Sorry for not updating this blog lately. This is my life since I posted last...

Eating hot dogs with my mommy in the park. Church and fellowship. Getting my nails done with my sister for her birthday (that was in December). Watching my adorable little nephew gain more than 3 lbs. Working on a video to show you all about my time in India, and to promote how you can partner with me for my time in Thailand. Visiting friends and partners at UCONN. Playing mini-golf and eating ice cream with my poppa. Occasional babysitting and delivery jobs - when they actually come up. A day trip to visit a friend in NYC. Reading His Word and remembering His Promises.

There is not a lot going on, but I do have a lot of thoughts going on in my head. One of the main things on my mind is wondering when God's floodgates will open up, but knowing He will provide because I have chosen His Will. I can not believe that I leave for Thailand in about 50 days, because there is so much to get done. Please join me in prayer. That the money needed for at least my Discipleship Training School ($3500 total), 5 months health insurance($??) and airfare ($550) is provided, and that I am able to meet with many partners over the coming weeks.

Also, if you are interested in how you can potentially partner with me, send an email to marisa.deyoung@gmail.com, or leave a comment here. Thank you!!

I decided to submit one of my photos from India to a photo contest...I have to get people to vote me into the top 150 and then the website people decide the winner from there - the prize is $1000. Obvisously, that money would be a huge help to pay for the YWAM Discipleship School. In just two days my ranking jumped from 41,000 to around 1,750 already so who knows...I figure it is worth a try to use a gift God has given me. If you like the photo you can vote once or every 8 hours if you really want to. Here is the link and photo...click vote and then confirm it on the next website that pops up. There are also some great photos on the website so I encourage you to check them out and vote for some others you like, too. Thanks in advance! God bless.

My Favorite Photo (I've Ever Taken) Brickfish

HAPPY 4th of July everyone!

I hope you all had a great day. The past few days have been VERY relaxed - just working on a video so everyone can see what I did in India. I'm hoping to finish it in the next two weeks so that I can start sharing with everyone and then also sharing what I will be doing in Thailand and how you all can partner with me to help the poor of Thailand!

For now, here is a quick video I made for my friend SingSing's 22nd birthday. I debated posting it, but decided it would give a view into a small part of my time in India. I met SingSing because he is one of my coworker's nephew and lived down the street with her family. With his help I learned how to catch taxis, climb gates, upon so many other things. He is a great brother, and the video captures a little bit of our crazy friendship. It starts with a few words from me to SingSing, and then continues on with video and photos from our time in India and it ends with photos from when I visited him in New Zealand...enjoy.

Thanks to my sister-in-law, Steph, I got an answer to my bug spray question...she is a teacher at a nature center school.

Mosquitoes and flies are just two small groups under the category of bugs. I'm sure it some how relates to that whole genus and species thing, but that's far beyond my desire to have my question answered. In any case my question remains, because spiders are considered bugs, too. Should people who are scared of spiders spray bug spray all over themselves? Of course not. Therefore, the question remains.

Why is bug spray called bug spray, when it is meant to keep mosquitoes and flies away?

The random thoughts of my mind on this 27th day of the 6th month of the 2009th year.

I love...Meaningful conversations. Praying for people and being prayed for. Hearing how God has moved and is moving. Meeting with cross-cultural mission-minded people. Playing pretend games with little kids. Writing raps and then changing them into funny country twang songs. The ocean.

At the same time I ponder the following...Why do they call bug spray bug spray, when it is meant to keep mosquitoes and flies away?

2 weeks. I ponder how it has been that long! Since being home it has been a worldwind of events. As you know from my last blog post my sister gave birth to Ronan - my adorable and incredible little nephew. That same week we had a Bridal Shower for my other sister who will be getting married in September. Amidst all this I searched for some babysitting jobs and found a great new family, visited a few friends, recycled a years worth of aluminum cans, celebrated the engagement of wonderful friends, went shopping with my mom with the hopes of finding a "mother-of-the-bride" dress, emptied a closet full of "stuff" by donating a lot of things and realized in the process what a "non-minimalist" I had become before leaving for India, and the list continues on.

However, I have also remained quiet and stayed close to home. For some reason initiating phone calls or outings to friends has been hard. I want to see people, but it kind of feels funny, too. It is another wonderful part of the paradox of coming home. Stuck between two worlds, knowing that I now live in CT, but having a large part of my heart in India. Trying to embrace this home, but not wanting to let go of my home in India. Just a couple of nights ago I finally got the chance to get on Skype and call Auntie, Uncle and Along. Hearing their voices brought a huge smile to my face. It created a sense of peace in my heart. It allowed me to embrace my home in India again, even if only for an hour. I am thankful for those around me - near and far. I am thankful for the time spent together, the emails, the invites to go out and the phone calls. I totally understand we are all busy, but if you are not calling because you do not want to bug me - give me a call because I just need a little help in getting back to socializing. Most of all I am thankful for God, who is getting me through this whole transition!

