The Adventures of Darcey & Watson

This past Easter weekend Katie, Tim, Patrick, Jessica, and I went on a road trip to Colorado from our home in Carrollton, TX. You see, we were going to visit Josh and Christy Hewitt (Katie, Patrick, and Jess’ family, and former staff members of GFA), and their two adorable children Annie (3, almost 4) and Wesley (just turned 2). The week before we left, Wesley had a birthday, and we were going to celebrate it on the Saturday before Easter. So as a surprise we bought him a gigantic, red, crab sandbox with great big eyes on the front of it. But fitting it in the Volvo we were borrowing from another staff member was not going to happen. Thankfully we had rope, so the guys tied it to the roof of the car, and the Thursday before Easter (right after work, at around 5PM) we were on our way towards a road trip we will never forget.
It started off great with Tim and Katie up front, and Patrick, Jess, and me in the back. Was quite cozy and our intent was to drive till we got to the Hewitts 14 hours later. On we went with a few of us falling asleep periodically (I was drugged with Benedryl for the first few hours because I had a slight allergic reaction to Coconut towards the end of the work day, so I was rather sleepy), and some wonderfully interesting music playing. As we were passing through New Mexico, we saw SNOW on the side of the road! I was rather excited, considering I hadn’t seen ANY SNOW this entire winter. After a few shifts of driving between Katie and Tim, I was getting antsy and was wide awake (at 2AM?). Since Katie and Tim were exhausted, I decided to drive the remaining 5 hours of the trip.
As I was driving, we entered very VERY thick fog. So, insead of going the speed limit of 75 mph, I had to stick with 40 mph since I couldn’t see more than 5 ft in front of me. After a while the fog started to clear up a bit and I was able to speed again (80 mph in a 75 mph… so no worries, no craziness at this point in the trip. hehe). As I was travelling at about 80 mph there was all of a sudden a huge THUNK! and the car swayed a little and gone was the giant red sandbox that had been strapped to the top of the car. Needless to say, I stopped on the side of the road and we all got out to assess the damage and to see if indeed we lost our dear companion.
We had. So, Patrick and I took a flashlight and started walking back along the interstate looking for the sandbox. After about 5 minutes of walking, we figured it must be pretty far away, so we ran about half a mile more, and it still was nowhere to be found. But considering it was 4AM, on a dark interstate, with semi’s and other vehicles rushing by at 75 mph or more, we kept walking looking for the sandbox.After about 5 more minutes I saw a dark shape sitting in the middle of the right lane of the road. THE SANDBOX! We ran over to it and after Patrick picked it up we started our trek back to the car whose hazard lights we could see blinking in the distance. It took FOREVER to get back to the car that seemed to not grow any closer (we had to have been at least a mile away), we tied the sandbox back to the roof of the car, a little more securely this time, and continued on our way.
After a few more hours it started to get light outside and we were ever nearing our destination. Pulling into their parking lot we were greeted by Christy and it was COLD outside! And there were mountains in the distance, and we were all exhausted. After taking a quick nap, we all hung out for a bit, played tiredly with the kids, and once Josh got back from work he took Tim, Patrick, Katie and me to this awesome store named Jax. Jax is a store that has all sorts of weapons, camping gear, military surplus, outdoorsy stuff, etc. I LOVED it!! The first day we went to Jax, we pretty much just took a tour of the store, and then headed to a grocery store to get some needed items for Katie, and then went back home to rest some more.
After our return to the Hewitts house, Josh pointed out that there were a whole bunch of Prairie dogs out in the fields by their house. So Patrick, Katie, and I took our cameras and attempted to get close enough to the prairie dogs to get their pictures. Sadly, these animals are rather skittish and have a very reliable security system. As soon as we reached the closest side walk to their field we heard this chirping alarm coming from the prairie dogs that were acting as the sentries. Needless to say, we didn’t get close enough to get close up pictures of them, but hopefully if we zoom in to the pictures we got from a distance, then it will work well enough.
I honestly don’t remember most of that first day in Colorado…we were all so tired, that I’m surprised that I remembered all that I just wrote about. I do remember when Annie first saw me again, and she said “Alleeeeey! I like you, and I like playing with you. Do you want to play?” Was cute to know that she still remembered me, and was quick to give me a hug hello. Wesley took a little while to warm up to everyone except Jess (he snuggled with her most of the weekend). After a while, I ended up falling asleep on the couch and got sent to bed by the rest of my companions. So I headed down to the basement where the girls were sleeping, put my headphones in and set my ipod to my “sleep” playlist, and promptly fell asleep.

