Jack had just gotten done playing in a sprinkler, but you can get the idea of just how much pollen is covering the earth here in SC. It is insane! Never have I seen so much pollen. In fact, the cat at the house I work at is an indoor/outdoor cat...the other day he came back into the house and his normally white spots were bright yellow!!
Thankfully yesterday we had a little bit of rain, we could use much more, but hopefully it was enough to at least knock some of the pollen down.
However...regardless, I think the beauty of this place makes it worthwhile...just take a look at all the vibrant colors we are experiencing!

Look at all the Lord has made...and be amazed.

So I am sitting here with Mon Amie and in talking to her, I came to a realization...

After July, my life will no longer be organized into semesters.

Even after I graduated from UIowa, I taught...so for those 5 years, I lived in semesters...it is all I have ever known. I'm not sure how I will deal with this new way of life, but as always, I'm sure God will grant me the grace to live without semesters. And without Spring Break...

Just to whet your appetite, upcoming will be pics of Jack covered in the unbelievable pollen of SC. It's ridiculous.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY (on Wednesday the 28th)...to two of my very favorite people in the whole wide world!

First off is my niece, my Sunshine, my Monster...I can hardly believe it, she'll be 10 today!! I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday...I have loved watching her grow and hanging out with "Miss Thang"...and I'm excited to get to move back home and actually be there to see her grow from week to week rather than from year to year. Brenna, I love you and I hope you have a wonderful birthday!!









And of course to my dad...when I talked to him tonight, he told me he was excited that he was turning 10...since he and my niece have the same birthday. :) As far as I'm concerned he's the best Dad in the world...and I'm looking forward to moving home and getting Chinese and pizza with you when Mom is gone for the evening. :) Love you and have fun today! :)

Today is another beautiful sunshine day here in Cola. Yesterday I laid outside and ended up getting kissed by the sun again...these are the days I will miss when I go back to Iowa...80 degree weather in March...I have been spoiled!

So I had to laugh this morning when I was listening to the radio and heard the guy say that he read a report that said SC drivers were the worst in the country. He didn't think it was true, but 90% of the people he interviewed agreed with the report. I laughed because as many of you know, this has been my experience as well. The other day was just a case in point...

I was happily driving out to my friends' house on a country road when I came up over a hill and saw two HUGE dump trucks side by side in the two lane road. Apparently, one was trying to pass the other on the hill...not the best idea. So in the next few seconds many things went through my mind...

1) "There is no where for me to go, on either side of the road is a deep ditch"...
2) "I think that ditch would hurt Jack and me a lot less than running head-on into that truck"...
3) "Wow, Jack's breaks are squealing...not a pleasant sound"...
4) "I'm glad I get to go to heaven if I die."

Thankfully while these thoughts were racing through my mind, the truck that was being passed slowed down just enough for the other guy to pass him in time for the road to be clear for Jack and me.

Just another image for you of the thankfulness I have every time I make it safely home or where ever my destination is here in SC. :)

Someone sent me these lyrics once upon a time...I was thinking about that person tonight and just wanted to say thank you for these words. They mean the world to me. Still. Life is funny sometimes...but thank God that we live in the reality of His grace and that we have Heaven to look forward to. Friends are a gift...prayer is a true outpouring of love for them. I know I still need it in great doses...and love to offer it for my friends.

Steven Curtis Chapman\Carry You To Jesus
I will not pretend to feel the pain you’re going through
I know I cannot comprehend the hurt you’ve known
And I used to think it mattered if I understood
But now I just don’t know

Well, I’ll admit sometimes I still wish I knew what to say
And I keep looking for a way to fix it all
But we know we’re at the mercy of God’s higher ways
And our ways are so small

But I will carry you to Jesus
He is everything you need
I will carry you to Jesus on my knees

It’s such a privilege for me to give this gift to you
All I’d ever hope you’d give me in return
Is to know that you’ll be there to do the same for me
When the tables turn

And if you need to cry
go on and I, I will cry along with you,
yeah I’ve given you what I have
but still I know
the best thing I can do Is just pray for you

I’ll carry you I’ll take you to Jesus on my knees

So the other night at work, we decided to order Chinese. Since I am falling back into my old ways of "picky-ness" now that I am back in the States and can be picky, I just went with a chicken and beef satay skewer. That's beside the point...so obviously I'm not one to believe in fortune cookies, but I do think they are fun...and yummy.

