More cakes

I did this cake for my friend Canada's birthday last Sunday.

This was for a friend's mom's birthday yesterday.

A Hooding

Since the hooding ceremony is all about the hood we thought that we should get a good picture of them. This is Abby, Joe, Jesse, and me.

Apparently something was funny.

Here is another group shot. This time with Kot instead of Jesse. We never did manage to get everybody together for a big group picture. Those dern missions students...they're just too social.

I don't wanna grow up...

The children's zoo was lots of fun, Mostly for the fun picture opportunities that it provided...

They had a birds next so we could see what it feels like to be a bird.
Brittany makes a pretty butterfly...don't ya think?
She also is pretty good at swimming like a turtle. Unfortunately my batteries died so we missed out on several good pictures. Oh well, maybe we will do those next time we go.

Da Bronx Zoo

Thursday my friend, Brittany and I spent the day at the most amazing zoo I've ever seen. I pictured the Bronx zoo to be pretty sad. I mean, how much of a zoo can you have in NYC. Well, a whole lot of one apparently. Usually the zoo kind of makes me sad for the animals but I loved everything about this one. Most of the animals were free roaming and the ones that weren't had so much room that they did not even realize that they were caged in.

I think this guy was the grandpa of the group. At one point one of the females came over and sat on the rock above him eating. He just reached up without even looking and grabbed the limb that she was eating off of. That is what you see in front of him. She just looked at him but did not do anything. He looked up as if to say, "what are you going to do about it?" It was hilarious. I think we could have stayed in there all day watching them.
This one liked to pose for us. I think he thought we were the ones in the zoo for him to watch.
I took this from the "Skyfari" which is like the sky buckets at six flags. You can see the city in the background. It is amazing that all of this land is in the middle of the Bronx.
Another favorite part was the sea lions. We timed it so we could see them eat. They did some fun tricks and we found out that they liked yellow shirts. There were some school children there who had on bright yellow shirts and they would follow them around the whole pool. Brittany and I decided that next time we need to wear yellow shirts as well.
They also had a butterfly garden. It was basically a garden in a green house with tons of butterflies everywhere. It was beautiful...I could have stayed in there for a good part of the day if it wasn't so hot.

We took some fun pictures in the children's zoo that I will put in my next post.

My Newest Cake Creation

This is a practice run for my friend's wedding cake. The wedding is in June so I am just practicing now. This is my first test run. The couple will see it tonight and we'll see if that is what they want to go with or try something else. Of course it did not turn out quite like I had in my head but I don't think it looks bad for a practice run. I have a few things in my head that I would do differently next time...but that's what practice is for.

This is thier invitation where I got the inspiration for the design of the cake.

Well Crap

I got my days mixed up so I will not be able to attend the New Kids on the Block concert at the Today show...but, I'll be watching it as I babysit. Oh well...It's kind of nice to know that I could drive down there if I didn't have to work...or maybe its just more frustrating. I'm not sure.

Even when everybody else forgets.....

I'll still love NKOTB(That's New Kids on The Block for all you old folks..ha ha)! That's the promise that my cousin Kristie and I made to eachother as we drove away from the Civic Center in Birmingham after the concert of the year(maybe our life up to that point). I'm not sure if she remembers it or not but I sure do. Ok, so I am just as guilty of forgetting about them as everybody else is. I no longer sleep on NKOTB sheets or have the curtains. But, I might have the dolls packed up somewhere and I am pretty sure I still have a hot pink hat somewhere with thier name on it. It's been a long time since I thought about them. Well, there was that summer at shocco where we watched all thier videos and marveled at the fact that we still remembered every word and even some of the dance steps.
Anyway, they are going to be on the Today show on Thursday and I just happen to be off on that day. Am I just crazy enough to make the trip down there before dawn in order to get a look at thier new moves? I'm not sure yet but I must admit I am seriously considering it after watching this video http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20199413,00.html.
So, If I do decide to brave the today show crowds I will let you know! Stay tuned. Don't be too dissapointed if I don't get to go though. I do have to close the night before so I will get no sleep. Ugh...is it worth it though? Yes, I know...I'm a little crazy but I have fun!

Random update

I went to Birmingham a couple of weekends ago for Melissa's wedding but I did not take a lot of pictures at the wedding. I guess I was too busy being a bridesmaid. Anyway the few I did take were of the cute kids. How photogenic is Eli? He loves his Miss Ree. I got to see all the other Safe Harbor kids too but I don't have pictures with them. (Shana, did you ever retrieve yours?)

