Tanzania (picture heavy)

Hey,
So I am back in the US. I have been so tired and overwhelmed, that I have been putting this post off. (not that I don't like rambling to myself, or you, but this is going to be a lengthy post.) Oh boy where to start. Well I guess it all starts with Boot camp. For more details on right before my trip, click me!

To start out my summer, on June 6^th I flew from the Minneapolis airport to the Orlando airport, where I would meet my team at The Lord’s Boot camp. The purpose of Boot camp is to train summer teams to go overseas as missionaries. The Boot camp days are pretty busy. Our team took several classes at boot camp, including, Cement, Music, Drama (I loved this class) Puppets, and Lay out.  Another thing we had to do as a team every morning was run the O.C.  I loved the O.C.  

Here my team is at our eating site at boot camp. I am in the maroon shirt looking at my hand in the middle of the picture.**

 My team stayed at Boot camp for a little over 2 weeks.  On June 25^th my team started the long trip to Tanzania. We flew from Orlando to D.C  to Addis Ababa Ethiopia to the Kilimanjaro Tanzania airport. It took about 2-3 days to get there.

Saying good bye to the American coast.

Tracking where our plane was.

My team and I first worked on the construction of a bible school. The Landscape was mostly corn fields and sunflower fields. Weather wise it was dry, and kinda warm.

Sunflower and Maize fields were everywhere.

The building we were working on.

It was hard work at the construction site. One thing we had to do was hall 5 gallon buckets of water 1\2 mile to where we were mixing cement.

Kilimanjaro from our first campsite.***

While we were at this site we were able to lead a 98 year old man who had 6 wives, and 38 kids, to Christ. We also got to give him a Swahili bible. This was so cool! 

A couple of kids came to see us work, this little girl like my hard hat.

 We stayed and worked on the school for a little over 2 weeks.

After that we got to back pack part way up Kilimanjaro. 

Selfie while backpacking up a mountain, isn't easy.

 While on the mountain we went door to door witnessing. This was fun, most of the people we visited were already believers, but we were able to offer encouragement to them.

After visiting this lady she walked with us to then end of the road. She reached out and held my hand.***

 The mountain was very green and jungly. 

the top of Jaro.**

It was also colder on the mountain. Several of my team mates bought extra blankets in town, but me being of the northern climates, handled the chilly weather pretty well I think. (At times I did huddle in my sleeping bag to keep warm. :P) 

*

We flew home through the same route that we had come to Tanzania. Once we touched down in Orlando my team went back to Boot camp, which had now been turned in to debrief, which lasted 5 days.  And then, on July 29 I flew home.  I had a great summer, sorry this post was long in the coming, I have been very busy since getting home. :)

*Most of these pictures were taken by my team mates, May, Natalia, and Caleb, Pictures with one * May took, ones with ** Caleb took, and ***  are ones Natalia took. If there are no stars I took them. 

TMI= "To Much Info" & "Teen Mission International"

Hey
So I know I have been talking about going on a trip for a while. And I have been fully meaning to do a post on it, well the day before I leave, today, I finally am sitting here to start writing about it.

TMI. This cracks me up like none other. TMI stands for To Much Information, or Teen Missions International. And I will tell you that Teen Mission International can sometimes be the other kind of TMI.

Anyways. My mom mentioned to me that maybe I should go on a mission trip this summer earlier this spring.

My sister Chantal went on a TMI mission trip exactly ten years ago. So I decided to look on their website, this was like the beginning of March. Now I will tell you when go to TMI's page and look at the trip list, you get overwhelmed, and you feel a large amount of greed and lust,

"I want to go on ALL of the these trips... How am I supposed to chose one..." okay check out the list, http://www.teenmissions.org/mission-trips/ pretty awesome right?



So because I was signing up kind of late I found a comment saying what teams still had Openings. Some of the options were

Malawi Aids Orphans
Uganda Children's Soccer
Kilimanjaro Backpack\Construction
Australia
Cambodia
And I think the Philippines
And somewhere in Central America.

