Let me redirect you...

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Mefloquine (Lariam) dreams

I am testing out different anti-malaria med options because doxycycline made me super ill. I have two other options. One of those is malarone but it's about $6 per pill and it's a daily pill so unless I marry a handsome doctor who gets drug hooks ups...I'm going to avoid that one if possible.

This left me with mefloquine. It's a weekly pill that is much less expensive. My travel doctor starts asking me a bunch of wacky questions like, "have you ever tried to kill yourself or thought about killing anyone?", "Have you ever suffered from depression or psychosis/hallucinations?"

no, not yet! joking, joking.

Turns out mefloquine can make crazy people even crazier so it's prescribed pretty hesitantly. Once we determined I was probably in the clear to take this medicine she wrote me up a two week test dosage. I guess if I have any underlying undiagnosed issues, we'll find out now! HA!

I googled some of the side effects and found a bunch of blog posts from people who have taken the drug and experienced some wild dreams. Thankfully they are just weird, and not scary.

One week in and I've only had two dreams.

The first one takes place at Neiman's. Somehow I rationalized buying a super pricey handbag because it also converted into a backpack. I spent the rest of dream feeling insanely guilty for spending so much money. When I left the store, I saw that my car was stolen but I had keys to a Hyundai in my new handbag/backpack contraption. I decided I would steal the Hyundai and go on about my life.

spending money= super guilty... grand theft auto= no guilt.

My 2nd dream was even better because I was just best friends with Taylor Swift and who doesn't want that?

I really haven't had any horrible side effects--- praise the Lord! I think we might have found a winner!

Oceans

On a totally random note, I am just so loving this song right now. I stumbled upon this cover video and love it! It's called Oceans (where feet may fail) by Hillsong United. Here are the lyrics:

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior
[x6]

I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine

My very first newsletter, you guys!

I have some deets...

My MAJOR update is that God provided my funds so quickly for this upcoming trip! In one month enough support came in for me to head out on the first part of this journey. ONE MONTH. I know, right?! So cool. I have the neatest people in my life. Thanks God! Thanks everyone!

I am now in touch with my foreign partners and we settled on travel dates as well.  I was able to reserve my flights today and get my visa paperwork filled out which is so exciting. I will leave early September and return mid October. I will be on the other side of the globe for about 6 weeks and I gave myself an additional week when I return before going back into the office. I thought I might need some time to get back on a sleep schedule and reflect on this trip.

During these e-mails back and forth with my new friends, I was given two choices. The first was to pick one spot and stay put during my visit. My second option was phrased, "do you love flying and want to explore different ministries?" Um, I actually loathe flying. I immediately imagined what type of planes I might be hopping around in and I am pretty sure I like living so...I decided to go for it! I figured the point of this trip is to learn about what God is doing and how I will fit into that equation. This is the perfect opportunity to explore these different ministries and see where I can plug in to serve long term. I am terrified and excited. Pray for my pilots and the people lucky enough to sit next to me, haha! I don't know exactly what the details are or what they have in mind but I am on board. I will definitely let you know what awesome things I get to experience through this. :)

The last exciting update I have is that my foreign partners (I really need to come up with a better name to call them for these updates...Ideas?) will be in California in August. This means that I will actually have the chance to meet them before my trip. I am SO excited about that! 

Prayer Requests

• I applied for the 10 year visa which will eliminate the cost of future visas and make things super smooth for future trips. Pray that I am approved for the 10 year visa! 
• That's all I can think of right now so maybe I'll have more requests next update! 

XOXO
Samantha 

PS- if you want to donate, you still can! all funds will go towards this trip or my future move. all donations are tax deductible ;) here is the link to give online: http://www.convergeworldwide.org/give/197742. You can also sign up to receive my newsletters here: http://eepurl.com/ztAqX

amazing!

Orange they cute?!

So, for *Christmas* my nieces and I planned a photo shoot. They couldn't wait long enough so my sister and brother-in-law got the pictures early. which means I get to post them!

How to get a prime parking space at work

I have always coveted the reserved spots in our parking garage. they are spacier so ppl aren't banging their car doors into yours and they are right in the front, and you don't have to search for a spot in the morning.

well, i found a way to get my own.

i started by picking a few reserved spots that were empty.
as the weeks went on, i watched every day to see if any of them ever had a car parked in it's space.
finally, after about 2 months i decided it was safe.
i picked the reserved spot that i had never seen a car parked in.

and, now, it is mine!!! i am the owner of a prime parking spot!!!!


...at least until i get a note telling me to stop parking my car in someone elses spot.

z gallerie + me = bff4l

i'm currently home obsessed and it's all i can blog about. today was my favorite part in the shopping process so far....

so, as i was trying to figure out the dimensions of a z gallerie sectional (option c in my last post) i was on the phone with an employee and we had a very funny conversation, which i tweeted about.

mytweet:      z gallerie: "it's 68" from the seat to the ground" me: it's almost 6 ft off the ground? Z: uhhh i think so? me: can i speak w someone else?

WELL, today, I guess z gallerie saw my tweet and followed me! so excited i tweeted:

mytweet:     omg you guys! @zGallerie is following me!!! i knew the love was mutual

IT GETS BETTER...I got a direct message from z!!

