How do you eat your Orea cookie?

Land Transportation Office

Going to the LTO to get your license for the first time is not easy! It takes patience, patience and patience.

I just returned from the LTO and it took me about 3 hours to renew my license. It involves taking a drug test (peeing into a tiny bottle and a medical check up) getting your photo taken and your signature.

Wisdom Teeth

I did not have a good experience getting my lower wisdom teeth taken out a few years ago so I was not looking forward to another surgery for my remaining upper wisdom. I had a bad experience because I didn't have the right medicine post surgery and had a dry socket!

I went to a different Doctor this time and it took him 1 1/2+ hours to get one tooth out while the other tooth took about 30 min. I was glad that I was prescribed the right prescription this time.

It was a long and boring week of recovery especially of not being able to eat solid foods...but I'm thankful for no infections and a great recovery!

I'm glad I'll never have to go through this again!

Back in Manila

Chase and I were able to meet up in Manila (we had been planning it for awhile and things worked out!) as well as with other friends from our class. We went to 2 Ateneo Basketball games, went shopping, ate at Taco Bell, Chili's, CPK, Yellow Cab, McDo, Wendy's... Thank you to the Barlow's for letting me stay at their house!

It was fun seeing friends again and trying to catch up on what's been going on in our lives over the last 2 years. But being able to catch up with each others lives only lasted days since we went our seperate ways again...Being together again was fun because we simply picked up right where we left off! I'm looking forward to seeing you guys again!

I miss my friends from high school.

[July 6- 14, 2007]

Happy in Hong Kong!

Mom took me on a shopping trip to HK! 2 years ago before I graduated from high school mom took me to Singapore and we had a wonderful time. Since we went in July to HK...it was very hot and humid but that didn't stop us from walking around the city! We went to Harbor City, Ladies Market, watched the Symphony of Lights, walked the Avenue of Stars, went to the Jade Market (a favorite place!), went to the Peak to over look the city of HK at night (spectacular view!), went to the Night Market, Ocean Park, went to Sha Tin, and of course had delicious Chinese cuisine. We also went to our First Filipino Free Methodist Church on Sunday and it was great seeing Filipino's in Hong Kong, I felt I was back at home again :)

It was fun being able to spend time with mom and see the beautiful city of Hong Kong (especially at night!).

Where are we going next mom?

I want to see pictures!

[June 20 - 26, 2007]

BORACAY

My parents have lived in the Philippine for about 26 years now and they have never been to Boracay before! We arrived here the 13th and it was quite a trip to even get here! We traveled by land and sea....flying, a 1 1/2 hour car ride, a banca ride and then a 15 min. tricycle ride. I was sick (disgustingly sick) already but slowly recovering while my mom got motion sickness. But we made here! My dad and I rented a dune buggy and we drove around the island. We went to Mt. Luho to see the whole island and the view was spectacular! It was absolutely awesome. We've walked the beach a few times, ate some wonderful pinoy food, checked out the shops, grabbed some indian food and of course hit the fruit shakes more than once!


Today was very relaxing. I slept in just before noon and went for a swim with dad. There's an orange buoy we like to swim out to and back. Then the three of us went to grab some good pinoy food at The Hobbit House! And yes of course, our waiter was a midget :) Swimming in the ocean and being in the sun again in the hot and humid weather feels so great. It's great being home again and spending time with my parents :)

Tomorrow I have some parasailing I'm looking forward to and if I have any money left I think i'll take the jet ski out for a spin!

I want to see pictures!

Dribble, pass, shoot!

Today was the last day of the basketball clinic and it was truly a success. I enjoyed everything and it was such a blessed learning experience for me. I did not realize how much I took for granted the basketball fundamentals and skills I have learned through the years. I really have been blessed by having amazing coaches in my life.

The last day of the clinic was the skills competitions and certificates. I was presented with a certificate and some other gifts as well! I can't describe to you all the feeling and experiences I felt this week. I've been humbled by these kids. My mom and the other people who were helping this week expressed to me how much these kids were so grateful for me, grateful for some who understood them. I am so happy that I was able to teach them and show them new skills and be a role model for them as well.

This truly was a special week for me :) I might need to recruit for some more help for next year :)

Take me to the pictures!

