#235: Surprise, Phil speaks again! We visit an orphanage and have our first dental clinic

Today Phil got to speak again. It was quite a surprise,  but he did incredibly well. As usual. We were all so very proud of him. Me especially!

Unfortunately I forgot my camera again when we went to the orphanage. But I know someone else took pictures. I just have to wait to get them.
Also, I was pretty sick when the dental clinic was going on, so I didn't go to that one. But I know there were some great pictures taken. I will add them later on when I get them.

#234: More driving...

Again we travel. The majority of our trip was traveling from one location to the next. I've got to say...not quite as thrilling when you're pregnant and feeling very nauseous and just generally not well anyway. But add in the crazy roads and no place to stop to use the bathroom, and it's virtually a nightmare. I really did appreciate getting to see so much of India, but the truth is that I was sick the majority of the time. And not just pregnancy related.

But anyway... today we traveled some more. We drove to Damoh, and were welcomed to the mission in the traditional way. In case you are wondering, the traditional way is to be welcomed with garlands of flowers. At one location, I literally had about 10 of those things around my neck. It was incredible. (Incredibly heavy too!)

This was our room for the next 3 nights.

Here are some pics from driving today:

We were finally able to stop for a bathroom back and get some much needed hydration! And we saw this totally huge and disgusting spiders :-(

#233: Again Phil Speaks, more traveling and a nice stay at a closed Resort

Today we got up early and drove for several hours to another church in a tiny village. The roads were even worse, if that's even possible, and we were trying desperately to strap ourselves down in the back. Difficult without working seat belts. But somehow we managed.
The weather was getting bad. They said it had been raining in this area for days. Which apparently is strange, considering it typically doesn't rain much when monsoon season is over. The people at the church kept calling, wondering if we were still going to make the trip. After about the 12 call, Salil (the guy who was with us the entire time) finally told them we would be there no matter what.
They were desperate for people to visit their church and to have a foreigner give a sermon.
Finally we arrived and...the sight was just amazing. I thought no one had shown up. There was no sign of people anywhere. The place looked deserted. There was a building to our right, but it looked empty to me. As soon as we got out of the car, the noise was almost deafening. How had I not heard that in the car? There was loud music and what seemed to be a hundreds of voices singing in unison. We were taken into the small building on the right and I was completely stunned. There in this tiny building were literally hundreds of people all crammed together, singing and praising the Lord.
Unfortunately I had forgotten my camera. Shame. Fortunately though, there were a few others who did bring their camera and were able to capture the amazing service. I'll get those pics soon, so I can post them.

Phil spoke again, and again did an amazing job.

After that we were taken outside under this giant tent. All of the people came out to greet us and it was amazing getting to shake hands with so many people. Then something amazing happened. All of a sudden all of the people wanted us to pray for them, wanted us to bless them. Never before had I experienced something like this. I felt so unworthy. But there I was, standing in the middle of a crowd of hundreds of people, praying for babies and children, and for grown men and women with various diseases and ailments, praying for the Lord to bless them, and praying for whatever I could think of. It's difficult when you don't speak their language, yet they are earnestly begging you to pray for them. It was a moment I will never forget.

After our eventful afternoon, we drove several more hours to a resort in Kanha National Park. The resort actually didn't open until October 16th, but somebody somewhere pulled some strings and we were able to stay there. The only guests. Amazing!

Here are some pics of the resort:

 Outdoor shower

 A pond we found while scoping out the place

 A monkey!! Very close to us, I might add.

4 more monkeys, just hanging out in the tall grass!

#232: Phil Speaks and off to the zoo we go

Today we visited one of the churches in the area- one of the many that have been started by the people we were working with. Phil was elected to speak to the congregation. Luckily for us women, the speaker had to be male. I was never more excited to be a girl :-)

By the way, he did an amazing job!! I couldn't have been any prouder of him!

We also went to the zoo, where it seems as though we ended up being the main attraction. In fact, some guy from the newspaper asked if he could take a picture of us looking at the animals. The next day we were in the article (although the picture never made it). Apparently foreigners coming to this area to visit their zoo is a big deal.
Here are a few pics from the zoo:

And here are a few scenic pics I took (not at the zoo):

#231: No more flying please!

Today we did some brief shopping and sight seeing in Delhi. We also ate a Chinese Restaurant, which I found surprisingly odd. Indian Chinese food. Hmmm.

