Because see, it’s 9:18pm here, meaning that 2007 introduces itself to us in about 3 hours. I think you won’t experience it for another 8. Strange, huh? I’ll let you know how it is.

Here’s the thing about Ghana- it’s just like America except it is hotter and more relaxed. Other than that, they are so similar- FUN, beautiful, friendly, full of laughter, full of farts (thank you Mike Mozley for never changing), etc. I’m really loving it here.

We went to church this morning and it was amazing. The main difference is this- the most exciting upbeat time of the entire service was during the OFFERING. If you’ve been to Ghana before, it is no surprise, but for me, it was. Eddie, our driver that I adore said, “Dance, Angel (what he calls me- Tatum is “old Angel”), Dance!” EVERYONE was dancing and celebrating like I’ve never experienced during an offering. Walking down the aisle or in their seats, it didn’t matter. They were breaking it down to a song I didn’t know (not my language, sorry).

I think about when I give my tithe each month- I’m usually sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by bills, envelopes, calculators (plural, yes, I’m mildly OCD), and my checkbook and multiple pens. I write it and record it carefully. It’s just another bill to me.

Augh. Writing that was the first time I thought that and it makes me sad. Change my heart, God. I’m encouraged though because I think He already has. I’m choosing, from now on, to fully rejoice at the opportunity to return to God a small portion of what is His already.

There were many funny things that happened in church- an old lady singing about 7 octaves higher than she should, the children’s Christmas performance, the preacher throwing his glasses, etc. So good.

After lunch at the house, folks scattered. Tatum, Sally, and Mom went shopping- I just couldn’t do it again. Michael and Luke (“beef burger”) read a book together, Dad played “Bejeweled 2″ on the computer, Kwame went on a bike ride, Eddie washed clothes, and oh yeah- Ryan and Anna both took a nap because they got only 4 hours of sleep!! Remind me again why teenagers think that is a good idea?

So that leaves me, Maggie, and Claire. Not good for Claire because Maggie and I are a crazy pair. In fact, for the party that just ended (all the local missionaries came over), we needed to bake cookies. So immediately we opened the “MaggieAnn Russian Bakery”. Yes, Russian. Do you know of another Russian bakery in Ghana? Neither did we. And we have been talking in Russian accents so long that even now as I type I am reading it aloud in my head in Russian and it is about to make me insane. But “ze Sneekerdoodle kookiez vus varty goot”. (I tried to write in Russian. Tough job.)

The party was fun, but baking with Maggie was by far the highlight.

Now we are preparing for dinner, the fan is blowing cool air onto my back, helping me to not sweat for the first time today. Tatum keeps passing through Mike’s office to get cokes for people from the cooler. Margaret (Tatum’s missionary b-fry- her blog is here) is playing something random on the piano and people are, in general, relaxed. We are having steaks and potatoes for dinner- another plane just took off from the airport. KLM, I think. I just went to go find Maggie and I saw everyone lounging in the living room- Ryan is giving Mike a back massage (careful brother), Mama and Claire are talking, everyone is chill. I like it.

It feels nothing like December 31- yet it is exactly where I want to be.

Happy New Year.

is that the Mozleys live almost next door to the airport.

That means that every plane that goes by, the Mozleys can tell you the time and the airline. Example at dinner- Michael to Claire- “isn’t that British Airways? They’re a little early tonight, aren’t they?”

These are other things I love about Ghana-

1) Maggie. We are going to try to walk on water at the pool on Monday.
2) Luke. Because I have a nickname for him- “Beef Burger”
3) Watching Luke and Kwame Michael (Luke’s 18 yr. old b-fry) play Star Wars Lego video game.
4) Going to youth group with them tonight and playing charades- I was a palm tree.
5) Eddie.
6) Anna. Enough said.

Ryan has a joke for you-
What does Snoop Dog use in his laundry?
BLEE-ACH.

And another-
Why does Snoop Dog always carry an umbrella?
FO DRIZZLE.

Sad. We need to go to bed- it’s 10:50pm here.

