I’m not even sure that’s the right term, but I have defeated iTunes. And now I’m happily listening to Coldplay.

Good night.

When you are in Target with your friends, and they have removed the aisles leaving a lot of empty space, why would you not do this?

While you are there, check out the ear candles. Ewww….

I know I’ve mentioned missing the Mozleys, but I also miss Tatum. And no, Mama did not make me write that.

I’m presently in a figurative chess match with iTunes. I’m attempting to remove playlists from Tatum’s old iPod and put it on my iTunes. So far, iTunes has one-uped me at every turn. I will figure this out…if Ernie will ever call a sista back. Geez.

And what is up with this rain? Good gravy. I just left the movie theater and got soaked. I didn’t even run. What is it about really hard rain that makes you decide that there is no way to avoid soakage, so you just walk casually?

Oh wait… you don’t do that? Whoops. Just me then, I guess.

I saw the movie THR3E, which is based on a book by Ted Dekker. That man is either a genius or a lunatic. Or both. When we get to heaven, I’m going to tell him that he is crazy in the head. And that I love him for it.

Which of his books have you read?

1) My ear is still clogged (2 ear candles and a capful of rubbing alcohol later).
2) I’m exhausted.
3) I miss the Mozleys. How long is this going to take to get over? Good ole Beef Burger….
4) I know I still owe you pics.
5) I’m on my 5th load of laundry.
6) I’ve watched the first half of the same movie twice- fell asleep both times.
7) I went to Target.
I sent an email today at 5:30am without spell checking it. Dad would remind me of the 6 P’s- “Prior Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance”. There used to be another P, but Mom made him take it out.
9) I feel confident because God is doing something.

Ok, fine. Here are some pictures. Gah.

Maggie and I outside the jewelry shop. RIP, sunglasses. Sorry I broke your arm off.

A shot of Accra, Ghana from the airplane. You say that “Augh-craugh” but the flight attendant kept saying “Aaah-craa”. (I hope you can tell a difference) Kind of fits in the same category as people from Ghana being called “Ghanadians”. (Like “Canadians”) Believe it. It happens.

I make this correction on my roommate Kelli’s behalf- Michael Mozley is the father of the family that is in Ghana. Kwame Michael is the young Ghanaian man staying with the Mozleys for Christmas. Sorry if there was confusion. Apparently there was within my own home.

Here is a super sweet picture of Kwame and Beef Burger. It’s probably one of my favorites. I think it is the definition of “big brother”. Who says you have to share parents to be family? Not me.

And, if you are tired of hearing about Ghana, I promise that the rest of my life will continue at some point soon. But, just like whatever it is in my ear, Ghana just doesn’t seem to go away.

Because I did. I went last night at midnight- after our flight took off from Accra at 6pm!! Yeah, the one that was supposed to fly at 9:45am.

“Annie, why were you in Puerto Rico last night?”, you may ask. Let me just list for you, quickly, the schedule for yesterday (I think it was yesterday- to be honest, I really don’t know.) Now, this is not exact, it is to the best of my memory.

6:30 am GT (Ghana Time)- arrive at airport

10:00 am GT- cuss in my mind at Harmaton (see previous blog). Not the really bad cuss words, just one or two mild ones.

12:00 pm GT- walk to restaurant with 190 of my closest flying friends to eat lunch (see photo below)

1:21 pm GT- blog

3:00 pm GT- call Michael to come pick us up – our flight has been cancelled. I have to bribe a lady to let us use her cell phone. Actually, Ryan bribes her. I just smile and dial.

4:00 pm GT- get our luggage (yes, it took that long)

4:30 pm GT- walk luggage outside to put in Michael’s car only to be stopped and told that the plane we are to get on is making an attempt to land.

4:30-5:30pm GT- wander around and ask anyone and everyone if they know what the heck is going on and if we are flying.

5:30pm GT- rush luggage through check-in because the flight is on

6:00 pm GT- take off from Accra, only to be told that we have to stop in San Juan because our flight crew is not allowed to fly all the way to NYC. (Of course not, why would they?)

11:00 pm UST (US Time)- land in San Juan. Our flight crew sits down and all fall asleep. A new flight crew comes on. They are not happy people.

4:00 am UST- arrive at JFK in NYC

4:15 am UST- put a hat on that I got out of my suitcase- my hair was gettin’ greasy.

5:28am UST- enjoy my favorite Starbucks grande non-fat white chocolate mocha, stirred with no whip cream. Paid for by the fine folks at Delta airlines.

6:00am UST- leave JFK.

8:00 am UST- arrive in the good ole ATL.

I had to summarize it for my own personal memory. Hilarious, huh? But as Dad said, “We should say a prayer thanking the good Lord for safe travel.” So we did. And he is right- at every step, we made a “friend” and someone helped us out. Even though, according to Sally’s calculations, we were traveling for a total of 36 hours (good gravy), it was easy. Relatively.

