Heartbreak Hotel

Lesa and I spent the morning touring Graceland and learning more about Elvis Presley than anyone needs to know. It was so much fun!! They gave us audio tour guides that led us through the house and the grounds. I enjoyed the music most of all!
Lesa is quite the Elvis fan and she enjoyed all of it - but I think she was a bit partial to the horses. It was a fabulous morning!
We enjoyed our stay at the Heartbreak Hotel. The pool was even shaped like a heart! I spent some time before breakfast reading my first sabbatical book and drinking coffee by the pool. The weather has been perfect!
After having a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich (Elvis's favorite) we were back on the road and heading for New Orleans. The drive was uneventful - thankfully!

Our first stop in New Orleans was Cafe Du Monde for Beignets. If you can't eat donuts for dinner when you are on sabbatical - when can you? :) We knew our time was limited and we certainly didn't want to miss our opportunity! They were delicious - as always. We arrived at the Bethany Volunteer Center where we stayed when we came down in March '07 and settled in. It has changed quite a bit - Lesa and I even got our own room! We are very excited to start work tomorrow!

The Journey begins...

I can't believe my sabbatical is finally here! I had a fabulous last day before my journey began spending time with friends in between packing. Several friends gathered for a cookout and Sheridan's (thanks, Mom!) and then it was time to finalize the packing. My good friend, Lesa, is joining me for the first part of my journey. It's so wonderful to have friends who will go out of their way to show they care. My friend, Diana, will be joining me for another portion of my journey and I'm so grateful for the company but most importantly, for their friendship. Lesa is an amazing person - she never met a stranger!


We stopped in St. Louis for a surprise visit with Lesa's daughter, Tiffany, and her fiance, David - but Tiffany was out of town. David was on his way to his sister's house (a.k.a. mansion) for his dad's 50th birthday party so we tagged along. The house was amazing!! They have a panic room and a theatre with seats that move to whatever is happening in the movie. Very cool!

David's mom, Allison, cooked all the food and it was amazing! We had a fabulous time but had to say farewell and get back on the road to Memphis. We went through a downpour and saw several accidents so we took our time.

Once in Memphis we checked in at the Heartbreak Hotel (it has a heart shaped pool!) and took the shuttle downtown to Beale Street. We enjoyed walking around and watching the street performers and then had a great dinner before heading back to the hotel and going to sleep.
Tomorrow we are touring Graceland and then we will be on our way to New Orleans. It was a perfect first day!

Senior High Mission Trip

I spent a week in Benton Harbor, Michigan with 22 senior highs and 5 adults working for Habitat for Humanity. It was a fabulous week!! Benton Harbor Habitat is a great place to take a group of high school youth who really want to make a difference because their construction supervisors are excellent teachers and are very good at letting go and letting the volunteers do the work. It was very empowering for all of us! We built walls, put up porch beams, built roofs, wrapped houses, framed sheds, and much, much more. They are in the process of building an entire subdivision so they have lots of work to do. I would go back in a heart beat.

MS Walk 2008

Several folks from Pine Ridge and Parkville Presbyterian Churches walked in the MS Walk in memory of our friend, Heidi Hendricks, who passed away last December. It was a cold day - we even got a little snow - but it was a beautiful walk and we had a great time! We also raised over $3000 for Multiple Sclerosis. Our youngest walker (not pictured) is in the 6th grade and it was her fifth walk. Way to go, Angela!

Young Christians Weekend

My friend, Diana, came to Kansas City for a week in March and we went to Young Christians Weekend at Silver Dollar City with youth and adults from Pine Ridge. We had a fabulous weekend playing at SDC and listening to various Christian speakers and musicians. Despite the rain, everyone had a really good time. It was fantastic having Diana here and the youth really enjoyed getting to know her.

