Frantically shopping and sorting...

Today I scored four new kitchen towels for free (after the gift card I had for Kohls), bought three ink cartridges, found planners for my kids, and stocked up on glow sticks. Oh the shopping lists that being a teacher in Zambia create! I'm really tickled though because now I have cool *me* kitchen towels instead of the ones inherited with the house. I'm also excited about the ink because being able to use my printer makes my life better.

I started sorting the things I've accumulated into "now" and "later" piles, and started trying to think of the crazy places where I might have left things. I hate this part of leaving. The part where you are trying to juggle what you will need before you go, what you need to do before you go, and wadding through the feelings that inevitably come. It's a good thing that I can lean on my heavenly Father for strength and comfort during this time.

Home again and a little show and tell

Yesterday I got up at 4:15am so I could catch my 5:30 flight, and I almost sort of regretted for a moment my decision to drive down to Cinncinati with Jennifer so we could go to the Contra dance. Almost. I had so much fun dancing for those two hours that the 3 hours or driving was TOTALLY worth it. It was also nice to have a better idea what I was doing--too bad there isn't a dance group near me in the bush!

On the way home from the airport we stopped at a Starbucks and saw a place called, "Yarn Heaven." Said place had lots of SALE signs up in the windows. Of course, we had to go in, and after finding out that the sock yarn was 75% off, I ended up scoring several single skeins of Lorna's Laces as well as a nice big roving from Mountain Colors for a fraction of their original price. You can never have too much of a good thing, right? I've been to yarn stores in St. Louis, Billings, and Columbus now, so I thought I'd give you a little peek at my treasures.

Some sock yarn that pretty much screamed my name as I went by,

Some lovely Mountain Colors mill ends at a great price--all the cooler because this is Montanan yarn! (Not the best picture though, sorry)

And a lovely skein of luxury lacewight.

My mission should I choose to accept it (oh wait, I don't get a choice...) is to finish shopping for the more mundane items I need to take back with me, sort through everything I have already acquired , pack some boxes to ship and some suitcases to take, and say goodbye to all the people, places, and foods that I'm going to miss. Easy, right?

The Columbus Adventures

I have done so many things in Columbus, and as I was rather busy doing I don't have pictures of everything, but here is a bit of a recap of the mad adventures of Jennifer and Lina.

* We visited a lovely yarn store where I was snagged by a skein of sock yarn and justified some other yarn because of a baby coming to a family I know...

* We rambled over a lovely rose garden which included a cool plant that we would like to know the name of, and some of the most beautiful roses I have ever seen.

* We visited the COOLEST BOOKSTORE EVER--32 rooms that ramble through one another in four wings so visiting each room is an adventure in itself, not to mention browsing the books! This might be the ultimate hide and seek location ever.

* I took a trip to the Columbus Museum of Art while Jennifer was doing clever doctorate student things, and saw this amazing glass sculpture-

* We rambled over German Town and ate supper in Schuller park while enjoying the "Girl with Umbrella" statue and watching the community use this beautiful space. Later, we enjoyed the play The Beaux Stratagem on the outdoor stage. What a perfect way to spend a summer night!

* On the way to visiting the Santa Maria replica, I saw a griffon which I was sorely tempted to take home with me! I found the smallness of the Santa Maria astounding--men got on something that size and sailed across the trackless ocean in that? I wish my dad could have been there to enjoy the rigging with me!

* One of the big events for us was the contra dance that Jennifer and I attended Saturday night. I had a blast, and lets just say that I now have another hobby that I will miss getting to pursue...

* We also went to watch Fiddler on the Roof at an incredible old theater that just screamed to have Phantom of the Opera performed in it. It was a long movie, but well worth the pittance of an admission price!

* There may have been some Warehouse 13 watching going on last night...

Tomorrow I head back to Texas starting at the insane hour of 5:30am--I guess the good thing is I'll have most of the day to be exhausted in? I need to start packing up and procuring the final things I'll need before heading back to Zambia. How has five months flown by so fast?

Yellowstone Adventure!

I've been having a BLAST in Montata with my friend Annie, and I thought I'd post just a few pictures of my trip to Yellowstone. We traveled over the Beartooth mountains to get to the park, and it was breathtaking-

We went straight to our campsite so we could set up before it was dark, and had a lovey supper of taco pie and then sang and played guitar around the (smokey!) campfire. We also had a nice visit with our neighboors who were from New York and kindly told us that there were some elk feeding just across the river from us.

The next morning we decided to choose our top two sights and then enjoy the drive around the park. So, we found ourselves enjoying watching Old Faithful erupt, and visiting with some lovely girls about our age who were sitting next to us.

The other big sight that we wanted to see was the lower falls and Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. This was one of the most beautiful things I've seen in my life--it made me wish I was a painter so I could try to capture it on my canvas.

We hiked down to get as close to the base of the falls as we could, and while it was a very steep climb (down AND up!), it was totally worth every step!

When we exited the park a nice stranger took our picture at Roosevelt's arch. In total the trip was about 36 hours, but it was one of the most amazing 36 hours of my life.

I hope some day I get to go back and explore some more--you could spend a lifetime enjoying Yellowstone! I have been so blessed during this visit; being with people you love is sometimes the best medicine.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” --C. S. Lewis

The St. Louis zoo

After a slow start this morning because I wasn't feeling well, I finally got myself over to the zoo, found a place to park, hiked in, and started walking. The zoo was really croweded because it was a Saturday, but there were some things worth seeing there.

The butterfly house was beautiful, and seeing all those delicate wings gracing the sky and the flowers was a true delight.

As much as I love the zoo I've been going to since I was a child, one of its big defects is the lack of hippos. I got a kick out of watching these river horses beat the heat in the water, and get mobbed by the fish in their tank.

My very favorite part of the whole day was watching two Indian elephants frolic and play in the pool of their enclosure. They looked so small since most of them was under the water, but I'm not sure that I would want to risk getting involved in elephant swimming... I was reminded again of how increadible God's creation is--the great variety, masterful design, and the sense of humor!

It took awhile, but finally I found the giraffes!

Something that's interesting to me is that as you travel, you are often struck with how different things here are from your home, but sometimes it's hard to put into words how they are different. Here in St. Louis everything is more hilly, and the houses are set very close together and manage to give an impression of much squareness. (Not that there is much variety of shapes when it comes to houses, but these ones just seem more square than normal. Don't ask me why!) I passed this fascinating Jewish cemetery on my way to Starbucks yesterday, and was struck by how different it is than the cemeteries back home.

It's a little hard to see in the picture, but it was packed very close, and almost all the markers were pillars or columns. I drove through a little bit of it yesterday, but as it was about to be locked up for the night I figured I shouldn't linger. I love exploring graveyards, and I find Jewish ones particularly fascinating.

Tomorrow we head back to Texas, and then I have less than 24 hours to get myself packed and turned around before heading to Dallas so I can fly out Tuesday morning. Let the roaming continue!

A good way to spend a Friday...

Breakfast-

Fine Art Museum-

Yarn store-

Souvenir yarn of much happiness

*Happy Day!*