Thursday, October 22, 2009

S’been a while since I posted. I think the last I posted was shortly after my trip to Quebec, Canada – kinda between my many trips this summer/fall – (Quebec, Arizona, Holland, and Switzerland)… WoW – SOoo much has been happening since then. It’s amazing how quickly things change in life – when you least expect them…I will try to fill you in…

So, after I got home from my Canada trip – I was home for a short 3.5 weeks then I was gone for the entire month of September… *sigh* (Loved the sound of that - went quickly though)

From September 4th-19th I was in Phoenix, AZ (I was staying w/ one of my girl-friend's and her husband. I also got to see alot of my friends out there). It was so nice & HOT there 95-110 the entire time – I LOVED it! I got in alot of walking and as much sun soaking as I could (I can’t forget to mention my wild off-road jallopy ride in the wilderness where I almost broke some ribs…just got badly bruised – but I survived and had a blast doing it!). We got to see alot of stuff and do alot…yet did nothing really…just totally relaxed, and enjoyed my vacation and my time w/ Gabbie & Matthew (it will probably be my last trip out there like that for some time…)

Anyway, I flew home on Saturday the 19th. I was home for roughly 36hrs (just enough time to unpack my teeshirts and repack sweaters and scarfs…). Then on Monday the 21st, four of us (two of my girlfriends, Justin, and myself) flew back out of the country for an Amazing 12day trip to Holland and Switzerland.

There is really too much to write about the trip on here – But for a quick/brief summary: We were in Holland for 4days. We went to Gouda, Schiopol (saw the North Sea), Waddixveen (for a friend's wedding), Haarlem, and Amsterdam . Then we flew to Switzerland for 6days (that was by far the BEST part of the trip – SO BEAUTIFUL!) We visited Geneva, Zermatt (saw the Matterhorn), Lusaunne, Interlaken, Lucernne, (another town I can’t remember), and Zurich…It was a full, fun, and fantastic trip – from discovering the vast beauty of the Swiss Alps, exploring medievil castles (Le Chateau de Chillon), enjoying the great food (which was REALLY expensive though), having “adventures” with Swiss Fondue (a long story), canceled trains, getting lost, countelss train rides, miles of walking, shopping, tons of picture taking, experiencing the many different cultures w/in one country, and finally capping off the trip by attending an Opera at the Zurich Opera House on the last night…It was GREAT!

So, we all came home tired, happy, and broke… But it was a wonderful trip all around – well worth it – we all had so much fun and created alot of wonderful new memories. But we were all so happy to return to America where you can eat an entire meal for less than $10, get free water, and all the free refills you want… But I certainly miss the Alps, French, and the AMAZING Swiss Chocolate!!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Travels...

Hello to all my "avid readers & fans"! :) I just wanted to drop a few lines here to tell everyone hi – in between all my travels. It feels like I haven’t traveled or really gone anywhere for so long…then suddenly – I have a flurry of activity.

Last Tuesday (Aug. 11) I just got home from a week’s vacation to Quebec, Canada (road trip – woohoo!) It was a GREAT trip! I just love Quebec – it’s SO French! It was SO good to be back in Quebec…it had been 5 yrs since I lived up there – WAY too long. It was wonderful to see everyone again. I felt like I’d “come home”. PLUS I was able to pretend to be French for a week – I loved it… I spoke about as much French as I did English…I was afraid I would’ve gotten rusty having been away for so long, but as soon as I got there, everything just came right back to me! I know that the teaching & private tutoring that I’ve done for the past 2yrs really helped. It was a great feeling to be talking to someone & just randomly switch back & forth between French & English…

I went with 2 of my girlfriends for an “Older Youth Camp” (ages 22-40). We all left right after work on Wednesday eve & just drove through the night – it is a 13/14hr drive (stopping for about 3hrs in a parking lot to sleep). *Yawn* We spent Thurs. sightseeing in Montreal then ended our journey in Granby at “chez Petit” (the family I’d lived w/ 5yrs ago). Friday was a very relaxing day full of fellowship & shopping. We went to the camp that evening and was at Lake Magog until Monday afternoon. It was so nice to be among “peers” and not feel like the oldest one around – a wonderful change! There were 52 of us and the average age was 30. It was Great!

The campgrounds were very rustic w/ lots of trails and walking. The cabin I stayed in was the “luxury cabin” – it had 3 light bulbs & 2outlets…all the other cabins didn’t even have electricity. We were unaware of our “pick” at the time – we only chose it initially, because all the other cabins were very musty and made breathing very difficult (& breathing is important to life – usually). There were showers there…down the trail a bit – and plenty of outhouses. It was so beautiful & peaceful there – right beside a lake nestled in the mountains…*sigh* It was a wonderful & refreshing time of fellowship & drawing closer to God.

