Catching up :)

So it's been way to long for me not to write anything, and as much as I put it off, I know I have to update it later. The news just keeps building up. I may have forgot a lot of it though so your in luck haha.. Anyway, so I'm back in the United States, Actually my trip is almost over, I have been here almost three months, time has gone by Fast!

Fall was Beautiful here! I never seen anything like it! It was awesome seeing all the leaves, I LOVE Fall. Now it's finally starting to feel like winter though :) Which I also love, cause I can wear my gloves and scarves. :)

Being out here I have Gotten a lot of things done, and I Wouldn't have been able to do it without Yolanda's help, so i'm really grateful for her! We have done a lot. We first got me a New Social Security card, which I needed to get my Drivers License, and my Voter Registration (also needed) that actually took the longest. We opened up an American Bank account for me here. It proves to be pretty handy :) I'm learning how to Balance a checkbook, after many attempts and messing it up all the time, I think I finally got the hang of it. :)

We went in to the DMV to see what I needed to get my license, (haha so many adventures in the DMV.) we walk in, Londa thinks she sees a cop she knows, ''Hey i think that's-- only he's black.. and not him...'' haha,that made me laugh. Later were standin in line, and there were just a few people ahead of us at this point, when this elderly lady fell in front of us, she just kinda fainted I guess. She had been standing to long, it was pretty sad..Londa Offered her leg as a pillow, which was nice. OH lol and Some other random lady in line kept callin out ''whats her name? whats her name?''over and over again, LOL in the car londa was like '' WHY do you want to check her credit? HAHAHA that cracked me up I was laughin, i still am haha. After finding out what we all needed we waited for what felt like FOREVER for my SS card and Voter Registration.

All this while, applying for my SS card and stuff, i've been Observing Americans '' In their Natural Habitat'' as londa likes to say hahaha, I gotta say, I love American humor. it's Mostly Sarcasm, it makes me laugh- its so..Creative lol. lol --Who knew? haha.

through noticing this, i've learned that i like observing people, and cultures. okay not like Stalker observe, but its just so Different from other places i've been. It's so intriguing how people act and the what culture they're from that has helped shape their personalities...

Anywho--

On the 29th of October I got to take the Assessment, placement test for my GED which is usually a 3 step or more process, depending on what level your on. At the beginning of the Test the Teacher guy was like ''okay your going to take a short little test first, this decides which book you get-- the Purple or the Green one. The purple book is if your stupid and the Green isn't.'' lol okay he didn't say it like that, but he did say that the purple one was for the uneducated. LOL. no joke.

anyway-- he was great haha :) So honest. LOL.. Oh and in case your wondering-- I got the green book-- no worries haha. It kinda surprised me and caught me off guard I was totally expecting the Purple one. Considering I haven't been to a school teaching general education since 8th grade. It felt so good being in a classroom again. It's a good Feeling to know I'm not stupid LOL. My scores on that test were all high except for my Math but as a whole, I was Just off not being able to take the Official Practice test which is one of the steps leading up to the GED. i'd have to take some Classes and learn some Math (which was my weak point in the test.)

We didn't figure that out until I called every Testing center in Delaware asking if I could go take the official test, we were told that I have to take the Practice test first, and the results will come in in a few weeks after that, then I could take an official test if I passed it. (Which official tests are only once a month by the way) After figuring that out, I was told I can't even take the Practice test because my scores were off.. which actually made me feel really sad.. So this lady Cathy butler she gave me the number of a Matt Davis and me thinking ''yeah, i have no time left to even try to get this..'' i figured i'd call cuz she said Matt could help me out online.

TURNS OUT, Matt Davis is an Amazing person! He has Totally gone outta his way to help me. He scheduled a practice test the same week, for me to take, based on if i would pass it-- Great! -- if not-- what was the harm in trying. Which totally brought my spirits and hope back.

Yesterday Londa brought me down to Dover to take the Practice test. LOL k so0000 we're driving around trying to find the building and we pass this one Eerie building, which we though might could be it, haha she drives right passes it and is like ''that's not it'' not in the she knew it wasn't it, kind of way but a ''if that's it, your not going in there.'' Kind of way and takes another turn, haha, luckily enough that wasn't it. BUT the building it was in was creepy as well. After gettin buzzed in the sign says : '' Adult Education Door to the Far right'' well there were three doors, on the far right. So the first was locked, the second was open, revealing a staircase, which we decide to walk up, almost reaching the top Yolanda was like '' uhh.. GO DOWN! GO Down, go down! '' haha so this building was kinda creepy. We walk out through that door again and go stand by the elevator; when the last door on the right opens and a lady was like come on in! lol so yeah this 4 hour test, ended up being like.. 5.. and a half because we were discussing the options and stuff.

Anyway, Matt is a Great person, he does his Job extremely well. Anyway long story short I ended up passing everything Except my math but get this- by ONE question.

SOOOO Matt and I we talked about what we could do and we both wanted to be honest not like just erase a question and have him tell me the right answer and cheat, So we talked about coming back on Monday and retaking that section, Anyway longer story short, we figured it out eventually how to do it Honestly And I Ended up passing the math that time. :) I found out He stayed after work for me and everything just so I could take this test, (there were other people stayin after for their work too.) I'm SOOO grateful for him. He's such a good person! Seriously without him I would not even have had another opportunity this trip to get my GE Diploma. He Helped me out SOOO much. He gave me some numbers to call so i could take the Official test next week :)

I just called the Stanton campus I kept getting the answering machine, and Marshalton, I called and the lady wasn't there, so I called the front desk, she said that she still sees the book on the lady's desk so she assumes there are places left and to come sign up on Monday for the Official test for the 16th and 17th (it's split in half) at 5:30 p.m. both days. But since she ''assumes'' there are places left, I'm still going to keep calling Stanton just in case :). I'm really SO excited though to Go for this test! And so thankful I called that number just in time! so That's where I am now Education Wise.

