One week left?? Really?!

Well hello everyone!! As I write this, blogger is not allowing me to write new posts, so I am writing it on my email with the intention of posting it when the website works. Well I must start off by saying the last few days have been rather hard for me! The first two weeks were really hard, and then things got better, but now I feel like I am back at the beginning. I think it is because the end is so close, but I still have a week here in Saint Brieuc, yes one week I can not believe I am saying that! It seems crazy I have been here for five weeks already! I am really starting to miss my family a lot and I think about them all the time! It seems hard to believe mom and dad will be here in five days.. crazy! And on top of that, my mind wanders a lot.. a lot!! It does not help either that every morning I wake up at 6 in the morning.. even if I went to bed just five hours before!! This is specifically difficult because I lay in bed for almost two hours before I get out of bed! I say lots of prayers for everyone and ask God for courage for the day! I also ask Him to give me the grace to enjoy the everyday things and see His love in everything I think and do, for I know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Okay now onto the week! Thrursday I did a little bit of shopping and then returned here and we ate dinner.. pretty uneventful! On Friday, I had a half day of school and a group of us went to the city to eat and then my friend Alice and I went to the "Cineland" to watch a movie! We saw "A Very Bad Trip 2".. a.k.a "The Hangover 2". It was very graphic and I found that I even had to close my eyes at some points!! I think it is probably a good thing I did not understand some of the words!! Then, that night, I came back here and got on the computer to see who my roomate was!! Mom sent me and email, and I know know where I will be living and with whom! I cannot think about it sometimes, because the thought of me going to college is just all a little too much for me at some points!! On Saturday, I woke up early (as always) and put my laundry away and ironed some things- I have become rather good at it! Then yesterday afternoon, we went to a GORGEOUS beach and did some walking around! It is moments like this where I thank God for what he has given me, and it is also moments like this that make me realize that even though I have a lot of hard times, I am grateful enough to enjoy moments like this as well! Then, last night we went to Armelle and Laurent's friend's house. We did not eat dessert until like midnight! Daphnie made traditional Breton faire for us, and it was delicious! Scallops are huge here right now and I love them! I have gotten rather good at using my knife in my right hand and fork in my left! Oh yes, and when I told them that we eat salad and cheese BEFORE the meal, they thought we were crazy!! Gotta love it!! Today, Armelle and I got up and went to Mass at a VERY old Cathedral in the center of town.. it was absoleutely gorgeous! I cried during most of the mass.. I am not sure why, I think it was because it was so beautiful and the fact that I miss my family!! I find that at random times during the day I have a tear in my eye!! After that, we went to the place where the girls ride horses and a group of Armelle's friends were there as well!! I slept in the car for part of it because I was very tired!! Tonight, we are going to another friend's house for dinner.. It seems like that is all we do, but you gottta love it!! Right now I am exhausted mentally and physically! I did not get much sleep last night and I am just mentally fatigued!

Thank you so much everyone for your prayers!! They really do mean the world to me, and I need them right now!! I think another reason this trip is hard is because I am not on a mission trip, not on vacation, not at home, but at the same time, this journey is a little bit of all three of those things! This experience has allowed me to grow closer to God, closer than I have ever been, for he is the only one here with me all the time, and the only one I can talk to all the time!! I know he has a plan for me and I pray everday that I learn what it is.. Oh yes, one last thing.. The thing I enjoy about this blog is I never know who, if anyone is reading this! I know my mom does and a few other people that told me they do.. but it is very difficult for me to reveal my weaknesses, and this experience has revealed to me that I definitely have some!! So, for those of you that read this, thanks for taking the time out of your day to care about me, and once again, thanks for the prayers, and you KNOW you are in mine!!