Love to all Americans. And Ghanaians. I repeat, those of you who said, “I TOLD you that you would LOVE Ghana”, you were right.

putting a picture on a blog! Geez. Ok, so here is the Mozley family, for those of you who don’t know them. That way, when I say “Anna”, you’ll know I mean the beautiful 17 year old girl on the left. Next to her is Michael, then Maggie- she’s 14 and so cute and funny. Then is Mommy Claire- she’s awesome. Then Luke- or Lukey-boy as he’s known here. We’re sitting together today at lunch. Kind of a highlight of the trip for me.

So we went to a huge market yesterday. I bought a drum for Justin (Eddie LOVED picking it out because he LOVES Justin!) and I bought one for the mission auction. So go ahead and start saving your money, cause it’s also picked out by Eddie and it’s gonna cost a LOT of money.

The funniest thing that happened yesterday was this- we were shopping in this market and walked in to a lady’s booth. Now, everyone here thinks that is it cool to be a Christian, or at least cool to talk about Jesus. This lady totally thought it would bring her business, so as we’re shopping around, she starts singing “Jesus is the answer for the world today”. I wanted to call her out on singing lame contemporary Christian music, but I didn’t think that would really help the Mozley’s ministry, so I didn’t do it. But I wanted to.

It’s so cool to hang with Maggie, Anna, and Ryan. I have nothing more to say about that, but I just felt the need to include that.

We’re headed out to a jewelry shop and Frankie’s for lunch (where I already mentioned I get to sit by Luke) then who knows what else. Oh yeah, we get to go to youth group tonight. I’m not in charge of games, which I appreciate.

Here’s an interesting fact for you- it takes me 2 full days to adjust to being in Africa. I have been joke-less until today. Which is very unlike me. Notice I didn’t say I’m “funny” today- half the time I make jokes that aren’t funny, but you know that already.

And finally, Maggie named one of her kitties after me. Many of you know how much I adore pets, especially cats (sarcasm), but it’s a sweet thought on Mag’s part.

Off to eat breakfast. More pictures to come. If I can figure the dumb thing out…..

By the way, it’s 9:34am here, not 4:34am. I’m not that dedicated.

So that’s all the Ghanaian I’ve learned so far. I mean, in 24 hours, that’s not bad. And actually, Anna still had to spell it for me, but I think it is worth noting that I was able to say, “Anna, spell that word- you know… the one that means ‘welcome’ that starts a…..k…..?” So I guess to say that I “learned” that word is a bit of an exaggeration.

Well, it’s hot. But it’s not terrible. The flight was good- there was a famous Ghanaian pastor on our flight and the Ghanaians seriously acted like he was a SUPERSTAR. He looked like T.D. Jakes. I wish it would have been T.D., because I would have told him that I used to pray (when I was in middle school) for Deion Sanders to get saved- then T.D. Jakes led him to the the Lord. Cool, huh? But, since it wasn’t T.D. Jakes, I didn’t say all that.

I got busted going through customs- I broke some sort of unspoken law that says you can’t write in red pen. Don’t worry- I read ALL the directions and it never said not to write in red, but I’ll be darned if the man didn’t send me to the end of the line with no clue how to solve the situation. Moments like that I was THRILLED to have Ryan with us- he had a black pen.

So we got here at 9ish yesterday morning (remember I don’t have a watch) and we had breakfast. I met Eddie, probably the most famous Ghanaian in the Riverstone/Wesley world. He’s as cool as everyone says. It’s awesome hanging out with Anna and Maggie and the whole fam. We got to see the school that Tatum worked at- I took pictures of the 4th grade classroom for my kids to see. They probably won’t care, but I usually deceive myself into believing that they do. We also went to the mall and I was surprised to see that the grocery store was pretty well stocked- of course, a box of cereal is $10, but it’s there. Wherein lay the surprise.

Tatum’s friend Margaret came over last night- she’s super fun. I’m glad Tatum has someone here that is as funny as me but doesn’t get mad at Tatum as quickly as I do.

My observations so far are this:
1) I like it here. All you “I told you so” people, I know.
2) I look a little bit rougher than I thought I would. You know, the whole no makeup idea wasn’t “bad” per say, but it will lead to some not-attractive photos. Consider yourself warned.

