2013! Oh, What a Year You've Been!

Looking Back at 2013

1-What did you do in 2013 that you had never done before?
-became an aunt

-served at a Soup Kitchen

2-Did anyone close to you give birth?
 My sister-in-law Alison, gave birth to two precious angels January 22nd.

3-Did anyone close to you die?
   No

4-What dates from 2013 will remain etched in your memory and why?
     January 22nd- I became an Aunt for the first time

5-Did you suffer any illness or injury?
       -I had my first case of pink eye in February.

6-What was the best thing you bought?
       - my house

7-Where did most of your money go?
     -fixing up the above said house!

8-What songs will always remind you of 2013?

Mandisa's "Overcomer"

9-What do you wish you would have done more/less of?

Blogged more, worried less!

10-What was your favorite TV program?

11-What is the best book you read this year?

12-What was the best movie you saw this year?

I loved The Butler!  That was probably my favorite.

I also liked Saving Mr. Banks, the story behind Mary Poppins

13-What did you do on your birthday?  How old were you?
       For my 29th birthday I worked at school and then celebrated at home with takeout from Stag 'n Doe since the girls were only 2 weeks old.

14-Did you travel anywhere this year?
  -to Meru- Kenya, Africa on a 16 day missions trip to Mt. Olivet Methodist Church

  -twice to Holden Beach

15-What national/international event stirred you the most?



16-Tell us a valuable lesson you learned in 2013.

      - I choose my response.... so... I CHOOSE JOY!... I can't always choose how people treat me, how things turn out... but I can choose how I respond to them... so I choose JOY! Joy...something the world doesn't give and the world can't take away!

I Love Lucy Live

To A few weeks ago I saw commercials for an upcoming broadway play, "I Love Lucy Live" coming to Charlotte.

Being the I Love Lucy fan that I am- I knew I had to go! My sweet dad bought tickets for he, mom and I to go!

Our seats were great. They were orchestra seats. We were literally feet from the actors on stage. 

The show was set up like a recording of the show and we were part of the audience. The two episodes "filmed" were The Benefit & Lucy gets her eyes checked. I loved getting a behind the scenes look at the show!

I have many sweet childhood memories of watching I Love Lucy with my late Aut Bev. My Maw Maw Dancy whom I was very close to was nicknamed Lucy because of all the funny things that happened to her like Lucy's crazy antics on the show. 

Here are some pictures from the show!

You didn't have to tell me twice!

I Love Lucy was one of the first shows to use 3 cameras in the recording process.

Before the show there were two ladies dressed in 50s attire mingling in the audience. These ladies were part of the cast who brought a lot of interaction to the show!

To give you an idea of how close we were!

Mom and I!

The girl who played Lucy looked a lot like the real Lucy!

Ricky sounded just like the real Ricky!

This Lucy could do quite a jitterbug!

Samaritans Feet

When I returned from Africa a friend at church approached me about a missions project she was interested in doing. She was looking at going to Nicaragua in November to work with Samaritans Feet. This sounded like a great opportunity but I couldn't see logistically how I would take a week or more off from school to do this.

Last night I was on Facebook posting about the cool temperatures reminding me of Kenya when a Kenya teammate Connie popped up. She asked me what I was doing today and if I wanted to put shoes on kid's feet. I hesitantly thought about my schedule and said yes. She went on to tell me "it's a program called Samaritans Feet". Talk about another divine appointment! I knew God had dropped this opportunity in my path "for such a time as this."

"God doesn't place a desire to do ministry in our hearts without providing an opportunity." All he is looking for is our availability. 

I woke up to overcast skies but even the rain couldn't dampen my spirits! 

Over 500 pairs of shoes ready to be given away.

My favorite part of the day was seeing Shady Brook babies!

Homeward Bound

Wednesday, July 10th

Today we started our journey home. Two weeks have come and gone much too quickly.

 Jackson sharing a gift with Freida's son.

 Proudly showing his activity book!

 Group picture with Freida, a neighboring shop owner to our hotel.

I gave Freida two skirts.

Our luggage truck was late arriving so we were left outside out hotel with nothing to do. No worries, we had plenty of entertainment to cross our path!

A random herd of cattle came walking right by our vans, taking up the whole road. Connie couldn't pass up this photo opportunity!

Even better than the heard of cattle was seeing this goat straddled in between these two guys on the moped. Bet you haven't seen this site before!

Mac sporting her sweater from our Maua Basin hotel!

We finally got on the road and drove for about an hour before stopping at an overlook, perfect for a photo op!

This is a breathtaking view at the lookout over the Meru National Park Basin.

 Next we made a random stop at a cattle nursery. At this nursery genetically engineered cattle are raised. These cattle cost $3,000 American dollars. They produce triple the amount of milk that a regular cow does. These cattle looked a lot healthier than the cows we are used to seeing on the side of the road here in Kenya.

Cute baby calves.

 Onward! Here we saw men on the side of the road chipping away at large stones to make gravel.

Produce for sell! Roadside service!

We stopped halfway to Nairobi in Nanyuki at the Equator for some shopping. Wow! These shop owners were no joke! They immediately swarmed our vans the minute we parked. They were eager to "wheel and deal". I was pleased with the bartering I was able to do. I walked away with some great souvenirs and gifts.

We have arrived back at the Methodist House for an overnight stay before flying out tomorrow night! I may not know what to do with myself now that I will have Wifi Connection!

While at lunch today, which took forever to come- but was hands down the best meal I've eaten since I've been here, Dee Dee was interviewed by an Australian journalist for a documentary. Dee Dee explained our purpose for coming to Kenya and the work we have done. Too bad we'll never get to see the documentary!

Here is a "Krunk" van group picture. We shared van rides throughout this 14 day adventure. These van rides provided time for many good laughs & heart to heart conversations!

Showing off our "Krunk" sides!

Mac and Meredith with "Dan the Man!", our awesome van driver for the week.