TEAM ADAMS

This last week I have been preparing for my Basketball Clinic. My mom asked me if I'd like to run a basketball clinic for the Hope Street Kids of Davao City. This program is part of our church my parents have planted here in Davao City. I have a total of 28 boys and girls ranging from 9 - 19 years old. I will be teaching them the fundamental skills of basketball. I've decided to break down the days in the following:

Monday: Dribbling
Tuesday: Passing
Wednesday: Defense; Offense
Thursday: Shooting
Friday: Rebounding
Saturday: Skills competition; Awards and Certificates

This will be my first time putting together a program like this so I'm excited to see how it really turns out. I'm being optimisitc and hoping for the best! I begin Monday, June 4 at 8 AM! TEAM ADAMS...I like the sound of that!

MetroLifestyle Fitness Center

My summer is going to be great because I will have time to work out...nothing willl be holding me back! I made a decision to put my lifting on hold this last semester due to various circumstances (I would have rather worked out! But I had to make sacrifices). I'm slowly getting back into the weight room and it feels grand! I feel like a different person when I workout...could it be I'm superhuman?

I found MetroLifestyle Fitness Center in the newspaper, visited the place and got my 3 month membership. The place is great, the people are friendly and I like my trainer, Greg.


My job came across my mind today for a split second. I work in SAU's multicultural office and it felt great not thinking about anything that had to deal with diversity!! Since August '06 diversity was my life.

I love you summer and I love finally being home!!

Goal for summer: Renew and refresh my relationship with God, mind and body.

Hole in my foot!

The other day I was picking at my foot and my mom discovered I had a plantars wart (verruca vulgaris). The next day I was scheduled for an appointment to get it treated. Tonight I went to my Doctor and she basically burned a hole in my foot. I underwent minor surgery which went like this: First she injected my foot with an anesthetic (real painful! It felt like a sharp sting) and then took a tiny laser beam to cut away and destroy the wart. For two weeks I can't get my foot wet and I have to apply antibiotics twice daily. When I shower I will be taping a bag over my foot.

How did I get this disgusting viral infection? I don't know...it's disgusting I know. Will you still be my friend?

My next planned surgery: my wisdom teeth...I'm not looking forward to this at all...

Grades!

My grades were posted and I'm pretty satisfied (except for my ECN202 class!) ;) I did better than expected!!
16 credit hours = 6 A's and 1 oopsie!

Happy 29 years!

Today is my parents wedding anniversary - they're celebrating 29 years! We went to Church...I met some old friends and went out to eat with my parents and some others. My parents are awesome and I love them both and I am so thankful for them!

Cheers mom and dad, I love you guys!!

DAVAO!

I'm HOME! I left Detroit and flew to Nagoya (13 hour flight) I was so excited to land in Japan...it was just so wonderful being in Asia again! While in Japan I had to get off and then reboard again and flew to Manila (4 hours). I arrived at 10:30pm, then stood in line for 1 1/2 to get through immigration. I got my lugguage and found a taxi that transfered me to the domestic airport for $3! I had to wait 2 hours until I got check in at the Cebu Pacific which opened at 2AM. After checking in I waited another 2 hours until I got on th plane for my 5AM flight to Davao. The flight from Manila to Davao is 1 1/2 and I managed to sleep fairly well most of the way.

It was really great seeing my parents, I hadn't seen them since February of '06! There's been some changes in Davao since the last time I'd been here which was 2 years ago. It's awesome being home again and being back in my old room :)

Dead Week

Goodbye University Hall! I've had a wonderful RA (Deejay Obeng!) and an awesome RD (Anna Wilkinson) this school year. Goodbye dorming! After 6 years of being in a dorm (4 years in high school + 2 years College) I finally get to be in a house next year living with some great friends :)

Today is my last day for finals...I only have two and they should be a breeze! I have my microcomputer final and my marketing presentation (my group is trying to opt out!). This week has been exciting, I've managed to pack daily and store things at my brothers house as well as hang out with friends one last time. I can't believe it's my final week, it feels so great! I'm really looking forward to flying back home to the Philippines and seeing my parents and my dogs Jack and Pootie!! These last few weeks have been great becaue somone is always having a barbeque ;)

This week is graduation and I will be there! Josh is also graduating and getting his Masters in Business :)

This year has been really great for me, I've met some crazy people and it's been awesome getting to know each of them. This year I wanted to build some great friendships here and God has placed great people around me. Goodbye SAU...hello my beautiful summer! It's time to get outta here!!!

Spiderman 3

I just returned from the midnight showing of Spiderman 3! It was quite fantastic. I was very excited because I was able to purchase tickets at the beginning of the week. The movie and snacks were free for me because I won a bet with a friend ;) That made me extra excited because the bet was pretty good! Even though half of my university was in the same theater as me I still enjoyed the movie.