Here are a couple of pictures from the day(s) of travel. Lunch at The Landing Restaurant. Yes, we are outside because a restaurant the size of an IHOP was trying to feed 190 passengers at the same time. Sally, Ryan, Jessica (awesome friend that we met at youth group- just happened to be on our flight!) eating breakfast. We had the choice of fried rice or breakfast, but they ran out of fried rice, the waiter said. Until he got to the next table- they got rice. Riddle me that one? JFK airport is full of birds. This little fella wanted a good head shot. If birds could make their beaks smile, this one would have done it. Show off.The sunrise over New York.
While it was raining down here in Georgia, this was our view above the clouds. Amazing, huh? I took this out the window, like the sunrise picture. (This is a rabbit trail, but if you have never read the story of how David Crowder wrote “O Praise Him” it is here and it is good. I linked it twice- that’s how much I want you to read it.)

I’ll do another post soon with more pictures from Ghana- not just travel shots, though you’ve got to admit those are pretty sweet. More to come, my friends, more to come.

Thank you again for praying. YOU, and your prayers, have changed my life. Seriously.

While you’re at it, pray for my right ear- I have been off the plane for 6 hours and it still hasn’t popped from the pressure. It’s about to make me insane. And it hurts. I’m a whiner.

I’m miss Ghana and the Mozley family.

especially when you can’t leave.

What you will enjoy is that it is 1:21pm in Ghana- we got to the airport at 6:45am. Our flight was at 9:45am. Do the math. The plane didn’t leave.

There’s something here we like to call “Harmaton”- pretty much the Sahara blows a ton of sand all over Africa and Ghana is in Africa. That, my friends, is the problem we face. Good ole Harmy has loaded the sky with dust and sand, thus making it impossible for our Delta plane to LAND to unload. Don’t worry about them, though- they’re in Benin. (I don’t even know where that is)

So, I presently sit in a lounge with our entire flight crew. No one has even offered me a drink or told me to sit up straight.

There is a real chance that we won’t leave Ghana until tomorrow. Which is hilarious to me. Good thing I like it. If I didn’t, someone would have to slap my face by now and probably put me in a straight jacket.

A mean faced man just gave me a look, and Ryan gave me the owl call- a symbol that someone was waiting on a computer. It made me laugh out loud.

Pray. God’s thoughts and ways are always higher than ours. I wonder what He’s up to?

Leaving.

Who woulda thunk?

I don’t think this is an appropriate time to summarize my trip. I’m sitting in Michael’s office, Amy Rambo just arrived from the airport, and things are hustling/bustling to get ready for the airport. It’s 10pm here and we leave for the airport at 6:15am. And what you don’t know is that some times when I blog, I cry. It’s just the way I roll. But usually I’m sitting in my house, at my computer desk or in my favorite chair, and it is an okay time to cry about something. This isn’t a good time, so I can’t let my mind go there.

I hear Luke and Kwame Michael playing in the background and I want to be with them. I hear Margaret talking and saying goodbye to my family and I want to see the moment when she walks out the screen door. My back is Anna who is furiously writing thank you notes to “obronis” (white folks) in the USA and I would rather be looking at her in the face. I’m wondering what funny thing Maggie is doing, knowing that if I could be seeing her and laughing, this lump in my throat might disintegrate.

So I’ll go. But know that your prayers have been answered. My heart has been changed. My life has been changed. I can join the club of people who love Ghana. You will get MANY pictures when I get home and many more reflective posts- showing that I really can process events and pull something meaningful out of them.

But I’m gonna go find Maggie now.

Hey friends,

Though I’m not 100% sure that you are actually reading this (my blog meter is not working), I’m having a blast writing!

Let me just tell you this about our New Year’s Eve celebration-
1) fireworks
2) nasty ping pong tournament- Kwame Michael worked me in the first round, but then he went on to win the championship, so it was alright (I guess)
3) card games
4) laughing
5) phone calls to the states
6) steak and potatoes

I don’t have a lot of time to expound on many of these things because we are literally minutes away from loading up to go to the beach. But trust me that it was a good time. Real good. Rich and good.

I don’t think we will have internet access there, so this will be my last post until Wednesday night. I hope you survive, the two faithful readers of mine.

Keep praying for us- things are going great but it is ONLY because of the prayers of our friends. Dad is incredible- getting along great with everything and feeling completely comfortable. But please pray that it would continue-

Here’s a direct answer to your prayers- the Mozley’s have 2 water tanks. When the water runs low, showers stop as well as other water activities. Since we’ve been here, BOTH tanks have been full and we have been able to take showers WITH water pressure. That is God watching out for my Dad and the rest of us getting to benefit!

Ok, Ryan says to count this blog as his as well. If you haven’t read his blog, look to the right and click on his name. So good. But this goes for both of us. We plan on co-blogging before we go home. That will be life changing- for you and us.

Off to the beach! Time to get a sweet tan. (Yeah right- I’ve burned pretty much consistently since I was in 5th grade, so a tan is a long ago memory.)