Our Humble Abode

We are on our third full day in Cebu so I thought I would film a little video to show you guys where we are staying!

House Tour from Meagan Martin on Vimeo.

We love it here and we are feeling more and more at home everyday!
Now it's off to our first church service in Mactan!

Leaving on a jet plane

We are officially in the Philippines!

Wednesday we awoke at a whopping 4:30 AM, finished packing up last minute items, took our cars to our houses, and headed up to the airport with our family.

It was a sad and tearful goodbye, but it's nice to know that we will still be able to see and communicate with our families via the internet. Technology is outstanding.

We left OKC at 8:30 AM and then landed in Dallas, TX at 9:30. After a three hour layover we boarded our 14 HOUR long flight to Seoul, Korea.

I will say that the thing I was dreading the most about this trip was sitting still on a plane for half a day, but it was actually not that bad. Yes, I said it. It was somewhat bearable.

There was a big selection of newly released movies to watch, games to play, and music to listen to. But, being the movie lover I am, I had already seen most of them (which was a bummer) but I did get to watch a few I hadn't seen. I watched Soul Surfer (and yes I teared up a few times on a plane to Korea despite the utter cheesiness of the movie), Rio (precious), Hanna (intense and violent), and about 30 min. of Beastly because that's all I could stand.

We also got to eat two meals which were surprisingly tasty!

The only downside...I only slept for two hours of the trip.
That means I was awake for 12 hours of the flight. Ugh.

But, nevertheless, we survived and landed at the Incheon airport in Seoul, Korea at about 4 PM (Korean time) which is 2AM our time.
I was pretty much a sore, walking zombie. Not cute.

We walked around the Incheon airport and ate some food during our four hour layover before we finally boarded our final flight to Cebu.

After our last four hour flight, we landed in Cebu at 12 AM (Philippine time).

A group of Give a Goat workers greeted us outside the airport with a sign and then we loaded up all our suitcases (which thankfully made it) and headed to our little house.

They showed us around our new home and then we said our goodbyes until tomorrow so we could get some sleep!

So, thank God we made it safely and we have a nice place to stay!

Next up, unpacking and settling in....pictures of our house to come!

My first DIY project.

I completed my first DIY project and it wasn't a complete disaster.

It only took me three days weeks to finish, but I'm pretty proud of it.

Here is the before:
I saw this little gem in the corner of Goodwill for $15 and I just couldn't pass it up.
I mean, look at it! It was pretty dang precious before I took a whack at it.



Then...I finally got around to sanding and priming.
Yes, I did it inside our apartment because it was five million degrees outside. I felt like Dexter with all that plastic.



Now...the final result!

I painted it a light grey and spray painted the original handles white.



I even decoupaged the insides of the drawers with scrapbook paper. I know, I know, you can go ahead and "oooh" and "ahhh."



The finished product in my entry way.
I eventually want to put it in our bedroom since that is what I painted it to match, but our tiny lil apt. doesn't allow that. So, until then, here is where it will lie.

Last Trip in America.

A couple of weeks ago I was able to go on a little family vacay to St. Louis to spend some time with my Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, and Grandma. David was going to be in Arizona performing at a conference for a couple of days, so I thought "Why not take a little trip with the fam before I leave!"

I used to go to St. Louis EVERY summer to spend a couple weeks with my grandma when I was little, but I haven't been in probably 8+ years, so it was great to visit there again!



It was a such a fun trip and so nice to be able to spend time with family that I don't see very often. I already miss them and I am so sad I am going to miss out on a fall break Branson trip, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with them.

Good thing we have Skype.

20 more days.

Official.

We have plane tickets.
We are officially leaving the country on Sept. 14th and coming back on Jan. 11th.
Wow, it's really happening.

Check out that 14 hour flight...whoo!, that'll be a doozy.

I know that God has great things in store for us while we are in the Philippines because the devil is doing everything he can right now to get our spirits down.

Irrational thoughts and fears, a broken laptop screen, not getting the full funding we originally budgeted, etc.

