Is It Friday Yet?

Lord, You're Holy

2012-02-01T11:43:00.000-06:00

Starts off a little slow but if there's ever been a song that makes me want to jump up and throw my hands in the air this one just might be it:)

Wonderful, Glorious, Holy and Righteous
Victorious, Conquerer, Triumphant and Mighty
Healer, Deliverer, Shield and Defense
Strong Tower and My Best Friend
Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Soon Coming King
Alpha, Omega, Lord of Everything

Playing House

2012-01-29T15:47:00.000-06:00

This weekend my church had an overnight marriage conference and I got to babysit my cousin's little boy, Abel. We had lots of fun together:) We went to Pizza Hut for supper then came home for bathtime and playtime before bed. I'm used to getting up early but I'm not used to getting up early with a child who needs attention right away so that was the only thing I was a little nervous about. But the little dear slept until almost 8:00! I was quite pleased.

Saturday we spent our day reading lots and lots of books, (I think I have "The Icky Sticky Frog" memorized now), visiting my nieces, going to Caleri's for lunch, watching Mater's Tall Tales and playing with the giant train track.
While we were visiting my nieces, she decided she wanted to play wedding. She was a lot more into it that Abel was! And I really like this picture of both of them but I took it when my lens was still fogged up from being out in the cold. And of course there was no recreating the moment once my camera was cleared up.

We were just about to take a picture of the two of us but right when I snapped it, in walked his mommy and daddy so there went that idea. But we sure had fun while it lasted!

Last Minute Quick Trip

2012-01-16T00:14:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday I was on the phone with Devin and the conversation went something like this:
Devin: "So when are you gonna come back down to visit?"
Me: "Um, probably not until sometime in March."
Devin: *long pause*.......... "That's a really long time."

So, after thinking about it, I decided on Wednesday that I would quick run down to Alabama because this weekend was the only weekend I had free between now and March. And that conversation made me lonesome for Devin. So now I'm back, it's midnight, I'm tired and I really should be in bed sleeping, but I'm tired of seeing the droopy plant picture so I thought I'd post real quick.

While I was packing, I was informed that the kickboxing class I used to go to was scheduled for Saturday morning and Jessica invited me to go with her. You have no idea how excited I was. So I dug out my gloves and wraps and started my weekend out right. We tried to do a serious tough girl face but quite honestly, I don't think either one of us is really that tough. But it sure was fun to go to that class again.

After lunch I picked up Devin for lunch then we spent the afternoon together. We decided to take a picture while we were sitting in the car wash. You don't realize quite how dirty salt makes your car until yours is the only one around that is salt crusted. So that's one of the things we did after lunch. My hair I blame on the wind and putting a hoodie on. His hair? Well, let's just say that if I was his mother it wouldn't be long enough for pigtails.

I'm so glad I decided to go. Quick as it was, it was just really good. Still feels like home down there. Saturday night there was a family there from Atlanta that I know and we all had supper together and lots of sweet fellowship. I got home feeling really encouraged and my heart is happy:) Good night!

Water Is Essential

2012-01-03T18:29:00.000-06:00

I've never claimed to have a green thumb. I probably could kill a fake plant. I have dreams of one day having a big garden from which I can harvest the bounty and can and freeze food. I'm not sure that dream will ever be a reality:)
When I started working at Visiting Angels, I inherited a plant that was left by the last care coordinator. The poor thing gets forgotten and neglected all too easily. This morning, after being gone for three days I was greeted by a very droopy plant.

But, with a little water and a little coaxing, it was soon perked up almost back to normal! Yes, water is most definitely essential.

2011 Highlights

2011-12-31T15:27:00.000-06:00

Well the original plan was to do a month by month recap of 2011. However, as I was looking through my pictures of the last year, I came to the realization that the first half of it was pretty boring and uneventful. It mostly consisted of work. I was at the Home for the Handicapped and while I enjoyed the actual job, I did not enjoy the hours. Between having class two nights a week and working four nights a week, my social life left much to be desired. So instead I'll just do highlights of the year.

The first one I'm not sure can be considered a highlight since it involved a lot of destruction, but it definitely left an impact on me. Going down to Athens after the tornado outbreak and driving through my old neighborhood left me standing in awe of the power of God. From both the nature side of things and the stories I heard of how he protected so many people.

A weekend trip to southern Illinois with my mom's side of the family for my cousin's wedding was a lot of fun:)

Girl's Camp is always a highlight of my year. This year I was able to co-counsel with my good friend Katie and we were dubbed the "Pure Fashion" cabin although both of us are more comfortable in jeans and t-shirts rather than anything too fashionable.

The month of July I got to spend in Morelia, Mexico, trying to learn some Spanish. The people I met and the things I got to do gave me an experience I will not soon forget.

Soon after getting home from Mexico (and Phoenix and Denver), Cassie and me headed out to the east coast for a much anticipated vacation. Visiting old friends, making new friends, spending a day in Boston, a day at the Rhode Island beach and driving A LOT.

The majority of my Fall season was spent working at the grain elevator. And yes, it is a highlight:) Lots of long but fun hours.

Thanksgiving and Christmas were of course filled with family and friends.

Angie is not choking her son. She's merely trying to get him to look at the camera.

The year ended with my niece's first birthday party. When she was born last December, there were a few things causing concern for her health but God healed her completely and she is happy and healthy as can be! Don't let the chubby cheeks fool you though; she's really just a little peanut, only in the 15th percentile. But such a sweet peanut!

Here's to another year!

JUGS

2011-12-27T21:50:00.000-06:00

Our annual JUGS night was tonight:) Just Us Girls Shopping for those who are wondering. Although the shopping has pretty much gone by the wayside and has turned into just eating out. But JUGE just doesn't have the same feel. My aunt and all the neices have done it for about 20 years now. So, tonight there were going to be 8 of us. Then one got sick. So Bev decided to stay home with her. Then another decided since they weren't going, she was just going to go home. But the rest of us were all geared up to go so we still did. It was a bummer that it didn't happen like it was supposed to but we still had fun. And at one point in our supper, the waiter came to our table with a message saying that Bev had called the restaurant and bought us 2 desserts to share between us! Those clean plates you see in the picture? It took us about 1 minute to devour the molten chocolate lava cake that had been occupying them.

Maybe next year we'll all be together again:)

Good Friends And A Fan Club

2011-12-23T19:31:00.001-06:00

Whenever Erin D makes a lengthy trip back to the states, we usually try to do something together with us two and her cousin/my friend Lisa. Monday night we met at Olive Garden (yum) for supper. It was there that I invited them to come to our Christmas program we were having at church on Wednesday. They asked if they could hold up signs cheering me on while I was singing. There were so many people there that I never got to see them after the program but....

(picture is at the restaurant)

when I got out to my car later that night I found it decorated with these signs:) Now, they were sitting way up in the back of the balcony so they could have actually gotten away with holding them up but it's a good thing they didn't. I would have busted my gut and never been able to sing! But it was really funny to see these on my car. Those two never cease to make me laugh and brighten my day:)

Thursday I found out Mark and Bekah were up from Athens and would be in Bloomington for lunch on Friday so we arranged to meet at FlatTop Grill. (another yum) It was really fun, but so crowded and busy that my lunch break ended up being almost 2 hours. And I even left the restaurant a lot earlier than they did! But oh so worth it.

My dad has been in Haiti since last Thursday and he's coming home tonight. He hasn't been gone any longer than he usually is but I guess since it's Christmas time it seems longer. I'm ready for him to be home.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Happenings Of Late

2011-12-04T14:58:00.000-06:00

FIESTA TIME!!!

It was good to see Jarrin again and get together for her birthday the night before Thanksgiving..... complete with a pinata (yes, I know the "n" needs a squiggly, I just don't know how to do it on here).

Aeschleman Thanksgiving- having a little bit of fun with the candy corn, playing games, watching the kiddos all run around and even getting an airplane ride! I haven't done that since I was a wee one:)

Somewhere in there was a game night where I left my camera in the car and didn't get any pictures. Then a group of us went to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. We split up for supper and once we were at the concert it wasn't good picture taking environment so I only got this one from the restaurant. It was a good time though. The music gets a little loud but I had neon pink earplugs so all was well. Two different drivers in our clan got stopped that night- both for having a headlight out. It was kind of comical:)

Good times, good times.

My family served lunch at church today, now I'm off to practice singing for the church Christmas program and then we have all church caroling tonight. No Sunday afternoon nap for me today!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-22T22:14:00.000-06:00

I know Thanksgiving isn't here yet but seeing as how the next couple days are about to get pretty busy I figured I'd just put this up now. Happy Thanksgiving from some of the cutest little Pilgrims and Indians I know! Even though they're all in big school now, they're still pretty cute:)

Have a blessed weekend!

Booooored.

2011-11-17T15:36:00.000-06:00

Welp. I'm bored. Really not gonna made a habit of posting at work but really, folks. When I got back from lunch the internet and phone were both down. Now the internet is up and running again but still no phones. I've done all I can do with no phones. Now I'm just stuck. 1 1/2 hours to kill. Aside from making wire art from all the paper clips I found while organizing this office.... maybe I should do that:) Make different designs, take pictures and post them for all to see. You could vote on your favorite one. Eh, nevermind. They would all be things like, a circle, an oval, and maybe a triangle. Art was never really my forte.
I could be leaving for Mexico tomorrow. Wish I was. But I decided to skip this year since I knew I would be just starting a new job. Now I'm rethinking that decision. But there's good news. I found a Mexican restaurant here in Bloomington (really close to work) that seems really authentic. At least, moreso than most places I've eaten around here. I went there on Tuesday and got chiles rellenos and they were just like my house mom in Morelia made them. Mmmmmmm...........

Go Check This Out

2011-11-14T13:18:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone, head over to Sarah's blog (just click on the link) for a chance to win this book. She talks about it a lot more, but the point is to just go check it out and learn more. Sarah, if you're reading this I hope you don't mind me posting this. I was just pretty touched this morning while I was reading about it.

Catch Up

2011-11-01T16:06:00.000-05:00

Well harvest is officially over. It was a sad day in my life:( But never fear, I have recovered and am ready to move on!

This past weekend I went down to Athens for the first time since June. It was soooo good to be back. It was our annual homecoming weekend, filled with people, bluegrass and BBQ. There was a bus from central IL that took a group down. It was filled with people that I hardly ever see so between them and the Athens folks it was a great weekend for catching up on old friendships and even establishing a couple new ones. I was planning to stay until Monday morning but I heard rumor that the bus was stopping at Patti's Settlement (which is only about the best restaurant EVER) on the way home. So Sunday after church I quick packed up and followed them home. And it was worth it.
Saturday morning I took Devin out to the usual places we go.... CasaBlanca (our favorite Mexican restaurant) and putt putt golfing (his request every single time we're together). As we were getting ready to leave he decided to invite his older brother, Brennan. So, like any normal 8th grade boy he quickly accepted the lunch invitation:) It was fun though. Brennan's a good kid. And of course, both of them were THRILLED to take a picture when we were finished.

And I was just as thrilled to take a picture with the nasty Halloween decorations.

Tomorrow I start my new job! I'll be working for an agency called Visiting Angels. It's a non-medical homecare agency. Caregivers do anything from running errands, cooking, cleaning, bathing or even just sitting and being a companion. I'm going to be in the Bloomington office doing scheduling and stuff as the "Care Coordinator". I'm pretty excited about it and think I'll like it. There's definitely a part of me that is sad to officially hang up my "preschool teacher" jacket. When I came back from Mexico this summer I would never have guessed this is what would be opening up for me. I felt pretty strongly that I should look around here first but had kind of planned to start thinking about moving back to Alabama or somewhere if nothing worked out. God did nothing short of swinging the doors to this job open wide and pushing me right on through and I feel really good about it. I know his hand has been in it.

In other news, I just took a bike ride this afternoon. The first half I was feeling great. Almost to the point of being proud of how fit I was for going that speed for that long. Then I turned around to head home. Uphill. Against the wind. And no longer proud:)

Fun, Fabulous Fall Festivities:)

2011-10-18T21:16:00.000-05:00

The times I haven't been working have been filled with some pretty fun and typical fall activites. One night we went to "Hardy's Reindeer Ranch" way out in the boonies. And I do mean boonies. It was fun though. Went through the corn maze and raced around on these pedal cart thingies.

One Sunday afternoon some of us headed to a state park not to far from here to do some hiking. The weather was perfect and we had a lot of fun. I had a bunch more really cute pictures but after seeing them, I decided "new camera" will be my Christmas list this year.

Our friend Javon was visiting from Indiana and on Saturday a group of us met for lunch to celebrate Katrina's birthday. Upon hearing she had never been in a combine, I was so excited to accompany her on her very first ride in the field:) I just always assume people coming from farming communities have ridden one before but I guess not.

And a sidenote: When one's car spends all day parked at the elevator during harvest, it will get very very dirty.

No Social Life...

2011-10-07T23:07:00.000-05:00

So. I haven't posted in awhile. I don't have that much to talk about. Want to know what I've been doing?

Working.

That's about it. It's not a bad thing, mind you. In case you forgot, I had about two months where I didn't have a job and I spent a lot of money trying to learn spanish/experiencing a different culture/making new friends...... So all the work is good. The hours are long. Almost a 55 hour week.

Yes. I realize to some people that is normal. But in this case I am not some people. But hey- once I start working a 40 hour week again it's going to feel like a vacation! I still like my job too. I'll be kind of sad once harvest is over.

I have a job offer for when I'm done with the elevator. And I have a couple other resumes out there too so we'll see. Don't know for sure yet what I'll be doing but it feels like after over a year of not really knowing what I'm doing and where I belong, things are finally settling down. But again, we'll see. One thing the past year + two months has taught me (or at least tried to teach me) is truly finding my identity in Christ. I am no longer Sarah Hodel, the preschool teacher, the Queenwood girl, the girl from Alabama, the girl who works full time... blah blah blah. My identiy changed more than once in that time frame and it has been reinforced that I am Sarah Hodel, just trying to be what, where and who God wants me to be. And as far as I'm concerned, that's a good spot to be in.

Well, I have absolutely no good reason to still be awake right now. It's hard getting up early to face the long days but I love the fact that it usually gets me to bed early, when I should. If I stay up late like I typically enjoy doing, well, that's just bad. One would be suprised how mentally and physically draining a grain elevator can be. Again, maybe those "some people" would laugh and point at me. But now it's 11:00 and it's rare that I see this hour these days. I think it's a subconcious thing. I only have to work 7 hours tomorrow instead of 10,11, 12, 13.... so in my head I'm thinking I can stay up later? Who knows. But I do know that now I'm starting to ramble. And I'm tired enough that every other word I type is spelled wrong, so good night!

A Journey With Ruth

2011-09-25T21:33:00.001-05:00

Some of my closest friends and I are getting ready to start a new Bible study. It's been way too long since I've had a small group and I am SO excited! I'm just getting ready to do the very first lesson so I can't say for sure that it's good but from just flipping through the book I'm pretty sure I won't be dissapointed. Has anybody ever done this one? I'll let you know later if I would reccommend it or not:)

We're Rollin' Now!

2011-09-17T23:23:00.000-05:00

Well harvest is in full swing. They called me on Tuesday to see if I could come in for awhile because they were starting to have a few farmers go. (Can't remember if I mentioned it, but I'm working at the elevator again through harvest.) So I went in around noon thinking I would be there for a few hours and it turned into a full 8 hour day. But it's been good though. Aside from trying to get used to an early schedule, that is. I really don't mind getting up early as long as I get to bed on decent time. And I love the job. It's long hours and six days a week unless I ask off for something. But it's a fun job and if all goes smoothe it will be over in two months or less. So for that amount of time, I can handle long days. And I love talking to the farmers and truckers that come in. It's just fun!

Here is the place where I was going to put a cute little picture of a combine that I found online but it just doesn't seem to be working like I think it should. So just use your imagination and maybe I'll get some real pictures of my own in the next few days. Happy harvesting!

Freedoms

2011-09-11T23:44:00.000-05:00

Tonight I feel somewhat compelled to share what I wrote in my journal. I'm not a huge journaler. If that's a word. I typically only write when something is on my mind, when I'm going through a struggle or when I realize "Hey, it's been almost two months since I've written something..... maybe I should!" I have friends who blaze through their journals like they're going out of style, but that's just not me. Anyway, tonight freedom is on my mind. Mostly spiritual freedom.
Persecution is something we all know happens. Most likely, many of us have done our fair share of praying for the persecuted church. For some people, it may be just another thing on the prayer list. For some, they feel very passionate about it. Either way, it's probably not something that we desperately hope happens to us. Some people want it for the sake of deepening their walks with Christ. I am not one of those people. I can't decide if that makes me feel guilty or not. But anyway, onto what I wrote tonight.