I opened up the cookie and laughed when I read this (secretly hoping it would be true!):

"Your dream will come true when you least expect it."

Now isn't that fun? Ok, so I should have stopped there, but I was having a particularly sweet sweet tooth that night...things went downhill after that one...

"Listen these next few days to your friends to get answers you seek."

Now my friends are pretty wise, so that wasn't so bad...but then there was a fortune cookie still sitting on the table the next morning and I decided it would be breakfast along with my glass of milk.

"You should enhance your feminine side at this time."

Hahahaha...so we all know that I'm not your typical "girly girl" but even this "somewhat of a tomboy" knows when to call enough enough. So though there were more fortune cookies on the table when I left work today, I decided that we were just in a downward spiral and that I had better stop while I was ahead.

Side note: a buddy of mine stopped over today and I showed him my new purse that I bought in Charleston...he laughed at me and said, "Yeah, its much better than your other one...but I think I need to go shopping for one for you still!" Hey, I tried, but I guess I have a ways to go in this "enhancing my feminine side" thing. :) Hehe.

So Bekah laughs at me when I say this one day was "Spring Break", but really, it was! We FINALLY got out of Cola and headed toward Charleston, SC...our day started rather early as you can see...but it was wonderful and a perfect last "Spring Break" as it was spent with 3 of my favorite people here in SC. Fun times and funny memories...does it get much sweeter this side of heaven?! Now that we know the beach is only a short two hour drive, Bekah and I have decided we simply MUST take more advantage of this. Here is our day...

Waiting for lunch!!

Mon Amie, Bekah, and Karin at the pit stop, Chic-fil-a, where we filled up on some caffeine and a few chicken mini's before going to try on MANY wedding dresses (ok, so mostly Bekah tried on the dresses!)...we ended up stopping at this Chic-fil-a three times yesterday...haha. :)

Roomies! We decided to have lunch at a place overlooking the beach...so we sat inside a screened in, heated porch and ate our lunch while enjoying the scenery and the company!

After eating, we decided to go for a walk on the beach...it was a pretty chilly day...as you will see. :)

Mon Amie and me...as I said, it was a chilly day...and needless to say, the water was cold...but we were determined to at least get our toes in...its been awhile since we've seen the Big Lake (Atlantic)! :)

Mon Amie and me getting more used to the water. :)

Bekah and Karin as we walked along with all their many layers of clothes! :)

It was a seriously chilly day on the beach...as Mon Amie shows with her fleece, jeans, and Massai blanket...boy, I was thankful for that blanket later on. ;)

Bekah frolicking on the beach and scaring the birds...I have to confess that I did join her and there was some tossing of the B on the beach. :)

"Counseling session" on the beach with the "married friend" and the "engaged friend". :)

The four of us at the beach. :)

Rainbow Road (or Row) in Charleston.

On the way home...a sweet way to end a great day...and to bring to a close my last Spring Break!

Today, I had visitors! My Uncle Terry and Aunt Carole came down to visit their daughter...my cousin Alisa and her husband, Scott...and their adorable boys, Bradford and
McCance. :) So they all decided to come see me and the town of Cola this afternoon. We went to the children's museum for a fun-filled time. :) Here are some pics from the day...
Ok, because I can't get the spacing figured out...here are the pics:

**Scott and Bradford climbed clear up the spider in his web!

**We were all very proud of Scott and his bridge that he built across the widest part of the river. :)

**The disappointingly small "Largest Rubberband Ball" in the world!

**Alisa and McCance playing the life-size version of Operation.

**You have no idea how hard it is to get a 3-year old to sit still...we went to "West Africa" and Bradford pretended to be a Tuareg. :)

**Papa Terry, Mommy Alisa, and McCance :)

**Alisa, Uncle Terry, and Aunt Carole resting in the forest...Happy Birthday Aunt Carole!

**I think Bradford would make a good dentist. :)

Nothing new going on here.
Just got off work for the week today.
Spent the day with Mon Amie.

No new discoveries.
No new revelations.
Just life.