So ends the first day of our journey to Colorado, stay tuned for the rest of our adventures.
(a heads up, the drive back home is quite interesting)

Source: The Adventures of the Red Sandbox

Here’s another quick update of what I’ve been up to, for those who are wondering. Since I haven’t written much lately. Hopefully soon I’ll have some deeper stuff to write about. Next week I’ll write about my easter weekend, we’re headed up to Colorado and I’m sure there will be lots to write about. ANYWAYS, here’s the quick version of the Bales camping trip I went on:

A few weekends ago, I had the amazing privilege to go camping with the Bales family. The Bales family includes the people that they mentored and Katie, as well as their immediate family. So… Wendy (my mentor), David (her husband), their kids Jesse, Kim, Alia, and Gabe, and then those they mentored Steve, Alex, and me, and then Katie Quite a unique family, but I wouldn’t trade being “adopted” by any other family down here.

The camping trip was spent at Daingerfield state park, complete with tenting, hiking trails, and a freeeeeeeeezing cold spring-fed lake. We had lots of fun spending time in God’s nature, and had some great conversations, and worship. Was an over all refreshing weekend. Praise God for the break.

Source: Camping with the Bales – March 2012

Yesterday was a very momentous occasion. You see, GFA was having a Hog Slog (A race that includes Running, Biking, and multiple opsticals including a big mud pit at the end). Katie and I decided to participate, so we spent a few months training. This past week however, we both weren’t doing too well health-wise, so we weren’t too sure how the race would go. But the weather was decent (raining and overcast, slightly chilly), our costumes were obnoxious (Blue body paint with green clothes and capes), we were excited to be participating in the race with friends (so it didn’t really matter if we won or lost), and there was great fellowship afterwards!

So, I guess the purpose of this post is because I haven’t written in a while and thoght I’d just give you a quick update on an event that recently happened.

Katie and I got in third place in the Piglet Bracket number 1, which consisted of about 5-6 other teams. Yay! we placed! next year will be great, and we’ll be sure to train even more!

Source: The First Annual GFA Hog Slog

Today started off with waking up from a great night sleep, and I wasn’t sick anymore! Made me excited to head out with Tom to the full fay of conferences at Caesar’s Palace. It was a lot of the same information, and I was finally understanding what was going on with all the email lingo. I even met some people and smiled and talked, as opposed to when I wasn’t feeling well and was trying to not have a coughing/sneezing fit on people.
As Tom and I walked around the lunch room at the conference trying to visit each of the booths, we collected some free goodies to bring back to Texas. Everything from mints, bouncy balls, inflatable dinosaurs, to bright orange sunglasses. After our looooong lunch period, we had a one-on-one meeting with a professional to talk about the layout of our weekly digest. Trying to figure out how to optimize it enough that will resonate with the prospect (person receiving the email) so that they will read it all and click through to the landing page. We got some good feedback on it, and will be doing some case studies of our own once we get back to Texas.
After the one-on-one meeting, we had the last leg of the main conference (tomorrow is when we take yet another test to become certified professional email marketers, not sure the difference between the two tests). Was a great conference, and I learned a lot. I also figured out that there is a LOT that I have to change and implement when I get back to the office.
Once the conference was finished we met with a few people as the booths were being torn down, and then headed back to our delicious smelling chocolate restaurant to eat dinner. When we were there our waiter looked like a younger Jim Carrey, and was kinda flirty. He pretty much watched me and Tom as we ate the entire time, and was very attentive. And he would try to make eye contact with me and smile and such. It’s hard to be nice and smile at people, yet not lead them on when they’re acting like that.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel and I was glad to find that the walk back was a lot more tame than the night before. I was also recording the walk from the hotel to the conference center on the way there in the morning, and then took another video of our walk back at night. That way I can create a video of the walk so that people can see first hand what happened, and the difference between the Strip at night, and the strip in the morning.
Once back at the hotel we packed our bags and I took a shower and went to bed. Thus ending the fourth day of my journey in Vegas. Tune in next time for my last day’s adventure.