We played "dress the bride" by breaking all the guests into 3 teams. They each had toilet paper and a few accessories to dress up one bride's maid in 10 minutes. Lola judged, and my sister-in-law, Steph, won.

Great Grandpap and Ronan - I love how he is gripping Paps finger. He looks chubby but he really is not that big. However, we all kept saying he is really strong and then the pediatrician told us that, too. Maybe you are looking at the USA's next weight lifting champion!

It pays to have bestest buddies studying fashion designing - SingSing stitched this skirt and then suprised me with it when I was in NZ. Matched it with my $3 shoes from Bangkok and $12 Daisy Fuentes (clearly on SALE) shirt. (This is a view of part of my family's front yard for everyone in India).

I am an aunt! Ronan James (RJ) Carboni was born 8 June 2009 @ 8:29am. He is 7lbs 10oz and 21 inches. With a full head of hair and HUGE feet he is undoubtedly the cutest little big foot ever! Mommy and RJ are healthy and doing well - Daddy can't stop smiling. One of the nurses that knows by sister, because she is an occupational therapist at the hospital, stitched "Carboni" onto Ronan's hat, which lets the nurses in the maternity ward know he is an extra special package because his mommy works in the hospital! Just in case you can not tell, we are all incredibly excited. Ronan is the best welcome home gift.

It is time to announce the big news...I'm home. I arrived at 11:55pm on Friday night to JFK, and yesterday was filled with catching up with family. Overall it was a pretty sweet day, and by the grace of God I did not have any kind of breakdown in Walmart as I searched through the multitudes of deodorant and toothpaste brands - still remembered more or less the ones I have liked in the past. Understandably, many missionaries return home after 4-5+ years are brought to tears, because having to make so many decisions in what to buy when used to having 1-2 options becomes overwhelming in the transition home process.

Colorado Springs was incredible, much needed, gave me the opportunity to meet some incredible people, and I feel much better about accepting God's calling in my life to move to Thailand. The number of people there was actually closer to 50+ with all the families. It was a great mixture of long termers coming home after 12+ years, 3-6 yearers, and us short-termers of 1 year. Also, we were from all different organizations and adopted countries - Europe, Asia, South America and Africa were all represented! During the mornings we had group debriefing, an then the afternoons were a mixture of time to ourselves or with others, and meeting with the staff 1 on 1. Dinner was at 5:30pm and the rest of the night was to us. About 1/3 of us went bowling one night, and a family that was in Cambodia had 4 kids that have never been bowling...also introduced them to Mike 'n' Ikes from the 25 cent machine! Then, 5 of us went hiking on our last full day, because we had the afternoon completely free - it was great to get out and see more of Colorado Springs. All in all I would UNDOUBTEDLY suggest Mission Training International's (MTI) Debriefing and Renewal(DAR) program to anyone who has been gone for 1+ years. It truly helped in the transition home! Also, on my flight home I had a 3 hour layover in Atlanta, and I got to have dinner with the Rummels - God is so good!!

Here are a few photos.

One of the kiddos that had never been bowling before - her family is Korean, but the mother was an MK (missionary kid).

The group of us that went together - $5 for shoes and two games. I love special deals for missionaries!

The group I was in for the week - representing India, Japan, China, Nicaragua, Kenya, Ugaunda, Cambodia and...I can not remember the rest.

The sun came out our last 2 days and this was our view in the back - Pikes Peak!

This was the only photo we could get of the group of us hiking...spanning three continents.

Stephen enjoying the view.

Note that my little adopted sister is now TALLER than me...YIKES!! Alli surely is beautiful though - can't believe she is in 10th grade now!

My last night in Christchurch I stayed up until 4am repacking and talking with SingSing. Embracing the last moments there were to be embraced until the next time I see my buddy – which I have no clue as to when that will be. Saturday morning Han was more than willing to drive me to the airport, and Rino, SingSing and Ning all came along. They stayed with me until I was checked in and right before I had to go through security. Even as I went through security on the second floor, they found the one little spot where I could look down and see them waving – 2nd story is only half a floor. These are the things I will miss – the culture of people taking time for others and not being painfully individualistic. They did not just drop me off and say peace out…the parking fee did not prevent them from waiting around for 1+ hours.

The person at the check-in counter was really nice and weighed my bags together, since one was only 19kg but the other was 24.6 kgs. Not having to reorganize or be threatened with another $1000 fee was much appreciated!! We then all sat around and enjoyed the last moments, which was inclusive of SingSing telling me I really should drink some of his coffee because I would be too tired. It was what I thought to be the most bitter coffee ever, until Ning came right behind him saying his tasted much sweeter. Ning’s was even worse!! We got a laugh none the less.