Sweet and simple. :)

By the way, thanks to whoever sent me the link on "Onion Grass"...I had no idea! And hiking may happen on this Friday...and Charleston on Saturday with friends! Giddy up...its about time to take advantage of living here!

A couple weeks back, on a beautiful spring day, the nice man who mows our lawn had just finished and I got out of my car and breathed in deeply...and immediately I was transported into the book/movie "Holes". Onions. That's what I smelled. It was very distinct. But I was confused because I knew I had not planted any onions and didn't see any. So I chalked it up to yet another strange South Carolina thing...cut the grass = smell like onions.

Well, today, a 70 degree sunshine day, I decided to go sit outside and study in our backyard. As I was laying there allowing myself to be distracted by the beauty of the day, I noticed that the various "patches" of grass in our yard that were growing looked...well, not like grass. So I got closer and realized that in fact, I had seen this plant before...it made no sense that this would be an onion plant in the middle of our backyard, so I went ahead and pulled it up to confirm it was just some strange form of South Carolina grass. And in fact what I saw was a baby onion!!!

Then I began to look around our yard...they are ALL OVER!!! So, the next time that nice man comes to mow our lawn...I will know better than to breath deeply. Onions. Of all things. :)

Today officially marks the start of what could possibly be my last "Spring Break" ever. But I must confess, I feel like a bit of a loser. My Spring Break will consist of 48 hours of working on Monday-Wednesday morning, getting my haircut on Wednesday afternoon and having lunch with Mon Amie, some family coming to visit me on Thursday (the highlight of my week!), and then learning how to change my spark plugs on Friday with my "Senegal family" here in SC. And in between all of those things, I will have to catch up on some reading that I have been slacking off in doing.

So tonight my roomie and I were talking and she said, "You have to get out of Cola this week." I agree...but I lack motivation to do much of anything right now. There was a trail I wanted to go hike last year that led to a pretty waterfall...somewhere up near the NC/SC border. Maybe this is the time. I'll only be here another few months...I feel sad when I consider how much I have not taken advantage of being so close to the ocean and mountains...life is too short to live with so many regrets...particularly ones I can do something about. Right?

So maybe I'll dig up those directions and attempt to talk someone in to going with me on Saturday for a hike. And if no one agrees...is it bad to go it alone? I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Did you ever wonder what the difference is between "naked" and "nekked"? Well, I can now tell you that in fact there IS a difference and I can even explain it thanks to my prof from this morning's class. :)

Naked = what one is when one steps out of the shower

Nekked = being naked in "peculiar" circumstances or out of the ordinary. (I.e., The boy was running nekked around the yard for all to see.)

Thought you would enjoy that as much as I did. :) It's fun having profs from the North who have lived in the South long enough to be able to explain these types of insights to us. :)

I had a weekend class this week. In other words, I sat in a terribly uncomfortable chair for 3 hours Friday night and then for about 7 hours on Saturday. I even got called out by the prof thinking I wasn't paying attention because I was slouched down in my seat...attentively writing every word nonetheless...but I guess he thought I was bored, when really, I was just uncomfortable. At lunch he apologized for embarrassing me and told me I was free to get up and move around the room as I wanted. I like the profs here. Not only do they know your name, but they really care. Anyhow, later, in Saturday's class, I got to a point where I could not focus anymore and started looking through the pics on my computer when I ran across this one. I've really been trying to focus on the positives in my life and looking for little reasons to smile. This pic is one of those that makes me smile. I can't take the credit for it, I didn't take this one...but it is from a place in Iowa that is old and quiet and peaceful...and I love that it is an orange sunflower. Different from the rest of them. This pic was taken on a good day long ago, but I mostly just remember that it is from a place that I know and that is familiar. Something I am longing for right now. Sometimes I wonder where I am going to end up. Iowa? West Africa? North Africa? Or the East Africa that stole my heart long ago? Some days I wonder if I will ever feel "at home" anywhere again. Or will I ever be a ceaseless wanderer on this earth? Heaven is going to be great.

I guess I can sit and ask myself these questions over and over...or I can just enjoy where I am now. Why is that so hard to do sometimes?

"God gives all men all earth to love,
but since man's heart is so small,
ordains for each one spot shall prove beloved over all."
-Rudyard Kipling