Thanksgiving 2007

I spent the week of Thanksgiving in Texas with one of my favorite people in the whole world - my friend, Diana! She flew in to San Antonio following my conference and we spent a couple of days with my sister, Jo, and her husband, exploring San Antonio. We even got to see the biggest pair of cowboy boots in the WORLD! :)





Then we took off on an adventure and spent the next few days on South Padre Island enjoying the beach and the sand and the hot tub - even when it was freezing outside!
We even walked in to Mexico for a little shopping and a delicious margarita. We came back to San Antonio just in time to have leftover thanksgiving dinner with my sister which she has generously spent the day cooking. It was a great Thanksgiving week with family and friends!!

PYWA Conference

I attended the first annual Presbyterian Youth Workers Association Conference in November in San Antonio, Texas. It was a great week to catch up with old friends from PSCE and to spend time with fellow youth workers from the Kansas City area. We had wonderful worship led by Aimee & Bill Buchanan (friends from PSCE) as well as Bible study led by Jon Brown. I am looking forward to the next conference (Nov. 2008) in New Orleans where we will also get to spend a day volunteering - which is something I love most!

Halloween

I love Halloween!! I love the decorations! I love the candy :)! I love getting dressed up and giving out candy! I love the change in weather! I love it all. I had a great time this Halloween - I dressed up as the Cat in the Hat and waited for kids to come by. I actually had more than I thought I would - the last few years have been kind of weak - but this year I thought I had a good number of goblins. They were all so cute (or scary) in their costumes. One kid actually asked to see what was in my bowl before I gave her any. Kids these days! :) Oh well - it was a fun time anyway. Now I have to figure out what I'm going to be for next year...

Homecoming

One of my favorite things to do is to watch my young people in settings other than church. I had the pleasure of being asked to chaperone Homecoming for one of our local high schools and I created this collage from the pictures I took of my "kids." They are:

Michelle, Arianna, Sean, Joel

Savanna, Alisha, Olivia, Rachel

Clair, Clarissa, Emily, Angela

Aren't they wonderful?

Kappa Delta Reunion

We had a mini-reunion of Kappa Delta sisters at the Drury alumni weekend this fall - thanks to Leslie for organizing the get-together! We met for dinner at a local restaurant on Friday night which was a wonderful time of catching up with old friends. Saturday we had a brunch at the Kappa Delta suite followed by a picnic on the campus where we ran in to even more friends. We visited the new (or new to me) fraternity houses and took a tour and then got gussied up for the alumni banquet. After the banquet we crashed the Sigma Pi banquet (they had their own!) so we could see some friends and I finally caught up with my cousin, Tom, and his wife, Tammy and our good friend, Steve. It was a great weekend and I'm so glad I went. It does help when someone organizes the activities so you know that others will be there.

Sunny California...

I flew to Los Angeles very early on Sunday morning and Diana was there to greet me when I finally found my way out of the airport. She had even made me a lay from the flowers in her yard. It was beautiful! We made a detour to my friend, Meghan's, to meet her boyfriend, Kevin. They took us on a stroll through the neighborhood where we had a yummy breakfast sitting outside and enjoying the sights and sounds of California!

On our way "home", we managed to stop at a few beaches along highway 1 and watch cute boys kitesurfing or just walk along the beach letting the sand exfoliate the bottoms of our feet. :) It was fabulous! The weather was perfect and the sun, sand, friendship and ocean breeze felt like heaven!

Our days were pretty much spent playing on the beach or eating. We had a wonderful lunch at the Brown Pelican - I even had fish & chips. It's about the only fish I can bring myself to eat but I figured it was better than nothing. It was quite delicious - if I do say so myself. We enjoyed the sun for the afternoon and I even managed to get a quick dip in the ocean before I became too numb.

My last morning in California, we hiked up to Lizard's Mouth where we had a great panoramic view of sunny Santa Barbara. It was fun hiking and climbing all over the rocks. All is all it was a perfect few days with my wonderful friend. As always, the time is always too short but I was grateful for time to catch up (in person), share tears and laughter and just enjoy one another's company. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful friend.

