lovebuffalo

Xalt's mission trip to Buffalo turned out to be unforgettable! We had an absolute blast. For lunch the other days we taste tested Ethiopian, Thai, and Burmese. 

Authentic meals = DE-LISH!! 

The girls worked with a smile whether weeding, paint scraping, or mulching was their victim!! The guys worked with a good attitude but not a smile because if they had been smiling their teeth would have stained black.  Serious muscles and will power took over during the work days. These students killed it!!  

Thank you to The Hub for welcoming us along! 

Somalian Cuisine

Each day for lunch, we are served a taste of Buffalo. Today we broadened our cuisine horizon with Somalian food. I'm not sure what any of it was called but it tasted good.

My tongue burns when I eat mild salsa so that says it all for my spice tolerance. From what I could tell the breaded triangle pocket was filled with chicken, that had the spiciest kick of all but I could still handle it. There was a spinach chicken dish, French fry looking potatoes but bright red, rice, and a salad with lime slices in it. I really enjoyed the flavorful but mild spice meal.
thanks chefs

Today being 7/11, 7/11 gave out free slurpees. Yay!! We drove up to an inner city (limited parking) 7/11 in our rockin' church bus and were able to get 17 free mini slurpees. Perfect quencher for a day spent out in the sun working hard!!
thanks 7/11!

 

Niagara Wear

We experienced absolutely perfect weather for visiting Niagara Falls, the sun warmed us while a gentle breeze blew to cool us off. I never felt hot or sticky like the humid heat of NC.

I wore a childhood inspired outfit. My family camped/hiked a lot and my dad always preferred - pants with lots of pockets. I thrifted these beauties for a total of $3.50 which included tons of pockets. We're talking pockets inside pockets, zippers, Velcro, hidden pockets, you name it these ultimate hiking shorts have it.

For the Cave of the Winds tour, we all got ponchos and matching sandals. We went right up to the bottom of the American Falls. On the "Hurricane deck", even with all of our gear, we still got drenched from the water gushing down over us. Hearing the rushing water all around us and feeling the blasts of water pelting our bare skin made for an experience we'll never forget.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Wow! Harry Potter books, you keep getting longer and longer. I'm not sure if I can handle you!! I'm a slow detailed reader so these books are taking me forever to read. 

I just finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  It took me so long to read that the person I borrowed it from didn't even know it was theirs when I returned it.  That's pretty bad but oh well...I conquered it. All 870 pages! 

On to the good stuff... 

• Fave Scene: During Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Minister of Magic appoints a new teacher at Hogwart's. Even just appointing her interferes more with the school than the Ministry is supposed to. Not to mention she's a terrible woman. Once the Weasley twins, Ron's older mischievous brothers, have had enough of her they plan a trick that causes a real boom in the halls of Hogwart's.

• Fave Character: Neville Longbottom, a boy in the same year as Harry and his friends, started to become one of the gang in this book.  Neville takes pitiful to a new level, he preforms terribly in all of his lessons, he hides in fear of Professor Snape, and perpetually receives a beating from Malfoy and his gang.  In this book, Neville comes face to face with the witch who sent his parents to the insane ward of the wizard hospital.  He meets her when Harry and the gang find themselves in a trap full of dark wizards, Neville fights for Harry the entire time despite a bloodied broken nose.  Neville never knows his spells correctly but he tries so bloody hard.  I love that he shows loyalty to his parents and courage for his friends even though he knows his own skills are against him.

Image found at coolspotters

• Fave Magical Creature: Thestrals! These magical flying horse-like creatures have been in every book so far but are just now being mentioned.  It's the first time some of the characters have the right eyes to see them.  That's all I'll say about these mysterious creatures except that I love how Rowling carried their story from the first book to this one without us even knowing they existed until now.  The Thestrals came into the story line more in HP:5 to help in a time of crisis in such a creative way. 

• J.K. Rowling = literary genius 

Marshall's

My last pair of sunglasses bit the dust at a ripe old age of 2 years and a month. For me and sunglasses that's a relationship record!

Today, I traveled to Marshall's to fill my sunglass need. I found not one but two glamorous (but functional) pairs.

They have super cute ones for great prices if your sunglasses have met the midsummer slump.

Marshall's is the equivalent of T.J. Maxx if you live in a different area.

Bummin' to Grinnin'

Holidays away from family can be a bummer.  Ohio has one of the most amazing fireworks shows called Red, White, and Boom!  The local radio station, WNCI makes a soundtrack to play along with the show.  In my mind, the whole event exemplifies American Patriotism.  People gather together all over Columbus to see the great show, they camp out all day to get a good spot with friends and family, they play games, have cookouts, and at the end cram in their car and try to cut everyone off so they can beat the traffic.  Just kidding about that last part being patriotic.  Seriously, though, people spend time with one another and just enjoy their company then join with an entire crowd of strangers to sing along to the year's greatest songs as well as our Country's anthem.  Simply Magical!

Just because Ohio definitely knows how to party doesn't mean we totally missed the fun train.  Today, a generous and hospitable family invited us over with several other families.  We've kind of formed our own little family away from family.  If you are ever away from home, boldly step out there and search for good friends who you can party with, shop with, and sometimes... cry with.  It takes some time but God will provide exactly what you need.

After a refreshing pool party we ate some delicious grilled chicken and corn.  Chase and one of our friends started "pickin' and a grinnin'" as my grandpa would say.  As we clapped and sang along the fireworks show started.  Fireworks lit up the sky and the ground, it was a little scary.  Holidays away from family can be a bummer but that bummer doesn't have to last all day.  A phone call back home will heal the heart. Then put on your party hat and enjoy the day!!

In this case our party hats are a sun hat and a bandana!!

I've got friends in low places. LOL!

Two WV boys so we heard Country Roads.

Favorite Thing: Flea Market

My Favorite Thing about today:
The Webb Road Flea Market met many needs in our life today. We went originally because Chase needed to buy a gameboy so he can play Pokemon with the boys when we go on our mission trip. Through the journey I found a sweet pair of cloth polka dot pants that I'm pretty pumped about. In a huge table of piled up shoes, we sifted our way to some Tom's.

Now I know used Tom's #1 scream of foot disease and #2 defeat the purpose of the whole Tom's organization but they were being sold for $15 a pair or 2 for $25. That's half of ONE pair at regular price!! So...we bought some.

We Lysol'ed them for good measure.

Finally at the end of our trip, Chase found a gameboy and haggled his way down by a whopping $1 difference. What a success!!! If only we'd traveled there on a cool Spring day. Afterward, we refreshed ourselves with some delicious fried ice cream.

Yum!!