big changes...

wow. it has been 4 months since I have written in my blog. I have been incredibly busy since my last post...

let's see if I can give a brief play-by-play of the last few months.

I spent a 6 weeks on our second outreach in Darwin, Australia and a mountain village called Seuterlan in Timor-Leste, formerly part of Indonesia. we did a lot of work with aboriginal communities and homeless ministries in Darwin, just serving wherever there was a need. in Seuterlan we built houses, taught English, Bible, and health care everyday, and spent all of our free time building relationships with the people there... but I will have to write a whole separate post on outreach because it was a life changing 6 weeks that I will NEVER forget. the Lord met me in incredible ways and taught me a lot about His love, myself, and others. it was the hardest, yet most beautiful 6 weeks of my life.

so after 6 weeks of being gone, we arrived back in Townsville on June 4th. we were all so excited to reunite with the rest of our DTS and hear about all of their experiences in Papua New Guinea and down the eastern coast of Australia. however, it was a crazy week that FLEW by because before we knew it, we graduated and said our goodbyes on June 10th as the last 5.5 months of our life came to a close. I have never cried so hard and so much in my entire life. that group of 36 of us formed incredible bonds, we became like family and we overcame some of the hardest things that we'll ever go through in our lives... all together. so when it was time for us to leave... it sucked. I left the day after graduation and it was the most emotional day I have ever seen... seriously we were just all crying as people left in groups of 5 or 6. it was just terribly heart wrenching, like family members being ripped away.

but, I boarded a plane and headed to Sydney for 11 days with my BOYFRIEND. yes. I, Malloree, met the love of my life in none other than Townsville, Australia. and no, he's not an Aussie. but an incredible man from Texas that loves the Lord, loves me, and loves college football. what more could I ask for? more on that later. so we left and headed to Sydney where we met some of our friends and had an incredible time between there and the Gold Coast. after saying all of our goodbyes, Jordan (my man) and I flew the looooong flight from Sydney to LA (after an 8 hour delay which made us miss our original flights) and parted ways there to head back to TX and GA.

Home was interesting at first. I wasn't used to driving anymore... especially on the right side of the road. I didn't know anything that was happening in the world as far as pop-culture... and my friends and families lives had all gone on without me while I was gone. so it was a little difficult to fit back into a world that I wasn't sure if I belonged in anymore. home didn't feel like home. by the end of DTS, all I wanted was my own room, my own bed, my own space... and when I finally had that, I would've killed to be back in that cramped, smelly flat with 17 other girls and 2 showers. I really struggled with missing my friends, especially my girl friends. and I also struggled trying to reconnect with the friends I had at home. I was different, home was different, and everything had somehow changed.

so, Jordan and I figured out real fast that we weren't going to be good at the long distance thing... we met on DTS obviously, but there is no dating. so for 5.5 months, we were friends... he was one of the 2 or 3 people that I got extremely close with right away. we prayed, really sought the Lord about what we should do... and it became really difficult to just be friends, but we made it, we did it right, and we're grateful because the foundation of this relationship is one formed by a deeply rooted friendship and lots of trusting in the Lord. SO, we did not start dating until we got to Sydney. we had waited long enough! haha. so once we got back into the swing of things, I left to go visit him in Texas for a week. I met his family and got to experience a little bit of Texas life. I instantly felt at home again. it was a wonderful week. so for the last 2 months since we've been home, we have been back and forth 4 or 5 times. long distance was just tough for us and we knew that we wanted to be in the same place. so after praying, consulting our families, and lots of thinking... we decided that I would move to Texas. Jordan has a big boy job and I was still weighing options of grad school and waiting tables. I got a job in Texas and as of 3 days ago... I am officially a Texan. I love life here and I am so happy to be close to my man and to start a new season!

in between all that, I also went on a wonderful family cruise with my cousin and our grandparents to the Caribbean. it was the most relaxing week of my life. we had an unbelievable time and got to do some really cool things in all the ports! I absolutely loved it.

I also celebrated my 23rd birthday in July. woo woo! with my wonderful friends at a wine shop where we ate and drank all kinds of wine and danced and just had a great time.

since January, my life has been all about change and refinement... I have been living out of a suitcase (yes, even at my parents houses!) and sometimes unsure about where money was going to come from for insurance and cell phone and yada yada... but I am finally entering into what I think is going to be a season of settling for awhile. I don't know how long it will last, but I am confident that I am where I'm going to be planted for a long time. I feel an overwhelming peace that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I'm not who I was 8 months ago (thank God). but it is wonderful to know that I can trust in who the Lord is, what His plan is for my life because I have SEEN Him do incredible things in my life and I have experienced His faithfulness, even when things look pretty shabby.

thank you to my friends and family who have done nothing but supported me these last several months, and even prior to that. I am forever grateful and my life is better because of ya'll.

hopefully I can post some pictures soon...

all my love from the deep heart of Texas

beautiful Marta. in east timor.

some of the most beautiful children in the world.

one of the houses in manatutu, a village in timor.

timor is a BEAUTIFUL place, even amidst the poverty.

some of our team gearing up for the 4 hour drive up the mountains to seuterlan!

holding a baby croc :)

My first meal in the US! Wendy's :) it was the best cheeseburger I'd had in so long.

My boyfriend, Jordan, and I in Bondi Beach, Sydney!

Me and Jo in Sydney at night. isn't it beautiful?

DTS Grad day: this was my side of flat 8! the right side :)

some of my best friends on DTS: Courtney, me, Lovisa, Hilary, & Liz

this is 2nd outreach in Darwin: Liz, me, and Fanny.

Liz and I got to paint for one of the homeless shelters

We also celebrated Fan's 21st Birthday! she is so special to us!

one of my favorite children in the world, Maxwell. he's from the Bagot Aboriginal Community. he is so precious!

2 beautiful girls from the Bagot Community as well!