Good movie + wonderful friends + delicious food = 1 satisfied sarah

Addicted to....

Grey's Anatomy

I love the weekend simply because of all the free time I have. I put aside homework and projects and prioritze hanging out with friends and fulfilling my selfish desires. Last week I rented season one as well as the first two discs of season two. This week I rented the rest of season two and proudly finished it this afternoon!!

I don't know why I love this show so much. Maybe it's because I identify with Dr. Christina Yang. Or maybe because I wonder where Dr. Yang and Burke's relationship is going? Or maybe because I want to see where Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Meredith Grey's relationship goes. Or maybe because I think Dr. Bailey is awesome.

When each episode ended I couldn't help but skip to the next episode, I was not satisfied and I watched until my eyes grew heavy and I woke up confused...As soon as I'd wake up I'd immediatly turn on Grey's Anatomy again.

Today was great not only because I finished season two but because Erni and I went to the lake and caught some sunshine.

All I need now is season 3...

I love you weekend.

Director of Intramurals

I applied for the Director of Intramurals position in the Student Government Association (SGA) and I had my interview yesterday morning. I applied because one of my friends encouraged me to. I had slight interest in applying but I never thought of physically taking an application and filling it out. As my friend talked to me about this position (more like persuaded me) the position interested me and I decided to take a chance.

Today the President of SGA emailed me notifying me that I have been selected to be the Director of Intramurals for the 2007-2008 school year. I'm happy and I know I will have lots of work ahead of me. I'm excited because I think this will be a great experience for me. The people I'm working with are pretty sweet too so that's an extra bonus.

14 credits + 2 jobs - not living in the dorms ;) = busy and fun school year! we'll see....

Relay for Life

Relay for life began last night at 6pm and finishes today at 6pm. It involves teams of families, friends that join together to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember those lost and fight back against a disease that takes too much. During this 24 hour period individuals/teams walk around the track. Each lap is recorded and the team with most laps is rewarded.

I had a fun time because all I did was hang out with my friends :) I walked 4 miles with AP and we had a chance to talk about everything which was really great. She's such an awesome friend and when you meet her you'll know why. Besides walking 4 miles I ate some cake, pizza and fried chicken and a little sample of delicious chili. I helped my friends bring their blankets and couch (which was set on top of my car) to the field so everyone could relax. It was a brilliant idea! It was great just hanging out with friends. I can't complain when there is great food and great company ;)

1 Month

In one month I will be at the Detroit Airport, waiting in line to recieve my boarding tickets to fly to Nagoya then onto Manila, and lastly home at last --Davao! I'm really ready just to get out of here. I'm ready to get out of the dorms, out of classes, out of this whole setting I'm in right now. Questions have been going through my head....about my friendships, about what I want to do with my life, internships, next summer, faith - spiritual development, personal goals, classes...I'm burned out.

This summer, my goal is to refresh and renew my mind. I feel that is what I need. Recently I looked over some goals that I wrote for myself at the beginning of the year and since then it shows that I have lost focus. I've really had a great year, it's been great making new friends and developing relationships. However, my mood seems to change quickly from being happy to being bored and not caring. I need time away and I need to set aside time with God.

I am very excited to see my parents and eat some real food! I will miss my friends from SAU of course but I hope this summer I will grow in different areas - I need spiritual development, I need to work on myself, I need to renew my mind and way of thinking. Am I selfish?

My Utopia

Today I recieved some wonderful news which greatly excited me through out the rest of my day. The night before was eventful, it was a night of bowling, laughs, food and fear of tipping over in a van at high speeds due to a very roudy driver. Back to the wonderful news: housing applications were due the beginning of this week and after planning who to live with and house hunting...I recieved my housing placement email.

My thought process about choosing where to live on campus was simple. I figured that after 6 years of boarding (4 years in high school/boarding school + 2 years in college) I needed to get away from the community lifestyle. I deserve better! Since I already have wonderful friends why not just get a house and live together. Fearing that our class credits would not be enough to get into the two houses (K2 and K9) we wanted, it seemed that we would end up living in a 5 person apartment. Expecting to live in an apartment and waiting for the email confirmation, I was surprised when I read that my friends and I were placed in K-7 (pictured above)!