Ten years ago marks a day when this nation was crying out to God. We were unified as a contry and as a body of Christ. Today we are so far from that place. Yesterday, Marshall was threatened to be killed by a drug cartel. Praise Jesus he boldly stood firm in his faith and trusted in the Lord. Praise God that for now he is still okay. But all this has made me think. I am so thankful for my freedom to worship. I praise God that I can worship without fear. I lift up my brothers and sisters who don't have this freedom, and I plead with the Lord that it will never be taken away. But I am not promised this freedom. I am not promised that I will never be in that situation. The Bible says not to fear what man can do to the body, but rather the soul. But the truth is, I fear what he can do to the body. Mostly because I fear that through that, he can get to my soul. I don't fear death. I fear torture. I fear watching my loved ones suffer. I fear that through those horrible things, I will cave. And the only thing I can do about it is plead for faith to believe that in that situation, God will be there. He will sustain. Faith to believe that in that situation, I will feel the supernatural power of God. I can only hope and pray that I will remain faithful to the end.

I'm not sure why I chose to put this out there tonight. It really does nothing but make me feel vulnerable and exposed. Maybe one of you secret readers (because I know most of you are secret readers) can connect with this. Now, more than ever, we need each other as believers. Please join me in praying for strength in the body of Christ. Let's band together. One analogy I have always remembered from a sermon is about uncooked spaghetti noodles. If you take one or even just a few noodles, they are very easily broken. But if you have a fistful, and they are all together, it's nearly impossible to break them. And yes, I think of that every time I made spaghetti:)

A Splendid Weekend Indeed

2011-09-05T21:41:00.000-05:00

A Splendid Friend Indeed is the name of a book I used to read to my kiddos. It was a cute book and now sometimes when I'm thinking of a good friend that line runs through my head. So, while I definitely had a splendid weekend indeed, I indeed also have some splendid friends to brag about. Friday night we went to the Peoria Riverfront for my birthday and ate at Joe's Crabshack. I rarely go down to the river so it was something fun for a change. After supper we saw carriage rides and somebody suggested doing it. So we did. Making fun of the fact that we were taking a carriage ride through downtown Peoria, but it was a good time anyway.

Mclane, Jason and Dave

Lydia, me, Crystal, Katrina, LeaAnn, Emily and Leah

Seriously love this girl. When I met her a few years ago I never knew how well I would get to know her and how much I would absolutely love her. She's so Awesome!!

Group shot at the Ice Cream Shack

Those friends have blessed my life more than I ever knew they would. I've probably talked about them all before but hey, why not again? I knew a few before I moved to Athens but most of them I met while I was there. While I was living there, MOST of my friends got married and moved on. But as they did, God brought this group into my life which made my transition back to central IL that much easier. They frequented Alabama due to a few family connections and thanks to those family connections I had a great group to come home to.

Saturday was my birthday supper with my family. I just like this picture because it took mom forever to find a camera that worked and everyone was singing while she was looking around. So when she snapped this one, they were finally singing the last "you" of the song after dragging it out for about three whole minutes. That's a long time for the "Happy Birthday" song to last. It was just funny when they finally got the last word out.

Sunday night cookout at LeaAnn's new cute farmhouse. Same splendid friends, some splendid games, conversations and a VERY splendid grain bin singing.

Serious girls, serious.

Okay now smile!

Monday night supper with most of the family at Grandpa and Grandma Hodel's. "Smile kids!!" No reaction... But they're still pretty cute.

Sweet little Bugs. LOVE her!!!

So there you have it. A Splendid Weekend Indeed.

Surviving Irene

2011-09-01T17:34:00.000-05:00

Last summer you might remember that there was a big group of people from Rockville, CT that came to the preschool and spent a whole week completely rehauling the place. New ceiling/lights, new paint, new carpet, new toilets.... the whole works. They were an awesome group and my roommate at the time and I decided that going to visit them was completely necessary. So, finally, a year later, we had the dates all picked out and we were excited and ready to go! Then the news said there was going to be a hurricane hit CT when we were planning to be there. There were a couple people who questioned if we should still go but there was never really any other option for us. We were going. So, last Friday, I drove out to her house in IN. She was at work and was going to get home around 1:00 in the morning. The original plan was to leave Saturday about 6 AM but long story short, we ended up leaving her house about 1:30 AM instead. I had slept for an hour at her house and we decided to keep taking turns sleeping in the car rather than wait until 6 to leave. Between the two of us there was about 5 1/2 hours of sleeping. Including the hour I had earlier at her house. But we made it in great time so I guess it was worth it. Saturday night the hurricane hit and while there was a lot of branches and several trees down, the damage wasn't terrible. Nobody had power though. 700,000 people out of 1 million in CT lost power. But that was really the extent of it all. Saturday night and Sunday were spent catching up with our friends from last summer. I didn't get any pictures those two days but it was great seeing them all again. Then Monday, the storm had passed, the weather was beautiful, and we headed up to spend the day in Boston.

We had never been there before and it was so fun!!! We weren't expecting such strong Brooklyn-like accents there so after our first encounter with a Boston native, we (okay mostly Cass) had a great time trying to copy them. We decided to take this trolley that had 9 different stops throughout the city. We could get off and on at whatever stops we wanted to all day long.

That's us on the trolley. We saw a lot of cool things. Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church where they hung the two lanterns. You know.... one if by land, two if by sea? I found myself repeating "Up you patriots! Arise you minutemen! The British are coming! The British are coming!" I think it probably sounded better when Paul said it.

We went inside the church where I discovered you could go up into the tower where the lanterns were hung. With my new found interest in the Revolutionary War, I thought that would be the coolest thing ever. So I asked the girl working there and she said the last group of the day had just left at 4:30. It was 4:39. I was sorely dissapointed.

This place we ate at for lunch, the Quincy Market, had just about any kind of food you were in the mood for, a bunch of little shops, and street performers. None of which we were overly impressed with. And, you just never know who you might see while walking along the streets of Boston. A Revolutionary War soldier perhaps?

We had been invited to spend Tuesday at the beach with a family we knew from last summer. And much to my delight, the beach we were going to was in Rhode Island. Ever since reading a book that was set in RI, I've wanted to go there. The book just made it sound so nice and quaint. It did not dissapoint. We spent the day lounging, getting to know our friends better, skim boarding (not me), and finding all sorts of beach creatures. And since the hurricane had just come through there were some pretty decent size waves for crashing in the ocean. It was a great day:)

Once we got home from the beach we decided to go ahead and leave that night. Which meant saying goodbye to our awesome hostesseseseses. Seriously, these people are great. We hated to leave them.

We drove about 4 hours and stopped at a dumpy Knights Inn for some solid sleep this time. We were wiped out from the beach and decided driving through the night probably wasn't the best idea this time around. We got back to Cassie's about 5:30 so I decided to go to church with her and spend the night. After supper, she all of a sudden dissapeared from the table. I didn't think a whole lot of it because she's always doing something random. But when she came back, she was holding a cake lit with candles and decorated with Snow White and the 7 dwarfs that she had found in a drawer. We decided those little figurines had to be from the 80's. Her mom just happened to have a cake for supper and since my birthday is Saturday, this was the result. Complete with a party hat:)

I finally got home today around 2:30. I have had one great summer but it is GOOD to be home and not think about leaving again soon.

2011-08-18T19:53:00.000-05:00

Well here is a very small sampling of my pictures from this summer. If I would have been putting pictures up the whole time there would probably have been a lot more description with each one. But most of these I've already talked about so since I already spent lots of time putting them on facebook, a small description will have to do. I don't quite have the gumption to type it all out again, and you most likely don't have the gumption to read it all again. So without further ado... small descriptions.

The four of us students that went to Mexico City and then to see the pyramids. By far one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

The boys ordered worms for lunch. I ate one just to say I ate it. And only because it was fried and crispy. I never would have done it if they were still soft. It tasted kind of like a corn nut. The boys, however, ate worm tacos. Nasty!!!

The copper making place we visited. It was really cool to watch and it was like a step back in time since they did everything by hand there.

Waiting for a taxi in the rain. After a few minutes the boy in the red remembered he also had an umbrella so then we didn't have to share. But the real reason for putting the picture on here is the guy in the denim jacket. That's Jose, who I talked about in an earlier post. The one who felt like a younger brother to me.

Going out for tacos in Ixtlan.

In Mexico, there's stores for just about anything. The paper store, the tortilla store, the ice cream store... and in Ixtlan there's also the casket store!

Some of the boys from the class that Gloria taught and I pretended to know Spanish good enough to help.

The truck the kids from neighboring towns piled onto coming to and from VBS. I think the most we had that week was 70 or 80 on the truck but they said in the past it's been over 100. Mass chaos is the only way to describe it.

Diana (next to me) and Tara (purple shirt) were also there that week to help with VBS. The other girl, Maggie, is from Ixtlan.

Back in Morelia... this is the famous aqueduct. As you follow it down the road, the arches get smaller and smaller until they are just a few inches off the groung.

Onto Magdalena. Joel and Kristi's youngest boy, Beni, was SO fun to play with. He's at such a great age:)

Sweet little Soraya. This is what she did most of the time I was there.

The four older boys. From L to R: Angel, Jose, Issac and Daniel.

Quick shot with los Lemans before leaving Tuesday morning.

Now in Phoenix. I met up with my friend Maryann who I hadn't seen in five years. It was great to see her again and catch up.

The Phoenix part of my family: Amanda, Trevor, Sue, Joe, Brandon and Phoebe the dog. If I ever come to the point in my life where I find myself living alone and wanting a pet for a companion, a Phoebe dog is what I want.

My Saturday night social life in Denver. My cousin Jared and two of his roommates, Tucker and Jake. A few of us went tubing down some rapids earlier that day but I have no pictures. Only bruises to show for it. And believe me, you don't want to see those.

On Monday in Denver, my aunt Boni and I took the boys to the zoo. I didn't get any pictures of all of us there. Only on the way to the airport (the first time) did I quick snap a couple of the boys. Here's David.

And Mighty Mike! When I got bumped I thought maybe then I would remember to get a picture of Ed and Boni but it just didn't happen. It was fun to have that extra day in Denver but by the time I got back to Roanoke Wednesday night, I was ready.

So, there's that very small sampling of my pictures!

What A Journey:)

2011-08-16T23:04:00.000-05:00

One year ago today I moved back from Alabama. I had so many mixed emotions at the time but I felt completely peaceful that God had led me back to Illinois. The next 365 days did not go quite like I thought they would. I really thought that I was going to start up with classes in preparation for the Occupational Therapy Assistant program at ICC. I was really sad about leaving Athens but I had started to get excited about this new chapter in my life. I figured that once I found a job I would then find an apartment and move out of my parents house. I did not foresee myself losing my excitement over the OTA program. I did not foresee myself not getting into the program. Nor did I forsee myself still living with my parents a year later. I have not slid right back into life in Illinois like I thought I would. Not at all. And most of all, if you would have told me last year that I would spend this summer in Mexico I would have thought you were nuts. I originally started taking my Spanish class thinking just a base knowlege of Spanish in the medical field would be beneficial. The thought of going to Morelia crossed my mind back in the fall but I just figured that was a really big maybe for much later on in life. But the doors completely opened up for me to go and I figured it was now or never. From not getting into the program, to having a part time second shift job that I wasn't overly committed to, to seeing how God provided financially, there was nothing that made me think I shouldn't go. Now, exactly one year later, I am ready to go back to Illinois again and see what God has in store. I definitely feel like I'm back at square one like I was last summer in wondering where in the world he will lead. What doors will open up? Where will I be in another year from now? Lots of unknowns right now. And that's okay. Not always easy and fun, sometimes a little frustrating, but okay.
Actually as I'm typing this the song that says "Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord..." is playing. So as I wait for God to provide me with some direction, I know that this time of waiting and wondering is a good faith strengthener.
I was supposed to be flying home tonight. I was supposed to be arriving in Pontiac right about now by bus from Midway airport and get picked up by my cousin. I was supposed to go see my friends tomorrow. But instead I am spending another night in Denver with a nice voucher sitting in my purse:) They asked for volunteers and hey, I don't have anything pressing to get home to so why not? I had just told my aunt on the way to the airport that they always look for willing volunteers on the flights that I really need to get back for some reason. I was almost hoping they would need people to get bumped because I sure wouldn't mind having a voucher! As I was boarding the plane and buckling my seatbelt I was a little bummed that there would be no voucher for me. Then a lady came on at the very last minute and said she was looking for volunteers to be bumped. $300 plus the amount I paid for my ticket. Plus a free flight back to Midway. I was pretty quick to jump up:) The only downside is that I watched the plane pull away from the gate with all my luggage in it. Even my carryon luggage because it was all so fast and last minute that I completely forget to grab it from the overhead bins. But I gave a nice detailed description so hopefully it gets to the right spot.
Hopefully the next time I post it will be with lots of pictures from the summer:)

Coming To A Close

2011-08-08T19:50:00.000-05:00

Well my time in Morelia is over. I flew to Hermosillo on Saturday morning where I was picked up by Joel and Kristi. Today is my last full day in Mexico and I'll be crossing back into the good ole USA tomorrow sometime. I still have a week before I get all the way home because I'm spending a few days in Phoenix and a few days in Denver.
In some ways it seems like July 1 was a reeeallllly long time ago but in some ways it seems like I just got to Mexico. Wow. Just as I'm typing this I all of a sudden started getting all reflective and I'm not sure if I'm ready to get back into life up there. I don't know what's waiting for me when I get home. I mean, I have plans to an extent.... probably find a job, probably find an apartment..... but that's just probably. And I don't know what/where either one of those will be.
I have a story that I just love about my last couple days in Morelia. There were two people that I felt very strongly that I needed to give Bibles to. One was a man who was probably 40 something who at one point while I was there was asking me a lot of questions about my faith. I asked him if he would want to see some verses and he said he would. So I told him I would try to find a Spanish Bible so he could understand better. The other was a 20 year old "younger brother" type of guy. I didn't ever ask him if he wanted to see any verses but after a certain conversation that we had I felt absolutely compelled that I needed to give him a Bible too. When I went to Ixtlan I picked up two Bibles and some tracts. I also wrote a letter and had a friend help me translate it so I could better express myself. Then I prayed that God would give me a good chance to give them the Bibles. I didn't really want to hand them out in front of everyone and so I asked for just a few minutes alone with them. Thursday night I went to conversation club and only four other people showed up. Two of them were the ones I had the Bibles for. One of the other people left earlier than the rest and the other one there was the good friend of the 20 year old. At one point he left the table so it was just me and these two people I had Bibles for in my backpack. I wanted to be able to give them away on my last night there and so I hesitated just a little bit. But I knew I had prayed for this opportunity and I better take it while it was there. After I gave them their Bibles, they both said they weren't going to be there the next day. I was so thankful that God gave me the perfect timing and that I took the opportunity. I was sad to say goodbye to my friends there but after Thursday night my time felt complete and I was ready to move on.
I've loved being here with Joel, Kristi and Co. Soraya is such a sweet lil punkie poo:) And Beni is at a really fun age. I haven't seen much of the older boys because they're out working most of the day but they're in and out of the house occasionally. It's a lot hotter here than it was in Morelia. I always carried a jacket with me there and used it almost every day. Here? Not so much.
Tomorrow my uncle is picking me up in Tuscon and taking me back to Phoenix. I'm excited to spend some quality time with that portion of my family. I don't get to see them very often.
Well I better go before the internet quits working and I've typed everything up for nothing!

Ixtlan

2011-08-01T14:01:00.000-05:00

I tried posting while I was in Ixtlan this past week but I had to enter a phone number or something before I could post and it was all in Spanish and I wasn´t for sure what it was asking for so I just decided to wait until I got back to Morelia. So there.
Anyway, Ixtlan was great. I was there to help with their VBS. Since my Spanish is limited I felt like I couldn´t help as good as I would have liked to but I guess I was good for crowd control at least! There were two other girls and a guy from the states there as well and so between us and the people in Ixtlan we had a nice little group. I was so excited for an abundance of fellowship! I felt completely filled up when I returned last night to my house. They´re actually doing VBS in Morelia this week now but I don´t know how much I´ll be helping. Probably just a day or two. It´s really overwhelming to think about doing school then rushing off to VBS then coming back to school for conversation club. I know, I should be tougher but I´m not.
So far two of my friends have said my Spanish is a little better than when I left which is pretty encouaging but we´ll see how it goes tonight at conversation club!
So, I pretty much decided to wait until I get home to post picutres. Sorry. But at this point I think it will be easier to do one or two giant posts rather than trying to play catch up while I´m here.
Well I´m supposed to be meeting some people for lunch so I better get going. Until next time....

Quick Update

2011-07-19T17:55:00.000-05:00

Well I have about 10 minutes before I need to go but just a real quick what i´ve been doing post. Really, the same as usual. Every day after school I go home for a few hours. I eat my lunch, take a short nap and study for awhile before heading back to school for either conversation club, walking around with my friends or both. This past Saturday I went on a day trip with the school to 4 or 5 different towns. It was okay, but I liked the Mexico City trip a lot better. We tried to fit too much into one day which made it not quite as fun.
I´m starting to really feel for the Christians here or anywhere where there is a shortage of Christians. It´s kind of a lonely road. I miss fellowship, I miss Christian music (sometimes when I´m walking to and from school I sing a little), I miss church in English when I can understand what is being said.... needless to say I´ve grown a little more fond of my Bible and my daily devotional than I was when I left. Which is a good thing I´m sure:)
Tonight I´m going to try out Macroburger. A restaurant that Kristi has ranted and raved about. I´m dragging a couple friends along with me so she better be right!
Well I need to go. Until next time....