Source: Las Vegas: From Where I was Standing (day 4)

Today started off with Tom and I waking up earlier than the day before, which technically wasn’t all that early if you count in the time-change. But if you consider the fact that I didn’t sleep very well at all, it was an early morning. This was to be the longest conference day, so being alert was pretty much a necessity. However, I had amazing friends and family praying for me as I was there, so I wasn’t all too worried about remembering all that I needed to. I knew God wanted me at this email marketing conference for a reason, so I was determined to give it my all so I can best serve Him when I’m back at GFA.

The walk over to the conference was pretty much the same as the day before, not much else to share there, so I’ll just skip straight to the conference itself. Moved to a bigger room, with way more chairs and tables, due to the vast difference in the amount of people attending, we found some seats towards the back of the table section. I’d also like to mention that I was at about 70% of health, and was just sniffling and coughing a little bit. But I was able to talk without having to constantly clear my throat, so that was a major improvement. Especially when being asked what I do, and where I came from.

After about 2o minutes of the first session, a guy named Marcus sat next to me in the empty seat that previously resided there. He was really nice, and when I shared about Gospel for Asia (which was a very common occurrence, since people were all trying to get to know the other marketers in the conference and what they might be able to gleam from their experiences to use in their marketing tactics.) he commented that he’s glad we’re working over in Asia because “they need the Gospel very much”. I was happy to see that he was totally understanding. After a few sessions, someone else came over to talk to him and mentioned that he knew that Marcus would do great when he taught his session the next day because of when he heard him speaking in church once. So Marcus knew the Truth! I’m not 100% sure he is a believer, but this is the first time I’ve heard mentioned anything about the church since arriving in Las Vegas. Other than from Tom and myself that is…

Now, the conference kept going on, and on… and on. All the while we were consistently being flooded by a water hose of information about emails, value propositions, clarity trumping persuasion, etc. So I was very glad when lunch was announced and we got an hour break to gather up as much energy as we could with food, in preparation for the next 6-7 hours. As we finished getting our food (chicken, salad, and tater tots), there was no more sitting room at the tables. So we stood to eat our food at a standing table with a few other people. Made for some quick eating. But it was great food.

The next sessions were break out sessions, where there were two different sessions going on at the same time, in different rooms. So Tom and I split up so we could get all the information possible, from both sessions. I was praying the whole time, that maaaybe I’d be able to retain the information I heard. The first guy wasn’t all that interesting, and most of the stuff he was talking about didn’t really apply at all to what we do. The second guy that spoke was a very dynamic speaker. He had grown up in the church and used to be a baptist pastor. He owned a music company (hearandplay.com) and I learned a lot about him about making automated emails personalized.

After these sessions, we had a break and I decided to take some pictures of the conference center, the booths of the different Email Service Providers (ESP’s), and such. Lots of booths had free stuff, where I got the bulk of my souvenirs. (my bouncy ball was taken away at airport security.) After break I was able to concentrate a lot better, my head was a lot less fuzzy, and I was beginning to understand all the email lingo being talked about. And to top it all off, it ended way earlier than I thought it would! So Tom and I wandered around Caesar’s Palace looking for this photo exhibit that was being talked about. They were BEAUTIFUL photos! And when Tom asked how much they cost (thinking postcard size) they started at $3000. $3000!! FOR A PICTURE! Crazy…

The pictures were amazing, but there weren’t that many to look at, so we left the exhibit and decided to explore a bit more of the Forum Shops inside Caesar’s Palace. As we went deeper into the “mall” it was beautiful inside. The ceilings were huge domes painted to look like the sky outside. With clouds and such. The architecture was astonishing as well, with intricate fountains, and statues galore. As we walked deeper and deeper into the shops, we were stopped by a delicious aroma in the air. Drastically different than the smokey smell of the casinos, we were met with the smell of chocolate. It was so thick, it was like I stepped into a cloud of edible air. We discovered that it was a restaurant, AND a chocolate store in one. Needless to say, we decided to eat there that night and the food was delicious! I’ve never had chocolate ranch dressing with onion rings before, but boy did it taste delectable.

