New location

So I am changing my blog from Blogger to Wordpress. I have gone back and forth with this decision and I have come to the conclusion that I like Wordpress so much more than Blogger, and therefore need a change. Please follow me at my new blog:

Dusty Reflections

Thank you for reading!
Gabby

Move-in day countdown!

I move into my new apartment on Sunday! I am pretty excited. It took me a good 45 minutes to pick out the perfect shade of autumn-gold-warm-rich orange for the living room and teal-ocean blue for the bathroom. But I believe I have found the perfect shades!

3 more days!

Whenever I hear the phrase "Three More Days" I think of the Ray Lamontagne song. Anyway, it's three days until we take off for Norther Ireland, and I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all those who so willingly and lovingly supported us! As a "thank-you" of sorts, we have started a team blog that we will be updating while we are over there. So please follow it for updates on prayer requests and other information!

Northern Ireland Team Blog

Love you guys
Gabby

Childish Apprehensions

Where are you going?”

“Uzbekistan!”

“And where is that?”

Silence and shy smile. I never really knew where “Uzbekistan” was, or even what it was before we moved there. So when people would ask where it is located, I either drew a blank or looked up at one of my parents who would rattle off some “Central Asian” mumbo-jumbo.

I used to think that it would look like my Bible picture books, square houses, water wells, palm trees, donkeys and people in robes. The only thing I was really worried about was having to eat weird food.

“Now Ella, you have to promise me that you will try everything that is set in front of you.” My dad said one muggy Minnesota night.

“Everything?” I scrunched my seven year-old nose.

“Everything. We will be guests at many peoples’ homes and it will be rude to refuse. Sometimes they even serve horse eyeballs.”

My stomach churned. But even then I knew that daddy would never let me do anything that would harm me. So I wasn’t too worried about horse eyeballs. Who knew? Maybe they would taste good with salt…

I never saw a horse eyeball the entire nine years we were there.

I remember stepping off the ice-cold air-conditioned airplane and immediately being overcome by a gust of hot, sandy wind as the sun set over the concrete airport. I looked up at my daddy, and he smiled and said “Are you ready to see Mama?” She had come before us.

I never questioned or was afraid to go to Uzbekistan. I knew my parents would never leave me into danger. I had implicit faith.

I often wish I had that kind of faith now with God, instead of always questioning His goodness, or His plan for my life. Faith to eat horse eyeballs, or move to another country, to brave the post-Soviet airport, or face the dusty Uzbek horizon. But instead I ignore the things God asks me to do, seek council in secret hopes that they say something different, or look for a Bible verse to let me get out of whatever it is I lack the faith to do. Even though I know that God promises me good, I have a hard time finding joy in being obedient.

That is the beauty of being a child. You are the lowest of the low. So there is no risk in being obedient. You do as you are told and find joy and hope even in the lowest of circumstances.

I am thinking of writing a small series based on my experiences in Uzbekistan. We shall see if it ever really happens. My writing skills have painfully digressed lately, so I might loose motivation. But tonight I felt the keyboard call. Welcome back to my blog.

Airborne Memories

I am getting on a plane in five days.

I have mixed feelings about flying. Driving past the airport this evening with my dad and sister, I watch a plane safely land. Flying used to mean one of two things:

1) We were going to America, which was full of apprehension and already damped by the realization that I would leave again.

2) We were going to Uzbekistan, which was full of sobriety. It wasn't depressing or discouraging, just very real.

Either one was not very fun. It meant transition. But it was still full of excitement of change. Just something I thought tonight. Maybe it's blog-worthy, maybe not at all...

Northern Ireland-- again!

We leave in six days. SIX DAYS. It hasn't really set in. I haven't packed, but I feel like my heart is at peace with the Lord. I am a little apprehensive, feeling like it's going to be different. But that is the beauty of it! If it was going to be the same as last year I wouldn't have as much opportunity to grow in my faith. I have no idea what this year holds in store for our little team, but I know that God will work in amazing ways.

Please be praying.
Gabby

sigh

This picture is from one of my favorite memories in my life. Going to the Boundary Waters for a senior trip with Bethany Hedstrom, Luke Glader, Anna Horn, Beau Walsh, and Michael Nelson. I was looking at old pictures from the trip last night and kinda wishing I could go back and relive that week. Things were so different than they are now....

Bethany, Anna and I wore beaters pretty much the whole week. We didn't wash our hair or wear make up. And I loved every minute of it.

Random.

I need a job

Thus I present you with my resume (critique greatly appreciated).

Gabriella Huerta

Relevant Skills

Customer Service: Interacting with frustrated customers, being cheerful, providing solutions to customer needs, providing customers with resources and information, experience working with multi-cultural backgrounds, ensuring customer satisfaction.

Child care: Tending for children, playing with them, taking parental instruction.

Custodial: Some cleaning: mopping, sweeping, waxing, washing windows, dusting, and general cleanliness. (At Starbucks we cleaned the store ourselves).

Languages: English (first language), Russian, Uzbek.

Other Notes: I lived overseas doing humanitarian work in Uzbekistan for nine years, giving me the opportunity to interact with people from other cultures and languages

Employment and Positions
Barista: I held this position while working at Starbucks, it broaden my ability to interact with customers while representing the company in a manner that would ensure their satisfaction. I learned how to work with frustrated customers, and how to communicate with them cheerfully and gracefully. Also, I made coffee drinks, stocked merchandise, cleaned the store, handled money from the cashier (closing tills), prepped the store for use the next day, and learned how to be a cheerful coworker as well. I was up for promotion to the title of Shift Supervisor before I got offered a better paying job, at which point I left my position as barista.

Nanny: I worked for a woman in St. Louis Park, caring for her three children (ages 3-7). I worked 12 hour days, cleaning up after them, feeding them, tidying the house, taking them on outings, reading and playing with them.

Camp Counselor: This was not a paid position, and was through my church. However, the skills I learned there were important and the position I held significant because parents trusted me with the care of their children. I spent weeks with campers (ages 9-14) during the summers between my high school years.

Education

Edina Senior High School, MN (graduated 2008)

University of Wisconsin- Madison, WI (currently enrolled—one year completed)
- Studying broadcast journalism

Interests and Activities
-Currently working a non-pay internship with Desiring God Ministries writing blogs for their website.
-Writing for the Badger Herald
-Photography, yoga, writing/blogging, dancing.

I've got soul but I'm not a soldier

I am sitting at the family computer with the dregs of my coffee cup keeping me company. Listening to the Killers (if you didn't already guess)... I am a sloppy, morning mess. My hair is greasy and so to better ignore it, I have it all on top of my head, Pebbles Flinstone style. I am in all dark gray sweats and havent' washed my face. I realize that it is one in the afternoon. I actually have gotten a lot done today. Just haven't dressed. One of those days. What can I say?

Do you ever feel more alive when you don't shower? I certainly do. It fits the weather.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/afv/index?pn=player&itemId=4703282

This is why I never want kids.

g