Then, in the evening, another flight to....somewhere. For some reason the name of the place has evaded me. It was only about a 90 minute flight, so that I was able to handle. Luckily it wasn't another 8 hour flight. Having had 2 of those the day before... I was still very uncomfortable with the thought of any more plane rides.
We finally made it to...that place, and then we had to drive another 2 hours to our final destination.

Here's the thing with Indian roads: They are terrible! Potholes and livestock everywhere! And remember me mentioning how people don't stay in their lanes and their is nothing wrong with playing chicken with the oncoming traffic? Well, let's just say that there was no way possible for me to sleep on that 2 hour journey. All I could do was clutch on to Phil for my dear life, and try not to bounce straight through the roof of the vehicle. It was insane.

Finally though we made it to the hotel. A 5 star hotel!

#230: Seriously? A bed and breakfast?!

When we arrived in Delhi it was late and we were all totally exhausted. Of course, we were extremely excited to finally be there. One of my favorite parts of any trip to a different country is that first experience there. It's so interesting to see the sights and smell the air (although, sometimes the air doesn't smell that great), and get a feel for how the driving is.
In India...the driving is insane! Now I've been to many places where I literally feared for my life in vehicles. But India is in a totally different ball game. Nobody stays in the lanes. In fact, I'm not entirely sure why they have lanes. They honk their horns to let you know they are coming around, or to let you know you need to move over, or for whatever reason they want. Oh, and driving in the lane with on coming traffic isn't weird at all! Terrifying for us foreigners maybe, but definitely not weird.
So that first night in India was definitely exciting!
And then we arrived at our final destination. From the outside (in front of the huge gate) the area looked a bit run down. But soon we would realize that that's just how it was. On the outside it looked a bit shady. But on the inside....oh boy!
Our first night we stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast! It was amazing! A huge king sized bed, our own nice bathroom...it was like being on vacation.

Also, that first night is when I started to get sick. A little cold sore would be just the beginning of my illnesses in India

Oh, I had forgotten to take any pictures of this place. But luckily I found their website online. They are pretty famous, actually! Even won some type of trophy!

#229: India Bound

Well the day has finally come! It's time to go to India!

 This is all of our luggage. We took 24 bags between the 7 of us. The majority of the bags were filled with stuff we were going to leave there. Stuff like literature, children's books, coloring books, crayons, toys, etc.

At the airport in Delhi and I'm already exhausted! Luckily they had these totally amazing lounge chairs that I took full advantage of. Gotta love India!

#228: Leaving tomorrow and nothing to show for it

We are leaving for India tomorrow, and I still haven't packed or anything. Normally, I'm the type of person that likes to pack at least 2 weeks in advance. I just get so excited that I can't help it. But this time is different. It's not that I'm not excited. I'm definitely excited!
I'm not entirely sure what it is. Maybe lack of energy? I don't know. But whatever it is, I need to just get over it and start packing. We are leaving early in the morning.

No picture today. For some reason I'm being a total slacker.

#227: It's official....

There's a Baby in my Belly!!

I went to the doctor today for my first prenatal appointment. I am 7 weeks, the baby's heartbeat was 140 and everything is going swell (my words, not the doctors).

I was totally shocked because they were able to do an ultrasound (on the outside) and see the baby and hear the heartbeat this early. It was amazing! I almost started crying I was so filled with joy.

Baby Kemp is due May 21, 2012. Just 2 days before our 2 year anniversary!

The doctor also gave us the go ahead to travel to India. We were worried that we (or rather, that I) wouldn't be able to go. Many many many (have I emphasized the MANY) people have given us their 2 cents and said we should not be going now. But the doctor said it was totally fine, and so we are going. Tomorrow, actually!

#226: Couponing

That's right! I have begun couponing! Today Becky came over and helped me get started. It was an ALL DAY ordeal. I didn't realize how long it would take. But, then again, we did have like 7 or 8 newspapers. Yikes!

It was fun though. We watched Gilmore Girls as we cut coupons, and by the end, the entire floor was covered in our coupons.

And now... I have my own little coupon binder. Did I say little? It's definitely not little. I am definitely excited about this too. How strange am I?!

#225: Happy Birthday Jake!

Well it's technically not Jake's birthday today. It was on the 27th. But today we were all able to get together for traditional birthday dinner. I always forget how awkward it is around my family. 3 boys can be so weird and they just say some crude things at times. I found myself turning red on several occasions. Thanks boys, for embarrassing me! haha!

Happy Birthday Jake! 

I ordered ribs! Yum! But then I was only able to eat 3 of them. Luckily for me, I have a husband who greatly enjoys leftovers :-)