After dinner, Tom wanted to look in the chocolate shop for something for his wife, so I decided to take a walk around taking photos. I discovered another fountain, and as I was taking pictures of it, I noticed a blue light near it. Trying to get a better view of the light, I saw that it wasn’t a light, it was an aquarium full of fish! So I decided to take pictures of the fish and as I was taking pictures of the fish, I saw out of the corner of my eye a manta ray swimming happily into view. It’s almost like it saw the camera and wanted me to take pictures of it. So I did. Lots of them, as it kept posing nicely for me.

After this, Tom and I walked back to our hotel. It was an interesting sight walking through Vegas at night. With all the lights and smells and sounds. It’s almost overwhelming the sin that covers that part of the city. People handing things out, announcers announcing the next game of strip poker that will take place right inside the door of a bar, the people staggering drunk in the street, the billboards, the drummers on the street trying to earn tips, a guy making crosses and roses out of palm tree leaves.

Now we’re back at our hotel and it’s time to rest and go to bed. And so ends day 3 of Vegas.

Source: Las Vegas: From Where I was Standing (day 3)

So, I didn’t sleep very well the first night in Vegas, but that’s alright, I had the adrenaline of the time-change messing up my internal clock and not knowing what to expect with this email conference. I have never been to a work conference before, I had heard plenty about them from my mommy, but that’s nothing like experiencing on for yourself.

Before I get into what this day was like, I’d like to say that I don’t think Satan wanted me to attend this meeting. Which is strange because you would think he would want me to go to Las Vegas, and endure all the darkness that he has fabricated here. But alas, the weekend before I was leaving, I got a very bad cold and wasn’t sleeping well at all, and my car’s brake fluid decided to start leaking. Was a rather interesting start to the week. But Praise God I have friends and family who pray because I got the best two nights of sleep in a long time, the two nights before I left, and my car was being taken care of by some of my GFA family. So Praise God for that provision. He really does know what He’s doing. I also can’t help but think, maybe He made me sick for this week because he knew there would be people here that might possibly take advantage of a young single girl who has no clue what she’s doing. So, it was kinda a blessing in disguise, one might say.

So, Tom and I met out in the hallway to head over from the Harrah’s to Caesar’s Palace, I recorded this walk for you all to see, but I’m not home yet, so you’ll have to wait till I’m back to see it. Just ask me. It’s not all that fancy, but it includes having to walk through the smoke and alcohol filled casino of the Harrah’s, walk down the street past bars, tattoo parlors, clubs, etc, Cross the street called Strip st. up till we encountered Caesar’s Palace. This first day we took the walkway into the casino area. It was a series of squishy moving walkways that took us into the heart of Caesar’s Palace. We wandered the casino floor till we found someone that could direct us to the Conference Center, and then made our way through the winding corridors that make up the palace. This place is HUGE! After following the signs for the Email Marketing Summit through the maze of hallways and escalators and such, we found the email summit.

Once we were all signed in, we found some seats at a table and waited for the sessions to start. This first day was rather boring as I had no clue what they were talking about at first and it took a while to catch onto the lingo that I was unfamiliar with. Slowly but surely it started to make sense and the speakers were getting slowly more animated as they got more into what they were talking about. 8 hours go by and they present us with a test. Yes, you read that right. They gave us a test.

Now, when I finished my final exam in Highschool, I thought I would be finished forever with the loathsome Scantron Tests. You know, the ones where you fill in the bubbles according to the question’s answer? Apparently I was wrong, because two and a half years after I graduated from Owen J Robert’s Highschool, I took yet again, a scantron test to see how well I listened to the lectures, with the notorious number 2 pencil. Praise God it was an open book test because I barely remembered what we rushed through in the sessions. Thankfully we only have to pass with an 80% to be considered a “Certified Professional in Email Marketing”. I personally think they should have waited till the end of the third day, or fourth day, but that’s okay. We’ll see if I’m a professional when the results come back.