AND -Now that I've had my Drivers Permit already for a couple weeks :D

I think I'll be taking my Drivers Test, not the written but the driving part, on Tuesday :) Which will be awesome, and I SOO hope i pass.. if not I think I have to wait like 10 days.. or something which would mean Right after we get back from California. I've waited for my license for YEARS I'm so glad I finally get the chance to get it now!

AND --To update you on all the past events,

October/Beginning of November --

There was a YSA Halloween Dance, I Dressed up as Mother Nature, it was really fun making the costume.Londa helped me with ideas and the face paint :) Dances here are so different than the ones I'm used to in The Netherlands, I forgot that here, they just kind of, move in circles.., where as in Holland, they Dance, like Real dance..It was still a fun experience though. but I do appreciate the dances back home more now. :)

Then on Actual Halloween we took Nicolai Trick or treating, he was a Lion, and Such a cutie!

After the Dance, but before Halloween around that time if I remember right There was this Murder Mystery activity at President Winn's house, I got there late but it was still really fun to see and dress up for :) I Enjoyed being there:)

OH Londa had me watch Boondock Saints, and it was -AMAZING-, then later we went and saw Boondock saints II which was also really REALLY good!!!!!! I'm gonna own both of those movies next time I see them in the store :D I'm definitely going to Ireland in the Near future, even if it's just for the accents alone!!

Another movie I went and Saw, was New Moon. I Saw it with Heather, Mike, and Joshua. :) it was Actually Pretty Good!! we had fun, and did Wii bowling at Mikes house before the movie. Anyway I'm gonna see it again when I get the chance to. haha last year I saw Twilight with Christina Twice in Scotland, Now i'm in the U.S. for New moon, Who knows where i'll be for Eclipse haha :P

Thanksgiving:

Thanksgiving was Awesome, its the first time in a long time I actually felt a holiday again. it truly felt like Thanksgiving, we watched the Macy's parade, and Nicole and Nicolai came :) LOL and after eating so much-- Laughing-- NOT a good idea, it HURT SO BAD to laugh I thought my chest bone was gonna break. I was Crying and laughing at the same time because it hurt so bad lol. :) OH and (not that I should be proud of this) I ate two pumpkin pies. ... by myself.. lol.. it was SO good though, so worth it.. lol but i probably should never do that again though.

Black Friday:

The next day Londa and I got up at 3:00 a.m. and went shopping on Black Friday which was REALLY fun!!! I loved it. we went to Khols, toys 'r us, Target,and best buy stopped and got some Dunkin donut's hot chocolate which is THE BEST HOT CHOCOLATE IN THE WORLD. And i'm not joking. Anyway at target I bought all the first 3 seasons of ''Supernatural'' (the 4th at best buy though) Cuz they were on sale :) ANd a Disney Scene-it LOL. The last one in the whole store.hahaha it's funny story, you'll have to ask if your curious. hahaha good times lol..

we are so hooked to Supernatural now. I love it. :D. We ended up watching all 4 seasons that whole next week LOL. it was Really fun :) it was sad when it got over though.. and we still need to watch up to Episode 10 on Season 5 now.. but yeah it was Great :D

Last weekend we went to Dover, and saw the Beach IN THE MIDDLE of a Storm. LOL no joke, it was snowing up in Wilmington and everything! it was SOOOOOOO COLD but REALLY fun :)

Now We're are gettin' ready to go to California next week. I'm really excited for that :D

I'm glad I came out here :)
I've been learning SOO much, its just crazy, and not just like school kind of learning i've also learned a lot about myself, I realized what I can do and need to do to make myself a better person. I've also Learned to value my friends so much more than I ever did before -- okay that sounds bad, because I did value my friends before, but now even more so. all of my friends. :)

Not just that but I've learned a lot of personal things too. Emotionally and Spiritually.

some other things i've realized here are :

• The singles ward/ ysa in general in the U.S. is Competitive. its CRAZY where as in Holland, everyone can just be friends. there's no '' I'm gonna strangle you if I get the chance'' vibes goin on. lol this makes me Appreciate home even more. Since I've been here, I've met some fun people and made some new friends here, been on a couple dates and a double date. Which again is so different than at home. But it's been really fun, i've enjoyed it :)
  
  
• Words that sound similar in Dutch & English, are in fact, Not the same LOL. No one understands what I mean when I can't remember the English word for something.
  
  
• How awesome is it that I got an opportunity to learn another language? I can't believe I'm Actually looking forward to speaking dutch when I get back to Holland. I Never expected that. I actually feel like working on it and try to perfect it. :)
  
  
• I NEED to travel. it's in my blood I can't help it. This is the start of some Amazing Adventures :)
  
• I'm really excited that its the Christmas Season again :).
  speaking of Christmas, thinking back on Last Christmas in Scotland, I can't help but laugh and smile.(haha those were some Good times Abeth)! OH I'm really excited to go see the Washington D.C. Temple, with it's Christmas lights Tomorrow night! The Ysa relief Society is goin', I'm really looking forward to that!!

Man, I feel so grateful for so many things lately.. I'm mostly greatful for the love God has for me which i've seen more than before by being out here. It's comforting to know that if accidentally mess up or feel burdened, he's always there to take those heavy feelings away as long as I'm willing to come to him with them. I'm amazed with how he works with me to make my weaknesses into strengths.

Anyway, I'll probably blog again when I get back home to The Netherlands.

Merry Christmas everyone!