiance.

Then, Eric brought out some fireworks he had found at one of our grocery stores in town.

They may just look like this,...

...but they turned into this!

 

Okay, that's a lie. It really was just this:

And finally, Dessert. What else says 4th of July than dark chocolate mint brownies with mocha icing? It was a bit too sweet, so I probably won't make it again, but it was fun looking at least.

Hope you 4th of July was as fun as ours!

Okay, that's a little gross.

I'm a really firm believer in sharing funny embarrassing  stories about yourself. Not the Michael Scott ones that leave people cringing and feeling sorry that you lived through that ordeal, but ones where it leaves people laughing till they cry (or at least, you starting laughing so hard telling it that it makes them laugh at you). 

Because really, sometimes we need to share laughter with other people, even if it is at the expense of sharing embarrassing things we've done or situations we've been in. Just ask my friends, I have TONS of those stories.

So, in case you need a giggle today, I give you "My foot went in the toliet" story.

 

Yes, that is a picture of my toilet. And yes, that is my pee in the toilet. No, I don't know why I didn't flush my toilet right after using it. I was very rushed and didn't have the time. I had a cake in the oven, I was trying to get ready for our missionary dinner, and the Laffoons were on their way to pick me up...Whatever the reason, I didn't flush. 

Now, let me throw this in. I only have 2 mirrors in my house, both in my bathrooms. However, they only show from my chest up. I don't ever see from my bellybutton down. Well, sometimes, a girl just needs to see her outfit! I need to see if the shoes really do look okay! The only way I can accomplish this is if I stand with one foot on my toilet, and the other on my sink. A bit of a precarious standing situation, but it works nonetheless.

So, after quickly using the restroom, I threw the lid down, stood in my precarious stance to look at how my outfit looked. 

I was wearing these great boots I got in Spain back in January. They were my souvenir. They are just fantastic, and I don't get to wear them much. However, tonight I was hanging out with Mzungus, so I wore an outfit that matched, make-up, and I may have brushed my hair at some point that day. 

Well, as I'm standing on the lid all of a sudden my body just drops and there is a loud popping sound. 

I have shattered the lid to my toilet and my foot, boot and all are in the pee down in the toilet.  I don't know how I didn't bust my head open because I was basically doing a split in the air on two different surfaces of varying heights. But there it is. 

Of course I pulled it out as fast as I could and tried to clean my shoe off. I think I did a fairly decent job. They don't smell, so I thought that was a plus.  

The Laffoons showed up about 3.4 minutes later, but somehow I was ready to go. 

I have this really great goose-egg knot on my shin and bruise to remind me of my crazy antics. Anna Marie suggested I bring in a chair, stool, aka anything else into the bathroom to keep me from having to stand on the toilet.

And I say, why, when the toilet works perfectly?
Well, it did at least until yesterday.

Oh.My.Word.

This is how I'm feeling right now. Frustrated.

I know boys say this about us, but I sure don't get guys and the way they think.

But I really need for some guys (one in particular) to get it together and face reality.

This all started several months ago, when I met a kind, nice-looking, well-to-do, Malawian guy in the hotel where I go to get internet.

He was right, there was no one around to help him get his computer online, and I seemed to be able to get mine online, so, could I possibly help him and his friend?

Sure. No problem. I was a little stand-offish and not my normal effervescent personality and ask 20 questions. I've at least learned my lesson that much. Later, as they were leaving, they made a bit of small talk, and I sent them on their way.

No harm done right?

Okay, so I'm back at the hotel a couple of weeks later late at night doing my internet thing again. And who happens to be there? The computer fellow.

He does not get the clue this time that I do not want to talk. I try no eye contact, I try not answering questions, but this guy was persistent.

Finally, I decide just to leave. He decides he's gonna walk me to my car. Now, I wasn't getting the creepy vibe from him at all...just a persistent admirer it seemed. Then, of course, he wanted my phone number. I was straight up with him and told him no and that I'm not allowed to date while I"m here.

No that's not what he wants. Can we be friends please? He just wants a friend.

Uggh. It's late. I want to go home and this kid isn't taking no for an answer.
So, I do something that I have regretted ever since.
I give him my email address. What harm could that possibly do?

7 email novels later....
Yes.
Pages of affection for me. Hot girl, Baby, My Love, and Lauren-nectar are just a few of the new nicknames I've been bestowed. The language he uses sounds like a romance novel.

I was BLOWN away. Whoa. I'm not dealing with just anyone here. He also is apparently coming to the hotel now on a regular basis to wait for me.

Cue me not going to the hotel ever again.

I never respond to any of these emails. Ignore is all know to do.

Well, well, well.
Here we are today. And I get 15 missed phone calls from this number that keeps flashing* me. I call back. Oh.Em.Gee. ITS HIM!

Somehow, he's gotten my NUMBER!
I have to turn my phone off because he won't stop calling!

I go to tell Maggie about this, and she says, Let me take care of this.

She calls him and says, Who are you to my friend Lauren?  "She is my Darling" is the reply.
WHAT?! I was mouthing.

So Maggie gives him a very nice what-for. She tells him to stop bothering me and I'm not interested.
He demands to speak to me and I tell him the same thing. Its probably the harshest speech I've ever given a guy in my life. I was very blunt and honest. Stop calling. There is nothing between us.
He actually says, Okay.

10 Mins later...

He calls Maggie again and says, "Why are you jealous of mine and Lauren's relationship?"

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
WWWWWHHHHHYYYYYY!!!

As I'm sitting here, I've missed 2 new phone calls from him.
I'm dreading changing numbers with just 3 months left, but maybe that's what its going to take.

Oh goodness. I'm just completely out of words for this situation.
So, mom, if my phone is off tonight, you know why.





*Flashing: calling someone and hanging up after one ring. It lets the person know that you don't have enough credit to talk to them, so they need you to call them back and use your credit.