Introducing Micah Joy Waller. This was the first time I got to meet her. She is cute as can me. She even cooperated with me for some precious pictures. I got some cute smiles(even if it was just gas).

Last night we had the bi-annual AGSM Baci ceremony at Dr. Bailey's house. This is kind of our unoffical graduation. Above is the cake I baked for the event. It's been awhile since I have had time to decorate so I was rather excited to get back into decorating!

This is Dr. Bailey explaining the meaning behind the Baci ceremony. It is basically a blessing ceremony that they do in Laos where Dr. Bailey was a missionary. I don't have a picture of him blessing me because it was rather crowded but if I come accross one I will post it. Being here at ATS has really taught me the power of blessing people. I hope it is something that I carry with me from now on.

Do I really deserve a Master's Degree?

Ok, so maybe the title is a little harsh on myself but it is how I am feeling at the moment. I am in the middle of trying to study for my comps which are on Tuesday. This is basically the biggest test that I have ever had to take. At least that is how I feel right now. How I do on this test determines if I get to graduate or not. It will consist of 4 essays that I will have about 2 hours per essay to write. I basically have to explain everything that I have learned in the past 4 semesters. Let me tell ya, its a lot of info. Sadly, I must not have been paying very close attention in some of my classes because I'm having a hard time remembering everything. First of all, I do not study very well. And secondly, I am feeling very ADD and overwhelmed. I am not even sure where to begin and how to go about studying for this. I have gotten some great encouragement and advice from friends who have already taken it but the main problem is I just can't focus. Anyway...there is my rant for today. With all of that said, please pray for me between now and Tuesday the 15th at 4:00 when it will all be over with. Pray that I can focus and that I can somehow organize it all in my head in a logical manner so that I will be able to spit it back out coherently on Tuesday.

Just a few more pictures

Chris loves being silly and the characters at the Disney store on 5th Avenue gave provided much amusement.
Gotta have the classic Time Square shot!

And the three of us in Time Square!

The Millers Last Day in NYC

I think Chris would have spent the entire day in the Museum of Natural History. I was pretty relieved at lunch when Lacy suggested that he just pick out a few things that he wanted to see the most. Chris has always been fasicnated by the giant squid so he was pretty excited to be this close to one(well a statue of one anyway)
I think Lacy's favorite part was the dinosour fossils. They were pretty awesome!
Central park is one of my favorite parts of the city so I always enjoy showing it to people. We got an added bonus when we realized that this is the exact part that they filmed part of Enchated in.
Chris found his long lost relatives in FAO Swartz.
The girls had to stop in at Tiffany's to look at the rings.

The Millers in NYC Day 3

I think Chris and Lacy can pretty much have fun where ever they are. This is Chris being the NBC peacock at the NBC store in Rockefeller center.
In the time that I thought we would walk around all of Time Square we actually only got as far as the Toy's R Us.
When in the Time Square Toys R Us you have to ride the cartoon ferris wheel!
We ate dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner where the servers sing. Cherry the waitress was "Hopelessly Devoted" to Chris. She sang the entire song to Chris.
We ended the day by going to The Little Mermaid. It's Disney's newest broadway musical. It was a lot of fun and the actors were wonderful. Especially the little boy who played flounder. His voice was AMAZING.

The Millers in New York Days 1 and 2

On monday we just hung round Nyack and went to eat with a couple of my friends at one of my favorite places. The picture above is along the Hudson River in Nyack. (Look familiar Aunt Patty and Uncle Cal?)
On Tuesday we started off at the Statue of Liberty. After waiting in line for a couple of hours we finally made it over to see Lady Liberty up close and personal. Next, we headed up to Little Italy for lunch and canolis from Ferrara's Bakery!
After Lacy bought a purse and Chris bought some candy in Chinatown we had dinner in the village at Benny's Burito's. It was still a little early so we went to the Empire State Building but decided not to go up after seeing the long line. We finished off the day by watching Enchanted that takes place in NYC.