K-7 is is a 3 bedroom / 5 capacity house with 1 bathroom. There is 1 kitchen, 1 dining/study room and 1 living room. Doesn't sound so bad huh? Well, from the outside it looks quite interesting....a little small and old... However, I am just thankful I am off the community floor!! With our group in that little house I'm looking forward to the great memories we'll make in our K-7 house. I love how God works things out...according to His timing!

Here's how I picture K-7 when I look at it. I like to think positively and dream big...let me show you...

Underground Ink

To begin the weekend and celebrate that classes were over we went to Underground Ink. The top photo is a group shot of us in the van on our way to get some piercings. If you look closely at the bottom photo (L to R Abby, Erni, Amber), Abby and Amber got their nose's pierced and Erni got her eyebrow pierced. Before going to Underground Ink we spent some significant time on Youtube watching other people getting body piercings.

I had the pleasure of getting my hand roughly squeezed by Abby while her nose was being pierced by a very long sharp needle. I found the whole process very exciting and fast. Will I get my nose pierced? No. But I have the pleasure of replaying over and over Abby getting her nose pierced since I recorded it on my digital camera. I am satisfied.

Choco Coated Goodness!

While searching for pictures of Filipinos for a presentation, I came across this and it made me smile real big. A UK company makes these donuts which are chocolate covered biscuits that comes in white, dark, milk and caramel flavors!




For a better description click here!

My Adoption Story

This post are for those who are interested in my adoption story. This is the letter my parents wrote me when a good friend of mine asked about my story:

We knew one day you would ask us, Sarah, for your adoption story. That time has come. We have prayed that when this day came, we would be rejoicing together with you in how God has wonderfully put our family together. That is truly the case today and for that we cannot thank God enough. Sarah, here is your story!

Before we were married, we had already decided to have three children. However, not long after our marriage, your dad began to feel like two biological children were enough and that it would be very nice to adopt our third child. For a long time your dad kept this to himself, but one day the topic somehow came up and we were surprised to know that both of us were thinking and feeling the same thing. This seemed to us like confirmation that this was Gods plan for our family.

In October 1983 we asked permission from the Free Methodist Mission to begin the adoption process. After some deliberation, the board of missions informed us that the mission did not allow their missionaries to adopt children from their country of service during their first term. For us that was a 4 ½ year term. The logic was that sometimes people could be overcome with a false sense of duty or misplaced zeal and do something that later they might regret. Thus, they required their missionaries to move slowly for adoption and then make a decision during the second term. So, we waited out the years of our first term without any wavering in our hearts about our wanting to adopt a Filipino child. Actually, we didnt care what country the child would be from. However, because we were appointed to the Philippines, we naturally decided to pursue the adoption of a child from there. During our first home assignment, we again applied to the board of missions of the FMC to grant us permission to begin the process of adopting in the Philippines upon our return to the field. In the Fall board meeting of the mission board, in October 1986, the board granted us permission. We were beginning to see how God was at work in the process that would bless us with our third child! We were so confident that we went out and started buying baby girl clothes!

In March 1987 we returned to the Philippines from our home assignment in the States. We did not share with either of our families about our plan to adopt in the Philippines. We wanted to surprise them all, if it did work out. We went to the Philippines Department of Social Services and asked what we needed to do in order to adopt a child. By May 1987 we had met all the requirements and all the paperwork was done for the application process. We were put on a waiting list at Social Services. We were number 7 for a newborn baby girl. During our first term, we had talked long and hard about the baby we would adopt. Since we already had 2 boys, it was only logical to us that we adopt a girl. However, we wanted a newborn baby. That way we would all grow together as a family and be able to create the bonds necessary for that to occur.

DAD: Since your mother was a college graduate with a degree in Social Work, when we had to undergo visits and evaluation by a social worker who was assigned to our case, she made a surprise offer to your mom. Why dont you write up the Home Study for the Department of Social Services regarding your eligibility to adopt. After all, you've had the training. Naturally your mother agreed and guess what? Our Home Study was absolutely amazing. We looked almost like saints!!!

Not long after the Home Study was done, one of our missionary friends called us because they had taken an unwed mother into their home. She told them she wanted her baby, when it was born, to be adopted by a Christian family.
We talked long and hard about this situation. Finally we decided that if the unwed mother (your biological mother) was willing to go to the Department of Social Services and surrender her baby, and if the baby was a girl we would adopt her. The social worker temporarily matched us with your biological mother. That meant that if when you were born, you were a girl, and if your biological mother still wanted to sign the surrender papers, you would be ours. So lots of ifs. We never personally met your biological mother, Sarah. However, we want you to know that your mother did the most loving thing she could do for you when she gave you up for adoption and when she specified a Christian family to be the adoptive parents. Everything was done through the missionary and the social worker from the Department of Social Services.