A Mexican, Two Americans, A Phillipino and A Thai

2011-07-11T17:47:00.000-05:00

So, the title sounds kinda like the start of a bad joke, but that´s what we were. A small group of us went to Mexico City and to another place that I can never remember the name of this weekend. Mexico City was okay but mostly we just walked around to a bunch of old historical churches that don´t have a whole lot of meaning to me. One or two churches is great. But multiple churches and museums gets long. However, Sunday morning we went to see some pyramids and old Aztec ruins. So very cool. I do have pictures but I´m not sure if I´m allowed to put them on these computers here in the lab even if I promise to take them right back off and I´m too afraid to ask the nice English gentleman running the lab if it´s okay. Plus I´m short on time right now. Anyways, the pyramids were amazing. Awesome, incredible.... take your pick. That´s why I decided to go on this trip and it was so worth it. Three of us climed to the top and woo baby was it steep. I spent half the time either climbing up like a kid might with my hands on the steps in front of me or else holding onto the ropes that were there for our convenience. I´m kind of a fraidy cat and got a little dizzy thinking I might fall backwards. But the top was worth it. This would be a lot better post with pictures but just use your imagination.

Blisters

2011-07-06T17:21:00.000-05:00

I have them. Blisters, that is. I have walked SO much in the last three days. Not necessarily a bad thing but it does make for some blisters. Especially when I feel stubborn and don´t want to wear my tennis shoes. But all is well because someone taught me how to take the cambi. I think that´s how it´s spelled. About the size of a 15 passenger van with the same purpose as the bus. Once was enough for the bus.
I would love to post my pictures but so far the times I´ve walked around the city I´ve forgotten my camera. I have it with me now but obviously am not walking around if I´m sitting here blogging. Maybe tonight we´ll walk around?
Definitely developed a quick bond with the other students that are here. There are only 8 of us this week and since we completely understand how the other one feels, it´s been great. Four of those 8 are guys who are studying to be Catholic priests. I´ve learned more about the Catholic church in the last three days than I ever have before in my life. They´re funny though. We all have a great time.
Other than that it´s been study study study. Sigh...... maybe someday I´ll be fluent.

The First Couple Days...

2011-07-04T17:50:00.000-05:00

Oh my, I am overwhelmed. I got here Friday night and soon realized I really should have came on Saturday because there was nothing to do and the first two days were looooonnnnng. I am also quickly realizing that two semesters of Spanish at ICC really does not amount to much in the grand scheme of things. I know squat. Diddly squat.
My host family is nice and the two kids still living at home know English which is nice for me but bad because it´s way to easy to just have them translate when I´m confused.
I´ve already had a taxi and a bus experience. So far I think I prefer just walking.
I´m going to have a stomach of steel by the time this is all said and done. Good thing I brought tums and Pepto is all I have to say about that.
Classes started today and they are intense but I like them. As of today there are two other people in my class but that will probably change from my understanding.
Gotta go now. I´m going to try out this conversation club that they have here. Something tells me I´ll be doing a lot more listening than conversing.

I'm Off!

2011-07-01T10:07:00.000-05:00

Well in about 30 minutes I will be leaving for a 47 day adventure. I feel very normal and nuetral about it at this point, like going to Mexico by myself for five weeks is something I typically do. If I let myself think about it too much I start getting worried about safety issues so I generally just try not to think too much. A few days ago I came to a sudden realization that tonight there will be a point where I am dropped off at my host family's house and the bi-lingual person leaves. I can't say I'm looking forward to that point when I'm left standing there with not much more to say than "hola".
Anyway, the goal is to keep the blog updated while I'm down there but we'll see:) So for now, adios!

Wedding Bells

2011-06-25T22:31:00.000-05:00

Monday morning after girls camp I headed down the Athens for a visit before I'm gone for the summer. But I always post about my trips down there and it's always the same thing. Hang out with my friends, do something with Devin, and that's about it. Although this time since I was there during the week I got to go to a Zumba class at my old gym. It was so fun to go again!

But since I always write about that, on to something different. Friday I drove to Effingham, IL from Athens to meet up with the rest of the family for my cousins wedding. It was SO fun!! Fun does not describe. I drove away wishing we all could have stayed longer. My family from Phoenix was there (it was one of them getting married) and we hardly ever see them. It was great having all the family in a hotel together. But like I said, it just didn't last long enough. Today for lunch most of us went to the Firefly Grill. If you're ever in Effingham I would recommend it. It is a farm to table restaurant where they either grow their own food or buy it locally. Tasty morsels! (That was for you, Cass)

My cousin Trevor and his new wife Amanda. This picture was the first time I met her but she seemed really sweet. Did I mention it was fun?

Purity

2011-06-19T15:37:00.000-05:00

Our theme for this years girls camp was purity. It was deep, it was intense and it was Sprit filled. From the very beginning we could just feel God moving and taking over the camp. Saturday night after our skits were done we had some time before the snack was ready so we decided to sing a little bit. The very last skit we saw was done to Chris Rice's "Come to Jesus". It was very moving and touching, moreso even because the girls doing it were so overcome with emotion that they were actually crying on the stage, not just pretending to cry. One of the songs we sang was "Come, Holy Spirit" and at that point I felt like I could almost see the Spirit physically touching so many people. It was after that that several girls finally decided to repent and give their lives fully to Christ. I realize that some people feel like making that decision during a particular emotional and mountain top time isn't necessarily wise. But I also know that in Acts there was one day where 3000 people made that decision. Talk about emotion and mountain tops. I have every confidence that these girls were completely real in their choice to follow the Lord and not doing it on a whim, and watching that happen was so amazing and powerful.

Anyway, on a much lighter note, camp was Awesome! I had a great group of girls- shout out to the Pure Fashion cabin- and a great co-counselor too. My camera is old and I think my flash was on for these outside pictures so they really didn't turn out all that great but you can see who was there at least. The scarves were just because we were the fashion cabin, although neither Katie nor myself are very fashionista like so we're not sure how we ended up with that name for our cabin!

We did some pretty fun things, including a "Minute to Win It" contest. I have some good shots of my girls doing their event but if it was me, I would be embarrased to have those on here so I shall refrain:) One of the events was to bounce a ping pong ball on the table and have it stick to the bread with peanut butter. We got a certain number of points for each event we completed. Our cabin didn't win but it sure was fun to do it!

We had 33 churches, 8 states and 4 countries represented. Erin D, perhaps you should consider coming next year just for the sake of giving us another country when it comes time to take greetings:)

I DID remember to take my camera to the lake this year, however, I did NOT remember to take it to the other side of the lake with me and it was just too far to go back and get it. So, I have no pictures of the blob or anything like that:(

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving for Athens for a few days so here's to a good night of sleep tonight!

Coming To A Close

2011-06-09T23:35:00.000-05:00

My days of working at the CILA's are quickly dwindling. I have four more nights of work but only one of those is with the ladies I'm usually with. I've kinda gotten shuffled around these last few days. While I won't miss being on a second shift schedule, I will miss the residents. Very much so. I stopped and got some cards for my girls that I'll give them on Tuesday (my last day), and while I was looking through Hallmark, I started getting a little emotional over saying goodbye to them. Then I got to work this afternoon and heard the news that a resident at another house had died yesterday afternoon. Even though I didn't know her very well it's still sad. And the girls all were sad tonight too about losing a friend. After having some struggles in the beginning, I can now honestly say that I feel privileged and blessed to have worked with the people I've worked with the last six months. One thing that kind of stinks is that even just in the last month I've met and gotten to know a lot more other staff than I had the first five months of working there. Just as soon as I make some new friends, I leave. Such is life I guess and I haven't ruled out going back to work there. As of now I'm not really committing to much of anything until after Mexico. Maybe I mentioned that before.

Otherwise, I'm counting down the days and getting so excited for girls camp! Last summer was so crazy with remodeling the preschool and moving back and everything else that it was kind of hard to get into camp. This year I've invested a lot more prayer and energy towards it and I'm so excited! It's gonna be good.... I can feel it in my bones:)

Well, I'm off to find a little snack before I go to bed!

Jumbo Days

2011-05-29T00:04:00.000-05:00

Maybe it was becasue they actually named it this year rather than just calling it the Roanoke Festival. Maybe it was because I haven't really been there the last four years and just missed it. Whatever the reason, I was pretty excited for Jumbo Days. Now, for anyone who doesn't know, we have a mountain in Roanoke. Well, of sorts. It's really just a big pile of dirt leftover from the coal mining days but it has been deemed Mt. Jumbo. I think I've only climbed it once in my life. And it only took about 10 or 15 minutes to get to the top. And it only took that long because there's not really a trail to follow, you have to just blaze your own.

Anyway. Back to Jumbo Days. Due to the fact that I don't particularly enjoy throwing up, I generally chose not to go on rides. However, I do enjoy the ferris wheel and I was bound and determined that I would go on it. I got a picture from the top.... and then my camera died. So the pictures I had envisioned myself taking the rest of the time were not to be.

Saturday morning was the annual parade. After sitting overnight, I managed to squeeze a few more pictures out of my camera. Umbrellas were a nice accessory to have during the parade. That there is my cousin's husband and son. With MY umbrella. But it didn't ever completely down pour and there was no lightning or thunder so the parade went on!

Boni, here's the only picture of the cupcake I got. Sorry- it's not a very good one. My cousin who has the cafe/bakery I work at once a week made a giant cupcake out of cardboard, packing foam and white material to enter in the parade. Along with a red balloon for the cherry on top. And sequins glued on for sprinkles. The picture isn't that great but at least you get the idea.

After the parade we went up to the carnival for lunch and then I had to leave for work. Another cousin and his girlfriend were singing for the afternon entertainment and I was pretty bummed to miss out. They have great aspirations to move to Nashville and try to make it big.

Now Jumbo Days are over for the year. Here's to next year!

Athens:)

2011-05-24T00:57:00.000-05:00

Friday morning I got up bright and early and headed down to Athens. I wanted to go next weekend for the big Memorial Day singing but I have to work. Plus, I really wanted to go to the preschool graduation. Soon I won't know any of the kids and families that are there and I wanted to be able to go while I still knew most of them. The kids still know me but since they don't see me very often the are kind of shy which is only natural. I mostly went so I could see the parents that I worked with and love dearly. It was pretty fun to be there. And not nearly as stressful sitting in the audience rather than the front row trying to corral (corall?) a bunch of children. It was the first time in five years I took pictures of a preschool graduation. They were pretty stinkin cute:)

After the program it's always mass chaos. So while I was able to talk to most everyone I wanted to see, getting up close and personal pictures with my kiddos didn't happen quite like I wanted it to. I did get a cute one of Kenya. She is the definition of spunky!

Saturday morning (bright and early again) most of us went up to the Tennessee fellowship center to get all the cleaning done for next weekend. Not always a fun job. I thought once I moved I wouldn't have to do that anymore. I thought wrong. But it turned out okay. I spent most of the morning raking the sand in our volleyball court, getting a jump start on my summer sun~~tan~~ burn. I left from there and made it to Devin's last baseball game of the season. He also had a spring program thing at his school that they invited me to. At the end of the program, all the kids handed out a long stemmed rose to their moms. He gave me his rose! I felt really bad for his mom, although I really think she was okay with it, but I felt pretty honored too. It was all I could do to not sit and cry and make a spectacle of myself. The rose was supposed to be in the picture but the photographer aimed the camera a little too high.

The next few pictures are some that I took Sunday afternoon of some of the tornado damage in Athens. This first house was brand new- nobody had even moved in yet.

Hmm..... farm much?

I had planned to leave for home right after church. But then EVERYbody was going out to eat together. Since people are coming and going right now doing tornado cleanup, it made for quite the crowd. And I couldn't miss out on the party, right? I thought as long as I got on the road by 4:00 it would be fine. Then, while we were eating lunch, I realized I was just NOT ready to leave. I kept hanging around and hanging around, ate supper and then finally left about 7:15. I really wanted to push through and make it all the way home last night but I do know my limits. From many past experiences of driving late into the night, I know that about 1:00 in the morning I hit a wall. It's one thing if I only have thirty or so more minutes to go. But when I knew I wouldn't get to my house until 3 or 3:30, and I was starting to get very heavy eyelids, and the rain was pouring down along with blinding lightning, I decided it would probably be wise to stop around midnight. And they hold true to their word.

They left the light on for me:) Thirty bucks, a night of rest and a hot shower later, I was back on the road again. Good, good weekend!

El Planos

2011-05-11T23:15:00.000-05:00

As you can see from the title of the post, my Spanish skills are lacking. Which is why I'm going to Morelia, MX this summer for language school! I started taking Spanish when I moved back from Athens because I planned on doing the whole occupational therapy thing and I thought knowing some Spanish in the medical field could be very beneficial. Plus, I wanted to learn it just for the sake of knowing a little bit when I go on work teams. But as we all know, things change. The OTA plan is no longer but I did discover that I really enjoyed learning the Spanish language. Last summer if you would have said "Next summer you'll go to Mexico for five weeks to learn Spanish", I would have scoffed in your face. But things have just really worked out for me to take this opportunity. I'm planning to leave July 1 and take classes for 5 weeks before heading up to CVE to visit Joel and Kristi, then stopping in Phoenix to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins before swinging by Denver to visit the small amount of family I have out there. Hopefully followed by a roadtrip to the eastcoast with Cassie but that's a whole nother story.
The inevitable question when I tell people the scoop is "So.... are you going to move to Mexico to do mission work?" For now? No. I'm definitely open to it though should I feel God leading in that direction. I do know that I want to use the language somehow whether in the states or in Mexico. I don't want to just learn it and forget it. I know there's lots of opportunity. There were plenty of times in Athens that I wished I knew it because of the number of Mexicans living there and the number of times I needed/wanted to ineract with them but was very limited.
I'm excited and nervous. I got the information for the family I'll be staying with and have already stalked out their kids on facebook:) I'm excited to just be able to check out of life up here for awhile and excited to really experiece a different culture. I'm nervous about communication (obviously) and I'm nervous that I will fail. Just that fear of "what if I go down and fall really far behind in the classes and just can't seem to pick it up anymore" type of thing. Because if I'm going to learn it, I want to learn it right and I want to learn it well. I just need to get over it though and know that probably most people have those same thoughts and it's out of everyone's comfort zone to just start talking in a language they don't know very well.
Welp, didn't mean for that to be a confession session where I bare my soul but sometimes that just happens:)

National Day of Prayer

2011-05-06T12:17:00.000-05:00

Okay, enough of the post with my numb face plastered on it.
Last night our church had a special National Day of Prayer service. I typically haven't been able to go to anything like that since I'm leading a second shift life right now. But there was a group of us that was asked to sing a couple songs so I traded around at work so I was able to go. It was really neat, and I was so thankful that our church decided it was an important enough day to create a special service. Four different groups sang throughout the evening. Each of the ministers from church read a few verses and had a prayer devoted to a specific topic. We had a praer for the nation, for the lost, for the needy and a prayer of praise and worship. Along with an opening and closing prayer. Everybody sang the final song together and it was absolutely beautiful. I left with a feeling of zeal and refreshment in my heart. Praise God for evenings like that!

Having A Downer Day:(

2011-04-29T12:23:00.000-05:00

I'm trying desperately to smile, but I just can't seem to pull it off today:(

Just kidding. I just got back from the dentist and even the side of my nose is numb. I walked into Nate and Jamie's house and she thought I had a small stroke! For the life of my I cannot lift my mouth anymore than this. I'm supposed to meet someone for lunch in a couple hours so hopefully it wears off by then!

Really? A Whole Month?

2011-04-26T09:56:00.000-05:00

Ugh. I'm turning into one of those people who is really sporatic about posting! Oh well. I guess if I never blogged again the world would continue to turn, huh?

Anyway. Let's see.... the month of April started with a send off party for my aunt, uncle and two cousins who moved to Denver. I have a few pictures from that night but in order to put them on my blog I'd have to unhook the internent from my parents computer, hook it up to my laptop and go from there. Just not worth it at this point. It was a very mixed emotion type of day. They are sorely missed, but there is no doubting that God has been leading them to make this move. He has made it very clear over the course of several years that this is the path he wants them on. So for that, it's exciting. And, now the rest of us have a great excuse to take a vacation to Colorado!