So I looked through the trips that still had open spots, and started to weed through them. I ended up wanting to go on the Tanzania Kililmanjaro trip, (On the map above, Tanzania is on the mid eastern side of Africa, right below Uganda and right above Zambia. In the picture Tanzania is colored green.)
Emma's Trip Description

So I read through what we would be doing, construction, and drama. I love acting singing, bascally if I am performing I am happy. I wanted a trip that had a lot of acting, but I also wanted construction. I think the Kilimanjaro trip is the perfect balance.

So I signed up praying that I would raise enough money. It was a little stressful at first dew to the trip being full, but I was put on a waiting list and they got a spot for me.

So I mailed out letters, and talked to my church. I had roughly 2 months to raise $5,000.

The money actually came in without any stress, people were very, very, generous, and I am incredibly grateful to anyone that gave me money. So when the money started coming in it came to be more and more sure that I was going.

First I had to do some stressful Visa forums (we kinda forgot about it until the last minute. Overnight shipping is amazing stuff.)

And than I had to start buying everything I needed for the trip. Here is some of the big stuff:

5 gallion bucket,
Sleeping bag,
Sleeping mat,
Camera
Framing Square

Before go any further let me explain my trip a little better.

First I will fly to Orlando, where I will stay at the TMI base, at the Lord's Boot Camp, and be trained to do what I will be doing in country.

Than I will fly with my team, to Washington DC, have a 9 hour lay over, Than I will fly to Addis Ababa Ethiopia, have at least a 12 hour lay over, than I will fly too the airport in Moshi Tanzania. After about 4 weeks working, and witnessing, I will fly back, through the same route, back to Orlando for a 4-5 day debrief before being sent back.

Alright lets talk about boot camp.  

Every morning at 5:00 am my team and I will have to run the Obstacle Course. I am actually really excited about this. I think it looks like so much fun. Here is a video of the O.C. It looks like blast!

I am really excited about the obstacle course. I think I already said that.

Through out the course of my trip I have to memorize 40 verses. I have around 20-25 of them memorized already.

Here is the schedule for boot camp. I am part of group C, 09 K

Emma's Boot Camp Schedule

I get at least 10 hours of acting classes! I am so excited!

After 2 1\2 weeks of Boot Camp. I will fly to Tanzania.

While I am there I will be building something (TMI has not told me yet) at the TMI base in Moshi Tanzania. After we have completed our project time, we will be back packing up Mount Kilimanjaro to witnness to mountainside villages using puppets, videos, singing, and acting.

After completing my trip, I will fly back to Orlando for 4-5 days of quote "fun" debrief. I will be back on July 29.

I am so excited about flying tomorrow!

So Good Bye, I will see you in 2 months!

Emma




 

BFF'S

Hey
so I don't think I would get very far in this blog before I would mention my three best friends. I have been friends with these girls, well I don't remember how long.... Our mom's were friends before I was even born, so we were sort of guaranteed friends.



So to start oldest to youngest we will start with Gemma (I personally like to tease and her call her Gemima which she doesn't appreciate)


That is Jake she is holding who is a very sweet dog. The thing about Gemma is that she is a kind of weird funny. She doesn't try to be funny, she just says stuff that cracks us all up. she is super sweet, has a beautiful voice and all around is a blast. Plus she is really easy tease. And she has a drivers license that really helps get us girls around to do stuff.



So this is Cecilia (who I normally call Cil.) Who is holding Chief their cute black lab puppy. Cil is crazy tall, when we were younger we always wanted to be taller than everyone else, well Cil beat us all. and it's still a hard spot for Gemma. :P Cil is has an awesome laugh. It's so loud I can't help but laugh when she does. She also loves to taking pictures (most of the ones on this post she took) so most pictures of us together Cil is taking them. She has a huge black monster of a camera, that I would have absolutely no idea how to use. And she was so sweet and cornrowed my hair for my trip (more on that in the next post)



Last but not least is Gianna. In this picture with their pony Rose. Gianna is so funny. She just makes me laugh, she says things that are so true, and so funny. She has beautiful hair, and normally wins our tanning competition because of her darker complexion. She loves 1D and really gets into the fan girling over them. (which I do in secret when my mom isn't watching. Hehe)



Just so you know we were dressing up here for fun, I don't normally wear a black sequin dress.... just saying.

