18 July, 2008

Ten things I am thankful for and am fully enjoying:

Comfortable beds with nice linens
Hot showers-at any time!
Internet-to stay in touch
Constant, reliable electricity
Clean tap water
Music
Nice roads
Rest
Freedoms in America
Efficiency of doing laundry-never thought I’d take joy in washing clothes

Nine foods I am enjoying:

Sonic – Happy Hour ½ price drinks (love the ice)
Penne Rustica from Macaroni Grill
Sam’s Hot Dogs
Coke Zero
Mexican
Variety of cheeses
Boneless, skinless (featherless) chicken
Chinese Buffet
(if I don’t stop-Nutrisystem will be on the list!)

Eight acts of kindness from others:
Places to stay
Cars to borrow
Camps for girls to attend
Grandma and Cousins to love on the girls for an extra week
Old Fashioned Pounding
Friends who listen to us ramble about Nigeria
Emails, support, and encouragement
Visit from friends who ‘understand’ why we miss our other home

Seven foods I miss:

Pounded yam and red stew
Suya
Hummus
Schwarmas
Mangos
Avocados
Jollof Rice

Six songs I’ve been listening to lately:

Indescribable
We’re Really Not That Different
Rains Down in Africa (OLD song by Toto, but I DO miss those rains!)
My Next Thirty Years
Whatever It Takes
Someday We’ll Know

Five things I miss:

Friends-oh, how I miss them!!
Busyness
The Railroad
Glass bottles of Coke
The rains

Four things I wonder:

Will we be able to save enough money for Lauren (and me) to return to Nigeria for her graduation in May?
Will I ever feel settled here in the States?
How high will gas prices rise?
What job will I have in the future?

Three BIG things we need to purchase (after the house):

Beds for everyone
Refrigerator
Cars

Two things I have (re)learned these past two months:

Patience IS a virtue.
Relationships are more important than things.

One thing I most look forward to:

Moving into our own house

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

MRS. PARKER!
OMG, do you know how much we miss you?
How's life in the States?
Mattie, all the 'lunch girlz' still love ya and we miss ya.
Sarah Tait is gonna be part of our 'lunch clique'.
And Colin will go to the banquet with Sarah. Naomi, Annabelle says hi and she misses you. I do, too. Okay, she's moaning right now. We miss ya'll!

Unknown said...

hey...
rains down in africa, there is a new version by karl wolf, he is lebanese he had a concert here on the 5th... he even has the same song but a remix named lebanon

Lorri said...

Julie...great to hear from you...I check your blog each day! Happy to hear how you are settling in and what's going on in your heart. Love, Lorri

The Black Family said...

We loved our visit. Just sharing, listening, remembering, and knowing that you heard and understood our hearts is worth a million bucks. We love you guys and would love for you to come this way sometime. Our drive through NM was just like the drive from Abuja to Jos and we were all reminiscing about the most beautiful place we've ever lived!

Love you all!
The Blacks

I put some pics on our blogspot.

*Heather said...

Totally lost it on the featherless chicken and nutrisystem! You are too funny! :) Glad you are enjoying being back. :)

Sarah said...

You had Coke in glass bottles? Lucky you...

Think of you often and hope things are re-adjusting smoothly.

Hugs.
Sarah