Shoes and Pearls

Last night Carina and I went to see The Lion King, the off Broadway production. It was fantastic! The costumes were spectacular and the music was amazing. It makes the list of my favorites.

Anyway, back to the shoes and pearls. Yesterday afternoon we went to go get our tickets for the performance. (This is one time when it pays off to be a student because we got great seats for half price!) On the way home, we were trying to decide what to wear; who was going to wear what dress, etc. We were laughing because I knew what shoes and jewelry I wanted to wear and was planning the rest of my outfit accordingly.

So not only did we get to see an outstanding production, but I also got to wear my brown shoes and pearls. :) Yes I can be silly.

Family + Hiking = Great day

Yesterday we spent the day with my family from Tucson. We went on a six mile hike at South Mountain. It was wonderful. The weather was great and the company was splendid. Here's a picture of the family.

Tamales

In my family we have a tradition of eating tamales for dinner on Christmas Eve. Christian, Carina, and I spent a few hours last night making them. As with most activities that the three of us do together, the evening was filled with much laughter.

Christian is in charge of the meat sauce.

Carina is in charge of the corn husks.

I am in charge of the masa.

Then we all work on making the tamales.

Laughter

One of my favorite things about visiting my family is LAUGHTER. We have a great time together. As we sit around the dinner table there is always plenty of laughing and story telling. I am so thankful that we have the ability to laugh and have a good time together. What a blessing!


Christian, my brother, has the ability to say the funniest things and keep a totally straight face. Of course this makes Carina and I laugh so hard, which only encourages him. :)


They are going to love me for these pictures. :)

Arizona Winter

This morning I went out on a bike ride with my Dad. I love to be outside and really enjoy this time with him. I took my camera along today, so here are a few photos from our ride.





I must admit that I feel slightly guilty about how warm it is here when it is so cold in Ames. But I, for one, am sure enjoying it! :)

To do list

Last night I spent over an hour talking with my brother. He really does bring out the silly, crazy, funny side of me. We have so much fun together even when we are many miles apart. While we talked about all kinds of stuff, we spent quite awhile discussing some of the (crazy?) things that we want to accomplish in life. The list below contains some of the things we talked about and I added a few more too.

Hike the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim: Well Christian has actually already accomplished this one, but I want to do it to.
Ultramarathon: Some running distance longer than a marathon typically 50 or 100 km.
Hike Mt. Kilimanjaro
RAGBRAI: A bike ride across Iowa.

My additions, but I am sure I can talk Christian into them:
Spend a week with a kayak, backpack, and tent along a river or the ocean.
Run a marathon in under 4 hours: This one should be pretty reasonable.
Summit Mt. Humphrey's: We made it to the saddle point this summer, but not to the top.
Learn to snowshoe
Take a ballroom dance class
Spend a day looking through the lens of my camera: That is, seeing the world through pictures.

As you can see, all of our adventures are mostly outdoor activities. I think that this describes us pretty well. I am sure that as we accomplish things on the list we will think of new things to take their place. I am so looking forward to the adventures that await. :)

(Christian, let me know if I need to add anything else to the list.)

One thing I love about Sundays...

...is my Bible study with my mom and sister. My mom, Carina, and I have been doing a long distance Bible study together since I moved to Ames. Most recently we have been studying Beth Moore's Praying God's Word book. We read one chapter during the week and then "meet" on Sundays over the phone to discuss it. This has been such a great book as we learn how to pray scripture over ourselves and others.

I really love the time that I get to spend with them as we share our hearts and what God is teaching us. It is such a fun journey!

Jubilee Run

While I was at home, we celebrated my Mom's 50th birthday. We honored and celebrated her by putting on a Jubilee Run. The name for the run comes from the Bible where every 50 years the Isrealites were to have a time of renewal, restoration, and celebration. We invited 50 of her girl friends to join us for a 5k run. It was a wonderful time of celebration, fun, and laughter.

Family

This morning I had a conversation with my roommate Emily about family. I was telling her that I was feeling homesick and that I felt funny to be 25, starting my third year of grad school and being so homesick. Throughout our discussion I made a few realizations. I realize that my feelings of homesickness show how much I love my family, how important family is to me, and how much I long for family.

