michigan

fireflies
twilight skies
blink and twinkle
passing by

tall trees
sweet summer breeze
sway and dance
clapping leaves

little fish
splash and splish
wiggle and swim
journeying swish

big lake
tall waves break
wide and deep 
crashing great.

There is no time...

I have often been intrigued by the words we heard from a wise island man.

My friends and I were in a rush to arrive to a tiny island called Little Cay located off the Atlantic coast of Honduras. We were all very excited and felt a bit like movie stars as we talked of “our own private island,” which was probably no larger than a football field.

The ferry was not been running that day due to weather concerns, and Andrew was not one to wait around, especially because we had only rented the island for a couple of days. He went in search of a private boat that would take us from la Ceiba on the mainland to Utila, an island town just about 8 miles off the coast. From there, the owner of Little Cay would come to transport us to our island.

After an hour of searching, Andrew found a Cuban gentlemen, obviously worn by years at sea, to take us across. At first Andrew’s great idea seemed like a fun adventure. But after we left the security of the bay, the waves tossed our little ship all over and at times threatened to fill the entire boat with sea water. Our adventure had ceased to be fun and began to be frightening. Our captain did not seemed phased by the wind or the waves. The six of us, however, were hunched down in the boat, trying to keep the salt water out of our eyes, wondering if we would ever see blue sky again.

We finally made it to Utila, a set of washed up, weary travelers. We draped our clothes all over the dock, hoping they would dry in the sun that had finally reappeared. Two cell phones and one camera were rendered useless after encountering too much salt water.

Then, after an hour or two of waiting, mostly impatiently, on the dock. We saw our host coming to meet us in a boat. We were very eager to finally arrive to Little Cay. Our host seemed to notice our hurry. He greeted us, helped us load our things onto his long boat, and took us to the island.

At some point during our twenty minute excursion, he uttered the words that often come back to me in moments of hurry or impatience. Those moments when the future can’t get here soon enough. The moments when I rush from thing to thing, not even aware of myself or those around me.

“There is no time, only life,” he said.

That is how the island felt once we finally arrived. No time. No watches. No hurry. Just us friends, sharing life and food and conversation. Sometimes sitting together, other times walking around the island alone. We snorkeled. We laid in the sun. We tried to open coconuts. We buried our toes in the sand. We watched the hermit crabs that invaded the island each night. We saw the tall palm trees bent by the sea wind. We saw sunsets and sunrises. We enjoyed. We lived.

There is no time, only life.

More Minne-my-Sota

Downtown Minneapolis

HWY. 90 between LaCrosse, and Austin, Minnesota (home of SPAM!)

Prairies and Bluffs

1. Visit a New State, dontcha know?

Number one on my list of THIRTY THINGS TO DO THIS YEAR is to visit a new state. God opened the door and provided for me to go to not one new state, but TWO!

This past Saturday my best friend from Charlotte got married in Houston, Minnesota, a small town of 1,000 people located in the heart of Minnesota Bluff Country. "What is a bluff?" you may ask! From what I can tell, it is something that looks like a mountain, but isn't- it is just bluffing (wah-wah-waaaaah). The bluffs were beautiful, completely covered with trees at the peak of their fall colors.

The wedding party and family stayed in La Crosse, Wisconsin, right across the mighty Mississippi river that divides the two states. Unfortunately, I was not able to purchase any cheese!

Minneapolis, Minnesota
from Native American word "mni" meaning water
and greek "polis," city

Prairies and Bluffs on the route from La Crosse to Houston.

Small town Houston

The wedding cake

My sweet Friend, Melissa (Halstensgard) Meyer!

Some things I enjoyed about Minnesota:
1. The Accent! Bag sounds like baig, gopher like golfer, no like nol!
2. My favorite new phrases

• Uff-da! (Exclamation)
  
• You betcha (You bet/of course)
• Hot dish (Casserole)
• Oh yah (Yes)
• Pop (soda)
  
• Ya, sure
• Oh boy, oh dear, goodness gracious

3. Eating Grampa Halstensgard's Swedish pancakes! It was sweet watching Mel's grampa make pancakes- He was bent over the bowl, whipping up the batter while flour filled the air and was caught in the beams of sun coming through the window. Gramma walked by the plate of pancakes and asked if they were for sale. The family had a contest to see who could eat the most pancakes.

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 cup of whole milk
• 1 cup of whipping cream
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• pinch of salt

4. The beautiful landscape
5. Being with my friend and her family!
6. The people were "Minnesota Nice"

Cooper River

This weekend was the Cooper River Bridge Run. It was a fun weekend in Charleston with one of my students and her mom and grandma. YAY :D

Two minute PR. Still not as fast I want to be, but at least it was faster than the last one!

SLCA Peru Teacher Trip 2009

Home again, home again, jiggity jog

Sunday night Jenny and I arrived back in Charlotte. My school was visible from the airplane window....it definitely brought tears to my eyes. Traveling and searching for adventure is very exciting, but there is nothing like coming home. Especially when you realize that the biggest adventure is trying to live and love the Lord right where you are. Praise God for a good summer and safe travel. I am glad to be home!

A Pirate's Life For Me!

Thursday, my friend Jenny Eicher and I arrived in Honduras! The first part of our trip....a pirate type adventure!

1. We pilfered: Andrew Davis, Jenny, Andrew's friends (Hugo, Meli, and Hector) and I did some damage at the grocery store. A pirate must eat (of course).

2. We commandeered a ship: The ferry was not running from La Ceiba to Utila, so Andrew found us a not so sketchy guy who would take us across for 30$ a piece...not bad, except the boat was really small and the waves were really big. Therefore, we got really wet (including my poor camera that is not working anymore).

3. We got shipwrecked: Well, not really, but we were accidently dropped off at someone's private dock and we were so wet that it looked like we, and all of our luggage and food, had just washed up on shore.

4. We ended up on a deserted island: this part was actually planned! Our friend Andrew rented Little Cay Island....at only 115$ a night, even a pirate can't complain :)

Priceless

Bus Ride from San Luis Potosi to Mexico City: 31$
Two nights in the Hostel Cenote Azul: 20$
Turibus: 10$
Taxi: 10$

Seeing Mexico City and hanging out with RUF people and almost getting struck by lightening: PRICELESS!

Angel de Independencia

Library at the UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico)

The Zocalo: the main plaza in Mexico City

10 QUE?

Last Sunday I ran my first race since October.....a very slow 10K! I was just glad to run and praising God that I could.

Funny thing...since every thing was in Spanish, somehow I ended up without a chip timer. Glad I had my handy-dandy watch. Next time, I will know!

http://www.maratontangamanga.com

Summer 2007

SLP, here I come!

It is official! I just bought my tickets to go to San Luis Potosi, Mexico for the month of June! I will be with Jim and Lisa McTighe, working with and training national believers for an outreach similar to a Sidewalk Sunday School or Backyard Bible Club!

http://www.servantslove.org/
http://themctighes.blogspot.com/

Monterrey 2008

Here is a video I made for my Spanish class after
our trip to Monterrey. Enjoy! Some of the pictures
are sort of random....that was the teacher part of
me thinking of things we had been learning in class :)