After our test, Tom and I headed back to our hotel for some grub and rest. The journey back from the hotel was more interesting than the journey from the hotel in the morning. You see… Las Vegas comes to life at night. So the night life was just starting to get under-way when we were headed back. There were stalls and vendors open, people were setting up for that night’s show, there were people out and about on the streets, there were people handing stuff out on the streets to go see the “show girls”, etc. Let’s just say, Tom and I started walking a little quicker to get back to our hotel rooms.

When we got in the elevator that would take us to the third floor of our hotel, we realized just how tired we were. Both of us, with bags under our eyes, agreed to meet an hour and a half later to go find dinner. Giving us some down time to rest. I ended up watching Fox and the Hound II on my laptop. We wandered around the Harrah’s trying to find a decent place to eat, and we settled on this steak-house type restaurant. There was even an elevator to get up to this fancy restaurant. But once we arrived, we discovered that the prices were EXPENSIVE! so we went back to KGB.

This time at KGB we had a guy waiter. He was very obviously gay and was very flirtatious. But he mainly paid attention to me. Smiling, giggling, talking, etc. It was rather interesting. For me, I’m used to hanging with people like this, coming from a public school background, and from the various mission trips I had been on. I felt bad for the guy, and will continue to pray for him. Seeing how “open” he was to communicating to me, I was reminded of how we are supposed to be approachable. Like Jesus was. Not agreeing with the sin, and not encouraging it. But not condemning to the point of people not wanting to be around believers. Praise God for Him loving this waiter through me. I just hope that he will see that and not be turned off to any believers he may come across in the future.

After dinner we went back to our hotel rooms, and as my form of resting, I watched another movie (Oliver and Company), read my bible outloud (as a sort of prayer for this city), prayed, and then went to bed.

And so ends day 2 of my trip to Las Vegas. Stay tuned for Day 3!

Source: Las Vegas: From Where I was Standing (day 2)

For those of you who don’t know, I took a trip to Las Vegas, NV to attend an email marketing summit for work. So Monday after work, Tom (my boss) and I boarded a plane and arrived safely in Las Vegas. As the plane was nearing the airport, there was one thing I noticed outside the window. The lights of the city seemed to never end. They just kept going and going and going, out till it reached the horizon and I couldn’t see anymore. Was a spectacular view from above. When we got off the plane and entered the terminal so that we could find transportation from the airport to our hotel, Harrah’s, I noticed something else that I hadn’t seen before. It was like the airport, in itself, was it’s own mini casino. There were slot machines placed throughout the terminal. Because we all know that after a three hour flight, that’s all we want to do is gamble. That’s when I first noticed how deep the seeds of sin had gone in this city.
I’m not saying that all the people here are evil, or all the acts that go on here are evil, I do believe there are genuine believers here who seek to make disciples of all the world (Including their own backyard). But Satan for sure has enjoyed luring people into such deep sin, that they don’t even recognize any of it as bad, or wrong. They’re so blinded by the artificial entertainment of the sinful world. Full of it’s instant pleasure that doesn’t last.
Anyway, we found ground transportation and headed to our hotel. As we ventured into the city, I saw lights everywhere. From hotels, from Casinos, from billboards, and other buildings. It was so colorful, but I couldn’t take my eyes away from it all. I can see why people are drawn in, and the feeling of wanting to be a part of something bigger, is a big draw-in for this city. Even if that “something bigger” is something that’s not good at all. So much spiritual darkness, but a totally different kind than I experienced in India. Like a different flavor that was directly triggered to draw in people from our culture.
We arrived safely at our hotel at around 9:30PM (11:30PM Central time) and discovered we were starving. So, as we made our way choking and holding our breath through the smoke and alcohol filled casino that consumed the lower level of our hotel, we stopped by our rooms on the third floor of the Mardi Gras Tower of the Harrah’z Las Vegas, and headed to find food in the hotel. We ended up at KGB (a burger place) where we were seated at a booth by a lady dressed in way too little clothes (her uniform) and we ordered some food. I felt bad for this lady because I could tell she was not well. Sin was thick in her life, and I could see she had an eating disorder. I began to wonder what in her life had taken her where she was that day. Who in her life told her she is not beautiful, and needed to strive to find love and affection by trying to make herself “more attractive”? So I started praying for her. And all the other waitresses at that restaurant. Not to mention the waiters as well (I’ll discuss them in Day 2 though). After dinner, Tom and I were totally drained and headed back to our hotel rooms and went to bed.
The hotel room I am staying in has a gigantic king sized bed (very comfy), the room is rather cozy, but the walls are really thin. So I had a hard time sleeping as I heard drunk people in the rooms adjacent to mine, and as they fumbled with the keys for their doors. Eventually I got to sleep and so ends day 1 of my journey in Las Vegas.