The girls were over last night to say goodbye (more on that later) and I realized just how close we had become in the last year. We went through a couple of months where we didn't really hang out. Than we started going to movies together, our friendship has grown so much in the last year, I felt like crying when we said goodbye. :(

So, thanks girls for being awesome friends! I miss you guys already!

Emma

Maxi Dresses & the Perfect Wallet

Hey,
So I know I have voiced in other posts how much I love maxi dresses\skirts.

Well it's time to dedicate a post to them. This post will mostly be pictures of my maxi dresses.

This was the first maxi I ever owned. It was a gift from my brother-in-law for watching his kids. (He didn't need to pay me. but I was sure glad when he did!) Although I don't wear it as much since I have different maxi dresses that I like more, I still like because it was from Titus (my brother in law) and it was what set off my maxi love.

This is my second maxi. I just got it this past spring and it is one of my favorites. The style is just awesome. 

My third maxi. That I love so much. It's so simple, but the color is so rich.... I just really love it. 

And here is my favorite maxi dress. The colors, everything I can't even say how much I love it. 

This last skirt I just bought for my mission trip for church. I wanted a maxi one because it would cover up the ugly construction boots, I have to wear all the time. I love the zig zags and the peachy orange is so pretty. 

So because of my mission trip I am not really spending money on anything but stuff for it. Well Tessa and I were walking through the mall and we stepped into claire's. And I found the most beautiful wallet. I was made to use this wallet. 

Okay Amazing right? So I was in love with this wallet. But it was 12.00 dollars. To much for a poor missionary. So I made myself walk away, which was difficult. So I walked away and I have continued to think about it for almost two weeks. I did need a new wallet. (I am constantly losing money) But I am not spending money so I wasn't going to buy it. 

But than a game change happened. I was doing dishes in that back at work not a week from last Saturday, when my boss came up to me and handed me a laminated piece of paper. Apparently I am one of the top ten employees at Dondons from the last 6 months. (Exciting right?) And taped to the back was a 10 dollar gift certificate to anywhere I chose. Guess what I was going to buy?

So to wallet lust and to show my girlfriends, I googled the wallet. I found it on the Claire's website. But it said that the product was no longer available. I was horrified. But I knew that our Claire's had had a couple so I prayed (literally) that they would still have them. So after a week and a half of worry that they would be gone, I went to Claire's today and they had ton left still. The girl said they hadn't sold a single one since I had come in. All the worry for nothing. The camera batteries are dead, otherwise I would post pictures of it. I love it so much. I can't get over it. 

So to start out each week I am going to list random stuff I've been thinking about. 

Random Stuff

My Wallet I am in love with it.

Mission Trip I am so ready to go! I can't wait!

Nephews My nephew was here to stay for a week and a half. We had so much fun!

Up North For Memorial day my sister, mom, and I, are all going to see the great lakes. I am very excited!

That is all I have to say, and my mom is yelling to get on Facebook, so I better go. 

Emma

English Tour Buses

So I work every Saturday. Normally nothing that exciting happens. Sometimes I will get some crabby person yell at me, or maybe my friends will surprise me and come in. But than occasionally something exciting will happen. But before I launch into a story, I need to define 'exciting' when you work in fast food. Anything out of the usual grind is exciting. Once I was so bored that I jumped out the 2nd drive through window and ran around the back and crawled through the first window. It gave me a breef feeling of excitement, and a little rebellious, ( not that rebellious, one of the GM (general mangers) was sitting on the curb watching me. Luckily Brooks, is a lot of fun so he didn't say anything.) but real excitement is when you don't do something to make it exciting. It just happens, that's when it's fun.