Work is going better in the sense that I like the actual job a lot better now. The hours on the other hand are still terrible. Honestly I've kinda been a baby about having to work evenings and weekends. I've just never had to before and it's really hard to get used to. I first took the job thinking it would be great for when I go through the OTA program. The hours are perfect for that. But as of April 14, I officially did not make it into the program. Don't worry though, I was pretty relieved. Once I started taking a couple classes in the fall I had serious doubts that it's really what I wanted. I still felt like I should apply though since that was the original plan. I needed to give it a chance. So I got everything filled out and sent it off. But before I put it in the mail, I held the envelope and said "Okay God, this is all up to You. I don't even know what I want at this point so if I get in I'll go ahead and do the program but if I don't, that's great too." So not getting in really wasn't a bad thing, except now I do feel like I'm back at square one, the same place I was at last summer before I moved back from Athens. Sometimes I really question what was God's purpose in bringing me back here since things haven't really fell into place like I thought they would. Down there I knew my place and felt like I was fulfilling a purpose. Here, eight months later, I'm still not really sure what that place is supposed to be. But I still trust that God really did lead me back here for the time being and I trust that he has a plan and a purpose even in the waiting when he sometimes seems silent.

All right, well I don't want to sound like Debbie Downer, cause I'm really not. So, I LOVE being able to spend more time with my nieces. Haley never really knew me very well when I was in Alabama and quite honestly it was kind of mutual. I mean, I liked seeing her but it's hard to feel a bond with a child you never spend time with. But now, the more I'm around her the more I just want to eat her up! And Laney is just so cute! I love her dopey little elf ears and her perfect little round lips. It's fun to be able to be around for this stage of her life when she can just be held. And really, my sister in law too. Her and my brother got married just three weeks before I moved to Athens and she was from Michigan so I never really knew her. So Jamie, you've been a perk to moving back too:) And although so much has changed over the course of four years, God has provided me with some amazing friends that I love dearly and love being able to spend more time with.

Well, I guess until next month..... (okay, hopefully not that long)

As Of Late

2011-03-28T19:00:00.000-05:00

I like to blog. Really, I do. But ever since I moved back to Illinois, I just don't have much to blog about. I don't like to go so long between posts and I don't like to talk about nothing but I don't really want to quit blogging. It's kind of a fun outlet for me. Any great ideas on what I could start talking about?

Thursday the 24th was my aunt and uncle's big sale. They are planning to move to Denver in a week and sold a lot of their stuff. It's sad to see them go. I'm pretty close to them and I love to just stop by and chat sometimes. But there is no denying that this is the path God is leading them down so I am excited for them. I know they will have their days of doubting and homesickness but they have such a testimony of God's leading to fall back on for those days. I did shed a few tears at the sale though. This weekend will be their last weekend as "Roanokians". A lot of different emotions for a lot of different people.

This weekend I was out in Bluffton for Single Focus Weekend. A couple of the talks we heard were very encouraging. A lot about overcoming fear and worry in our lives. Call me shallow, but moreso than the talks, I just really enjoyed spending time with a few good friends. It's been awhile since I've laughed that hard and that much and it just felt good. After it was over on Sunday I headed to Leo to visit Dustin and Mandy since I was already out that way. I was able to spend last night with them before coming home this morning. Another good time. Hopefully soon I can get out there for more than just a few hours with them.

Now I'm home, and really really tired. I may be seeing a very early bedtime tonight:)

Back From The South

2011-03-15T23:54:00.001-05:00

I got to go to Athens this weekend. I had a grand ole time. Guess how many pictures I took? Zero!
I was really excited to be there, though. Especially because Cassie happened to be going the same time I was. We both stayed at our old apartment and it was about as close to old times as you could get. Except for the fact that the apartment was lacking important things, like, food for instance. But no matter because we were well taken care of.
I had to work Friday night so I didn't leave until Saturday morning. That evening we got to have supper with a lot of people from the church. It was nice to have that time rather than to try and catch up with everyone during church on Sunday. Sunday after church I took Devin out to lunch. Since it was a quick trip this time I didn't have a whole lot of time to spend with him but I didn't want to go and not see him. He chose the Mexican place that he always picks which is fine with me. He was acting really tired and shy and I could hardly hear what he was saying to me. All of a sudden he got this weird look and said he needed to go to the bathroom. He made it about ten feet from the table before barfing all over the floor. UGH!!! I felt really bad and offered to clean it up but one of the girls working did it before I could even try to take the rag from her. Well, I was pretty hungry and we only had a half hour or so before I took him home so we just stayed and he watched me eat. While I was paying he walked outside and puked again in the bushes. At least that time we didn't have to worry about the mess. After I dropped him off, everyone else was just sitting down at a different restaurant so I decided to take my time. I stopped at my favorite ice cream place, got a cone and walked around town, enjoying my cone and the 71 degree weather. It was beautiful!
Monday I spent the morning at the preschool but was really dissapointed when a couple little boys I love dearly and miss so much didn't come. So after lunch I called them both up and met up with them. One came into town and met me at Wal Mart where he got really shy and would hardly say a word. But he sure was cuddly. I just stood there and snuggled him for 5 or 10 minutes. I could've done that all day. The other I went to his house. He was a lot less shy and I had a great time playing with him for a few minutes.
After that I left, stopping in Nashville at a Jamaican restaurant I have wanted to go to for about two years now. It just has never worked out to go. When I got off the interstate there was a man standing on the other side of the road that I was pretty sure was homeless. I had something I could have given him- a Bible, some socks and a gift card for a fast food place. But there was a lane of traffic between us and it was my turn to go. I found the place, ate (and loved it). When I got back to the interstate the man was still there but this time there were four lanes of traffic between us. I wish so bad I would have gone past, done a U turn and came back to him, then gotten on the interstate from the other way. Sometimes when I see people like that they look like they chose to be in that postion. Whether they're at the top of an exit ramp trying to hitchhike or whatever the case may be. I felt very drawn to this man and when I got home and crawled in bed, the image of him standing there was burned into my brain and that's all I could think of. Maybe because he was selling a newspaper of sorts. He had just a few in his hand and was holding them up for those driving by, hoping to sell one. Typically when I see people like that, they have a duffel bag with them. Something told me that this man only had the clothes on his back and desperately needed help. I've never seen someone selling things in the middle of the street like that in this country. It's always in Jamaica or Mexico that I see that. I regret not doing a better job of being the hands and feet of Jesus in that situation. Now the best thing I can do for that man is just pray for him. I realize that praying for someone is great, but I also know that many times we are called to do more than that. But I guess for now the best thing is just to learn from that experience and be more alert about it the next time an opportunity like that arises.
Well I'm still pretty tired from the weekend after spending the morning with some family from out of town and then working tonight. But I wanted to talk about it and I also thought it was high time to have something on here besides the Cat in the Hat!

We Have A Birthday Today!

2011-03-02T16:30:00.000-06:00

In years past, March 2 would have most likely been spent eating green eggs and ham with my kids. Actually, I would usually do a whole week or two with Dr. Suess activites but green eggs and ham was always saved for his actual birthday.
I've always liked Dr. Suess. Once in Jr. High I even did a book report on him! When I was a kid my favorite book was probably Go, Dog, Go! because of the pictures. Now? I'm not sure. Now I like them because they're fun to read out loud but I don't have a chance to do that very often anymore. Probably my favorite one to read out loud is either The Grinch Who Stole Christmas or The Sneeches. Or if I'm really feeling motivated, I like to read Fox in Sox. Especially the last part abou the beetle battle. Here- try for yourself!

Let's have a little talk about tweetle beetles....

What do you know about tweetle beetles? Well...

When tweetle beetles fight,
it's called a tweetle beetle battle.
And when they battle in a puddle,
it's a tweetle beetle puddle battle.

AND when tweetle beetles battle with paddles in a puddle,
they call it a tweetle beetle puddle paddle battle.

AND...

When beetles battle beetles in a puddle paddle battle
and the beetle battle puddle is a puddle in a bottle...
...they call this a tweetle beetle bottle puddle paddle battle muddle.

AND...

When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles
and the bottle's on a poodle and the poodle's eating noodles...
...they call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle
bottle paddle battle.

AND...

Now wait a minute, Mr. Socks Fox!
When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetles battle
with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle,

THIS is what they call...
...a tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled
muddled duddled fuddled wuddled fox in socks, sir!

Fox in socks, our game is done, sir.
Thank you for a lot of fun, sir.

One of my favorite activites to do was to read The Shape of Me and Other Stuff and then trace my kids profiles for all to see. They always like seeing their profiles on the wall too.

And now in honor of Sylvester McMonkey McBean (the fix-it-up chappie on the beaches with sneeches)...

Sometimes

2011-02-13T01:08:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I just miss them.

Actually, tonight I was more just tired of seeing toilet paper on my blog, but I do miss them too. I know that soon enough I'll go back for visits and enough will be different that I won't miss them quite so much. But while the kids I know are still at the preschool, I will miss them. I had kids that I loved dearly before I ever moved but it was different down in Alabama. It's a much smaller place and I got so much more involved with the families rather than just the kids. I think that's part of what makes it harder. I'm really not in some sappy depressed mood right now. I just kinda miss 'em.

My job is, well, a job. Still different that what I thought it would be, still different that what I'm used to, still not something I love yet, but I'm starting to get into a comfortable routine. I don't know exactly how long I'll be there. Maybe in a few months if you ask me I'll be so in love with it that I can't ever imagine leaving. But either way, I want to do a good job while I'm there. I want to be someone the residents feel secure with. For now this is where God has placed me and for now that's where I'll be. And that's okay. If anything, it's nice to be able to start feeling a little more settled. I have four w-2's this year. Three of which are from August through December. Not so much settled those few months:)

Since I didn't go to Jamaica this year, I didn't get my little tropical fix for the winter. I find myself day dreaming about beaches and palm trees more than I ever have before. Perhaps a picture will suffice for now...

Hmm...... looking at it just doesn't have the same effect as being there. Oh well. Time to quit wasting time and off to bed I go.

Upsides and Downsides

2011-02-02T18:36:00.000-06:00

Before I go any further, I just want to say thanks for voting in my poll last week:) Seems that most people agree that the cardboard should be eaten before the marshmallows. However, marshmallows and cardboard together was a very close second. There were a select few who thought Lucky Charms were gross. I just don't understand.

Anyway, like many of you, we were snowed in here for a couple of days. This snow drift was right behind the garage so there was obviously no getting out. I had almost my whole leg inside that drift and still hadn't touched the driveway. There's benefits and upsides to being snowed in. I was forced to sit inside, clean my room, clean my bathroom and watch multiple movies.

However, there's downsides as well. Sometimes you realize that you desperately need something but can't get out to go get that thing. In this case? We were rationing our toilet paper like none other!

My brother saved the day though. He had come out to the farm and just happed to have a couple rolls in his truck that he was going to take to the pig barns. Thank goodness!

Deep Thoughts To Ponder Upon

2011-01-19T20:03:00.000-06:00

I'm sitting here at the computer, having just got home from Spanish class. I'm indulging myself in a bad habit of eating a snack this late in the day. As I was eating my Lucky Charms, or in this case, Marshmallow Matey's, it led me to wonder how other people eat theirs. Personally, I like to eat out all the cardboard cereal first, leaving the marshmallows to soak as long as possible and therefore be as soggy as possible before I eat them. So please, go vote in the poll along the side of my blog here and tell the world how you feel about Lucky Charms/Marshmallow Mateys. I'll even cast my vote to get things started, even though I've already shared my preferences. There's no time to waste! Exercise your right to vote!

Alabama:)

2011-01-17T00:56:00.000-06:00

Camera's in the car, I'm in my room, I'm NOT going all the way outside to get it when I just took one picture. You can just imagine it when it's time. I'll tell you when.

Got to Athens Thursday night and went to bed early. Spent the day at the preschool- Loved it! Since they've had so much snow down there though, a lot of the kids took the whole week off so I didn't get to see as many as I wanted. Maybe next time?

Friday night supper and games at Mark and Bekah's. I did terribly at Ticket to Ride but me and Amber managed to pull off a one point win during the very last round of Dutch Blitz. A nail biter for sure:)

Saturday I spent the afternoon with Devin. When I told his mom I was coming she informed me he had a birthday party to go to. Guess where I got to go? Spent some good "quality" time at the bowling alley with some people I've never met while three rambunctious boys bowled. At least I got a piece of cake out of the deal. When I say I that you never know what kind of situation you'll find yourself in down there? I mean it.

After the bowling extravaganza I met up with Mark-n-Bekah-baby Natalie and Jessica-n-Amber for supper. Japanese restaurant? Yes please. Cass, we did that in honor of you. Well, not really. But it sure was tasty morsels! Here's where you imagine the picture. It's of us at the restaurant. Can you envision it?

Sunday was potluck Sunday. I knew there was a good reason that I chose this weekend!

Friday at the preschool I had a good laugh after a conversation with one of my kids.

K: My mom let me hold my baby sister while she was making cookies!!
Me: Hey, that sounds pretty fun! Annnnd.... what kind of cookies did your mom make?
K: Uh... burnt ones!

I laughed.

2010 Review

2011-01-02T00:09:00.000-06:00

January

January started off great with trip number ten to Jamaica. As always, friendships were made, renewed and strengthened. It was a great way to begin the new year.

February

In February, we had our young group invite down in Athens. It was a great weekend, boxing clothes for Haiti and doing repairs/cleaning at the preschool. Also, we had the rare snow day in Alabama.

March

Apparently March was pretty dull. Either that or I'm pretty forgetful. I got nothin.

April

April was the dreaded 5k. Which turned out to be a good enough experience that we all did another one just one month later. The one where I got first in my age group......... out of 2 people.

May

My friends came to visit me!

June

June included a trip to Denver, LeaAnn moving in for awhile and Girl's Camp. You'll just have to imagine the GC picture. I don't have any real good ones.

July

July was by far the busiest month out of the year. We had the Athens/Atlanta VBS, the crazy week of the preschool remodel, the tractor pull (yes, it's a big deal) and somewhere in there I squeezed in a trip to IL for my 10 year high school reunion.

(pardon the strange looks and chipmunk cheeks, we were in the middle of a late night bubble gum blowing contest)

A group from Rockville came and overhauled the entire preschool. You've never met a nicer, more loving and more generous bunch of people.

I realize this isn't a picture of a tractor. But while we were at the tractor pull, we saw Blake and we hadn't seen him all summer long. It was the best part of my night.

How in the world has it been ten years?

August

Good times in AL while they lasted, but I had to tell my friends and kiddos goodbye:( Not the easiest thing to do.

September

Labor Day weekend in Bluffton with Athens!!!

October

Roadtrip to Athens to see everyone. Including spending a day at the preschool. LOVED it!

November

Had a great trip to Mexico. Good times on the bus, good times with Joel & Kristi, good times with the team and good times of feeling refreshed.

December

December is always busy. But do I have pictures? Nope. Well, I have a few but they're still on my camera. Friends, family and a new niece! I didn't blog about it when she was born so if you're still with my after such a lenthy post, I'll tell ya a little bit about her. Delaney (Laney) Kay was born on Dec. 28. She had two holes in her heart. One that should heal right up on it's own and one the doctors were worried about. But there was no infection like they feared so they are just going to watch it close. It might heal up on it's own but if it doesn't they can easily go in and fix it. She's a chunk! But a really cute chunk. She weighed in at 9 lbs. 13 oz. I can't wait to hold her! We weren't able to in the hospital but she's home now so my time should be coming very soon:)

The Latest In My Life

2010-12-23T11:05:00.000-06:00

The latest is always exciting, isn't it? Okay, maybe not so much. But here's my latest:
School is done for the semester. I'm relieved. After Thanksgiving, once I got back from Mexico, I had no motivation. Not even for Spanish, though you would think that after being down there I would come back and really want to dig in. But at that point I was just ready to be done. I survived, but didn't get the "A" I set out to get in Anatomy. The higher my grade, the more points I get on my OTA application. But since I have mixed feelings about being in school for another 2 1/2 years, maybe the lower grade and lower points is for the better? I did however, get an A in Spanish. I'm really not sure how. I know my language skills are not on an A level. But hey, I'll take it.
As soon as my finals were over I started training for my new job. It's the job that Heather (on my bloglist) has been doing. I'm excited about it but also a little nervous. I think mostly because it's new and unfamiliar. Today will be my first day in the house that I will normally be in. Until this point I've been sitting there and listening to everything about OSHA and HIPPA and stuff like that. I'll still be working one day a week at Caleri's. I wasn't ready to give that up completely.
I've been really missing Alabama lately. I'm anxious to go down for a visit but I don't know for sure when that will be. I have vowed that the very first weekend in 2011 that I have free I'll be taking a roadtrip. I'm excited to see people from church again and I'm excited to be in the south. I really loved living in the south. I miss my kids. I don't really miss teaching so much. What I miss, is the kids who I was really bonded with. The ones where I felt like I really had a taste of what a mother's love feels like. There were some kids that it was just a teacher/student relationship. I loved them all, but there were some that I really bonded with. That's what I miss.
Well there's my update. I need to get going on some errands now. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...... Elementary School

2010-12-11T15:29:00.000-06:00

Now that the Christmas season is here, most people put up their pretty decorations to enjoy. The decorations at our house?

I made this wreath back in first grade I believe. Which I think would have been either '87 or '88. When I was younger I would try to hide it from my mom so she wouldn't hang it up for all to see. But 22 years later I've just come to accept that it's going to be on the wall whether I like it or not, so I just get it out for her when I help get the rest of the decorations out. The paper is completely faded and almost to the point to being moldy but each year it finds its place right in the front foyer area of the house. Maybe if mom and dad ever retire from the ole farm house and move into town it will somehow get "lost in transition". Then again, something tells me it'll be one of those things that won't ever be lost even if one tries to lose it. Deck the halls!