DAD: At 10 minutes before midnight on August 21, 1987, the phone rang, awakening us out of a deep sleep. I stumbled out of bed and in the darkness groped for the phone. As I picked up the phone and placed it to my ear, it was met by the excited exclamations of our missionary friend yelling, You have your girl! You have your girl!
Then our friend went on to describe the scene before her. You were just born in their home on a Friday evening. Seems your biological mother did not know she was in labor, and you were about one month EARLY! This missionary called us while the umbilical cord was still attached between you and your biological mother. So, we were right in on the very beginning of your new life. Then the home delivery team of Fabie Maternity Clinic was called and the doctor was the one who cut your umbilical chord and cleaned you up.

DAD: Because of the blank look on my face and the startled responses that I gave to this friend of ours, your mother was absolutely convinced that her own mom and dad must have been killed in some kind of an accident or something and this was the telephone call informing us of the bad news. Whats going on! Has something happened to my Dad? Mom. . .?
No, I answered back to her, numb with the news. We are now the parents of a new baby girl.
What! your mom yelled. And she bolted straight up in the bed. She wasnt due to be born till the middle of September!
The reason for our shock was the whole scenario which surrounded the pregnancy of your biological mother. Because we did not want to be disappointed in case the baby was a boy, we hardly allowed ourselves the luxury of thinking about you. Thus, when we found out that you were born and a girl! We were totally unprepared. We actually had no milk, bottles,, and etc in the house.
Wow! Did we ever enter into a lively conversation about how we were going to begin to get all of the stuff that we would need for when you would come home with us. And this conversation was quite animated because there was no indication how long it would take before you were finally released to us by the Department of Social Servicesone month; six months; one year?

DAD: Rrrrrrrrriiiiinnnnngggg. The phone rang again and I reached over and picked it up. It was our missionary friend calling back about 10 minutes later with some further thoughts that she had. You know, I am seven months pregnant myself . My husband and I have just talked about it and decided that we need to give the baby to one of our friends TONIGHT, until the Department of Social Services opens on Monday. But since you are going to be the adoptive parents anyway, who better of our friends should we give this baby to than you. Thus, how soon can you come over to the house to pick up the baby?
With another blank look of numb shock, I looked over at your mom and said, She wants us to come and get the baby right now. Now your mom literally flew out of the bed. Scarcely looking at me, she zoomed around me down to the helpers room to inform them that they had to get up and watch Joshua and Caleb while we drove over to get our new daughter. Naturally Ate Ding, our helper, was absolutely excited about the news.
Within a few seconds of your moms exit from our bedroom I was now left alone in the new silence. All of a sudden, it was as if the Lord Jesus Himself came and stood directly in front of me. His presence was so real that I felt I could have reached out and touched Him. Then in words that were so warm and yet dripping with the love of a parent, Jesus said, I give her to you.
Those words absolutely transformed me, Sarah. I had a sense of the receiving of the full responsibility for you. But more than that, I was completely bonded with you as my daughter at that moment. With Joshua and Caleb it took a couple of months. This is a normal process for fathers. We dont carry the children for 9 months inside of us you know. Thus, for me to bond with you so completely and so immediately is truly a miracle from the Lord.

On Saturday morning, just 8 hrs after your birth, we took you to Aunt Ritchie Tan, your pediatrician. When she weighed you, with diaper on, you weighed 4 lbs. Thats very small!!! You really were a premature baby! She also gave you a tetanus shot in case there had been anything unsterile in your delivery process.
We waited for 10 days after your birth till your biological mother signed the surrender papers at the Department of Social Services. Those were 10 long days! Then we waited for another year before we could officially begin the adoption process. During that time anyone from either your biological mothers or your biological fathers family could still come and claim you. Those were anxious days for us. By Gods grace we made it through that year. Then there was the home study, the court hearing, the petitioning the U.S. Embassy for immigrant visa status for youall with lots of requirements and waiting periods. Through it all God gave us an abiding peace that He had given you to us and we could trust HIM to take care of all those details. We are so thankful for the wonderful gift your were ours!

How did our families in the U.S. respond to the news of our adoption? They were ecstatic! They loved you before they even saw you for the first time!

