In an attempt to prepare for this blog post I scanned my journal, scouring for some good writing material to share with you all. The pages were bursting with bullet point lists, too many drawings, quotes, and the rare paragraph, all filled with my memories made here in Guatemala. I did not know where to start with sharing this information and although incorporating artwork into my blog would be totally fabulous, I do not think a blog post consisting solely of doodles would suffice. So we will start with bullet point lists. Roughly 65.2% of my lists are titled “Thankful’s”. My “ Thankful’s” are simply long lists filled with all the things in my life that I am thankful for. In the next couple of week I will be saying goodbye to Guatemala and heading to Malaysia. Looking through my journal entries was such a fun little walk down memory lane. I have chosen to consolidate those cute little list into one big list of all of my favorite ‘Thankfuls’ from my time here. For each bullet point i have included descriptions for my ’thanksfuls’ to give you insight into my reasoning behind my thankfulness.
(note: these are bullet points taken directly from my journal for months 1-3 of the WorldRace, Guatemala. #Authentic)
So without further adieu….
Thankful’s:
-yummy food (This was written the very day I realized that rice and beans would be a staple at, without fail, nearly every meal. And as you may know, from reading my last blog, I still, to this day, have yet to grow tired of rice and beans. I am so so thankful to have those foods to the nourishment of my body. While I will be the first to admit that I sometimes dream of pizza and Chinese food, I truly do love our Guatemalan meals like crazy and they will be dearly missed when it comes time to leave.)
-Antigua (A beautiful city just 45 minutes away from us here in Xenacoj, we have gone there most weekends for a nice ‘lil getaway. It such an adorable & intriguing little city; I’m in love. These weekend trips include restaurants that have easy flushing toilets-Praise!, drinks with ice, photo adventures around the town, watching the sunset behind majestically beautiful volcanos, etc. Basically I have experienced some of the most incredible and memorable things on my days off with some of closest friends.)
-rain on a tin roof (Amongst the chaos and noise of my own thoughts, along with the chaos and noise of the 21 other people I am living with, nothing is better than the calming sound of rain hitting a tin roof. When I get home from the race i have decided that I am going to personally extract the roof off of my room and replace it with a sheet of tin. I fully understand that this plan is not exactly practical, but necessary for my sanity nonetheless.)
-Y’all (I have never before, in my whole life, said y’all in 100% serious, no joke intended way, until the world race. I am slightly ashamed to admit that it now has a somewhat stable place in my vocabulary. Thankful for my fabulous southern squad mates.)
-a door on the bathroom (this was written on the day that we finally got a door on our bathroom here at the house. If you do not already appreciate having a properly enclosed place to shower, pee, and do other things then I strongly encourage that you begin appreciating immediately. I know that i most certainly took nice bathrooms for granted back home…never again.)
-hot showers (I have only had four freezing showers since being here and that is something that I am eternally grateful for.)
-playing ‘sticks’ (The card game ’spoons’ but with little twiggy sticks instead of spoons. Splinters were had by all.)
-coffee (I was not, even a little bit, a coffee person pre-race. Dang you, Guatemala for initiating that addiction. But also thank you, Guatemala for opening my eyes to the little piece of heaven that is coffee.)
-beautiful eyes on beautiful people (These 21 people I am lucky enough to do life with, mentioned earlier, have some of the most amazing eyes I have ever witnessed. Their eyes are fascinating, not only for the way they look, but for the way they see the world. I am beyond obsessed with my crew’s beautiful eyes and the even more beautiful minds behind them.)
-wet hair from the rain (Loved the rainy rainy season here. Beyond thankful for the week long down pours filled with rainy wet adventures.)
-Ice cream (I, no doubt, ate way too much ice cream these past couple of months. No regrets.)
-foggy mornings (Self explanatory. Fog is a surefire way God reveals himself on this earth. My goodness…fog, sunrises, forest filled hills, stars, oceans, lakes, volcanos, all of these breathtaking creations. God is so good.)
