Habitat for Humanity Volunteer Recap

This past weekend, I participated in a volunteer effort coordinated by Habitat for Humanity with my mother and my exchange student, Kim. We arrived at the location (near Hwy 175 & Rochester Park in South Dallas) at 8am. The assignment was to paint the exterior of a house from top to bottom. It wasn't a "Habitat" house, but instead was an existing house in the neighborhood where they were building multiple Habitat houses. Their idea to spruce up a neighboring house was to hopefully make it less obvious which houses were Habitat ones, so that the entire neighborhood started to improve. It was grueling work in the hot, hot sun. (I've got some sore muscles and a sunburn to prove it!) We worked until about 3:30pm, when the house was finally complete. We never got to meet the homeowner, but we did get compliments from neighbors telling us what a great job we had done.

It's funny how a fresh coat of paint can make such a difference. Using supplies provided by Habitat, 15 of us spent about 8 hours of our time and we completely rejuvenated a previously dilapidated-looking house. That's not too big of a burden on any one person. But, just imagine how impossible it would've been for the homeowner to attempt to pay for and coordinate getting new paint on his/her house. I'm sure it would've taken much longer and been very costly. It was cool to see what we were collectively able to do in a relatively short amount of time. I have no doubt the homeowner was pleased with our efforts. I'm glad Kim was able to be a part of such a wonderful experience!

Let's Learn Some German!

Kim brought a hilarious slang book with her from Germany, that helps you learn "hip" or "modern" phrases in other languages. It shows the translations in English (American & British), German, Spanish, French, and Italian. I don't think it's possible to peruse this book without laughing out loud. Some of the phrases it teaches you are just ridiculously funny. Here's a sample:

1) hella, mad "The movie was hella exciting."
German: abartig "Der Film war abartig spannend."

2) to take a deuce
German: abappeln

3) to chill, to hang, to chilax
German: abchillen

4) sweet, the shit
German: abgespaced

5) hairy pits
German: Achselkatze

6) Bummer! Crapola!
German: Alter Latz!

7) rad, sick, off the chain: "This song is really sick."
German: amok "Der Song ist echt amok!"

8) barking spiders
German: Analsturm

9) homie, dawg
German: Digga

10) hard core chillin' "My hobbies are soccer, hard core chillin' and listening to music."
German: Extreme Gammling "Meine Hobbys sind: Fussball, Extreme Gammling und Musik horen."

11) party for people over 30
German: Gammelfleischparty

12) male anorexic
German: Hunger-Harry

Birthday Celebrations

This past weekend we had a party at our house to celebrate Kim and David's birthdays. Hers was on 8/7 and his is 8/13. Even though Kim has only been in America for a couple days, she's already a part of our family and we definitely wanted to celebrate her special occasion! My nephew David lives in Austin, but he and his girlfriend Meredith were nice enough to drive up so we could celebrate his day as well (thanks guys!). Jer's mom was in town on business, so we were excited to have her over for the party too. The menu was delicious! We had brisket, ribs, cole slaw, potato salad, waffle fries, baked beans, Texas toast, pecan pie, and chocolate cake! And, what get-together with my family would be complete without 7-layer dip? We introduced Kim to it and she loved it!


My young nephews got to meet Kim for the first time, and I'm pretty sure they're smitten! All in all, it was a very fun day and I'm glad so many of our family members were able to share in it together. Enjoy the pics!

Kim has arrived!

Our German foreign exchange student, Kim, set foot in Texas last night for the first time! She was given a big Texas welcome from Jeremiah, my mom, my dad, my sister Jo, Jo's daughter Livy, and me. We held welcoming signs and gave her flowers. After picking up her bags, we headed over to Jo's house where she got to meet Jo's husband Trey and spend a few minutes with little Livy. She adores children, so I know we will have many visits to Jo's house in the future. After that, we headed to our house and showed her where she'll be living for the next 6 months! I had some fun American gear waiting for her on her bed. I got her a "Don't Mess With Texas" t-shirt, a Las Vegas t-shirt, a Texas Tech t-shirt, a Texas tote bag, a Texas flag keychain, a couple of American magazines, and some framed pictures of her family and friends. We were pleasantly surprised when Kim told us she had brought gifts for us as well. She gave Jeremiah some milk chocolate (his favorite!), gave me some perfume from Germany & a shirt from H&M, and gave us a German cookbook. She's such a sweet girl! We stayed up for a couple hours talking, and then decided we better get some rest before our big adventure begins! More to come...

Vegas Vacation Wrap-Up

We took another trip to Vegas this past weekend, but this time we invited my parents along. We stayed in a 2 room Siena suite at the Palazzo. I love this hotel, and not just because they always give me free rooms and free show tickets. (But that does help). This was the first time I've walked up to my suite and had double doors! Haha. Fancy, schmancy indeed!

On Saturday, my mom and I attended the Price is Right Live Stage Show. Our seats were front row, directly beside the stairs where people climbed up onto the stage. That was neat being so close to the action! The show was very entertaining and some contestants actually won prizes.



On Saturday night, Jer and I watched Phantom at the Venetian. Some parts of the play were slow, but the scenery and special effects were superb. I'm still amazed at what they were able to achieve on a live stage. The effects surrounding the massive chandelier drop, in particular, were truly exciting.

We spent Sunday doing a little relaxing and some gambling. On Monday we did more touristy stuff, visiting other casinos and walking along the strip. It was a fun weekend!

What are your expectations?

If you've got children, especially older children, then this post won't mean much to you. However, if you are child-less like me, then you've probably never considered these questions. As part of our preparation for hosting a foreign exchange student, we were asked to fill out an Expectations worksheet. After reading through the whole thing, I’ve come to the conclusion that either 1) We are incredibly laid-back people or 2) Normal host parents are somewhat uptight. Or maybe it’s both. Or maybe something in-between! I’d like you to ponder how you would answer the following questions:

1) What chores are students expected to do?
2) Does student need permission to stay after school?
3) Is there a curfew?
4) Who pays for the student when the family goes out to dinner?
5) Who pays for the student for school activities and sports, when there is a fee?
6) Is the student allowed to have friends visit the home?
7) Will the student be expected to participate in the family's holiday plans?
8) Who sets table, clears table, does dishes, cooks, meals?
9) Are there set days when laundry is to be done?
10) What are the appropriate times for phone calls?
11) Is there a time limit on the computer?
12) Can the student put pictures on their wall?
13) Is there a limit on showers?

It's a Small World!

We received an email today from our German foreign exchange student's parents. It was very nice to make contact with them for the first time! They expressed how pleased they were with the fact that Jeremiah and I would be hosting their daughter for a semester in America. They sent us a couple of pictures of their family. One of them was from a trip they took to a beach in Holland. I wrote back and told them how neat it was to see a picture from Holland since that's where my dad was born. After a few more exchanges, we discovered that our student's mom was born in a town (Geleen) just 20 miles from where my dad was born (Maastricht) in Holland. How neat is that? She still has family in Geleen, and my dad believes we do as well. I can't wait to learn more about their family, and welcome their daughter into ours. It is, indeed, a small world.