Good Times On The Bus

2010-12-04T14:05:00.000-06:00

To some, this post may seem a little childish. But for those of us who were over tired, cooped up on a bus for two days and maybe just a little slap happy, it's a great memory.

During the bus ride, there were a few of us girls who were smashed into a bus seat, talking in hushed voices behind a pillow in an attempt to talk privately. Things were going just fine until a few boys who were bored and looking for some entertainment tried sticking their nose into things. When they got shooed out by the girls, they decided that "Fine, we can just have our own private conversation!" So they grabbed a blanket and attempted to make a tent.

I believe there were four boys cooped up underneath that blanket. The tent came complete with a sign informing the rest of the public who was welcome and who was not.

We figured there were some rather strong "feelings and emotions" toward the girls but were unsure of what they might be. So we decided to send them a message.

After much time had lapsed and many whispers and giggles had been heard, the note came back with a single Bible reference written on it. Proverbs 21:9. So we looked it up and found the following:

"It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop than with a brawling woman in a wide house."

Funny funny times on that bus!

The next morning involved a contest that stemmed from yet more boredom. Who can get their gum to stretch out the longest without using their hands?

Confession: I was terrible at this game and used my hands for the picture. Oh what fun:)

Speaking of fun, I'm loving the snow we're getting. I haven't seen this much snow in a long time so I was pretty excited about it! It makes me wish I had my kiddos up here to play in it. 8 inches is a lot more fun than a light dusting that melts by 10 in the morning!

Last Week's World Travels

2010-11-28T16:57:00.001-06:00

Last week I was able to go on a work team to Magdalena. I went over Thanksgiving with this group a couple years ago and loved it. The group was really neat and the huge Thanksgiving dinner was a lot of fun to help prepare and of course, eat! I have been able to keep in touch with several of the people in that group and knew that I wanted to go on that team again. I wasn't able to go last year but this year I was. I don't have a lot of pictures of the work we got done, but you can probably just assume it's the same as it is on every work team. Concrete, organizing, cleaning, fixing things.... all the basics. So rather I think I'll just highlight some of my friends and favorite memories of the trip. There was a group of us 20-something girls that spent a lot of time together. I knew all of them before but this week definitely solidified our friendship. There were lots of laughs and lots of good talks between us and I was lifted up and encouraged by spending time with them.

It was so good to see Kristi again too. It was fun seeing her and Joel's house. Even though she's posted pictures online it's still hard to really envision everything. And Beni is just as stinking cute as she says he is! I was bummed that I didn't get a picture of all their boys together but I guess that just gives me an excuse to go back, right? The picture of me and her is a self portrait which never really turns out really well but at least we got one together!

It was also a lot of fun to be with my cousins, Jared and Seth. These two are the youngest of the family and for so many years that's how I defined them- my little cousins. But both of them are all grown up now and making their own lives. It's fun watching them be in the position I was in just a few years ago. It's also neat to see them step up and take on leadership roles. Plus, they're just a lot of fun. They make me laugh.

I also got to spend a lot of time with Tyler and Whit. I miss being with them. Moving to Colorado and Illinois puts a little damper on being able to see them very often. So having a week together was great.

I didn't get any good pictures of the Thanksgiving dinner but that was definitely a highlight. Someone said that between the CVE family, the work team and people from the community there were around 400 there. I had the privilege of being in the serving line and loved seeing all the people come through. And by the end of the night I could say "Do you want potatoes?" and "Do you want this?" (pointing to the stuffing) fluently in Spanish! Slow and steady, I guess. Maybe next year I'll pick up on another important and frequently used phrase:)

Friday there was some cement work and brush clearing that needed to be finished up. While most of the group went and did that a few of us stayed back to pack up and start cleaning the dorms. We got as much clean as we could but there were a few things we couldn't do until everyone else was packed up. So when the dirty crews came back to clean up we came to a good stopping point and then borrowed someone's car, drove into town and got us some fish tacos and ice cream! My opinion? They weren't as good as some people make them out to be and I would probably rather have regular ole beef tacos, but they were good and we had a lot of fun going!

We left around 3:00 on Friday afternoon and by 6:00 we were loaded back onto the charter bus in Nogales, ready to go. But not before having a picnic of Little Ceasar's pizza in the Safeway parking lot!

Sleeping on a charter bus two nights in a row makes for much creaking, groaning and cramping of the bones and muscles. But is it all worth it? Oh yes. I rolled into my driveway around 5:30 Sunday morning, cleaned up and slept a couple more hours before getting up for church. It was a great week!

Coming soon: "When You're Bored On A Bus..."

Reflecting Back

2010-11-17T21:39:00.001-06:00

November 17. Not a terribly significant day to most people. Not even to me really. But every year when November 17 rolls around I get a little reflective of the past. Today would have been my brother Jake's 23rd birthday. This is not something that consumes my life. But I do think about it some, especially on his birthday and the day he died. He actually was my second brother to die, after Brian, which is a whole different story that I don't know if I'll ever post about. Mostly because I don't want people to think I'm trying to draw attention to myself. Anyways, after Brian died, my mom was unable to have any more babies and so they decided to try adopting. Me and my brother knew nothing of it until we were on the way to the hospital that day. My parents asked us while we were in the car what we would name a little brother if we ever had one. I was five and Nate was three. We really couldn't come up with any names except for the names of boys we knew well from church. My dad said "Well, how about Jake?" We both thought that was a pretty good idea. I remember sitting in a small room in the hospital, still not really aware of what was going on. Then a doctor walked in carrying a box. Yes, a box. Like, one of those filing boxes with a lid on it, not one with flaps. The lid was off, don't worry! There's was a little tiny baby in that box and he was ours to keep. I can only imagine the questions that we asked mom and dad on the way home. For eight months he was the pride and joy of our house. We loved having him around. One night in July though- July 9- he fell between the mattress and the bars of his crib with his face towards the mattress and suffocated. I won't go into what all I remember from that night becuase I really don't want this to be a post about a horrible night.
When I think about him, I no longer think of how it's so sad and how much we miss him. I mostly just wonder what he would be like. Would he like to farm with dad and Nate? Would he be close to Jared, my cousin who's only one month younger? Would he be converted? Would he, unlike the rest of the family, be athletic and agile? I think my parents said once that he was 1/2 Pakistanian. Which also makes me wonder sometimes if he would be the victim of prejudice and ridicule, to an extent at least. Also, in the more recent years, I find myself wondering more and more about his birth mom. I feel like along with giving your baby up comes a hope of maybe being reunited with them later on in life. Maybe not, but it seems like that would be true. I don't know anything about her story. I don't know if she was a young teenage girl who knew she was too young to take care of her baby. I don't know if she was in and out of prison and the state gave her no choice but to give her baby away. I don't know if she just didn't want to have a baby. At one point, there was a little blue flower that would show up on his grave every year around his birthday and we have wondered in the past if maybe somehow she knew and found his grave. I feel for her though. The grief she must have felt giving him away combined with the grief of knowing what happened must have been almost too much to bear. Sometimes I wish that I could meet her and talk to her. Probably like most people who lose children, time has healed her wounds and she has been able to move on. But I'm sure there are so many questions and I would love to just sit down with her. I would love to hug her and if anything, say thanks for allowing us to love him while we could.

Well, on a completely different and much lighter note, I'm leaving for Magdalena on Friday morning. I'm so excited!! I probably won't post between now and then (not that I post that often anyway) but that's where I'll be. Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Turns Out I'm A Wimp

2010-11-13T23:01:00.001-06:00

So, I always have this idea of how if I ever get around to moving out of my parents house I'd like to live alone. I've lived with quite the array of girls and while for the most part it was great, I'm kinda ready to be done with girls. I either want to get married or live by myself. I almost didn't mention the "m" word because I don't want people to thing that a) I hate being single or b) well, I can't remember what b was. But let's face it. I'm 28. Most of my friends have all moved onto the next stage of life. Another one of the aforementioned roommates just got engaged a few days ago. Same with most of my cousins. Now, there are many a benefit of being single and there are times when I love to reap those benefits. But there are also plenty of times where the battle to lay my desire for that "m" word at the feet of Jesus is much harder than others.
I didn't really mean to get on that tangent. I meant to tell you why it turns out I'm a wimp. My parents are gone this weekend and I have the house to myself. Let's just say I'm AWFULLY thankful to know that Jesus is staying here too. I was just a little leery walking in here all by myself with no neighbors around and no dad to make me feel safe. So that whole living alone thing? I may want to rethink it.

Since moving back to Illinois I've definitely struggled with who I am and where I fit in. Shortly after I moved, before reality really sunk in, we had a great sermon at church about finding our identity in Christ. I call it the identity crisis sermon. When I heard it, I hadn't really started struggling with all this yet, but I knew that I probably would soon so I tucked it away in my heart to be used for a later date. Sure enough, I've had to remind myself of that quite a bit here lately. I also am learning to recognized Satan in this new way that he's been getting to me. He's been making me think that I'm just kind of in a dumb spot in my life. Like I said before, I'm 28. I came from a great job with not a huge income, but enough. The last eight years of my life I've been on my own, taking care of the different apartments I've lived in, buying all my own groceries and so on and so forth. Now, I'm living at home, going to school part time, working part time, not making enough to be as independent as I like and trying to remind myself that that's all okay. But Satan is there, trying to make me feel bad about where I'm at in my life and who I am. It doesn't help that the gray hairs are coming in at a much more rapid pace than I ever hoped for and the other day I noticed I'm getting fine lines on my
forehead. I must raise my eyebrows a lot because all the lines are in the same spot as the creases in my forehead when I raise my eyebrows. Anyway, I have to remember that when I moved back, I took the path that I felt God was leading me towards. And I have to remember that there's really nothing wrong with where I'm at, it's just different than what I'm used to.

I'm not sure even why I even wrote all that. Oh! I remember the b from earlier. It goes for the second part of the post too. I don't want people to feel sorry for me. That's not at all what the goal is here. Sometimes it's just theraputic to get it all out in "writing".

So anyways, that's what has been going on in my life and heart lately. Not really a deep valley or anything, but not a mountaintop either. Just trying to adjust and level out to this new place. Oh, and another reason I'm a wimp? It's so cold up here!!! There's a whole nother adjustment to deal with...

The Long Awaited Update

2010-11-03T17:44:00.001-05:00

I'm sure you all (okay, all four of you) have just been dying for me to update. Because I know this blog is SO exciting and I have so many wonderful things to share that you just can't hardly wait to read about! So, for the sake of those on the edge of their seats and for those who I'm just sure check daily to see if there's an update, here it is:
Let's see... I went to Alabama a few weeks ago. It was a grand ole time but it was not without it's downsides.

I knew something was up with my car when I left. It just didn't sound right. But what's a girl to do? While I was driving I was thinking about how gracious God has been all this time about letting me travel back and forth without any problems. Well, except for the occasional, friendly warning to quit speeding:) But really though, I drove back and forth a LOT over the last four years and every time he kept me from any troubles. I just knew though. I could feel it, that this would be the time I would be put to the test. Sure enough, about ten miles into Tennessee my seat turned into a massage chair from all the vibrating the car was doing. After pulling off and assessing the problem I was pretty sure I just needed to get my spare tire on and be on my way. Unfortunately, I don't have AAA and I wasn't sure what number to call for roadside service with my insurance. So I called 911. I felt dumb but I didn't know what else to do. 20 minutes later the nice lady cop pulls up behind me. I was pretty sure all cops knew how to change a tire (yes, I know I should learn to do it myself). She said she didn't know how to help me though and gave me some numbers to call for a tow service. While I waited on the truck to show up I had a nice long chat with the friendly cop. It was during that time that we realized there had been a miscommunication. She thought I also had mechanical problems which is why she couldn't help me. Once she realized I only needed my tire changed she got to work. She finished up just as the tow truck was pulling up. I felt bad for them but I was really thankful because her getting it done save me $75. The rest of the weekend was spent with my kiddos, catching up with friends, going to Devin's football game and buying a couple new tires. Friday night Cass and me went over to Mark and Bekah's for a euchre night. It was so good to be together with us four again. We spent a lot of time at their house while I lived there and I miss it.

This past weekend a few of us old Queenwood roommates were able to get together. Sure signs we're getting older?

1.) We met at 10:30

2.) We met at Busy Corner.

It was still fun though. I just love people who are still comfortable not matter how much time passes. We missed having Meika, Julia, Kristi, Bethany and Mandy.

Oh, and I have another new place of employment. I'm working at my cousins restaurant through the holidays at least and then we'll see after that.

Oh, and yesterday?

I love to vote. I feel so patriotic.

Tasty Fall Treats?

2010-10-02T14:58:00.001-05:00

Last night I left work around 8:00 and headed over to a friends house about 1/2 hour away. The gathering she had was well underway by the time I got there but it was still going strong. I had called her right when I left to let her know when I would be there and she proceeded to tell me about the caramel apples they were making. Gooey caramel with lots of different toppings and extras to chose from. I had just eaten supper not too long before and wasn't too hungry when I walked in her house but she shoved an apple into my hands and said she made me a caramel apple and wanted to take a picture of some of us taking huge bites out of our apples. So I willingly obliged, for the sake of the picture of course. On the count of three we all took huge bites and after about .004 seconds I realized I had not bitten into an apple. They had made me a caramel onion! It was so so nasty. I about hurled right there. I didn't even swallow anything but the juice was strong enought that even this morning I still had the onion flavor in my mouth. So disgusting!!!

Been Awhile, Huh?

2010-09-28T09:43:00.001-05:00

I wish I had more to blog about but my life has become very routine in that I go to school and work and by the time I get home there's not a whole lot to do except go to bed. Thrilling, I know.

Okay, I know there's a lot more people that read this blog than just the people that comment. I don't know who all does but maybe there's someone reading this who is struggling with the idea of maybe moving to Athens? Maybe not. But if you are, and if you know God is leading you there, to at least look into it, would you please obey Him? The preschool is nearing the point of desperation in their need for two more teachers to go. I know it's hard to think about leaving family, friends and comfort zones. Boy do I know. If any of you know my story of how I ended up down south, you know it was a huge struggle and that even while I was driving there with my car loaded up with all my stuff, I was praying that maybe God could change His mind and send me right back to central Illinois. But also if you know my story, you might know that Alabama became home to me. It has become just as much a part of me as central Illinois has. You might also know that when I started feeling let to move back to Roanoke, it was just as much of a struggle as it was to move down there in the first place. I know it's different. I know it might be scary. I know it's far away. But it's so, so worth it.

With that being said, most of you if not all of you reading this are not the right ones to go. You are not being called from where you are. But would you please offer up a prayer that the ones God wants to go would go. That He would please fill the need at the preschool? Thanks, and have a blessed day.

?????????

2010-09-10T22:06:00.001-05:00

Funny story of the day. There is a old man who is ninety something that still hauls in grain to the elevator I'm working at. Today he came in at the end of the day and I saw him get out of his truck to come inside for something. He had a can of beer in his hand which I thought was unusual. He comes in, sits down and starts talking, opens his can of beer, then a little while later walks out- beer in hand- and drives away! Now, I know he wasn't drunk at all. But seriously. Did he not realize what he was doing was completely illegal?!?!?!

Day Of Labor

2010-09-07T21:39:00.000-05:00

This is my 400th post. I feel like I should be doing something special for it but....... maybe we'll wait till 450 or 500, huh?

The weekend started out with happy birthday to me! Friday was number 28 for me. I'm not old enough yet that I care about my age. For the most part anyway. After next year I might start caring. I can't say it was my favorite birthday in the world. In fact, I think it ranks in the top three bad ones. Right after the one where I was sick as a dog and had a cherry popsicle for my birthday supper and the one where I begrudingly moved eight hours away from home. It wasn't bad, per se, it just wasn't spectacular. Maybe I'm supposed to be all grown up and mature by now but I still like to have my birthday be a special day. But my mom was working all day, my dad was in the field, my closest cousins left for a mini vacation and all of my friends already had plans. I can't complain though. We did manage to squeeze in a lunch at Caleri's where I was served a birthday cupcake in a very special way:)

Not just anyone gets that serving platter, folks! I also got to see my aunt and uncle that were up from Phoenix for the weekend. Friday night a few of the family got together to spend some time with them and then I went into town and hung out with Jamie and Haley until Nate got home from the field. That was the best part of my day.

That's the Phoenix family- Joe and Sue.

Saturday I headed out to Bluffton. Cassie came up with a couple vanloads of Athens people so I grabbed LeaAnn and we headed out there to spend the weekend with them. And what a great weekend it was! It was somewhat action packed but I only got a few pictures. Us girls after we climbed the freakishly tall fire tower and me and LeaAnn on the swing that went a little too high for my comfort level. Fun, though.