-chocobananos (I had never, before Guatemala, eaten a chocolate covered banana. As you may know I am now completely obsessed with them and and I fully plan on opening a frozen banana stand in the reasonably near future.)
-worship (I absolutely love worshiping the Lord through music. All of us sitting on the deck of our new Guatemalan home, feet dangling off of the edge, singing our praises to God under the freshly exposed stars. All of the other nights had been so cloudy which made this one of the most memorable worship sessions of the race so far.)
-the smiles and laughter of those around me (Forever thankful for the joyful, goofy, crazy, encouraging, spontaneous, lively people I am surrounded by.)
-full & messy room (It is crazy living with 13 other girls but I wouldn’t trade them, or this community living, for anything. P.S. My views on this might change after a few more months pass.)
-Grace playing the Ukulele (Grace is a lovely musician/artist on my team who goes around singing beautiful songs. I will never get tired of it.)
Some of my favorite songs Grace plays & sings…
-”My soul longs for you” by Jesus Culture
– Anything by John Mayer
-”Baby” by Justin Bieber (Acoustic version of course)— Don’t be too quick to judge this song choice, she plays it in a way that will completely change your views on Biebs.
-”Fill Me Up” by Will Reagan And United Pursuit
-”Riptide” by Vance Joy
-my family (Being separated from my family for this long had made me realize how much I truly love and appreciate them. It is sad to see that it took thousands of miles between us for me to realize how great they really are. I am, however, so very thankful for the distance between us opening my eyes to what a wonderful family I have been blessed with. I love them so abundantly.)
-John Mayer (Fave.)
-peanut butter (Duh)…(Just so you know, peanut butter, in small foreign villages, is absolutely impossible to get ahold of. I will let you know that the first few weeks here, sans peanut butter, were quite the struggle to say the least. Side note: my favorite kind is Jiff’s Extra Crunchy.)
-my buddies (These people I am surrounded by day in and day out are so much more than just teammates. They are brothers and sisters in Christ. I am so thankful for their presence in my life.)
-early mornings (I am the complete opposite of a morning person. A couple weeks ago, however, I went through a very short lived phase of trying to shift over from lover-of-sleeping-in to lover-of-mornings. Needless to say that this transition was a total bust. While these very few early mornings were enjoyed I have gone back to being a non-morning person and plan on retesting out this whole ‘mornings are great’ thing at a later date. Stay tuned.)
-Pumpkin spice candle (One of our squad leaders bought us a pumpkin spice candle which is incredible because my favorite flavor/scent is Thanksgiving, and pumpkin spice is a little sneak peak into the impeccable scent that is Thanksgiving. And yes, in case you were wondering, it is entirely possible for a holiday to be its own scent/flavor.)
-the kids at Ayapan (Ayapan is a nearby village we visit to play with and teach the children. I am abundantly thankful for the love and joy that those precious little souls bring to my life. I learn more from them than I could have ever possibly imagined I would.)
{There is one little boy who has worn the exact same shirt every single day since we first visited there, and I have never so much as glanced in his direction without him proudly flashing a huge smile across his face.}
{There are these two sisters, neither over the age of eight, that do not own shoes. Day in and day out they walk through mud, tough rocks, and fields of trash completely barefoot. These two girls, regardless of their lack of shoes and broken toenails, display such an abundance of love for each other.}
-alternative thanksgiving (our whole crew is participating in Thanksgiving today. We are creating a feast including Kraft mac and cheese, store bought pumpkin pie (lame, I know, but assumably delicious nonetheless), grilled chicken (a chicken killed by a guy on our crew), some green bean casserole and much much more. Let it be noted that I am currently eating leftover Chinese rice and a cup of lukewarm coffee for breakfast on this Thanksgiving (thankful for this breakfast.). I am very excited to see how baking (rolls, cookies, cake etc.) will workout considering you cannot regulate the temperature on the only oven we have here. Regardless of how good the food will or will not be, I have no doubt that today will be so very memorable. Our little makeshift Thanksgiving in Guatemala. The idea of the holidays away from home is scary & sad, but I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have this day any other way.)
Happy thanksgiving.