So, getting back to the story, I work every Saturday. I usually work 11:00-7:00, but recently one of my coworkers quit, so I now I have been working his shift, 8:30-4:00.
I barely know the breakfast menu. But luckily the breakfast menu is a lot easier than the lunch menu.

I got to work last Saturday a little early, checked my make up and than clocked in. My boss was super nice ( he is always super nice) knowing that I didn't really know the breakfast menu, and showed me where everything was on the computer screen. From than on it was pretty normal. (which basically means selling gallons of coffee to all the old people.)

Around nine my boss took me and the other girl working and started explaining a bus that was coming.

"We have a bus coming around ten or ten thirty." Buses are fast food workers nightmare. 20-25 people dropped at your feet hungry and wanting orders taken all at the same time.

"I think it's the English Tour Bus that comes through every year around this time." 

"Some things to keep in mind is that they have different meaning for things. If they order a biscuit you have to ask if they want a biscuit or a cookie. And they don't drink any flavorings in their Lattes. They drink them plain."

Sure enough around 10:15 a whole bus load of English people were dropped at our feet.

For the most part nothing that strange happened. It was interesting to hear their accents. They were easy to understand.
But still some confusion happened with a man. It was about flavorings in a Latte.

"And do you want any flavorings in your Latte?" I asked

"I don't understand. I just want a coffee Latte. That's all I want." What was increasingly funny about this was that he couldn't understand me. He kept asking me what I was saying. I talk really fast, so I try to slow down at work.

"Well your friends all got theirs plain. Would you like me to do just that?" Looking befuddled he said yes. Once everyone had had their orders taken, I went to go help the runners (the people who put all the food on the trays.) It was maybe ten minutes later that one of the runners handed out a bag of food to the bus driver, yelling the contents. Almost instantly the Latte man and his wife started muttering and looking at their receipt.

"That was our meal."
"This is a stupid system"
"It doesn't work"

We quickly fixed the order but I think those English people still thought "it was a stupid system" it made me laugh. They seemed to fit the English stereotype of thinking they can do everything better than Americans. It was just to funny.

Emma

Random things & ideas

Hi,
I would introduce myself, but the name of my blog kinda gives away the thunder of my name. I'm Emma.
You know I have tried to have a lot of blogs. They were pretty weird (and random) subjects. I hardly ever posted and the only person who ever read them was my sister, but some times I even had doubts about her.

But I find myself, writing up in my head, tutorials, and funny blog posts. Why do I take the time up in my head if I am not going to use them?

Well that's why I decided to try again. It's An Emma Thing, is exactly that. Emma things. Things I like, think, and do.

Sound boring? I hope not. Lets start with some facts about me:

• I am 15.
• I am a girl.
• I live in the USA
• I work at Mcdonalds (I usually call it Dondons so try to track with me when I do)   
• I like clothes
• I like makeup
• And yes I do like boys
• I am a 1D fan
• I want to be an actress
• I am a Christian
• I love singing (Especially 'Let it Go' from Frozen. Ask my family, mention those three words and they will kill you. I think I kind of burned them out on it.)
• I like mermaids (I am even at this moment listening to the 3rd season H2O: Just Add Water soundtrack. Ehem. And notice the scale pattern on the edge of my blog?)
• I am a Vegetarian 
• I <3 animals ( I am actually taking care of a disabled Mourning Dove right now)
• I am homeschooled

I better stop otherwise there wont be anything for me write about in the future (gasp) wouldn't that be sad?
So to start off the week  let me review some random things that have been catching my attention the past week or day, or whatever.

Random Stuff
Chic For some reason this word has been going through my head all day.
Beach Romances Maybe it's because I just read a Sarah Dessen book, but it seems to be rolling through my head.
Models and Spies I just watched Miss Congeniality 1 & 2. Need I say more?
SpiderMan I just saw it in the theater.
Maxi Dresses These dresses are my passion. I love them so much.
Mission Trip I am going to Tanzania this summer for a mission trip. It's always in my head.

Well I think I will keep it short for my first post.

Have fun and eat more Kale.

Emma