Mike & Jessica's Wedding

Jessica was a beautiful bride! The wedding was absolutely perfect and went off without a hitch - at least as far as those of us in attendance could tell. I took lots of notes because I loved the way she did her wedding. All the bridesmaids wore black dresses of their choosing and then they carried beautiful bright colored bouquets. The reception was so much fun! We ate tons - I even tried crabcakes for the first time and they weren't too bad. There was an abundance of food and wine but the BEST part was the candy buffet where you could fill your own "goody bag" of chocolates. I thought it was a fabulous idea! We danced the night away - or at least until they kicked us out! :) It was the perfect ending to my few short days in Seattle...but now it's on to California!

The Wedding Rehearsal

Mike and Jessica were kind enough to invite me to the rehearsal dinner even though I wasn't directly involved in the wedding. Mike's roommate's parents hosted the event at their home in Edmonds, WA and it was BEAUTIFUL!! The view from their patio (as you can see in the pictures) was absolutely spectacular! There were probably 50 people at the dinner. They had a piano player that played constantly throughout the evening in the foyer area. We had a buffet dinner that was delicious with a dessert buffet that was amazing. I managed to spill chocolate sauce on my white shirt which was quite embarrassing but pretty typical of me. It was wonderful to see Jessica so happy and to get a chance to find out a little more about the man she has chosen to spend her life with. He's pretty wonderful and I do think they make a really good couple!

My first day in Seattle...

Robin picked me up at the airport and we took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island and then on to her home in Poulsbo. It was beautiful (though chilly - but I didn't mind considering I had left 100+ degrees in Kansas City). We had a great time visiting and enjoyed the view of Seattle.






First thing in the morning, we made our way back to Seattle and caught the bus to Univerity Presbyterian Church where Jessica picked us up and we headed off to get manicures and/or pedicures. Here is Jessica enjoying her pedicure - but we all enjoyed a little pampering.


After our pampering, Jessica took us to see where she and Mike will be living after the wedding. The best part about it is the Thai restaurant in the first level of the building - now that's dangerous! We decided to stop in for a bite of lunch and it was delicious!

Don't you like my new hair style? Actually, that style was designed by the ferry and the wind. :) Jessica took us back to the ferry and we headed back to Bainbridge. Robin had an appointment so after walking around for about an hour, I spent the rest of my time at the Harbor House Pub enjoying some yummy pear cider and catching up on my computer work. Robin joined me when she finished and we feasted on fish & chips. It was a perfect day!

This is the view of Seattle from the ferry as it approached Bainbridge Island.

My 40th Birthday fun continued...

My beloved sister took me on a surprise CRUISE for my 40th birthday. I flew to San Antonio and spent the night which gave me a chance to visit with both Jo & Scott and then we took off the next morning. I had no idea where we were going but I knew as soon as she headed south on the interstate that we weren't flying anywhere and the only other way out of the country from that point would be by boat! I immediately knew we were going on a cruise which was a great disappointment to my sister. She underestimated my great intelligence and love for cruising. I've been researching cruises since my PSCE buddies were planning to go in 2005! We met another pair of sisters who were celebrating a 40th birthday (Laura & Latricia) and we had a great time with them! We even celebrated Jo's actual 42nd birthday with a night of dancing with some very cute men! :) We had a day in Cozumel where we layed on the beach. Jo got way too much sun and I had a blast snorkeling and talking to the fish. It was a perfect getaway!

My 40th Birthday!

My wonderful friends that I made when I was a Red Cross volunteer in Biloxi, MS took me to Orlando for my 40th birthday! We had a condo at the Sheraton Vistana Resort and visited three out of four of the Disney parks. It was a perfect week!

This was taken on the first day as we entered Epcot. I loved all the parks but Epcot was my favorite!
Ken, Lesa, Diana, me and Rich with my friend, Kevin, spent an evening at Downtown Disney where Kevin treated us to sundaes at Ghiradelli. Yum!












We went to a bugs life show where they gave us 3D glasses that looked like bug eyes. Aren't we cute? :) We enjoyed the show - despite being sneezed on and spit on and having bugs run under out seat! Watch out for those things!