10 facts about me

HERE'S HOW YOU PLAY. ONCE YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED YOU HAVE TO WRITE A BLOG OF TEN WEIRD, RANDOM THINGS, FACTS OR HABITS ABOUT YOURSELF. AT THE END, YOU CHOOSE TEN PEOPLE TO BE TAGGED, LISTING THEIR NAMES AND WHY YOU CHOSE THEM TO BE TAGGED. DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE THEM A COMMENT "YOU'RE IT" AND TO READ YOUR BLOG. YOU CAN'T TAG THE PERSON WHO TAGGED YOU. SINCE YOU CAN'T TAG THAT PERSON BACK, LET HIM OR HER KNOW WHEN YOU'VE POSTED YOUR BLOG SO HE OR SHE CAN READ YOUR ANSWERS.

1. I never do these survey things but I haven't blogged in awhile so I thought this would be a
good way of doing it. I do enjoy reading them when other people do them though.
2. I LOVE Musical Theater. Ok, maybe that isn't random or wierd but it's true. I actually went
to see Spring Awakening BY MYSELF last week. When I listen to show tunes I can't help but
be happy.
3. I think I am somwhere in between an introvert and an extrovert. I love being by myself but
I process better by talking with other people.
4. I'm rather obessed with cake decorating right now. I'm never happy with the outcome of my
cakes though. My roommate says it's because I compare them to the professional ones that I
spend hours looking at online. That's pretty true.
5. I'm a perfectionist but you would never think that about me because I tend to give up b/c I
know that things aren't going to turn out perfectly so why try.
6. I almost did not go to my Senior prom...but my brother, who was a freshman, had a date to
my senior prom a month before it. I did go...I just did not decide to go till the day before
and my date took me and 2 other girls.
7. I have been on 5 of the 7 continents...but I plan to go to South America one day. Not so sure I
will make it to Antartica.
8. I love High School Musical! That's right...I said it. I actually have HSM 2 on my ipod and I
know all the songs. Anybody want to go when HSM 3 when it comes out in the theaters?
9. I hate dating...I have never been out on a second date. What is the point in a second date
when you know after the first one that there is no way you are going to marry the person.
10. I am pretty content where ever I am but I really hate it when I have miss out on events
when all of my family or friends are together.

So, there you go...I hope they were interesting enough. I'm not tagging anybody but i will say that it was kind of fun so you should do it.

Nothing exciting

There is nothing very exciting going on right now so I thought that I would just take this opportunity to update everybody on what is coming up in my life over the next few months and answer some questions that I have been getting from people. Here is a list of a few things you might or might not be interested in knowing.

1. It has been a very slow start to my last semester of seminary. I have not had any
motivation. All I have wanted to do is lay in my bed and watch t.v. and movies. Thankfully,
I seem to be back to normal and I have actually already written one paper today and half of
another one! I'll have it finished before the end of the day.
2. Due to the above noted lack of motivation I have had to ask for an extension on a paper for
the first time in my life.
3. My comprehensive exam is April 15th and I get a sick feeling in my stomach every time I
think about it. This pretty much says if I graduate or not.
4. Susan is coming to NYC in a couple of weeks which means that we get to have a playdate in
the city one day while she is here!
5. Chris and Lacy are coming to visit for Spring Break. I can't wait to show them around.
Showing people New York City for the first time is like seeing it for the first time yourself. I
know they are going to love it. And, I actually get to see a show that I haven't seen yet so
that is way exciting!
6. I will be moving back to Alabama in May and I have no idea what I will be doing. I have to
pay off my school loans before I can go overseas with the CMA. I need a high paying, low
stress job that will enable me to pay back all my loans rather quickly. Anybody have any
ideas?
7. I'm excited about all the new babies that I will get to play with when I come home. As well as
all of my babies that aren't babies anymore.
8. No, 2 years of seminary did not provide any prospective husbands for me so there is no need
to ask. That is not what I came here for so I am ok with that. Someone will come along in
God's timing and at peace with that...now I just have to get everybody else that cares about
me to be at peace with that as well.
9. I have made some really wonderful friends here and I am going to be sad to leave them.
10. There are still so many places to go and shows to see in the city. Unfortunately that takes
time and money...two things I don't have much of. Oh well...I am very fortunate to have
been able to do everything that I have already done so I will just remember that.
11. I'm going on our Graduate School of Mission winter retreat this weekend so maybe next
week I will have some fun pictures to show. I am really looking forward to spending some
quality time with God and seeing what he is going to do this weekend.

Go Big Blue!

