weekend recap

Hello there my favorite people! I hear the weather in Houston has been mighty fine. Glad to know! The weather here has been "bearable". Not a fan! I am needing gloves already and I'm dreaming about owning some earmuffs! (hopefully that purchase will be made soon)

Anyways, this weekend was super busy and all with fun and interesting and new experiences. I am loving Paris more and more and more and more each time I have the opportunity to wake up and open my eyes and enjoy another day! Not to say every day is great, but I really do go to bed each night still loving my city! So here goes:

Friday night I went into Paris and was going to go out and meet up with some people at a language exchance but I was frustrated with the trains and metros thanks to the strikes happening around here so I decided to skip out and just lay low at a friend's flat. I brought the entertainment that she was not wanting, ha! But she enjoyed my presence nonetheless! So much for her quiet Friday night though!

Saturday morning my friend and I got up and we had planned on going for a walk and getting some groceries and cooking a lovely meal...haha! yea right! I mentioned my need for Pizza Hut and she did not oppose. SO we headed out in search of some pizza hut. We were starving and so excited about pizza hut that we had plans of being there when it opened. Well, long story short we finally ended up at a restuarant style Pizza Hut in the center of Paris (metro Chatelet) where we both ordered the buffet and a soda. Hallelujah for Pizza Hut restaurants...they served LARGE glasses (American sized) AVEC (with) ice cubes! And unlimited refills although the glass was so large that I didn't have it refilled, but still, that is not a common find in this country.
I had noticed a new friend mention that he was going to go to a "zombie parade" in Paris Saturday afternoon and I didn't have any previous committments so I decided to see if I could tag along. It was the funniest/creepiest/grossest/most uncomfortable 3 hours of my life! I'm not sure if I enjoyed it or not...haha! I saw it as just another excuse for the French to party in the streets as they do quite often and dress up like zombies. And let me tell you, some people went ALL OUT. It was insane how dressed up some people were. And it was rather gross at times becuase there was fake blood everywhere. I definitely tried to stay as blood-free as possible. My friend was brave enough to get some fake blood put on him so he could play the part while I enjoyed watching everyone else. Since the French don't really celebrate Halloweeen I saw this as their makeshift halloween except everyone was dressed up as the same character.
After this interesting experience I had dinner plans at another friends flat! My friend from Nigeria is going to Le Cordon Bleu and was hosting an Altilier (i hope i spelled that correctly). Because I am not sure exactly what that term means I will just tell you what the evening was like. My friend hosted a cooking evening...ok, my wording sucks, I am sorry. He invited a small amount of people over where he had a menu set up with all the ingredients needed and showed us how to cook what was on the menu for that night. It was rather interesting and fun as we were able to help out and it was interactive. Also, we had to pay 20 euros to go, a high price if you ask me, but he donated the money to a charity called a21 that focuses on helping get girls out of the sex slave trade so I was happy to help this charity while enjoying a night with friends. Hit two birds with one stone as my mom likes to say. The evening ran longer than expected though so by the time we left I was extremely exhausted and ready for bed!

This week I received a call from a guy at church that was rather interesting. I have been "hosting" at my church (Hillsong church of Paris) for the last month I'd say and I love it. I love being able to serve and be a part of the church and by doing so I have also had the opportunity to meet more people and find out more about the church. It's been a win-win situation. Well, I had been on the "inside host team" which means I helped seat people for the service and take the offering and things such as that. Well, this guy called me and asked me to switch teams to be on the front door team as it is called. The front door team is just what it sounds like, we are the people who stand at the metro and outside the church and hold open the doors and are the first faces and greetings that the people receive before they enter the church. Well, it may not sound like a big deal but to me it was such an honor to be asked for a few reasons: 1. becuase this has been an all guys team and so to ask a girl was a big deal and 2. because they had obviously been discussing this and my name came up meaning that they recognize my help and my personality and saw that I was a good fit for the position. I was very excited to accept the offer and so today, Sunday, was my first day assisting in this area of my church. It's such a blessing to me to be able to come to church every Sunday and serve the people of Paris. We are a very diverse church but we all have one thing in common and I love being able to be the hands and feet of God, as he calls us to be in the Bible!

After church a few friends and I decided to check out this Japonese restaurant quite literally across the street from the church and I just enjoyed every second of that lunch. The food was good, the company was great, and the prices weren't so bad either (and thats a great combo, let me tell you!!!).
After lunch 3 friends and I headed back to one of the girls flats and on the way we stopped at a bakery and picked up a few goodies, took them home, turned on a few episodes of Sex and the City, ate our sweet pasteries/cakes, and lounged like everyone should do on a sunday afternoon! it was so relaxing and such a nice way to spend enjoying each others company in a low key environment. I've found it hard to find experiences as such here as there is always something to do and someone to visit and something going on so its rare to stay home and watch a movie and chat and lounge, so I definetly was blessed again by such a great relaxing afternoon!

I did however come home to learn my host mom is sick and I am not sure how sick but she doesn't seem to be doing well! If you read this and have a moment, please say a prayer for her! I know I hate being sick, but put on top of that being a mom and having a job and all the other needs of your day to day life and I know that can't be easy if she does not get healed soon! Although I am glad I am here to help out in any way I can, I just pray that she gets better quickly!!!

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I miss all you guys so much!

I mentioned last time how I have a friend, she has a name, Grace, who wants to come back to Texas with me when I come home next year! I am beyond excited for her to come home and meet ALL of y'all! We are planning a two week adventure that will hopefully take us all over Texas to visit everyone one of my friends and family and even maybe to New Mexico. I am so excited to introduce her to all things Texas, including southern hospitality!!! haha. She is from England and finds my "accent" so fun, she is trying to learn to speak like a Texas, she greets me with Howdy and hola and I tell her about mexican food and the state fair and how wide I-10 is in Houston and she just cannot wait! And i cannot wait to be home to share her with y'all! (and to see everyone, of coarse!!!)

Well, thats all for now! Love you miss you mean it! (haha, stole that from Alicia!)

love, me