It was fun staying at Cassie's house and seeing more of her home life. But then came the part of splitting ways, as we headed west and they headed south. After seeing them I've been more homesick for Alabama. Today in class I had the first near freak out moment of "What in the world am I doing???" The teacher used a toy as an example for something and it was a toy we had at the preschool. It just kind of drove home the reality of the fact that I'm no longer doing the only thing I've really known, which is child care. I started to question whether or not I was really ready to step out of that comfort zone. I know though, that this is right and I'm where I supposed to be. So in that case, yes- I'm ready to step out.
Anyways, great weekend with plenty of memories made.

The Mundane Life

2010-08-31T12:34:00.000-05:00

Well not a whole lot has happened since last Monday but I see it's been a week now since I posted. All that is about to change though. Harvest started already. It's still not quite going full force yet but most of the guys are in the field some. Which means my job is about to start! I went in a couple times last week and am going in tomorrow all day. Next week I'll start full time. Then until harvest is over my life will consist of purely school and the elevator. Except for maybe Friday nights. I don't think I'll be working Friday nights. Well, and Sundays of course. I really don't mind though. It's a pretty fun job.
So far so good with school, too. I think both classes I will enjoy somewhat but both are going to take a lot of work. Especially this week in Anatomy when we're doing basic chemistry stuff. I've never had a chem class in my life. It's only one chapter thank goodness. I'm not too fond of it. I'm excited to actually get into the differnt systems of the body. That I'm interested in.
I think I'll like my Spanish class too. Last week after the first one I left feeling completely overwhelmed and thinking it was hardly worth it. This week I'm feeling a lot better and more excited about it. I've already made a couple friends in there too. One whose wife is an OT and is more than willing to help me in getting my observation hours done and one who is from Cullman, AL of all places! Cullman is about 45 minutes south of Athens so we were pretty excited to make that connection.

*Sidenote: Right now we have a guy from Haiti living with us. He first came eight or so years ago through the Haitian Hearts program. You may or may not have heard of it. Basically we were his host family while he came to the states for heart surgery. About a month ago he finally got a visa (after numerous other tries) and is here to stay for a few months. His name is Steve. Actually his name is Mike Steevens Domonique but we'll just go with Steve. So if you read something about Steve, that's who you're reading about.

*Another sidenote: Since being here he has really taken to the black culture that we have in the states and tries so hard to be like that. He loves hip hop and always tries to dress like a rapper. Problem is, all he can find around our house is old seedcorn hats and even older electronics to do the job. Today he is sporting a seedcorn hat while jamming to songs on someone's reealllly old walkman! I love him!

The Rock That Was Starved

2010-08-23T16:25:00.000-05:00

I had the privilege of spending today with my two dear friends, Erin and Lisa. We went to Starved Rock and Mattheisen (sp?) State Parks. Lots of stairs were climbed. Our first destination was Lovers Leap. It was awfully romantic but we quickly tired of that destination and proceeded to Eagle Cliff. There, we rebelliously climbed over the wooden walkway. Yeah- we really know how to push limits and break rules:) We tried taking a picture where we were jumping in the air. It was a failed attempt but I actaully think it's my favorite one out of all that we took.

It was a really fun day. I would say it was relaxing, but all those stairs kinda threw a wrench into the whole "relaxation" thing. But fun nevertheless.

I was supposed to start my classes tonight but got a phone call saying it was cancelled. I was really bummed. I'm excited to get started with this whole school thing so hopefully my class tomorrow morning will still be in session!

My Going Away Party

2010-08-19T10:40:00.000-05:00

Sunday night was my going away party. It was fun, sad, sappy......

A few of the ladies from church. Louise, Kat, Corrine and Granny Barnes. Granny is the oldest in church. She is Louise and Miss Barbara's mother. She looks like she could keel over any minute but she's actually pretty spry and active still.

JR and Louise ended up sitting here together at this little table for two and Kerwin decided they needed a candle! JR is a jokester. Between his accent and lack of teeth he can be hard to understand, especially when he's laughing hysterically at his own jokes. But if he's laughing, we just laugh along with him even if we have no clue what he's saying:)

The whole Athens crew. There were a couple missing that couldn't make it but for the most part this has been my church and my family the last four years. I do love them!

Whenever everyone is at the Edelman house for something (such as a going away party) a very hard core, very competetive game of basketball ensues. No, they did not get in a water fight when they were finished playing ball. That is pure sweat. Disgusting!!!

Cassie snapped this one of the kids flocking me when I went over to the preschool Monday morning quick before I left. I just thought it was kinda cute:)

This week has been spent mostly trying to get everything organized and unpacked. A lot of my stuff is in my grandparents basement right now. Like my bed and kitchen stuff that I don't need while living at my parents. But even so, it's hard to condense what I have here into one small bedroom. Especially when, over the last four years, my bedroom and the rest of the upstairs has been converted into storage for my parents. ("Oh, we don't use this too often, let's just toss it in Sarah's closet." or "I have so many cookbooks in this kitchen, maybe I'll put some of the overflow into Sarah's room.") Things like that. But it's working out.

I have a job! For now anyways. Once harvest starts I'll be working at the grain elevator weighing trucks and testing moisture on the grain. I worked there my freshman year of college and loved it so I'm pretty excited to do it again. After harvest is over I'm not sure what I'll be doing but at least I have something for now.

Yesterday I went down to ICC and got my books. Besides shelling out all this money for tuition and books, I'm pretty excited about starting a couple classes. Ask me again in the middle of the semester and I might not feel that same way. But for now I'm excited.

Welp, That's All Folks

2010-08-16T09:05:00.000-05:00

It's been a good run.

Tickling My Funny Bone

2010-08-10T14:55:00.000-05:00

I don't know how many of you have read the lastest Reader's Digest, but last night I just really got a kick out of one of the jokes.

On his way to perform at a graveside service, the bagpiper gets lost. After many wrong turns, he finally arrives, but the minister and mourners have already gone. Only the grave diggers remain, and they're eating lunch. Not knowing what else to do, the bagpiper begins to play. The workers put down their lunches and weep as the man plays "Amazing Grace". When he finishes, he packs up his bagpipes and heads for his car. As he opens the door, he hears one of the workers say, "I've never seen anything like that before, and I've been putting in septic tanks for 20 years!"

I laughed out loud!

A Pull Tractor, Kentucky, A New Baby and A Roommate

2010-08-06T17:43:00.000-05:00

The last week has been pretty busy. While the Rockville group was still here we had a couple volunteers come down for the next week. The day they left we had another friend come visit the preschool and stay for the weekend. While she was here we went to a tractor pull. Or a pull tractor as one of my kids called it. Whatever you call it, it was pretty boring. And really loud. Like plug your ears unless you want to go deaf loud. We were there for about four hours and only about 10 minutes of those four hours were close to exciting. But, it was an experience I guess.

I left Sunday right after church to go up to Kentucky Lake for a couple days. For several years, all the Hodel's went but as families grew it died out all too quickly. My aunt and uncle still go faithfully though and I was able to crash in their cabin. I got to see Kristi for the first time since I visited Magdalena last September. I didn't realize how much I missed her until I had a little time with her. Two gold stars to the first member of the Hodel family to tell me where this picture was taken:)

Tuesday night I drove home, stopping for gas in Athens before I went the last mile to my apartment. Tuesday unfortunately ended in a late night rescue by Cassie. Good thing she was around!!

Wednesday was the first day since the middle of July that was normal in a sense that we didn't have anyone around to entertain and keep company. It was bliss. Thursday we got the long awaited phone call that Mark and Bekah had their baby. We had been planning to swing by their house after work and take a present to Bekah cause it was her birthday. Instead we took two birthday presents to the hospital- one for her and one for sweet little Natalie Rebekah:)

After seeing them, me and Cassie had one last roomie party. She'll be gone all this week and won't get back until late next Saturday. Sunday is my going away party so last night was really our last night of living together and hanging out in the evening. Our roommate party was complete with pizza, a movie, chinese checkers and mancala. One this is certain, I will miss living with Miss Cassie Bertsch.

Two Completely Different Topics....

2010-07-26T20:35:00.000-05:00

For starters, here's the "after" preschool pictures. You can see in the last post how everything was all off white except for the office which was pale blue and pastel yellow. Now, we have

The Purple Room

The Orange Room

The Yellow Room

And the Beautiful Green Office!

Every time I walk in I just have to stand there and take it all in for awhile. We love it!!

And now for a completely different topic. I had my class reunion this weekend. Ten years. It doesn't seem possible. I know that anyone reading this who is older than me is laughing because they probably think I have no clue how fast time really flies. But for real- sometimes I really do feel like I was JUST graduating high school yesterday. Here we are though. A lot are married, some have kids, some are working on PhD's, some are trying to make it big and yet some are no different than they were ten years ago.

I'll be moving three weeks from today. There's another thing that hardly seems possible. I guess right now I'm feeling pretty reflective. A little down, a little frustrated over the fact that I still don't know for sure what I'll be doing once I move back. I still am peaceful that moving back is the right decision but every time I think I know what I'm going to do I either second guess or another option seems to come up. I think I'm trying to figure out how much I need to wait until I feel God speak and say "this is the direction I'm taking you" versus how much do I just need to pick one of the options and step out in faith, trusting that God will lead along the way.

I'm to the point now where yes, I'm still very sad to be leaving Athens but I'm ready to just have it done and over with. I'm dreading packing. I got my fill of that getting ready for the preschool to get done. We just got everything over there unpacked and I hardly have a chance to organize my thoughts before I dive into packing my own stuff.

Well I'm just rambling now. Sometimes it helps to sort things out on here so sometimes you get all the jumbled up thoughts I have in my brain. I'm impressed if you've made it all the way to the end:)

Preschool Before

2010-07-21T22:39:00.000-05:00

Well like I said earlier, there's a group here from Rockville, CT that has come to completely redo the preschool. Oh my word, these people are so great! Not only are they about the nicest people you'll ever meet, but they have gone above and beyond the extra mile. They have no idea how much their work is appreciated!

So, there's not much to show for the before pictures. It's all one color. All three classrooms and both the bathrooms are all off white. So I won't bore you with five pictures that look nearly the same. Just one.

Now, the office does have some color. But whooo wheee! Is it ever time for an update on those colors!

You can see the lovely pale blue and pastel yellow combination here! Ain't it purdy! Also, you can't tell in the pictures but the ceiling is falling down and being held up by many a makeshift solution. Every time the ceiling would start to fall in a new place, someone would come in and nail it back up "just good enough for now". The carpet is really gross too. It doesn't help that over the years we've gotten lots of flooding in there. We have new gutters now, though and haven't had flooding problems since. Yay! I watched them tear up the carpet and the pad underneath. The bottom of the carpet pad was stuck to the cement and they had to scrape it all off. Gross! And, as you can see in the office picture, the floorboards are falling apart and many of them are being held on by duct tape.

Well, that's that for the before pictures. The after pictures will be a little more drastic. It's looking good in there and we are so excited!!

Birthday Celebrations

2010-07-16T21:24:00.000-05:00

Devin's birthday was last Saturday. I was invited to go to Chuck E. Cheese but I was gone for VBS. We decided to celebrate Monday night instead. He said he wanted to go do putt-putt. I took him there a couple months ago and he loved it and has wanted to go back ever since. So after we ate we headed to the putt-putt place but it was closed:( Monday night ended with a trip to Wal*Mart to pick out a birthday present. We made plans to try again tonight and for awhile it looked like we were going to get rained out but it passed over just in time and we were able to go. Last time he actually beat me by a few points, fair and square. This time I whooped his tail. I'm gonna miss him so much. I love that kid!

We both looked washed out in this picture and his hair is getting pretty shaggy but it has to be good enough.

This weekend a group from Rockville, CT is coming down and all next week they're going to work on the preschool. They're redoing everything from floor to ceiling. I'll have to show some before and after pictures next week. It's going to be a really busy and kind of inconvenient week but we're so excited to get it done!

A Most Blessed Weekend:)

2010-07-11T22:45:00.000-05:00

Before I start sharing my most blessed weekend, the answer to the trivia question in the last post is marijuana. I know, awesome, right?

Okay, now for the weekend. Which, if you haven't gathered by now was most blessed:) Fourty something of us from Athens and Atlanta met up again for our second VBS weekend together. We headed down to Talladega, AL to a place called Shocco Springs where they can house over 1000 people who come there at any given time for their church camps, retreats and such. Friday after work we had pouring down rain right when we were ready to leave. In their haste to get into the car and out of the driving rain, Cassie and LeaAnn both ended up in my backseat and rather than getting back out of the car they decided to both stay back there. I had made some mini cupcakes for the weekend and they looked so pretty. But between running through the rain, the humidity and whatever else, the frosting fell off and a lot of them fell over. I wasn't going to share with anyone until we got down there but since they were already dilapitated, we decided to break them out right away since we were already hungry. I was concentrating on driving and so they took it upon themselves to reach into the front seat for the cupcakes. It started our weekend out on a good and fun note:)

Once we got there, we spent Friday evening getting settled and rekindling some of the friendships we made from last years VBS. Saturday morning after a way too early breakfast, we successfully took a group picture. Fun fact: the man in the back row in the middle with his head kind of cocked backwards grew up with and was good friends with Alan Jackson. Somehow through association that pretty much makes me famous, doesn't it?

Saturday morning we had our seperate VBS classes. The adults on one side of the room and us with the kiddos on the other side. Most of the kids we had were from Atlanta and they were a great group of kids. Super cute, sweet and smart. After lunch we were able to go to the lake. The very fun lake with two trampolines, a ginormous slide two moonwalk/plank things, a blob and two floating iceberg things. We had to reserve a time and they only give each group an hour so the fun was shortlived but it was great.

Then we played some fierce games of volleyball before cleaning up, having our afternoon talk and eating supper.

After supper we had our evening program. We had the kids act out our story during class (the theme was the Good Samaratin) then taught them a song. We did those two things for everyone and there was another skit put on by some of the older kids before we all split up into groups to do a quick skit. All having something to do with the theme. Here's us and our kiddos that we had.

We finished off our evening with games and fellowship. I spent my time at the euchre table. Including one of the funnest games of euchre I've ever played. Me and Cassie vs. two high school guys from Atlanta. I won't even try to explain the funniness of it all. When it was getting late and everyone was tired but not wanting the night to end yet, Cassie decided we should have a bubble blowing contest. I nearly barfed before I got my gum chewed up but it was worth it in the end becuase I didn't do too bad in the contest:)

Sunday after church we had some time to kill so we played some mini golf,

played on this fun contraption at the playground,

and played a couple rounds of knockout.

After lunch we all just hung around, not really wanting to say our goodbye's, not really wanting to leave the friends we rarely see. Now I'm exhausted but it was well worth it. The whole weekend was- you guessed it- most blessed:) A great reminder of what it means to be a good neighbor in our daily lives, awesome fellowship and lots of just plain fun!

Trivia

2010-07-07T23:12:00.000-05:00

According to today's edition of the local newspaper, what crop brings the most money in for the state of Alabama?

Blind/Deaf/Mute

2010-07-05T17:59:00.000-05:00

History tidbit for the day: Hellen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, AL, about an hour from Athens. Friday night some of us went over there to watch "The Miracle Worker" play. They show it all summer long, right in her old backyard. We didn't get there in time to go through her house (bummer) but the play was really cool. I had seen the movie when I was in grade school. If you've ever seen it, this is the dining room scene where Anne Sullivan first confronts Helen's parents and then proceeds to spend the entire morning locked in the dining room trying to train Helen to be civilized. It was really touching and the young girl who played Helen did an incredible job.

Saturday night we went out to eat at Dreamland BBQ. I think it was voted the best rib place in America or something like that. I honestly don't think I would agree but it was good and a fun experience. The waiter took our picture and the flash was off and he didn't let it focus first so it's blurry. But we made sure to have BBQ sauce all over our faces before he snapped it:)

While there, we had some very strict instructions:

Sunday evening we went to Mark & Bekah's for supper where a baggo tournament ensued. It was pretty intense. The final game was down to me and Amber vs. Kerwin and LeaAnn. It was 20 to 20. (You play to 21.) It was my turn to throw and unfortunately the pressure got to me and I lost it for our team:( Either the pressure or I just threw bad.

Speaking of LeaAnn, she's our extra roommate for a month this summer. She's doing her internship here at the preschool and it's been great having her here!

We shot off a few fireworks, most of which turned out to be duds. I was nervous the whole time. Ever since a little boy from Athens got killed by one a few years ago, I haven't been a fan of shooting off my own. Especially with kids around. But everybody was safe.

Tonight we're going to watch the Athens fireworks. Since so many people go to church on Sunday evenings they decided to shoot them off tonight instead. So the celebrating coninues I guess....