Onto the domestic flight to Auckland, NZ. I get talking with a Kiwi (New Zealander) and he is headed to LA, too. After talking about his kids and telling me how it’s good that I am going home, he offers to have me as one of his “guests” in the First-class lounge during our 3 hour layover. I originally said no, but once we were off the airplane he offered again and this time FREE first-class food, a place to relax and clean bathrooms sounded like a sweet plan. I agreed. Maybe I will write a book one day … “From NE India to Qantas’ First Class Lounge in 9 Days.” I do have to say the food was incredible. At the same time I felt funny – like when I got bumped up to business class from Kolkata to Bangkok.

The flight from Auckland to LA was uneventful, and landing in LA I put my bags right back through the luggage scanner and they handled it being sent to Frontier. After talking to my parents I checked-in at the Frontier Airlines Desk and for some reason did not have to pay the $40 for two bags that should normally be paid. God is soo good!

After connecting in Denver I finally arrived in Colorado Springs and it was great meeting up with Manga – a friend from church in CT. One of my bags got lost so we had to do some paperwork, but eventually made it back to her family’s home. After a small snack and talking I got a phone call around 11:30pm that my baggage had arrived in the flight after mine and the guy was outside the door. Sweet! One downfall is someone took my bouldering shoes off it. I just ask myself – how did I get through India, Bangkok, Sydney, 3 airports in NZ and have them taken between LA and Colorado Springs? It is definitely not a case of them falling off – a metal carabiner does not magically come unscrewed and pushed inwards and then fall off luggage. Tried calling the different Frontier Desks – still waiting to hear back from LA office. Just praying they show up somewhere for now. None the less, I made it safely and really enjoyed the time spend with Manga, Zak and their kids who are 4 and 2. The little ones have grown so much, and after church on Sunday we enjoyed a hike around Red Rocks Park before they dropped me off at the debriefing facility.

Now, here I am at debriefing. There are about 30 of us - 8 of us single 20/30 somethings and the rest families. We all had dinner together tonight, but the actual program starts tomorrow morning. However, I already found a running buddy who has also not been able to run consistently for the past year and wanted to get that feeling of a trapped monkey out of his blood. I will continue to update everyone during the week. Please be praying for me.

New Zealand...somehow it came and already went. The past 8 days have flown by, and while I stayed in Christchurch most of the time it was definitely worth it to just be with friends from NE India. I did lots of exploring around the city, but we also took a day trip to Kaikoura which has views of snow-capped mountains before reaching the ocean. One night we went to Cashmere Hill which overlooks Christchurch - absolutely crazy with sooo much fog but then a complete clearing at the top. We also hiked through darkness to get higher up on the summit of Cashmere Hill, which led to a crazy and VERY windy yet incredibly fun night hike. Today SingSing and I decided to take a bus to New Brighton Beach, and it was a great way to spend my last day. The rest of the time we enjoyed around Christchurch - the Botanical Gardens, touristy spots, biking, shopping, etc.

In just a few hours I will once again be packed and heading on my way to the United States for my first time in a year. By the grace of God I get to visit some incredible friends from St. Paul's who are out in Colorado Springs for the summer for my first night, and then I will be at debriefing for a week. Thanks for all your prayers during this time.

Here are some photos...to view more photos click HERE and HERE.

Night #1 - With Rino and SingSing, we were being clowns and displaying some of the hats SingSing has designed!
SingSing guessed my size perfectly for the skirt he designed and made for me - I'm thinking it will look better with some cute high heel shoes though!
Our trip to Kaikoura on the shore originally started with an adventure to Hamner Springs, but it was far too quiet so we drove another 2 hours to the shore and mountains! This parking lot was pretty much all we saw of Hamner Springs.
On our way to Kaikoura - the clouds parted for the first time all day as we drove by this spot!
One of the least laziest seals!
Kaikoura Bay.
My buddies for the past week...when we were in Kaikoura!!
Before SingSing had us take a 4+ mile walk home from the gardens!!
Christchurch is a great artsy city that reminds me of a super small version of Boston!
This is from 3 feet behind our vehicle...driving up Cashmere Hill to see the city from far far above!!
SingSing and I are somewhere in that complete darkness on the right side of the photo..one of the best yet craziest night hikes I have ever done!!
One of my favorite photos...while we were waiting with Ning and Han to get pizza after our hike and beach.
New Brighton Beach...needed the sound of crashing waves!! Incredibly relaxing and a great way to spend my last afternoon in NZ!
More New Brighton Beach photos...