Jamaican Vacation

Oh boy.  I typically have some idea of what I'm going to say each time I write a blog post.  I really don't this time.  Guess we'll just start and see where it goes!

After I got home from VBS in Alabama, I quickly unpacked, did laundry, and repacked for Jamaica.  I was SO excited to be going!  After being there 10 years in a row, different circumstances caused me to take a 3 1/2 year sabbatical.  Once we made plans to go, I remembered how much I love Jamaica and how much I have MISSED it!  My travelling buddy, Lisa, rolled into my driveway at 1:45 in the morning and off we went to the airport!  Aside from very tired, looking eyes, we were actually quite chipper at this point.

We spent the first 2 1/2 days at Erin D's house, which is on the CCCD campus of Knockpatrick.  All the students were gone for the summer so it was pretty quiet.  Erin went about her daily duties while Lisa and I just read books, watched movies, slept in..... we had it rough, you know.  We did walk around the campus farm and explored it for ourselves, and a couple times we went with Erin.  We spent some time at the New Hope Children's Home and the local infirmary.  Oh, and we also played bananagrams:)

After that time of R&R, we made our way to Montego Bay for the last 2 1/2 days of the trip, and some more R&R.  Erin found a great deal at an all inclusive resort.  I had never done all inclusive before but I really liked it!  The ocean was right outside our door.  Really- like between our patio and the ocean there was a sidewalk and that was about it!  It. Was. Gorgeous.  We pretty much did the same stuff in MoBay as we did at Erin's house, i.e. reading and sleeping, only we did it on the beach instead.  And eating.  Lots of eating delicious food.

That last picture is the only picture of all three of us that I got.  How sad:(  Oh, and speaking of eating, I had a To Do list that I wanted to get accomplished while in Jamaica.  Over half of the list consisted of food.  Juici Patty, Devon House I Scream, and jerk chicken with rice and peas and a festival (fried bread)  All was accomplished and my belly and my taste buds had joyous celebrations.

After doing Alabama and Jamaica back to back like that, I was ready to come home.  But now- two days later- I am more than ready to head back!  Already dreaming of my next vacation...

Wanted By Christ

Well the Athens/Atlanta VBS was once again a smashing success.  I'm so thankful for the ties I have down there and grateful that they let me still come even though I haven't lived there for almost three years now:)  This past weekend I headed down again, this time with some extra travelers.  We had a lot of fun in our car!

 

 

There was another carload along too, and we did switch everyone around throughout the weekend.  It was a great group to travel with!

 

 

This year's theme was "Wanted By Christ" and we focused a lot on the life of Moses.  How God had a specific job for him, and also how it was when he was in the desert that he heard God's message for him.  Also how it is important for us to go to that desert sometimes to hear what God has to say to us.  I only heard a small part of the message because I was teaching the younger class again.  I would have liked to hear more, but it's okay, because I got to spend my morning with some seriously cute and awesome kids!

 

In our class, we focused on the burning bush part of Moses' life.  The painting craft just didn't turn out quite like it did in my mind!  Really- those are burning bushes;)

 

Besides the messages, there was also all the activities that we love to do.  Swimming (didn't get any pictures from the awesome lake this year), mini golf, playing games, staying up really late...

 

This here is my buddy Wynn.  He had just won the jackpot in the card game he was playing and was a little giddy:)  I told him this weekend that we have sort of a strange friendship.  It's true- he's a 10 year old boy and I'm a 30 year old girl.  We only see each other about once a year but we really are buds and enjoy each other's company!

 

The whole crew.  A great crew!  There really is something special about being a part of a small church and developing those relationships.  I love that I have that in my life!

 

On the way down, a couple people continually noticed all the Cracker Barrel restaurants (there is an abundance) and made not so subtle comments that they wouldn't mind eating there.  So on the way home we did!  And we also very unsuccessfully tried to figure out the triangle/peg game.

 

 

Today consisted of catching up on sleep, unpacking, laundry, and starting to get ready for the next adventure: Jamaica!!