37 churches, 9 states and 4 countries

2010-06-28T23:00:00.000-05:00

That's what was represented at High School Girl's Camp 2010. As usual, it was pretty stinkin amazing. The overall theme was "Good News!!" about the good news of Jesus being risen. We have Nothing to fear, Nothing to prove and Nothing to hide. Being the inadequate picture taker that I am, I of course don't have too many to show. But I do have a few:) The Good News theme was a newspaper theme and each cabin was a different section of the newspaper. Such as the Heavenly Homes and Gardens, Fulfilling Food, Peaceful Politics, Risen Obituaries, Master's Money and so on and so forth. We were the Spiritual Sports. I thought it was very appropriate seeing as how one day I'm going to be an Olympic gymnast;) Decorations were easy. Sports equipment put on display and jerseys draped over the bunks took care of it. We did, however, have some pretty awesome goody bags thanks to Party City sports themed birthday party section! Those feet that you see are unfortunately the only picture I got of my co-counselor, Abby. We did have a good time though and I enjoyed getting to know her better.

One cool think we did was a balloon launch. We decorated index cards with verses about the good news of Jesus and sent them into the air. Hopefully the people who find them will either be encouraged or even want to know more of the good news.

Okay, I didn't get a whole group picture. There were 11 people in our cabin, including me and Abby. Between the 11 of us we came from 10 different churches. We had Taylor, Kaleigh, Leah, Keelin, Andrea, Latoya, Whitney, Hannah and Megan.

I'm not too fond of this picture of myself but I sure didn't want to leave her out!

The two that were gallavanting around and I had to chase down to get their picture:)

Already looking forward to next year!

Oldies

2010-06-13T13:51:00.000-05:00

I was looking through some old pictures and decided to post a few that never got posted, most likely because I didn't have my own computer at the time. It's always fun to look at my old pictures and take a trip down memory lane. So even though these probably won't mean to you what they mean to me, I will do it anyway.
The first one was taken a few years ago when some of the people who had came to our Tennessee Fellowship weekend over Memorial Day stayed an extra couple days to reshingle the church. They only had a couple days to get things done and even though it poured down rain probably 75% of those two days, the worked hard and got it all done. At one point it sounded like they were going to come through the roof and when I ran out to get a look this is what I saw. With that long line up of men working together, it took no more than a minute to get that big section of shingles off. I know you can't tell in the picture but was really cool to watch.

This was awhile back when Jean Shilove, one of my Hatian brothers, had the chance to come visit us for the summer. I took him to my aunt and uncles to swim and he loved laying in the water.

This was from Mexico over Thanksgiving of '08. One night after supper me, Erin and Kristi were bored and took a series of pictures between the three of us. I think this picture might be my favorite one from the whole trip.

I will spare you the whole series of pictures that we took but this one just makes me laugh. We didn't plan it to turn out this way, but the way Kristi is hiding behind Erin it makes it look like Erin has one head and two bodies. We laughed for a long time over this one:)

Welp, that's it for now. Some of my oldies.

Denver Weekend

2010-06-07T21:40:00.000-05:00

I was able to spend this weekend out in Denver. Matthew Moore (from Athens) was getting married and my cousin Jared lives out there and mentions every now and then that I should come visit. So it was the perfect excuse to make the trip. I flew out Thursday night from Nashville. Mark and Bekah happened to be on my flight which was fun. I failed at getting a picture of the three of us at the airport:( Jared picked me up and took me to the girl's house I would be staying at. Friday morning my friend Abel, who I haven't seen in like eight years, picked me up and we went to lunch. It was good catching up with him.

He dropped me back off at Jared's and then we (me and J.) went up into the mountains a little bit. After trying one road, only to discover it was closed (when we were almost at the top) we went back down and tried a different road. This one was successful but becuase we had spent so much time driving up and down the other one, we weren't able to go quite as high as we wanted. But it was still really pretty and we were able to get out and hike for a half hour or so. Well, I would call it hiking. Jared probably thought it was way to easy to be considered hiking but it was good enough for me.

I also failed at getting a good picture of me and Jared. This is about the best I got. It's kind of hideous but it will have to do.

After driving around for more than four hours, we made it back into the city and met up with some others where we went to a folkish/bluegrassish concert then out for ice cream. Usually if someone else takes a picture with my camera it turns out blury because they don't let it focus first. That's the case here but since she was a complete stranger and had already taken two pictures I decided not to be too picky.

Saturday we grilled out and played volleyball all afternoon then went back to Dan and Tess's for pizza and games. I only got one picture of that evening but the one I got makes me smile. Someone had the idea to play pick up sticks with Tess's huge decorative bamboo things. It was nearly impossible so we traded those for her skewer sticks. During the game an impromptu singing with just five of us ensued (great word, huh?). That game/singing turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the weekend.

Sunday obviously was the wedding and though it was the main reason I went out, I forgot to take my camera along so I have no pictures of the bride/groom/reception. I was bummed about that. I'll just say that the service was good, the dress was beautiful and the cake was amazing. That pretty much sums it up:)

Jared then so very willingly took me back to the airport. Jared, if you read this, thank you so much for driving me all over. You're so cool:) My flight was delayed an hour but it was all right because there was a couple at the wedding that I met up with at the airport and was able to talk to for awhile. We landed at midnight and I got home at 2:15 this morning. It was a long and full weekend but it was really really good.

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-01T23:23:00.000-05:00

We had our annual Tennessee Fellowship weekend here when people come down and we sing, fellowship, sing, eat, sing, fellowship, sing, eat, sing..... oh and throw some volleyball in there too. I had a great time with everyone and we always feel really blessed by the people who make an effort to come. Did I get any picture? Of course not! I at least took my camera along which is a step in the right direction. We have a small auction to start off the weekend on Saturday. I came out with a new bocce ball set and some of Miss Louise's cinnamon rolls. Those rolls are good. All of her baked goodies brought about 20% of the total auction money! I was sitting there and Cassie came up and said she forgot her wallet and could I please buy her stuff. I said sure, no problem. A few minutes later, my own dad came up and did the same thing! It get's a little pricey when you're paying for two extra tickets!
Today at work I got stung by a wasp. Yes, I'm a wimp. Yes, I'm milking this for all it's worth. But it Hurts! It happened eight hours ago and it's still sore. Poor me.
Thursday night I'm flying out to Denver for Matthew and Kristy's wedding. It should be fun:)
Welp, I'm tired and really have no excuse for still being up.

Well, now....

2010-05-25T23:01:00.001-05:00

My sweet, spunky girl from Jamaica now has facebook and I was just chatting with her tonight!

Whooda thunkit?

Goodbye Tyler and Whit:(

2010-05-23T22:09:00.000-05:00

Tonight we had Tyler and Whit's going away party. They're planning to move to Denver on Friday. They lived in Murphreesboro, TN which is about 1 1/2 hours away but they made it down for church as often as they could. They will be sorely missed, that's for sure. So tonight we had a cookout, volleyball, basketball for the guys, a nice calm walk for the girls, baggo/cornhole/bags, and per Whit's request, we had a pinata!

We told Lauren that how a pinata works and she went in search of the perfect hitting stick. She came back, proud as a peacock of the one she had found. Unfortunately, it didn't do a lot of damage:)

Love you guys!

Disastrous or Memorable?

2010-05-20T23:01:00.000-05:00

Tonight was our preschool graduation. Oh..... where do I even start? I got off work at 5:30. The kids were supposed to start showing up at 6:30. Around 5:50 a storm started passing through. At six the power went out. This was not a good start to our evening! I gave up calling the utility company after getting a busy signal for the 14th time. People started showing up around 6:15, gathering in a dark preschool, hoping the lights would come back on. After much debating, we decided to cancel and reschedule for next week. That was about ten till seven. Just as soon as people started leaving, the power came back on. Of course. So we decided to go ahead with it. Only three of our kids had left and we were able to call two of them back. The third one I never could get ahold of. I feel really bad about it but there's not much I can or could do.
Then starts the program. We didn't have any terrible criers this year. Nobody that sobbed up on the risers. We did have one little girl who stood there real quiet with one lone tear falling down her cute little cheek. We had a few kids who got a case of the giggles, a few who wouldn't quit talking, one who kept turning around to bug the kids behind him, one who stuck his hands in his mouth, pulled his cheeks apart and stuck out his tongue for probably half the program, that same kid wet his pants, that same kid went running to his mom screaming two times and she kept bringing him back and making everything worse..... I think only one or two graduation hats stayed on the right way the whole time. Most were falling off or completely crooked. The loud obese child I have in my class danced the night away when it was our turn. When it was the little kids turn, only one girl sang. Very loudly. Very off key. But it was funny. And my hair!! I did it so nice and neat and between the rain, power outage and running around trying to figure everything out it was completely ruined! But that was really the least of my worries. It all worked out, they were cute and we survived. But it was a far cry from the smoothe sailing we had envisioned. I asked Kerwin as we were walking out if it was disastrous or memorable. He said these are the best kinds. They're the most fun. And he's right. But while the power was out and we were trying to figure out what to do, I nearly broke down and cried. Very nearly. And now I'm just starting to talk about nothing so I better quit before it gets worse. Oh how I wish I had a video of the whole night. And oh how I wish I had a picture of our crooked little caps. I love my kids:)

You Know.......

2010-05-19T22:15:00.004-05:00

You know it's just been one of those days when I resort to this:

and then this*:

and then another one of these:

But praise the Lord it's over and we made it through!

*I am typically NOT a coffee drinker. This was drastic.

Fun With Friends:)

2010-05-17T20:46:00.000-05:00

Awhile back a group of my friends was planning to come down but due to several different circumstances it just didn't work out. On a completely different note, every time I go to a particular mall down here (which isn't very often) I wish I had a friend with me. It's just a fun place to walk around even if you have no intention of buying anything. So combine those two things and I decided to ~~beg~~ ask a couple of my friends to come down for a girls weekend. They did! We had a great time shopping, eating out and going to the rodeo later that night.

Thanks for coming down!!!

Dear Mom,

2010-05-14T00:03:00.000-05:00

I finally used the cake decorating set I got for Christmas!!

Miss Barbara's birthday is Saturday so I had the perfect excuse to use it. I was all excited to do it. I baked the cake (Duncan Hines Devil's Food of course) and even made Crisco icing like you always did. I just knew I would be successful. But, things just didn't turn out like I had envisioned. As soon as I started decorating I knew my dreams of the perfect cake were shattered.

Needless to say, I don't think I'll be starting up Country Confections II anytime soon.

(Oh, and I know the name is spelled wrong. The kids all say Barba.)

Since It's Mothers Day....

2010-05-08T23:04:00.000-05:00

So, my mom is pretty special. Unfortunately, I haven't really acknowleged or realized quite how special until the last few years. And even though she'll probably hate the attention or the spotlight, I'm compiling a list of just a few of the reasons I think she's pretty cool.

10.) She is the best cook I know.
9.) She is selfless.
8.) She is giving and generous.
7.) She loves people who others might label as different.
6.) She makes time to visit with the old ladies in church who sometimes tend to be forgotten.
5.) She makes the BEST cinnamon rolls and caramel rolls. The smell of fresh rolls means I'm home. Even her "flops" are amazing.
4.) She went back to school and graduated with a bachelor's in nursing when she was like, 50!! (And to think- I hesitate about going back for another associate's.)
3.) She challenges me to be a better Scrabble player:)
2.) She has been through the fire and come out stronger on the other side.
1.) She has a great sense of humor.

There's just a few reasons. I love my mom!

We Have A Winner!

2010-05-01T22:43:00.000-05:00

A group of us ran another 5k today. I am pretty excited to say that I got 1st in my age division!!!! I was pretty stoked:) I came away with $35 worth of gift certificates to sporting goods stores. *Ahem* At this point, I could do one of two things here. I could lead you to believe that I have improved drastically since the last 5k we ran a few weeks ago (I did shave two minutes off my time).........

I could tell you the rest of the story of how there was only two of us in that particular age group.

We had some stormy weather and it rained sheets and buckets up until a few minutes before the race started. Believe you me, if it had been a beautiful morning and everyone had showed up I would have been much farther down the list:)

I really haven't turned into little miss 5k who runs every race that comes along, but they had a booth set up for this one after the chick-fil-a one that we did and I really did it to support the cause. It was for a mission in Africa called Bethany Village Ministries. After the race they had pork BBQ and grilled chicken for us and they also had some singing groups. One of the ones we listed to was a black a capella choir. They were incredible- I loved it!! Anyone who knows much about me would realize that it was right up my alley:) I have now (kind of) fullfilled my desires to go to a service at a black church.

It really turned out to be my lucky day. Not only did I "do so good" in the race, get prizes and see the black choir, but tonight we ate at Applebee's and after they ran out of what I had ordered, I reordered and got it for free! In between the race I also did laundry, watched a movie and took a nap. A perfect combination for a gloomy, rainy day.

Change of Plans- But Who's Complaining?

2010-04-29T22:07:00.000-05:00

Tonight I had my evening planned as such:
-Have Cassie follow me to Wal*Mart so I can drop off my car to have my flat tire patched tomorrow
-Cassie drives me home
-Exercise
-Eat a healthy, grilled turkey steak from my dad's turkeys (with his special marinade) and a salad with milk.

Actual events of the night:
-Have Cassie follow me to Wal*Mart so I can drop off my car to have my flat tire patched tomorrow
-Sent Cassie on her way because apparently they DO have time to fix it tonight
-Forgo the exercise and healthy supper
-Walk across the street to Zaxby's fried chicken strips, french fries and coke

WORKS FOR ME!!!!!

I believe their slogan is "Indescribably Good"

And they are correct:)

Already Gone:(

2010-04-25T16:30:00.000-05:00

The weekend is already almost gone. It just baffles me how two days on a weekend can go so fast compared to two days during the work week.
I carried my camera with me all over this weekend because I just haven't taken very many pictures lately and wanted some for myself and for my blog. But guess what. The camera spent most of the time in my purse. And when it did come out, it didn't take really great pictures. So we have another pictureless blog. Which really, I don't mind reading people's blogs without pictures. Sometimes those are the best ones. But I know that some people think blogs are really boring unless there's a picture. Maybe next weekend......
Friday night we attempted to go putt putt golfing with Mark and Bekah. We made it to hole 7 before the owner came out and said we had to leave because of incoming storms. But we got a free game out of the deal. Then I lost royally in an intense game of Ticket to Ride.
Saturday was Amber Edelman's birthday so some of us went to PF Changs. It was my first time there and it's definitely as good as everyone says it is.
Tonight I'm going to a cookout at the Moore's house. I'm taking potatoes. Which I need to get started on. So until next time.....

Feeling Bittersweet

2010-04-18T23:02:00.000-05:00

Thinking about moving back to Illinois has been really bittersweet all along. This weekend was maybe a little more bitter than sweet. Friday night I went to Devin's tee ball game. I knew two other boys on the team- one that used to come to preschool and one whose younger sister comes there now. Also I've gotten more familiar with other parents (besides Devins) because the same kids who play tee ball with him also played basketball with him over the winter. So I've gotten to the point where I feel pretty comfortable just sitting on the bleachers with these people. After the game I met up with everyone else from church at Wendy's, along with Ryan and Hope who had come down to visit for the weekend. While we were there I saw two more families that I knew. It's easy to feel like I have a place at the preschool and at the church. That's just kind of a given. But Friday night I also really felt like I have my place in the community too. I have that feeling every time I see people not from church around town. And it makes me realize how much Athens has really become home- and how much I'm going to miss it. Tonight and last night too, though. Both nights we got together with church people for supper and just to be together. I love the closeness that we all feel. Something that tends to lack in a bigger church like Roanoke. I do love Roanoke, don't get me wrong. I realize there's plenty of benefits being in a big church. But oh how I will miss these times with my Athens church family.
Sidenote: We decided to night that we wanted to sing. Usually if we sing we just sing songs we know from memory. Tonight we whipped out the Zion's Harp! I really like those books, and we don't use them here. So I guess there's one thing that I'll be glad for once I'm back north:)

The Dreaded 5k

2010-04-12T14:43:00.000-05:00

About a month and a half ago I signed up to run a 5k, along with Cassie, her sister, brother in law and some of the Edelmans. As the day grew closer I found myself saying "WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?!?!?!" But, I knew if I backed out I'd be mad at myself and feel like a failure. So I had no choice but to press on:) I had great intentions of training consistently- to a point where I could run at least two miles without stopping. You have to understand, I hate running. I've always hated it. I don't hate exercise, just running. I could barely run a mile (slowly) to save my life So those intentions conveniently fell by the wayside and all of a sudden, race day was here and I hadn't really trained. Like I said though, I would have been mad at myself if I would have dropped out. I had two goals. The biggest goal was to not come in last place. And I was really serious about that. The second goal was, to actually try for a certain time, so I decided 40-45 minutes was reasonable for my... uh... athletic abilities. I ended up doing better than I thought I would! I ran it in 39:11 and came in somewhere in the middle of the pack. 263 out of 450 something. Granted, I was way behind everyone else in our little group, but for me, that was good and I was satisfied. And when it was over I had to admit that I kinda had fun and I might have even picked up registration papers for another one. Don't know for sure if I'll do it yet or not.
We were getting ready to take a group shot when the Chick-fil-a cow came and posed with us. They were one of the sponsors of the race and every time it was time to turn a corner in the race, we heard a cowbell:) Also we got a free chick fil a sandwich at the end. That may have been the best part of the race!

We also had a cookout Saturday night with Cassie's family and Sunday night went putt putt golfing. Turned out to be a really good weekend!

