2 more believers and a $20 tip

no one has updated this in awhile, so i see this post as an obligation, hence i'm probably just going to ramble. today was an insane-ly busy day at the maltese burger, especially w/only 3 of us working. reason for crazy day: 180 customers [that's a lot for us] also we got a $20 tip [from shila, of course] which was awesome. i spent half of mine on coffee at the hidden springs java. cookies 'n cream coffee to be exact. i have bought so many i now get a free one next time i come in. sweet! melissa was going to come up tonight but ending up not being able to, which was ok because i couldn't really get off work anyway.

not too hard to believe it's almost august, as time has flown by this summer [which is usually does when you are having the best summer of your life]. last night was the keynote concert- they played some awesome songs [including hide by joy williams and for my love by your fav and mine (which is b.dill, for those who don't know me at ALL)]. i got some sweet pics and videos. two indonesians accepted christ during the show, which was pretty amazing since neither of them really understand english that well. that's about all for now. we have 2 full weeks left, then debrief for a few days, which will be awesome [and i am apparently getting my nose pierced during that time.] hello to one and all! much love-

amy

HOT!

i just wanted to let you all know that wednesday of this week it was 106 degrees here, and our little burger stand doesn't have A/C. no fans, either. we do have a grill, tho, which is a pretty good heater. i also have pink eye, (undiagnosed- i'm not driving all the way to dickinson just to go to the dr for that), but it's getting a little better.

other than that, things are great! i am working 9+ hrs a day but only 4 days a week, so it's nice to have that time off to do other things...like go to the musical! i've gone 11 times. maybe i'll go tonight. anyway, i am pumped because meghan and lys (and hopefully julie?) are coming to visit on friday! yay! i have all weekend off work and i am so very excited to show them the sites!

1700 miles later...

Hey ya'll! Yeah...it's true, i finished the 1700 miles from Pass Christian, Mississippi yesterday to make it home at about 3. I'm really missing the south and the people from project and the community we were involved with. It's one of those experiences that I don't think you can fully appreciate until you're gone. I loved it all, including the shrimping, thrifting, dance party, and closing banquet that i haven't had a chance to blog about; but i'll save me the trouble and you the drudge of reading all of what i would type about it. If you are really that interested, I would love to talk your ear off about it - give me a call.

Funny story about the reason i haven't blogged in a while - our internet at the library was payed for by a volunteer who came down a few months ago. Well...little did anyone know - he was running from the police, which was what inspired his trip. Apparently he's now in jail, which prevented him from paying his bills and led to them cutting off our internet...haha

On our way home we went through Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and (for me) South Dakota. We decided to have a little fun on our way home, so we stopped in Memphis, TN to go to Graceland. It was $22 to officially get in, and we didn't care that much, so we just walked around outside of it and took some pictures. We also played "Walkin' in Memphis" about 15 times. It was fun.

Sooo...moral of the story is - i'm home and i'm sad but God is still good and that doesn't change.

Love ya'll, and i'll see you soon
lys

Life Up North

hey folks!

First off, happy july 4th! I have no idea how it happened, but I have today off. Things are starting to get interesting here in Medora. The Maltese job is going pretty well. We had an employee leave last week so they have been searching for someone to fill his spot- first it was Yuri from Ukraine, who has been teaching me many ukrainian words, [some I don't want to know], but he went back to housekeeping. Sunday we got Boris from Bulgaria; he speaks decent English, is a hard worker and it's been going well so far. Yesterday was a little rough because my manager's boss came and yelled at us several times for things we had been doing wrong the whole month, but everytime she made a comment about something it was to me and only me so that made me slightly mad. plus she took our tip cup :(

The staff handed the project over to us last night so that's another reason why i say life is 'interesting.' since we have 14 students, we all have a specific job that is needed for the body of Christ to function, which is awesome. As a whole we managed to not let anyone know our jobs until last night, which was slightly hard because I have known about my job for a week- I am one of three Student Project Directors, so we all had to get together and meet on Sunday with the two staff directors. The other two directors are Rob, who I work with at the Maltese, and Ann, from SMSU. I know them both fairly well, probably the most out of the whole group besides my roommie. It has been challenging already, but we are SO looking forward to everything that is going to happen and that God is going to do the rest of the summer. My specific area is ops stuff: finances & holding the checkbook for us, which totally fits me.

One last thing...the staff showed a short slideshow before they left- at the very end of the show they had a slide with that picture of me shooting Melissa's bear. My question is, *HOW* did the Rygh's get that photo? It had to have been given to one of them...

Well, that's all for now. Like I say all the time, if any of you are ever in western North Dakota, give me a ring! :] hope all is well with you, whoever is reading this-

amy