Ok, I’ve got to go. I don’t really know why, but I’m sitting here in my pajamas and it just doesn’t feel right. Everyone else is in their pajamas as well, but it feels wrong for some reason.

Keep praying. Dad’s back is doing fine so far. Ryan won’t let me complain, but the inclination hasn’t risen much yet. The trip is still young, though.

I figure that today is “Day -1″ since we leave tomorrow. Actually, we leave the house in 9 hours. Oh heavens.

I’m making a new attempt on this trip. Thank you, Mallory, for your inspiration. I’m going to embrace all that is out of my comfort zone. I have a comfort zone about the size of a dining room table but somehow I manage to stay within it most of time time. Pretty much Ghana is the antithesis of my dining room/comfort zone/table.

So, I’m not wearing a watch. I’m not taking any makeup. (Yikes, I know, but really, if we’re going to be sweating that much and it will run off my face in thirty minutes, I might as well throw money out the airplane window- if it rolled down) I’m not going to wear jeans. **gasp** I’m going to ATTEMPT to be complaint free. (I’m sure Ryan will help with that if I request) And that one is a big deal because I HATE being hot and it’s going to be quite steamy the whole time we are there.

Here are some other things I plan to do in Ghana:
1) See Tatum (that’s pretty much guaranteed)
2) Lay on a beach- not on a towel, actually on the sand. And I hate the way sand feels when it’s in your bed or on the couch. But how many chances am I going to have to lay directly on a Ghanaian beach?
3) Take time to remember what Ghana smells like.
4) Spend about as much time looking at the scenery as I plan to spend reading my book. (maybe come up with some sort of mathematical equation- it’s a long flight- I have time for those things)
5) Purchase something that will actually mean something to me.
6) Choose to not care about how many of you have emailed me. (As you know, I LOVE email, blog, myspace, etc. and it about ruined our last family vacation because I just wanted to be checking my email- of course, a boy was involved, which is not the case this trip, but none the less…..)
7) In the words of Jim Eliot, wherever I am, be all there.

Pray for us- for Dad’s back (biggest deal), for my complaining ways, for our family to not kill each other, for the Mozley family to not kill us, for all our luggage to get there (unlike in Italy and I still haven’t recovered from Dad having to wear Sally’s clothes), for Tatum to be okay when we leave, for our health and safety, for Ma and Colonel (who are not coming, obviously, but just pray that they are okay while we are gone), and anything else that you think of.

Keep checkin’ back. I’ll be on here as much as possible. Surely something funny will happen in Ghana that will be worth your time. If not, I apologize in advance.

Today’s Jesus’s birthday. And, because I had a moment of complete self-centeredness, it reminded me that I too have a birthday.

It’s one of my favorite days of the year. July 7th. And this year, I will turn 27 on 07/07/07. Sweet, huh?

Your Birthdate: July 7

You are an island. You don’t need anyone else to make you happy. And though you see yourself as a loner, people are drawn to you. Deep and sensitive, you tend to impress others with your insights. You also tend to be psychic – so listen to that inner voice! Your strength: Your self sufficiency Your weakness: You despise authority Your power color: Maroon Your power symbol: Hammer Your power month: July

You have GOT to watch this video by Dave Barnes.

I have not laughed so hard all by myself since… well, this afternoon. But you know I’m not normal.

And neither is Dave Barnes- I think that’s why I love him now.

As previously mentioned in the “serious” blog, I went to the Hawks game last night. Now, as much as the Hawks are awful, and they are, I still feel sorry for them that no one shows up for the games! The only sections that were even REMOTELY full were where we were- in the free section- filled with students of all ages. Thank you, Woodstock Elementary, for the tickets.

I seriously think the Hawks should leave ATL for a while- teach these folks a lesson in appreciation. You know the old saying about how absence makes the heart grow fonder? Someone needs to tell President Hawk that.