Sarah, there were so many miracles with the actual adoption process. Let me just say this, God intended you for US! Just one month after our court hearing for your adoption, the Philippine government changed the home code. No longer could foreigners living in the Philippines adopted Filipino children. Our adoption was not yet finalized. However, your adoption was granted! Some other missionaries were caught in the changing of the home code and had to finalize their adoptions in the U.S. Also, the social worker LIED while being questioned by the judge at your adoption hearing. Your adoption case could have been thrown out of court. However, by Gods mercy, it wasnt. The U.S. Embassy miraculously granted us an Immigrant Visa to take you to the U.S. and after 6 months stateside, you were granted U.S. Citizenship. That was January 1991. When you became a U.S. citizen we were allowed to change anything on your original birth certificate. We changed your name as we've indicated above. We also changed your birth date to August 21 since by our clocks you were born 10 minutes before midnight on the 21st. Your biological mother however, when she filed your original birth certificate, reported that you were born on the 22nd. You know.American time and Filipino time! Clocks are always about 20 min. different!

So thats it, Sarah! Thats how God made it possible for you to be ours! We are so blessed to have you in our family! You are truly a gift from God right from His hand into ours!

Love,

Mom & Dad

Spring Break '07

This is where I spent my spring break, I returned home to stay with Caleb, Michelle and their dog Toby. I made no plans except to try and get in some volunteer hours for two of my recreation classes. Here is what my spring break consisted of:

1. Going to work with Caleb and Michelle at Peckham for volunteer hours
2. Working at a Recreation center for more volunteer hours
3. Visiting friends!
4. Watching movies
5. Staying up late and sleeping in till the crack of noon

In celebration of Spring Break, my brothers and I went to the opening of 300. Since I had no plans for my Spring Break I wanted to watch 100 movies...after some calculations my friend told me that I would have to watch 10 movies a day in order to reach my goal. Instead, I only ended up watching 11 movies. These are the movies I watched from beginning credit to end credit.

• 300
• Oceans Eleven
• Zodiac
• Down With Love
• Borat
• What Women Want
• Casino Royale
• The Holiday
• The Da Vinci Code
• The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
• Premonition

I had a very relaxing spring break and it was a wonderful break being away from campus and classes! I did have plans to go somewhere but I am really happy that I didn't do a thing at all :) Spring break '07 has sadly come to a close and I am back in my dorm room. I guess I'll start planning for Spring Break '08! Please feel free to give me some advice for next year!!

Babel - An incredible film!

My weekend was incredible because I watched an incredible movie last night. Babel links 4 different lives in a crazy way. It also has incredible music!

A special thanks goes to Amber Luckett for letting us use her tv, Abby and Ruthie for their comfortable couch and Erni for providing extra cushion on the couch :)

Super Surprise Saturday

Pictured L to R: Amanda Petrakovitz, Ruthie Tobar, Jessica Erni & Me

There's nothing better than breaking into your bosses house and surprising him for his birthday!

That's exactly what we did on Saturday (Feb. 10). A week earlier we made plans to drive to our bosses (we call him Eatman) house in Ann Arbor, bake him a cake, cook him dinner and take him out to watch "Freedom Writers". We almost didn't go through with our plan because Eatman's furnace went out which meant no heat in the house! The night before we didn't know what we were gonna do, but that didn't stop us! We loaded my car with blankets and prepared to endure the cold. When we arrived at his house we discovered that the heat was working again! We bought our groceries from Kroger and planned our meal: chicken, potatoes (4 cheese of course!) steamed broccoli, carrots, Caesar salad, apple juice, and sparkling grape juice. For dessert: delicious moist yellow cake with delicious white icing and butter pecan ice cream!

We anxiously waited upon Eatman's arrival. When we saw him pull up in his Dodge Caliber we ran into the dark living room giggling and hiding. The surprise ended up really surprising him...at first we weren't sure if he was confused/angry/annoyed/tired/or in a state of shock but the look on his face was priceless! Our plan was a success and I believe we all had a great time.

There's nothing better than good company, good entertainment and great food!

Dominique Dawes

Last night I had the privellage to attend a MLK dinner with a special guest speaker: Dominique Dawes - Three Time Olympian & Olympic Gold Medalist! She delievered a motivating speech about reaching our full potential through using the acronyms of "Envision". This event was held at the Jackson Community College in Michigan. Even though it was a long night, we got there at 5:30ish and left about 9:30ish, it was worth staying to hear and meet Dominique Dawes. She's awesome and super nice!

From L to R: AP, Me, Ruthie, Dominique Dawes, Erni and Roland