So...it's been over two months since I last blogged.
I'd say that it's because life has been busy, but life has been busy before and somehow that never stopped me from blogging for over two months. Clearly that excuse won't do...
Ahem.
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This summer I introduced Tamara's family to bissap and bouye. Josie and Addie helped me make it.
I'm glad Angèle sent some back with me when I was there over the summer. I'm torn, though, between wanting to enjoy it and wanting to ration it so it lasts as long as possible.
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There's a Civil War Re-enactment at a local park every year. Normally it falls on registration weekend, but this year it was the week before, and since I have a fascination with history, I was excited to go.
I didn't think about the fact that there were gunshots and cannons being fired every few minutes, and as the world's jumpiest individual...
Well, let's just say that although it was a really cool re-enactment, it was not very relaxing for me!
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This is all from the tail-end of summer -
Strawberry shortcake and tulips from Trader Joe's and a praying mantis on a tire.
Oh, the usual hunt for sister-birthday-cards-that-are-snarky-without-being-inappropriate. (Yay for finding one that hadn't been exchanged between any of the three of us yet.)
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Registration weekend started out with a bang. And by "a bang" I mean the shrill, piercing scream of the school's fire alarm. Registration had just officially opened the first morning when I heard the alarm. I set down the folder I was starting to open with a student, grabbed my purse and keys, and walked towards the school entrance, thinking, Why in the world are we having a fire drill in the middle of registration?! I got out the door and started to trip over the heels of people who should have been making their way across the parking lot instead of congregating in front of the door. It slowly edged into my consciousness: everyone was looking back at the building. But why are they looking at the building? I wondered, and glanced up to see wisps of smoke escaping one of the second story windows. This is no fire drill!
The fire department arrived, sirens blaring, and we all waited outside for an hour until the smoke cleared.
My nerves didn't recover from the incident for a good week or two. In fact, I'm still not sure they've entirely returned to their pre-fire level of jumpiness (which now seems mild by comparison).
It was...memorable.
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The guest house continues to see change, one project at a time.
We replaced our bunk beds with twin frames. I'm not sure which I liked better - disassembling the old bunks and taking them to the dumpster, or assembling the new frames and getting them set up in the rooms.
Sometimes, guests leave thank you notes. Sometimes those thank yous are pages torn from a child's coloring book. :)
Somehow, in spite of my strong views on keeping clutter at bay, I ended up with a stack of books/manuals that I haven't cracked open since I left MTC. I have no earthly idea why I didn't toss them sooner. But now they're gone and all is well in my world again. Or at least in my storage chest.
My living room has continued to evolve. Not long after the semester started, I finally got my frames finished, the new bunting hung, and the lap quilt sewn.
That's the back of said lap quilt. Yay, yay, yay for fabric from Africa!
It's my one weakness.
A much-needed reminder when life started feeling overwhelming. My God does not have limits.
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One Saturday a group of a dozen staff ladies made an excursion to a huge farmer's market about an hour away.
I came back with strawberries (from California), a bunch of gorgeous dahlias, and good memories.
Once upon a weekend, in a town not far away, there was a Russian festival. Three of my dorm girls and I piled in the car after church and spent a couple hours there, watching the performances of music and dance, and eating delicious Russian food.
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Around here, fall means apples -
So in celebration of the season's arrival, I went with some friends to an apple orchard. We admired the mums and pumpkins, strolled over to the trees for pictures, and sipped fresh cider.
Ah. Happy days.
Meet Elizabeth, Pico, and Sadie. They're pretty cool.
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This month, one of the other ladies on staff and I started a small group. We meet with half a dozen student ladies every Monday afternoon and our discussion centers around the book Grace for the Good Girl.
You guys, it's been so neat. Everything from how it came together in the first place, to the ladies who are coming, to the teamwork aspect, and the opportunity to be grown and stretched myself. Kelley and I take turns - one week she leads the discussion and I make the snacks, and the next week we switch. It works well.
I'm enthralled by grace, and the more time goes by, the more I realize I've barely scratched the surface. It's exciting to have others to share the journey with.
Pray for us, will you?
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