This verse has really helped calm me this past week.



If God is for me, who can be against me?

Some prayer requests:
-Pray that we receive the funding we need
-Pray that the devil flees from us as we prepare for this journey
-Pray for peace
-Most importantly, pray that we can touch as many lives as possible during our time there and that God's will is accomplished.

Birthday Update

Remember this list I made on my birthday last year?

Well now is the time to find out if I actually did any of it...

1.)Go on a cruise.
-We sure did and it was fabulous!

2.)Audition for a community theatre show...and make it.
-Auditioned...still workin on the makin it part...

3.)Go on 22 friend dates with 22 different people.
-I didn't actually keep track of this (or any of the others really), but I'm pretty sure this was accomplished. I think I've done pretty well at staying connected with all my friends even though I'm an old married woman.

4.)Write 22 random notes of encouragement.
-Do Christmas cards count?

5.)Read 22 books.
- I think I read about 15. I wish I could have read more. I plan on making up for this while I'm in the Philippines.

6.)Learn how to knit.
-Never even tried. Fail.

7.)Cook 22 meals from scratch.
-I totally did this! I have become somewhat decent at cooking...as long as I have a VERY detailed recipe.

8.)Watch the sunrise.
-I never did this intentionally, but I plan to once I am on the Filipino beach.

9.)Sew myself a beautiful dress.
-Ha, that was a joke.

10.)Sing Karaoke at a Karaoke bar
-I sang Karaoke at a bar on our cruise and it was great. I will definitely do it again. Nothing is better than having a bunch of drunk people think you are a superstar.

11.)Run in a marathon
-Ugh, this is probably my biggest regret, but I have been building my stamina back up and you better believe I'm signing up for one in the spring.

12.)Make 22 crafts.
-I probably did this in one week of student teaching. Early Childhood Education is craft central. I just wish I would have make more cutesy things for our apt. But, thanks to pinterest, I have some future crafty ideas for our humble abode.

13.)Visit 22 places in Oklahoma I've never been to.
- I counted up most all of the ones I could remember and it was over 30. Most of them were restaurants, but hey, that counts!

14.)Spend 22 minutes with God daily.
-Ok, I take back saying that the marathon was my biggest regret. I would like to say I kept this up every day...but I am not perfect. I do feel like my faith has grown immensely this last year though and for that I am thankful.

15.)Be a Vegetarian for 22 days
- I totally forgot about this one! I still plan on trying it sometime.

16.)Learn how to play piano.
- I am no master, but I did practice and I can play about half of "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles. I'd say that's an accomplishment.

17.)Go camping with David in our new tent.
-The weather has been way too intense for this. Maybe next year.

18.)Watch the top 22 movies on the 100 greatest movies of all time list.
-Dang it, I forgot about this one too! I am a complete failure.

19.) Make an engagement/wedding/honeymoon scrapbook.
-Well I scrapped the engagement/wedding part and just decided to make a honeymoon scrapbook. It is not complete, but I have worked on it so I'm pretty proud of myself.

20.) Work out at least three times a week for 22 minutes.
-I am proud to say I have done this and gone above and beyond. Probably one of my biggest accomplishments this year.

21.) Get rid of at least 22 things I don't need.
-Yes! I cleaned out our closets and donated clothes to my sisters and even took some stuff to goodwill. At least we can be sure I won't be on an episode of Hoarders anytime soon.

22.)Live this year to the fullest and document it along the way.
-This year has been fantastic and the future looks even better. I am truly blessed.

Happy 23rd to me!

Two Birds with One Stone

We are about a month away from our trip and we are still in need of funding!

Our good friend Cara has graciously agreed to help us out and in turn we will actually be helping her!

Cara is a new Mary Kay consultant and she has agreed to give %15 of all of her transactions from now until the end of September to our mission!

How great is she?!?

So, go to her Mary Kay Page and check out all of their awesome products! You will be helping out two friends!

Thanks so much!