Summer Happenins

Along with all the summer vacation stuff (girls camp, weekend trips, etc.) comes all the daily grind in between.  I never thought I would be so busy this summer!  But I am, and I like it.

 

Math Class.  Ugh.  The tutors in the math lab know me well by now.  While I do okay on the daily homework, there's no tests, except for one giant final that is worth 1/3 of my grade.  I started doing chapter reviews to study for it the other day basically to see how much I remember from three chapters ago..  I also had a minor meltdown.  I'm a little fearful of what kind of a grade I'm gonna get.  I mean, I'm just hoping to keep it above a D at this point.  Good thing it's open book!!  Oh, and the dedication at the front of the textbook seemed more appropriate for a girly chic lit book rather than a math book! 

 

Babysitting.  Two different families, four different kids.  Brought both groups of kiddos out to see the turkeys.  I'm used to younger kids, but having a couple older ones is kind of fun for a change of pace.

 

I didn't get a picture of baby sister.  She stayed in the house with my mom.

 

Fun with friends.  Spent the 4th on a friend's lake- mostly just relaxing but also got some tubing in before we all headed to fireworks.  We went to the Peoria riverfront and I think we were unanimous in our thoughts that it was the best show we've ever seen.  Fun Day!

 

Another baby to love!  My (double first-more like a sister) cousin had baby number three last week.  I was privileged to be his first visitor.  He's stinkin cute!

 

Sunday School picnic.  We wrapped up class at the end of June and have a break now until Labor Day weekend.  I was in charge of games for some of the younger kids and it was pretty chaotic but really fun.  In the picture they're all screaming "m&m's".  I told them they could have some AFTER they took a group pic so that's what they yelled on the count of three instead of cheese:)  I love 'em!

 

 

Fun Flashback

While I was cleaning out my awesome Olds Alero, I came across this picture stuffed in one of the seat pockets.  And I laughed:)  It took me back to August of 2006 at my brother and SIL's wedding in Michigan.  They had two cars that would need to get back to IL somehow since they would be living there.  Hers was the one they took to the airport and left parked there.  His was the getaway car at the reception that would need to be taken back to IL by someone else.  Which meant his was also the decorated car that would need to be driven by someone else.  Enter my cousin Alex.  He was much more proficient at driving stick shift than me, and I was more proficient at navigating unfamiliar roads than him.  We made a great team, me and Al.  The only problem was.... we didn't know where a car wash was!  So we drove the "Just Married" car all the way back to IL together.  People honked, people waved, people gave us goofy grins.... we just honked and waved and gave goofy grins right back!  All the while Alex would randomly start making up a song about being married to his first cousin.  It was rather humorous and it was just what I needed during that 7 hour drive after a long and emotional weekend.  Oh the memories!

 

Facing Fears

When I was younger, I spent many hours on the ole' bright orange Woods Lawn Mower.  Then, I grew up and moved out.  During the eight years I lived on my own, I rarely mowed.  Once I moved back in with my parents, I thought maybe I'd like to start up again.  But about that time is when Steeves (from Haiti) moved in and it became his job pretty quickly.  Last summer he went to visit Haiti for the whole summer and I thought for sure I would get my fair share of mowing.  Unfortunately though, we had the drought and mowing was never necessary.  This summer he's back in Haiti for another visit, and with the abundance of rain, the task of mowing has finally fallen to me once again.   

 

There's just one problem.

 

Ditches. 

 

I hate mowing them.

 

Growing up, either my dad or my brother always did the ditches and I never had to.  I was a little scaredy-cat with them.  Still am.  But the time has come when I've had to face my fear of mowing ditches head on. 

 

See, I'm just positive that I'm going to tip over and the mower is going to roll on top of me while I'm going down the ditch on such a slant.  My dad has confidently assured me otherwise, but I'm not quite convinced.  I'm sure I look pretty normal to people driving by, but in my head I feel like a warrior going top speed into battle as I charge through the slanted ditches.

 

Needless to say, while there are nice even lines on the rest of the yard, the ditches are full of crooked, jagged mow lines with the occasional rut.  Appearance is not my main concern, rather just getting out of them safely!