...the puppy lady returned.

Sorry to make you wait so long to hear the conclusion to last week's story. Here it is! Heather (pregnant, assistant manager) called Mary the night of the fateful poop trail. Mary answered and Heather told her that she is no longer allowed to bring her little terrier into our store. She explained that, though, Mary may not have noticed the insane amount of feces tracked through the store, it happened.
Mary then told Heather that her little hamster dog is a, get this, "service dog". Come again?
Heather then told Mary that the owner of the store witnessed the incident and was very upset. Mary responded, "You tell the owner that he is a service dog."
Uh huh.
Needless to say, I think she got the point... when she came in on Friday, she came in sans puppy.


The days following my last blog were packed full- but in a good way. Two of my roommates from college came to town. Kristin, who has been living in Hebron (Palestine) with CPT is now stateside and was visiting her parents that live here in Willmar. I always love it when Kristin is home. We have such wonderful adventures! Rebecca, from California, also came to town. I haven't seen her since Matthew and I got married, so it was SO GOOD to catch up. Kristin, Becky, and I went swimming two days in a row! We went in search of places we could float around and have a quiet relaxing place to chat. The first day we went to a public beach- it was a beautiful day... but we got yelled at constantly when we allowed our little raft to go past the 2 foot depth. Apparently we don't look like good swimmers? In any case, we decided to go out to a friends' pool the next day.
Also a hot, sunny day, we were looking forward to a relaxing place to float. 5 minutes after we got there, 4 kids showed up with their moms. I guess they promised the pool out to several people that day. We still had a good time, although it wasn't quite the quiet we were looking for, with kids doing canonballs right next to us. We did manage to work up a good burn, though! A few other fellow Dordt friends drove up Friday night, and we all went out to eat. It was such a good time- I miss having friends around like that. I'm grateful for the things I took away from the classes at Dordt, but the experiences outside of class molded me so much. For that I am most thankful.
I also had the opportunity to hang out with Rachel, a friend living in Arizona, that came home to be in her sister's wedding. I lived in my first apartment (outside of school) with Rachel. She and I did a lot of growing up that summer. We had our basement apartment broken into by skinheads... but we'll save that story for another day. She is another friend I miss having around.
I was telling Matthew that I feel a bit selfish right now. When I was a little girl, I would gather all of my stuffed animals and pile them around me when I slept. I feel that way right now with my friends. If I had my way, I would gather them all in one place and we would have a happy little world. Someplace in Oregon, USA would live Cristina and her 'Favorite People'. But everyone has their own lives to lead... different callings... different agendas. So I will continue to miss those people that have blessed and impacted my life- that live so far away.
The friends I met in school, YWAM, and ELIC...
the cousins and family waiting for us in Oregon...
the people I met overseas that probably impacted my life more than I did theirs...
the teachers that inspired me to allow my creativity to breathe...
the parents and sisters that did not snuff out my dreams...

I am grateful.