This was by far the most fun I've ever had watching a Super Bowl. Of course, I'm sure it has something to do with having a home team to root for. I was up screaming at the end like an Alabama game. Too bad I have class on Tuesday Afternoon when they are having a parade and celebration for the Giants' Homecoming.
Of course, I had to make a cake for the occasion. Ignore the toothpicks in it. I promise I took them out before taking it to the party.

A taste of The Ivory Coast

Here are just a few pictures from my recent trip to Abidjan, Ivory Coast. I was there for a class on African Theology. It was great to actually learn from an African about African Theology. We also interviewed and visited lots of different churches over the 2 weeks. I loved being there and I was pretty content to stay but it made me miss Senegal. I had my favorite, Fanta Cocktail! But, I was very dissapointed that there was no ataya(or however you spell that). I don't have alot of pictures because I plan on just getting everybody elses. Once I get the rest of the pictures I will put some more on here for your viewing pleasure.

This was the building we stayed in for the 2 weeks that we were there. The accomidations were fabulous. A lot better than I expected. I think the mattress was actually better than the mattress that ATS provided for me.














This is the actual Seminary building. The round part that you see in the middle is where we ate all our meals. I never get tired of eating outside. It was great. The food was wonderful too. There wasn't a meal that I did not like. Our chefs were Raymond and Natalie. They have worked with a lot of missionaries over the years so they know how to cook for our weak American stomachs. I was very thankful for that.




This is a market I stole a picture of while we were in a church across the street. It smelled like fish...can't you just smell it now.



















This is Lindesy and me when the day started. We were on our way to an interview with a church. We were all smiles and excited to see what the day would bring.













About 30 minutes later we were stuck in traffic because they closed a road for the President to come through town. We were rather warm and a little delirious by this time.

















We all got dresses made by the Academic Dean's wife. We were all very pleased with the results! I had not planned on getting a dress made but I am glad that I did. After we had payed for them we found out that the Dean and his wife were trying to figure out how they were going to pay for thier son's tuition for school. It turned out that they made just enough from making our dresses to pay for his tuition.






I drank Fanta Cocktail every chance I got. I even brought two of these bottles home. Sadly, in my jet lagged stupor, I dropped one of them as soon as I got home. They were the only thing I upacked for several days. The bottle that was left lasted for about a week. Of course I had to share it with a couple of people because I think everyone sould experience the yumminess of Fanta Cocktail. By the time we left I had the whole group drinking them. I really don't understand why we don't have this flavor in the U.S. Maybe we should start a pettition.

Back to Africa

Not really much to blog about today but my next one should be pretty good. I didn't take too many pictures while I was home for Christmas so nothing fun to show. It was good to see everyone that I got to see while I was home. For those of you that I didn't get to see I hope to see you soon after I move back home in May.
For those of you who don't know, I am leaving tomorrow to go to Abidjan, Cote D' Ivore for 2 weeks. I will be taking an African Theology class at a Seminary there. I'm not really sure how much internet access we will have while we are there so don't expect to hear anything from me. I'll blog with some pictures as soon as I can when I get back.

Katie and I went to Andrew Peterson's Behold The Lamb of God last night. It was the most amazing Christmas program I have ever been to, and yet, it was the simplest. All it is is about 13 musicians on the stage singing songs that tell the story of Christ's birth. It starts in the Old Testament and ends with the birth of Jesus in 12 songs. Andrew Peterson wrote these songs when he was in college and has been traveling around doing this for the past 7 years I think. Each year he has a couple of special guests and this year it is Bebo Norman and Sara Groves. They aren't what makes this so wonderful though. It is so focused on God that you really forget about who is singing and you find yourself enthralled with this wonderful story that you have heard a hundred times. It is coming to Alabama Monday, December 10th in Huntsville and Tuesday, December 11th in Birmingham. Yeah, I know it is short notice but I think that everybody in the area should go. Katie and I drove an hour to see it and it was well worth it. Even for those of you in Talladega...GO TO BIRMINGHAM!!!!!! It will be worth it. It is very inexpensive. I tried to put a video on here but I am not that fancy yet so go to this link and see a video of one of my favorite songs. There are many other videos to check out too. I can not express enough how everybody should see this show. It reminds us why we even celebrate to begin with. It is not about presents, Christmas trees, and pretty decorations. It is about remembering the day that our savior came into this world to die for our sins so we did not have to.