Our discussion also included our desires to have our own families. We both desire to be married and have children of our own. We know that the Lord has created us with these desires and that one day we will 'leave' our families (our parents) and begin new families.

I guess this post doesn't really say much other than I am okay with my feelings of homesickness. God has given me strong feelings and love for family and that is perfectly fine. So for now, I am trying to patiently wait for family.

Back in Ames

I always have such a hard time coming back to Ames. I love the time that I get to spend with my family and hate to leave them. Ames is becoming more like home, but it is not home.

FEAR. This is what I have dealt with the past two times that I have left AZ and returned to Ames. I spent a week in AZ in May for Carina's graduation and during this time my Aunt Pat passed away. This was a hard time and continues to be difficult. I struggled leaving my family and coming back to Ames. I feared that something would happen to them. While I was just home, a dear friend was in the Grand Canyon when the dam broke and a flash flood ensued. (She made it out unharmed. Praise the Lord!) Again I deal with fear.

I must continually remind myself that God is the One with strength and protection. He is the One who watches over my family and friends no matter where I am. I am incapable of always protecting others. I must let go of my fears and truth in the Lord.

Pictures

Family Vacation

My family is leaving in about 30 minutes to head to my Grandparent's cabin in North Arizona for the weekend. We are planning on hiking Mt Humphreys, hanging out, laughing, and having fun. I am looking forward to a great weekend of fun and relaxation. Perhaps there will be pictures next week.

Home

Love
Laughter
Freedom
Early morning runs
Rest
Peace
Fun
Late night talks
Hugs
Comfort

These are some of the things that I most enjoy about being home. I love to be with my family. I am looking forward to spending the next two weeks with them and making many memories.

More stories and fun to come...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY CHRISTIAN!
LOVE YOU

Pictures

I'm here

Please forgive my absence for the past two weeks. I have just returned home (to Ames) from being at home (in Arizona) and in North Carolina. These have been days filled with many emotions and much learning.

On Saturday, May 24 my Aunt Pat passed away. She had spent the previous three weeks in ICU in California. It has been a time of grieving for my family especially my mom, her other two sisters, and my three cousins.

On Thursday, May 29 my baby sister (well, not so baby anymore) graduated from high school. It amazes me how much she has grown up. But I am thankful because we are best friends.

The nine days that I spent at home in Arizona were a roller coaster of emotions. I am still trying to sort through many of them and you will probably read about them over the next week or so. I was thankful that I could be with my family during the challenges and celebrations.

On Sunday, June 1 I left AZ for Raleigh North Carolina. I spent the past four days at the International Total Survey Error Workshop. Sounds fun, right?! :) I thought so. The conference consisted of many statisticians presenting on their current work related to survey error. This topic is of interest to me and my purpose in attending the workshop was to develop a dissertation topic. I have many ideas and will sort through them to hopefully arrive at an interesting project. I learned so much and am thankful for the opportunity to interact with leading statisticians in many different sectors within statistics.

I am now at home in Ames where I will spend the next five weeks preparing for my written prelims. I am looking forward to spending some quality time with friends from school, continuing to form friendships at church, and good time with Jesus.

I plan to be more present in my bogging efforts. Have a wonderful day!

HOME

Today I was having lunch with some friends and we were talking about the word "HOME". This word has so many meaning and emotions connected with it. It means peace, love, rest, freedom, joy. It is the place where we can be the most ourselves.

We also talked about a song that we sing at church titled "HOME." A portion of the lyrics say "Home is heaven, where one day Lord I will live. In your courts you'll find me, in worship at your feet. Hide me now in the shadow of your wings, where I will be home." We talked about how much we long for our earthly homes and how much greater our home in heaven is. As much as I long for my earthly home, I should long for my heavenly home with Jesus even more.

I think that HOME is one of my favorite words.

A Tribute to Mom

In honor of my mom, my best friend, my role model

She prays
She listens
She talks
She cries
She hugs
She laughs
She understands
She advises
She cares

She loves Jesus and follows Him where He leads.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you!

Pictures

Spring is arriving!

My favorite bridge in Ames

My lovely sister

My favorite brother
(Christian, this is the only picture I have of you by yourself.)

50 years of LOVE

Today is my Grandparent's (Stan and Joan Alf's) 50th wedding anniversary. Congratulations Grandpa and Grandma on 50 years of faithfulness and love!