Adios, Holly

On May 23^rd, after a joyful celebration at the Mak House and tearful goodbyes in the apartment and at the bus station, Holly moved back to Texas. It was a really hard goodbye, after sharing a room for the past four months and living life together here. Holly is one of the sweetest, gentlest people I know, and I learned a lot about humility and serving others from her. We miss her soooo much!

These are some pics from Holly’s goodbye dinner. Check previous posts for more pictures of our adventures together!

Worship Team

Not having a musical outlet in my life has been the most frustrating part of living here for me. Well, that is no longer the case! I recently joined the worship team at New Life Church, an English-speaking church in Sosua. I sort of joined on a whim – Dustin, who leads worship, said, “So when are you going to sing with us?” And I said, “Um, how’s next week?” So now I am playing keyboard and singing with four guys. Yes, for those of you who have analyzed the gender distribution of chapel bands, I am the token girl. But I play keyboard, so it’s a little better… Let me tell you, this band has been a stream in the desert for me, and the guys I play with are great! I leave rehearsals and church feeling refreshed and fulfilled. Music is POWERFUL! Because of how much I am encouraged by being in the worship band (and because we have met some wonderful people there), Lauren has agreed with me that we should call New Life our church home – she’s such a good, loving, supportive roommate!

The Bible is full of commands to "sing a new song" to the Lord, to sing joyfully, to sing God's praises, to declare his love and goodness in song, to proclaim - when you sing, other people hear you! May God always fill my heart and mouth with new songs of praise. May he truly be my song.

The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. Exodus 15:2 (Also Isaiah 12:2)

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Psalm 40:3a (read the whole chapter - it's one of my favorites!)

Blenders

I have never really appreciated blenders as much as I do now. We bought a blender in the fall, and it has become a staple appliance in our kitchen! This week I used it every day, some days twice! The thing is, it's so hot here, anything you can make with ice in it is wonderful! My favorite thing about the blender, however: you can run a blender off two car batteries (our inverter). Also, the blender uses more power than the washing machine. Food for thought, or a picture of the ridiculousness that is Dominican washers!

So, for your reading pleasure, here are our favorite things to make in our blender:

FRAPPUCCINOS! These trump everything else. I could have a frappuccino every day (maybe I will this summer, hmm...). Frozen coffee (it takes some forethought), milk, hot chocolate powder, and a dash of hazelnut creamer.

Smoothies. A close second to the frappuccino. Frozen fruit - usually strawberries - and yogurt. Plain and simple. Sometimes we add a little vanilla whey protein powder.

Hummus! Yep, that's right. We eat hummus in the DR! At least once every two weeks we have hummus wraps with fresh veggies. Mmm! Our hummus recipe: 1 can of chickpeas/garbanzos, 1 clove of garlic, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup lime juice (they don't have lemons here). We also make black bean hummus.

"Frostys" Milk, ice, and hot chocolate powder. It ends up a little thinner than a real Frosty, but still delicious! A good option for when we didn't plan and don't have any frozen coffee.

Lately, thanks to Katy, frozen Chai tea lattes! (Think Caribou style.) This is like a frappe, but with chai mix, milk, and ice. Mmm good.

Please send me any delicious recipes or food ideas that you like to make in your blender!