The game was mildy entertaining, but afterward the concert by Young Jeezy (a rapper, for those who need a little help) was QUITE entertaining. Young Jeezy, a local Atlantan- and I quote “I’m the young jizzle from the bottom of the map”, had a total of ten men assisting him in his performance last night. And a crowd of a couple of thousand black folks and 5 white kids to hang around and watch.

It was worth stopping dancing to pull out my camera. Yes, I was dancing. The beats were fresh and I was feelin it, yo. (Sad, isn’t it?)

Here’s the view from our seats. Only half of the posse was out at this point.

And here is a picture of the crowd around us. Yes, that IS a drumline in front of us- we somehow were lucky enough to be in the same section as a drumline. “Loud” doesn’t even begin to describe the volume. What I didn’t get in the shot was the Carlton like character just to the right, wearing glasses and a sweater vest and all, singing every lyric and throwing up gang signs like nobody’s business. I was amazed.

And here we are. I know it looks like Mac is shooting a bird, but that’s just how he dances. There were multiple cat calls in his direction saying things such as, “Go white boy!” and “Sit down!”, etc. You get the point. We thought we were being cool wearing Santa hats that we purchased until we noticed that everyone else had them with Hawks logos on them that they received for free. Grrr.. that’s what you get for trying to be cute. I think we accomplished it anyways. April is on the left, Aaryn in the middle, then me. You know. Good time was had by all. Except the Hawks… and the real Hawk fans who paid for their tickets. But Young Jeezy has earned 5 new fans. There are a couple more songs I would like to quote for you, but I’ve been trying to find lyrics online so that I copy them correctly, but let’s just say it’s not going so well. I was going to make a joke about reppin’ my hood, but I’m not even 100% sure what that means, so we’ll just go ahead and call it a night. Okay? Peace up. A-town down. (That’s what Jeezy said a lot, and I think it fits here.)

A great question posed by the deep thinker Tim McGraw.

I had a realization tonight. There is a chance I might be alone the rest of my life. Now, we can all say the sweet “God has someone hand picked for you” or the classic “The best is worth the wait” and all that is fine. Or my favorite- “That just means that the next one will be better.” Oh, “next one“, you are an elusive man- just when I think I’ve met you, someone informs me to keep looking.

But all those things that people say are just what they hope- they have no proof. There is a real possibility that I will be single forever. Every day that passes is one more day that my theory plays out as truth. And I know you want to say all the kind things that people say to single people like me, and I truly appreciate that. But in your gut, do YOU ever wonder if I’m always going to be the single girl in your life? Do you question if everyone else will keep moving life steps and I’ll stay right here? Probably, and that is okay. Honestly. Because sometimes I secretly wonder that too.

As much as I hope and pray (and some days believe) that God’s best plan for me is marriage, what if I am wrong? I live my life like the chance to be fitted for a white dress is just around the corner; when in reality I need to be trying on khakis for school.

Don’t get me wrong- I’m not discouraged, I have not shed one tear today, I’m not questioning God or His hand on my life. Quite the opposite. He and I are totally rockin’. Maybe I’m just seeing that what I think is best and what I want doesn’t always guarantee the quick delivery of that. And that what we all hope for (because I know you hope with me- thank you) may not be what I get. This is no pity party- this could be reality.

So, where do I go when I’m lonely?

To an Atlanta Hawks game.
To Ghana to see Tatum.
To school. To Starbucks. To the lakehouse. To Kathleen’s house. To a Falcons or UGA football game. To book club. To the Bedingfields. To my parents’ house. To cell group. To see Ma at the nursing home. To the movies. To Scotland on a mission trip. To my favorite chair. To Target to get new khakis.

I go anywhere and everywhere. And I’m okay. Tonight a friend of mine sneezed and I said, “God bless you”. His response? “He already has, and I have no idea why.” I’m so feelin’ that, James! I feel blessed and loved- and when I’m lonely, I go to Him. I go to the throne of God and sit with Him and we work it out.

There is a plan- a good and perfect plan, that He has for my life. And whatever that looks like, whoever that involves, I’ll take it. Because He knows far better what I need than I do. He is all good and all loving and all merciful. His plan is what I want.

But I just need you to know that in 10 years, if my life still looks like this, I knew it might.