A Blessed Path

A picture from Vendicari, Sicily. Never had the chance to post it before, but I think it's a pretty photo. I don't know that I like the shadow, but I like the plants around it. Can't keep one without the other. bummer. I'll be MIA for the weekend, taking a small side trip, but I will be back hopefully with lots of pretty photos :) In the mean time, have a great weekend! Oh, and check out one of my new favorite blogs "A CUP OF JO". Another creative one. Check out older posts for some cool, inspiring ideas. She'll have your sewing machine, sketch pad, and yard sale potentials to work in no time.

Sorry I missed a few

It's been really busy lately but here are a few to catch up.


We had a nurse come and visit for career day. She brought some scrubs for us to try on so here is one of our future doctors.


Then we went to Radnor Lake for our Explorers club and saw this awesome turtle. (personal favorite pic)


And we did a little bench sitting/ nature observing while we waited for everyone else to catch up.

As you can tell, most of my time has been filled up with hanging out with these kiddos.

Happy Father's Day!

First of all, Pa, if you read this, Happy Father's Day!! and Happy Father's Day to all you other dads that happen to read this. As for today's photo, for Father's Day, my mom, dad, and I (my brother's fishing in FL) went to visit my grandfather on my mom's side, "Papa." This picture is of Papa in story-telling mode. He is a great story teller and has a lot of them. I always love listening to a great story when we have the chance to go visit or they make it to Nashville. Nana sits on the chair listening intently.

New Friends!

This past week I acquired two new friends, Marcello (pronounced Marchello) and Guido. Named on behalf of my time abroad. They are American Tree Frogs. Here's Guido hoppin' around his cage.

Sounds Game

This week at camp, we went to the Sounds game (Nashville's minor league baseball team). It was very hot, but still lots of fun. This picture was taken by a camper. Thanks!

Early Father's Day

Tonight we took my Dad out for an early Father's Day celebration dinner. We went to a really tasty, chic sushi restaurant in downtown Nashville called Virago. Here's Dad posting with some well-plated "Godzilla" sushi. Though this was out of this world good, "The Bomb" was my personal favorite. We also had "Thai Lobster Shooters" (lobster bisque-ish with red curry to add a bit of a kick) and Tempura Shittake mushrooms for appetizers, "Aloha" and "Philly Crunch" rolls in addition to the ones above and a good chocolatey dessert. yum!!!

My apologies....

Sorry I have been MIA lately. I will explain along with a new picture (or maybe even a couple to make up for lost time, tomorrow.) Till then!

Come one, come all

to the new weekly Farmer's Market at Harvest Hands. We now have a weekly local fruit and veggie market at Harvest Hands in part with Vanderbilt in order to teach the kids about businesses and healthy food and in order to help provide local, fresh fruit and vegetables to the neighborhood for good help and to support local farmers. These are some tasty black raspberries, strawberries, and cherries that I bought there today. Tomorrow I plan on making a tasty smoothie for breakfast. (Sorry for the yellowy light. I took the pic in my kitchen and haven't edited it.)

Bird Watching

The "Explorers" Club that I started at Harvest Hands went hiking and bird watching this week for our club meeting. Here we are behind the bird blind watching the birds that flew in after we spread out some bird feed on the feeders. We also had a few chipmunks visit!

Old School

So unfortunately in my attempt to help clean the house, I have misplaced the cord that connects my camera to the computer :( so here's an old picture from my time abroad. It is a photo of some raw squid in the daily fish market down by my school in the main "Duomo" square. Tasty? They would be if they were cooked I'm sure.

Last Giraffe Photo

I just had to fit in one more. They are so cool!

Giraffes...

.... make me smile. They are such awkward animals (check out that stance!), but so beautiful. It makes me laugh.

The Zoo

Friday we went to the zoo with Harvest Hands camp. It was awesome fun. I never fail to love the zoo. The Memphis Zoo is a bit better than the Nashville Zoo, but the Nashville Zoo is still a fun adventure. I find that every time I go to the zoo, I have a favorite animal and it's typically always different. This time, I really loved the giraffe so you may be seeing a series of giraffe photos.

Skit Time!

Right now I don't have much time to blog about Harvest Hands because Andrew is home for the weekend (yay!), but this photo is an account of "Devotion Time" at the Harvest Hands summer program where I work. Every Wednesday, campers put on a skit portraying a story of the Bible. This was the story of the Good Samaritan. I will say that Harvest Hands is a wonderful ministry really putting Jesus' words into action. I could not be more blessed to have worked with them these past two summers.

Favorite Books

This book, "Bravehearts" by Sharon Hersh, is one of my favorite books. It seeks to understand the Christian female mindset about relationships and reveal the beauty of love and how females naturally strive to love with abandon. I have read this book at least three times and keep coming back to it for encouragement. I cannot recommend it enough, so much so that if you want to send me your address, I will send you a copy. It's particularly written for women, but would be a great read for men seeking to understand the woman psyche- a little bit more at least. :) Hersh is really able to capture the inner desires of a woman's heart and relate it to the greater plan of our amazing Lord. Really, you should all go out and read it. It's great for personal reading/study and group studies. I've read it with a Bible study and on my own. It's the kind of book that makes you want to go love on people even more, in every way possible- the main task with which Jesus charges us.

Running Shoes

Running has been a big part of my life since the sixth grade and even before if you count running races on the playground before I was on an official team. Though I am not as disciplined at running consistently in college as I used to be, I still enjoy a nice long run where I can clear my head and feel more in touch with my body and soul. If you've ever lived with me (or hung out at my house a lot), you will know that the picture above is a common occurrence in the kitchen floor.

PS- Though this blog is in no way an advertisement for Brooks Adrenaline GTS shoes, I've had 9 pairs and counting of these exact shoes. They are the best shoes ever. at least for my feet.

First Day of Camp Craziness

Since the first day of camp was today and life was crazy busy, here's an older picture from my time abroad. Sicily is filled with fields of wild flowers like these that lead to bright blue skies. It can make anyone's day.