Stay tuned for Day 2, which I will work on shortly.

Source: Las Vegas: From Where I was Standing (day 1)

What exactly is it? I know it’s been referenced in many conversations as something that’s not supposed to be done… but what’s the definition? Dictionary.com says it is “idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others” or “light, familiar talk or writing”. So, would talking about how proud I am of my brother’s maturity in the Lord, and how much I miss him, and am praying for him, be gossip? Or what about when parents are talking about their children to others, “oh, Billy did the cutest thing today, blah blah blah…”. Would that be gossip? Anyway… just a thought that came to mind today. Because I know I talk about those I care about all the time. But I can’t help but wonder where that fine line resides between gossip, and not gossip… I shall ponder this subject more.

Source: Gossip? Or not?

Actually, He’s got my everything. My hands as He leads me day to day, my heart as He is all I want, my thoughts because I give them all to Him, my praise because He alone is worthy.

Recently I heard a message from Auntie Gisela. She is K.P. Yohannan’s wife, and every third thursday of the month we have a GFA ladies meeting where she will share a message with us. This month’s title was “The Gospel is Good News”. It’s good news for all who receive it. Even though times will get tough, God can handle it and will dust us off again. Nothing is too impossible for God.

God knows. So why worry? I’ve struggled with depression for a very long time, and until just recently, I had a hard time combating it and refocusing on the Lord. It finally clicked during ladies meeting, that whatever I entertain in my thoughts, or in my heart will bear fruit. So if I dwell on those thoughts and feelings of depression, it will bear fruit and make me useless in reaching the lost in Asia. So in order to protect my call, I need to not think on those things. Just like in Philippians 4, where Paul says “whatever things are true, whatever things [are] noble, whatever things [are] just, whatever things [are] pure, whatever things [are] lovely, whatever things [are] of good report, if [there is] any virtue and if [there is] anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.” (NKJV)
So if I immediately combat all those negative thoughts that I am worth nothing, that God doesn’t care about my desires, that there’s no point in me doing what I do because it’s all worthless, with the TRUTH that the Lord clearly lays out in His word for me, for this exact purpose, then I don’t have to worry about depression.
Yes, it is hard to do. It’s so easy to entertain those thoughts. But I will NOT allow the enemy to get a foothold on my any longer. God loves me, He sent His Son to DIE for me, He rose again conquering death so that I may have a chance to live forever in His presence, and He is continuing to renew and transform me into His image. Who can be depressed when they can understand and grasp the depth of God’s unfailing love for them?
There is joy in the Lord. A Joy that will never fail. A Joy fed from His Spirit living in me. Even in times of trial and darkness, His joy is there to shine through me. And I’m happy about that. I am content in the Lord.

Anyway… that was my quick update of where my thoughts are at the moment. Hope it was a blessing to you! Remember that God knows what’s best for you. He knew it before you were born, and He knows how best to fulfill His plan in your life. So trust Him, and don’t worry.

Source: God’s Got my Back

So, I was going down memory lane, like I often enjoy doing, and I came across the music videos that my roommates and I made back when I was in the School of Discipleship with Gospel for Asia. So I thought I’d share them with you. Enjoy!

Make a Man:

This was made in the first month of the Bonsai girls being together. We bonded quickly.

Don’t Be Shy:

Our second Bonsai House Production

New Shoes:

Our third Bonsai Production

Free to be Me:

We created this for the talent show during our year

AND FINALLY (there were more after this, but they weren’t music videos persay)

This was our end of year, graduation production.

Source: Music Videos