So, Monday night – we (all 52campers) headed back to the Petit’s for additional fellowship… Then us girls headed out for home Tues. morning & got back into Lima around 11/11:30 that night… We were SO tired – as no one got much sleep all week, but it was so worth it…A great trip, with many wonderful memories, spent w/ precious friends.

Then - in two weeks (Sept. 4th) - after work, I fly out to Phoenix, AZ for 2 weeks. I’ll get back home on the 19th around midnight. Then turn around & fly back out on the 21st for a 10day trip to Europe!! 4 of us from church are going to Holland for a friend's wedding. We will be there for 4 days – then we’ll go on to Switzerland for 6days… It is going to be SO much fun! I’ll be sure & blog about that when I get back…

Basically – I’ll be gone the whole month of September (love the sound of that)

Well - that's all for now...ttyl. :)

Monday, June 15, 2009

Update-ish kinda news thing...whatever.

Weeeellll, since it's been SO long since I posted anything - & I discovered about 2-3 ppl actually look at this thing - I'll try to write something... Ummm - nothing much going on in my life right now...hmmm...feeling kinda stupid writing about me - like I'm so interesting and all (not). Oh I know - let me tell you about something that happend to me about 2weeks ago - maybe you'll be interested (this might be long...).

I have a friend who owns and boards horses about 1/2 hr from my house. So, for the past couple months, I’ve been spending the majority of my weekends at her farm helping out around the farm, learning to ride, and working with the horses. It has been SO much fun & I’ve been learning alot! About 2 weeks ago, Alice (my friend) was dog sitting for her son’s German Shepherd – so she’d brought him (Miles) out to the farm for the day thinking he would enjoy himself. Apparently, though Miles had visited the farm on several occasions, he hadn’t been allowed around the horses – now we know why – nor will he be in the future.
See, Alice was doing a bunch of transplanting and landscaping around the barns and house – so she was having me work with Max (her horse) – lunging, walking, excercising, riding, etc. She was on the farthest side of the of the riding arena (3 barns over) with Miles (the dog), and I had Max in said arena…

Well, suddenly – Miles (who must have heard us) came charging around the barns & into the riding arena in complete attack mode. Poor Max was scared & didn’t know what to do…he shied then started kicking at Miles. It was kinda scary – I would have gotten down, but to be honest I felt safer on the kicking Max. That’s when it got interesting (sorta in a sarcastic way)… Well, the dog kept snapping, growling, barking and biting, so Max kept kicking & bucking which dislodged my feet from the stirrups (which turned into a real blessing). Suddenly Max reared up and the next 10-15 seconds became a blur.

I realized that “I don’t think this is typical, because after rearing up, don’t they usually go back down – on their front feet…?” I was questioning this because although we were “going back down for a landing” it was in the opposite direction – Max was in the process of flipping over backwards – with me on him… As soon as I realized this – I instantly let go of the reins and tried to shove off from the saddle in the opposite direction of Max’s twisting fall. We both landed on our backs beside each other and I promptly kept rolling in what I was praying was the opposite direction of his hooves – thankfully it was. Miles by this times was quite incensed as he’d received at least one (if not more) kicks to his head (he was dripping a steady stream of blood out of his nose & mouth – giving him quite the vicious air). So, of course as soon as Max regained his feet – Miles was back on the chase with teeth bared in full persuit. Alice was finally able to corral Max and grabbed his bridal to try to lead him out. However the dumb dog was stubborn & was trying to get one last bite. Well, Max had the last laugh (okay maybe neigh) – he got in one more well placed kick right on Miles head. It dazed him enough that Bill (Alice’s husband) was able to grab his collar and lead him away.

So – needless to say I was quite shaken up and all I can say now is – OUCH. I did get back up on Max right away and rode him bareback for a few minutes. As I mentioned before – I was more afraid of Miles than Max. Plus, I didn’t want Max to associate me w/ that crazy dog. By that time my entire body (specifically back, hips, and ribs) were screaming at me loud enough that I couldn’t stay on him too long – hurt too much.

Thankfully no bones were broken - just badly bruised, & several severely rolled/twisted ribs. I’m just thankful to be alive – it could have ended so much worse. Yes, I relay this story w/ a bit of humor, but it was frightening, and could have had a much more sober ending - with either Max, Miles or myself seriously injured – or worse…

Anyway – that’s my story & therefore my post – hope you enjoyed – I’m still here...