My Hair... oh what a process!! :)

The Long And Arduous Process.... that is my hair :)

Pre-DTS: Nice and brown.... untouched by purple/pink :)

Pre DTS: Oops! How did THAT happen?! :) Purple hair turned fushia... twice!
Albania: I had my hair braided on outreach by one of our wonderful Carribean YWAMers! It took a little over 2 hours to do it all!

Just before coming home, I hair-sprayed my hair red... BIG mistake... the red didn't come out for weeks because I couldn't get it out with braids.

Post DTS:Wow! Poof-mama! It took two hours to take all this hair out of the braids, and it felt really strange to scratch my head again!

Wow! I actually washed my hair... :( After 3 1/2 months of no shampoo or conditioner, I finally gave in... that silly red stuff just would not come out!!

Home now....

I've been meaning to send out one of those “I’m home” email... due to a variety of excuses both creative and lame, I haven’t gotten around to it. I have to say though, it is fun to surprise people and say "I'm home!!" but maybe our flourishing "grapevine" in my community isn't the BEST way to get the news across :) Re-adjusting is going okay... somehow though, I've managed to make myself extremely busy once again- but I'm trying hard not to continue... today I stayed in bed until 1!!! After experiencing "delayed-jetlag" (probably due to the fact that I have only gone to bed before 12 once since coming home), I decided I needed it. Actually, the general consensus around these parts is shock at how good I'm doing... not much culture shock. lol... maybe that means I'm "cut-out-for-it" as Mom said, but I like to think it's the grace of God (really it's that either way). I am realizing how much of a sacrifice it's going to be to keep up on my relationships- both with God and DTS friends... I'm afraid both have kind of been put on the "I'm-tired-and-can't-be-bothered" back burner. Accountability, anyone?!? – Definitely a hard thing about not living in that tight Holmsted Community! Well, this was a bit over a one-liner, and definitely not as long as it should be, but oh well! :) God bless!!

A few Musings from Finland

So I've been thinking about how small this world is- It's so weird to think that a friend from DTS is home in hot, HOT Hawaii, and I'm here in snowy Finland, when just a few days ago we were together in mediocre rainy weather!! :) (okay, maybe not that bad....) Here at Iina's house in Finland, there's not as much as I expected, but still- snow is snow.... and it seems to keep snowing, but only enough to keep it on the ground and about a foot high maybe.... well, maybe a foot and a half...
Iina's family is so nice - she has older siblings, but only her mother and father live with her. Her Mom speaks some English and is ADORABLE when she uses it.... such a thick accent! lol....and her Dad can say "Hello" and that's about it :) So far, I've learned a few words, and, apparently, have a gift for repeating words just like they're said to me - one of the funniest instances of this was when we sat down to dinner and I asked what the Finnish word was for what we were eating (it was like casserole) and when the response was "Makaroonilaatikko" I repeated it perfectly on my first try - which prompted lots of laughs and shock..... :) It's a lot of fun!
Yesterday we went to the capital of Helsinki - I saw the ocean; frozen!!!! (well, the sea anyhow...) It was soooo sooooo cold there- there's a lot of wind that comes off the sea. But it was fun- we went shopping, and I actually got something! :)
I'm here in Finland until the 5th of March... so I'm sure I will have lots more to write about soon.
I'm still not sure of my plans for when I go back to England... I have a few invitations and ideas, but they all take money and they would all probably be fun (oh such a dilemma, I have to chose from too many wonderful things! lol.... I really am so blessed!). I need to decide soon though! Welcome to semi-adulthood, LeAnna!
Here's a thought to leave you on.... at what point to people become adults? In Finland, the idea is apparently much, much different than the US, and it's been the topic of Iina and I's closest thing to an argument! Wow... interesting. I would love to hear any musings on this!