For my girl Hodel cousins- anyone recognize "the mini golf pose"?

Failure of a Photographer

2010-04-05T22:30:00.000-05:00

I always have such good intentions of taking lots of pictures when I go somewhere for the weekend. Especially when it's a busy weekend where I'll have lots of different things to take pictures of. But once again, I have failed. I took two pictures.
Thursday night I didn't get on the road until 4:50. I was taking a girl from Nashville (originally Tremont) with me which added a lot of time. We didn't leave Nashville until almost 7:00. Yuck. Then I was dropping her off at her sisters house close to Bloomington and since we were coming in a different way than she was used to, she got turned around and took longer than expected....then I got pulled over...(written warning only!).......finally got to sleep at 3 in the morning. Only to get up and go shopping and out to lunch with mom, Jamie and Haley. But I really wasn't too tired and I had fun. And Olive Garden was delicious. By the time we got home though, I was pretty wiped out so I laid down to take a "little" nap. Three hours later it was time to get ready for church!
After church we had an egg coloring party at Robey and Angie's. That's where my picture comes in.

That's about the extent of my picture taking for the weekend. LOTS of eggs were colored that night. Seven dozen, I believe.

Saturday I found myself at the Gridley community sale with some friends and then was able to hang out with them for awhile after the sale. Saturday night was the smallest Hodel Easter I think we've ever had. Only 13 or 14 of us were there. It was kinda weird having it that small but a lot of people were either out of town or live in another state and couldn't make it. They were missed, that's for sure.

Sunday was a reminder of one of the reasons I'm excited to move back. Nate, Jamie and Haley came out for supper and we really didn't do much but eat and play Phase 10 (I won!) but I loved it. It was kinda strange being in church knowing that the next time I'm in Roanoke I'll probably be living in Illinois.

This morning I had a meeting at ICC. I have really been considering going back to school but didn't hardly know where to start. I had a lot of mixed feelings about school vs. finding a new job and didn't really have any clear direction of which way to go. So I decided to schedule a meeting with an advisor and just see what she had to say. I was praying all weekend that I could come out of that meeting feeling peaceful and with a sense of direction as to what my next step should be. That's exactly what happened. For now, I think the plan is to take a couple pre-reqs for the Occupational Therapy program and then maybe starting the OTA program in fall of 2011. I'm not saying that's a for sure plan but it's the direction I'm heading for now. I'm excited about it though. I don't feel any apprehension and I feel like it's the best decision I can make for the time being. Hopefully I'll be able to find a part time job and go to school part time this fall. So if you know of anything, keep me posted!

My News

2010-03-27T13:31:00.000-05:00

Well we just had our preschool board meeting this morning and it has been made official. Sometime this summer I'm planning to move back to Illinois. I actually started praying about it in Septmember. I was really starting to feel like after this school year, I would be done. I asked God for a small sign. I said I didn't need anything huge, just a little something to reassure me that what I was thinking was from him and was the right thing. I even asked specifically to be shown a verse about going home. November 1 I was sitting in church. It was our homecoming weekend and I was looking around at everyone, wondering if next homecoming I would still be living here of if I would be there as a visitor. The minister got up and said we were going to read out of Mark 5. So I opened up my Bible and looked down to see verse 19 which says "Go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and hath had compassion on thee." I know some people will argue over "signs" and whether we should or shouldn't ask for them. But for me, I like having something that reassures that the decisions I make are directed by the Lord. Reading a verse like that was exactly what I had asked for and since that day I have not once doubted that making plans to move to IL is the right thing to do. I realize things could change. Two years ago I said I was going to move back but due to a few different circumstances, I ended up staying. And that was perfectly fine with me. I'm glad I had two more years here. I will miss it so much when I'm gone, but there are things I look forward to- mostly living close to my family again. I'm planning to move sometime this summer, most likely towards the end of July.
Phew. I'm so glad I can tell people freely now. I've been trying to keep in a little hush hush until the board meeting just for the sake of waiting until it was official. But now you all know. And that's all I have to say about that:)

Suprise Visitors!

2010-03-23T22:03:00.000-05:00

This afternoon as I was getting ready to go back to work after my break, there was a knock at my door. I opened it to find my great unlce Al and his wife, Melba on my doorstep. They were on the way home from Florida and decided to just drop in and say hi. I've always liked my uncle Al so it was really fun. Him and Melba just got married this past July. It's the second marriage for both of them. They were so fun to sit and talk to for awhile and I enjoyed getting to know her a little better.

Conversation this afternoon-
Me: So, do you have a condo down there?
Al: I married one!

He's quirky. And sweet.

It's not the greatest of pictures but Cassie was trying to take it while she was on the phone and all the kids were inside waiting to get fed snack so we just didn't try for perfection this time.

Flop Of A Week

2010-03-18T18:02:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I was supposed to have some friends down to visit. They cancelled for a number of reasons. This weekend I was supposed to go down to Florida for a couple days. We cancelled for a couple different reasons. I have a gift certificate for a massage that I was going to redeem tonight after work. They called and the massage therapist is sick and had to cancel. This is all during the time when Cassie and the Edelmans are in Mexico and I really would love to be with them. Really now- what's next???

In Honor Of...

2010-03-14T14:33:00.000-05:00

Each year since I've moved down here my old roommate and awesome friend, Bekah, has gotten a group together to come visit for the weekend. This weekend was supposed to be when people came but for a variety of different reasons ended up cacelling. So I just thinking back to the past few years when they would come. Each year has its own reasons to make me smile. If things would have gone as planned, I would probably be posting about everything we did this weekend. But since things changed and the last couple days have consisted of lots of laundry and cleaning, I was remembering years past. So in honor of those years.......

The first year was kind of a thrown together group who didn't necessarily know each other that well. But it turned out to be so fun and we laughed more than we talked. Mark took us flying and then we went to a really southern restaurant before coming back to my house for games and dessert.

The second year was fun too. Not quite as many laughs as the first year, possibly because there were some more reserved people in the group? Another kind of random, thrown together group but still a good time. We went to the US Space and Rocket center over in Huntsville where we watched an IMAX movie about Hurricane Katrina. It was dumb. We still joke about the time and money wasted on it. I think at least half the group fell asleep during it. Then we did the typical supper and games evening before the boys left my house and went to bed. Then Beks, Katrina and myself got ahold of some microphones we had in the Fellowship Hall (which is attatched to my house), figured out how to turn on the speakers, and had a little concert for ourselves:)

Then there was last year. The infamous Waffle House trip where a fight nearly broke out, cops were called, they ran out of dishes..... oh the memories. It was also a lot bigger group than the first two years. I think I'd have to say it was my favorite one out of the three. If you're justy dying to know more about it, you can read about it here.

So, yes, I was bummed that it didn't work out this weekend but hopefully we'll be able to reschedule. And really, what could be more fun than spending my weekend doing laundry and cleaning?

Weekend Fun

2010-03-09T22:01:00.000-06:00

Well this past weekend was packed with lots of good family and friends time. Unfortunately I did not get a whole lot of that time on camera. A couple things I did, though. Like, Saturday night I walked into my parents house after having a girls night with my cousins Angie, Erin and Lydia. I heard the melodioc strains of a song that I didn't recognize as one my parents listened to on a regular basis. Then I went upstairs to see this contraption.

No wonder I didn't recognize it- it was one of their old records! But, now, thanks to this nifty machine, I have my old Bullfrogs and Butterflies record on a CD! That I listened to on the way home:) I have other old records on a CD now too but that one was my favorite and I still remembered most of the songs from when I was little!

Saturday before our girls night officially started, I went into Angie and Robey's house for supper. I got there just in time to help give Abel his bath. I love the little man!

He's so cute I just want to eat him!!

Other fun and excitement that I didn't get pictures of included lunch at Doc's Diner, working out with Erin at Mo's on Main (the new fitness center in Roanoke), Doug and Tricia's wedding/reception, going back to Gridley Sunday night to spend some quality time with my girlfriends and having Monday off so I could spend the night Sunday night. What a blessing:)

Funny Stuff

2010-02-28T13:56:00.000-06:00

Well, last night was fun. I went with Mark & Bekah to see Mark Lowery. I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures of the man, but he's a hoot, that's for sure. I also appreciated the things he said when he wasn't cracking jokes. I came away having just had a really good laugh but I also came away feeling encouraged. My only complaint? I have some CD's of his that I've had since I was in Jr. High. So... about 15 years I've had these albums. One of them I loved so much that I listened to over and over and still have it about memorized. A couple of the jokes he used last night were on that CD that I have. I was like "Dude- find some new jokes." But even the ones that I already have heard were funnier when I could see the actions and expressions that went along with them:) And that's really all I have to say. Short and sweet.

Feeling A Little Chilly

2010-02-25T21:46:00.000-06:00

Along with everyone else, I'm ready for some warmer weather. Right now I'm really cold. And bored. So maybe if I just look at some pictures from warmer times, I'll start to feel warmer. Right? Oh, and I wanted to post something with my new background:)

There. Aren't we all feeling the need to break out t-shirts and flip flops now? Okay, maybe not. But it was worth a try. And it gave me something to do for a few minutes.

Wish I Had Something Good to Post

2010-02-21T22:49:00.000-06:00

I've just had a boring couple weeks. Sorry. This weekend was beautiful outside. It got to be almost 70 yesterday and today. It was gorgeous! This is my fourth winter living in Alabama and it's been the longest and coldest one since I've been here. So walking outside into that warm air yesterday was a very welcome thing. But now it's raining and I'm pretty sure it's supposed to cool off again but hopefully we're well on our way to springtime now. I've become quite the sissy when it comes to cold weather. I just don't handle it as good as I did living in IL:(
Tonight we went to a concert. The Isaac's. Ever heard of them? I had heard of them, heard a couple of their songs but that was all. Wow. It was really really good. I don't think there was one song that I didn't like. Even Cassie, who's a really tough critic when it comes to music, loved it. It was beautiful. Their mom has a really neat testimony that she shared. She grew up Jewish and her parents were from Poland. They were both in concentration camps during the Holocaust but both somehow made it out alive. They moved to New York which is where this lady grew up. Long story short, she ended up in Tennesse (I think) came to know Jesus and was converted and was then banned by her family. They said she had to chose between them and Jesus. She chose Jesus. Eventually they let her come back around the family but wow- what a testimony.
This week looks like it's going to be pretty boring as well:( Maybe something exciting will happen that I can tell everyone about but if not, you'll probably be stuck with another boring post after awhile. Have a great day!

V-Day and a Sidenote

2010-02-15T16:04:00.000-06:00

Valentine's Day: The only person around that would go on a date with me was Cassie. So we got a special heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's and watched Star Trek. The movie was not my choice. But it was her turn to pick and that's what she wanted and I have to admit I was kinda into it. Kinda.

It was a pretty crazy Valentine's Day. I mean, it got so crazy that I made a decision on a whim and came home with a tatoo! I know, I know... I really shouldn't have. But I just couldn't resist!

And now for the sidenote. I love love LOVE having people here for the weekend. But there is a downside. The towels that need to be washed after they leave.

Oh well, it's worth every load of laundry.

Praying for CCCD Kingston

2010-02-11T00:41:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I found out that one of the dorm rooms at the Kingston CCCD campus caught on fire. It was the teen boys dorm. Thankfully- OH so thankfully, nobody got hurt. But all the boys in that dorm lost everything that they had to their name. Which isn't much to start with. The other boys dorms and even some of the girls stuff in the upstairs had smoke damage. Sounds like a lot of the kids are all staying in the team dorms right now which isn't a very good thing for a variety of reasons. Here's a few of the boys that I'm assuming were living in that dorm.

I sponsor Rushedie. He's the studly one in the blue shirt, second from the right. My heart just hurts for them right now, as these kids and the Kingston campus are very near and dear to me. I want so badly to be able to hop the next plane and go help out. Please say a prayer for them and their situation.

Invites And SNOW!!

2010-02-08T14:53:00.000-06:00

We we blessed beyond reason this weekend! We had a young group invite down here and it was great. We were actually planning on having about 40 people come but for a variety of reasons we ended up having only about 25. It was still a really good time though and still a decent sized group. We spent Saturday sleeping in, having a leisurely lunch and then got to work on a few service projects. I was kinda blown away with the amount they got done. Some were in the preschool doing odds-n-ends jobs and deep cleaning that needs to get done more often but just doesn't.

Some were out in the world relief shed sorting, organizing and packing clothes to be sent to Haiti. I think we ended up with over 40 boxes!

I didn't get very many good people pictures:(

This morning we woke up to snow falling! We didn't even know it was forecasted so it was a fun suprise. Now, it doesn snow occasionally down here, this year more than the past three years combined I think. Today it was falling and accumulating pretty quick and it was coming down in HUGE flakes.

Yes, that is quite a bit for us down here:) We took the kids out to play in it. They loved it at first but they got tired of it pretty quick. Some of them were sobbing over how painfully cold their hands were. Some of the, uh, older kids didn't get tired of it so quickly. They loved it!

By the time I went on break at 2:00 it was almost completely gone.

Yup, melts that fast. But not to worry! There's rumor of another system making its way across Mississippi and so there's always the chance that we'll get more!

Just Like Jamaica

2010-01-27T22:22:00.000-06:00

Okay, maybe not JUST like Jamaica, but we did have an interesting experience today! Miss Barbara was cleaning up the kitchen after lunch when she heard what sounded like a knock at the kitchen door. She opened the door to see this-

and this-

She had just come downstairs and said she had gotten chased by goats. They apparently escaped from the neighbors down the street and found their way to the church. When she took the garbage out all of a sudden she saw them and started running back to the church. When she started running, the goats chased after her! Then they climbed up the kitchen stairs and started butting at the door. They were tame, it was just really funny to see them out there.

Hence, the title of the post- Just Like Jamaica- as you don't typically see animals roaming freely like you do in Jamaica or a country like it! It's been a long week though so it was really good to have something that funny happen to kind of lighten my crabby mood.

Officially Bored

2010-01-23T00:17:00.000-06:00

Yes, I'm bored. Yes, I haven't posted in a week now. No, I don't really have anything to talk about. So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to go into my pictures, close my eyes, click a file, keep my eyes closed and click a picture. Then I'll post it. Yes, I'm that bored and yes, I'm that lame. Sometimes. So, here goes.

Well, looky there. It's Devin! How appropriate because I was just with him tonight. He wanted to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks. So we did. It was fun. Hmm.... maybe I'll do that again and see what comes up next. Isn't this the most fun you've had all day?

Awww..... this is from when we had a girls weekend in Leo at Dustin and Mandy's house. Not very good quatlity, but the kids sure are cute! Okay, one more time then I'll be done.

It's the aunts picture! That was when I had a liiiiiiitle bit of a tan. I no longer have that liiiiiiiiitle bit of tan.

Okay, well, that's all. I'm done being lame now. Off to bed I guess.

Praising the Lord!!

2010-01-16T00:23:00.000-06:00

So, all those unconverted people on our team I talked about in my last post? Well, four of them have given their lives to the Lord and started repenting!! We just got word of the fourth one and I'm so excited I just can't stop grinning! My prayer is something along the lines of "Keep em coming Lord! Just keep em coming." I just wanted to give that praise report:)

Jamaica 2010

2010-01-10T23:53:00.000-06:00

Well Jamaica was awesome, as usual. Memories made, work done, spritually rejuvenating and just plain FUN!

The work we did (some of it at least)...

Sorting, organizing and pulling nails out of wood so it can be reused.

Mixing/pouring cement

Breaking up cement under the swingset and refilling it with sand so the kids have a softer place to land when they fall.

Building walls

Painting/repainting/touching up paint

Some of the kids I love so much

My sponsor kids

Cassandra

Rushede

Our failure of a beach day

The sign that greeted us upon our arrival at Ocho Rios/Dunns River Falls

Drab, cold, gray and rainy

The entertainment of the week

Huge euchre tournament, complete with trophy (sorry it's sideways). Trophy consisted of a syrup bottle wrapped in tinfoil with scorecards sticking out the top!

Setting up a pigeon trap with the goal of catching enough to butcher and eat for supper. I caught the first one! Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) the goal was never completed.

Odds-n-Ends

The team, minus Victoria Stoller who couldn't come until Tuesday:(

Discovering and having some fun with an old go-kart we found in the wood room

Beautiful flowers

Very common sight at a stoplight: someone washing windshields in the middle of the intersection looking to make and extra buck.

My thoughts

I have to admit, when I first got the team roster I was a little dissapointed in the fact that there were mostly 18-20 year olds. BUT- I was wrong to be disspointed. I loved the group so much and of course had a great week with them. Quite a few of them were unconverted so the team had a different feel to it than other teams have been. So there were plenty of people and things to pray for on this team. I grew to love and care for everyone there. The ones that need the Lord know how badly the rest of us want it for them. Doors were opened for some really good talks, along with what I said earlier- just plain fun. It was the perfect way to start out a new year. I'm excited to see my kids tomorrow. It's been three weeks since I've had their cuddles and loves. It's late though, so I need to go to bed, but I just wanted to share my week!