Officially legal...

So i turned 21 over the weekend (on saturday), and I was a little nervous as to how the weekend would go. I feel that often 21st birthdays turn into this mega push to be completely out of control drunk, and I'm just not that into the whole alcohol thing. It was also a little hard to tell how pushy the girls I'm here with were going to be about the issue, but it was actually a really great weekend! Everyone was really cool. We went out Friday night at midnight for a few drinks downtown, then saturday we went on a really long hike about an hour outside of town, which was probably my ideal way of spending my birthday...outdoors in Alaska.

The hike was beautiful. The tundra is finally turning a little bit green, and there are several varieties of wild flower blooming now. We saw a falcon's nest that had 3 or 4 chicks in it under a bridge, and I got one really good shot of one of the baby birds. Saturday night we went to a barbeque that one of our friends was having, and the girls made me a "Better than Sex" cake (their name for it, not mine) which was full of chocolate, toffee, fudge, and delicious icing. It was so good! Our friend grilled chicken and vegetables for us, which was awesome. It was such a comfort to have normal food. It reminded me of home. Then, Sunday I just spent time writing letters to different people and getting caught up on rest.

I have struggled lately with not being surrounded by my Christian community. I know that probably sounds weird to some of you, and I am really enjoying the friends I have made up here. I just feel like I am having to work a lot harder to stay excited and renewed in my faith life. It's definitely not a bad thing because the Lord has used this time to show me how much I rely on the faith community I have in Clemson as my way of being a follower of Christ. Here I don't have that buffer and that easy-out. I actually have to put action behind my words. It is really cool how the Lord has responded, though, to my prayers about this. I had a really awesome conversation last night with my boyfriend who just gave me so much encouragement. I left that conversation feeling refreshed in faith. It is amazing how much of a difference it makes to be able to bounce ideas off other believers or have a really good conversation about what the Lord is doing. He answers when you ask. I am still going to keep looking for ways to live out my faith. I have to be creative and really listen to what He is asking of me while I'm here.

The kids were totally crazy today. We had two new kids and three new helpers so it was just a bit chaotic...ok a lot chaotic. But they are still so cute! We had a total of 32 children in one multi-purpose room. We made apple smiles for snack (apple slices with peanut butter on them and a few mini-marshmallows for teeth) which were a hit. I also recieved a home-made bracelet from one of the little girls in my group. She is so awesome...she lost a tooth one day in class, had a nose-bleed the next day in class, and never missed a beat. I love this job. The only thing I wish were different is that we are never able to give any one child our full attention. I wish we were able to spend one-on-one time with these kids. A lot of them have behavioral issues, but it stems from really bad home lives. When you sit down and talk with them one-on-one they are the sweetest kids with the best personalities. They just crave attention and crave love. It gets frustrating when there are so many of them and so little time.