@zgallerie:     Did you get the correct dimensions on that furniture piece you needed? If not, let me know which piece. #mutuallove. You should share pics of it when you have the reggie set up at http://ow.ly/2IoU1 ;-)

so, i think it's safe to say me and z gallerie are best friends for life. no big deal.

We've become regulars!

Dear Jesus, please make them fix my AC tomorrow. Amen.

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say Rejoice!

I was just listening to Family Life Radio and EVERYONE who called was whining or complaining or crying about something. It was so annoying. We Christians sure love to be miserable.

I mean, obviously there are intances when we are down from time-to-time, but I'm not talking about that. I am referring to the people who seem to only talk about how horrible and hard their lives are. Those who only focus on the unhappy rather than the positive. I don't think it's the best example as Christians. It just seems so ungrateful. We should be the happiest because we have God, RIGHT?! Doesn't the Bible say we should rejoice BECAUSE of our hard times?

I need to work on this too. I try to be a positive person for the most part. (just don't go checking my twitter from last night because my AC broke and I was definitely not joyful in my description).


In spirit of this blog post, I'm going list the positive side of my AC unit breaking:
- I have a pool!
- My mom and Bob brought me a portable AC unit at 2am so that I could at least try to make it livable. Wasn't that so nice?
- I have the best sister ever and I will probably stay at her house until they repair it
- and the best part....drum roll please........LITERALLY my warranty is up in 4 days so it's still covered! NOT. EVEN. KIDDING. It was God. That never happens. Things always break right AFTER the warranty is up, never before.
- I have a pool. That gets double mention.

So, I challenge you to stop yourself the next time you go to complain about something and list the positives instead.


"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation." (Habakkuk 3, 17-18)

Hump Day

Whenever I get e-mails that start out with "Happy Hump Day!" all I can think is, "Ummmm, TMI!?"

I had a revelation today. Hump Day does not mean what I thought it meant. If you are clueless like me, let me fill you in on a secret. Hump Day means Wednesday.

the insight to your soul is through your...clutch?

Probably not, but this is fun anyway! I was inspired by Promise Tangeman's recent post doing the same thing, so I copied her. You can view her take on it here: http://www.promisetangemanblog.com/

I found this clutch, or should I say it found me, at TJ Maxx. If you don't know me, then you don't know that I spend a majority of my time hunting deals at TJ's (ya, we're on a first name basis- me and TJ). It's Jessica Simpson and I remember it being a rockin' good deal. Anyway, I love it. Let's look inside.

...since this is MY blog, I am going to leave out the description of crumpled up receipts and gum wrappers.

1- This is my make up bag. It is always in my car and if I don't get a chance to do my make up at stop lights, it gets put in my bag to be finished up later. or not at all. whatever I feel like. this is by far my favorite make up bag. I got it as one of those 'spend x amount and get a free gift'. I am a sucker for those. And if I remember correctly, I got TWO bags plus a TON of free make up. This bag surprisingly never gets dirty and it holds more than enough. This bag is also the reason why my wallet is under a tshirt in my car today. Both wouldn't fit in my perfect clutch and I had to prioritize.

2- These are my first perscription glasses. I have had them for maybe 5 years now. My perscription is very low and doesn't even come in contact form, which is cool because I hardly ever need them. I pretty much only wear them at work if I stayed up way too late the night before.

3- my keys are so obnoxious. I have tried to make it smaller but it doesn't work. I have my house and mail box key, my moms house and mail box key, plus my sisters house key. I removed their keys once and kept them at home. It doesn't work like that if you're like me, because I forget the key the one time I happen to be locked out and I need it. I have two car keys because, well, it's a long story but basically one is the key to start the ignition and the other holds the computer chip to lock and unlock. I really need to get it fixed so I can minimize there, but who wants to spend $100 on a key when it can be spent somewhere like TJ? ya, exactly. Last is my car alarm and then every single plastic reward card. You never know when you want to save $.10 at Borders...and who knows which grocery store you'll end up at, so obviously you must carry one for every single grocery store in AZ and CA. you never know. Lastly, I have a safety whistle on my key ring. Watch out bad guys, I am NOT afraid to use it.

4- These are mints. I went to NY for a convention in Nov and was given about 50 packages of mints from different companies. for the record, by 'given' I obviously mean 'i hunted every booth and grabbed as many tote bags full of free swag that I could'. I prefer gum, but I prefer free over gum... so free wins.

5-eye gel. My poodle, Kennedy, doesn't have tear drops so I have several different eye drop type things everywhere so I can give her some moisture when she needs it.

6- deoderant. let's face it, I do this in the car too. can you tell im never running late?

7- hey! I was looking for that necklace this morning. it's a cute strawberry i got from nordstrom BP.

8- last but not least, my digi cam. it was a gift and I love it. It's not charged so I'm not really sure why it's in my purse, but better there than lost...


so, your turn! let's see a glimpse into your soul.

Come out, come out, wherever you are...

I have finally decided that it is time to upload these pictures that have been sitting on my digital camera since Christmas. Basically, there is no sign of the USB wire to preform this act. HOWEVER, I do remember seeing it recently because I remember the exact conversation I had with myself the last time I saw this wire,

"What a weird place for a wire"
"Ya, you're going to have such a hard time finding this"

Now, why after having this conversation with myself did I not pick up the wire and put it where it belongs, I have no idea. All I know is that it is MIA and I'm kicking myself right about now.