Labor of Love

 I knew I wanted to purchase a longboard for Jake's Christmas present, ever since he mentioned that it'd be nice to have one to get around campus. But I knew absolutely nothing about longboards and an Amazon search yielded so many options! All different woods, shapes, lengths... and then there was a whole new lingo to learn: the tail, wheels, trucks... It was overwhelming, but my only other option was too lame to pursue (Target giftcard, anyone?).

I was willing to invest in it, since I'd set a solid Christmas budget this year. So I called Jake's best friend Alex for some help and he sent me a ton of links and recommendations. At the top of his list was a blank board, "You could totally personalize it with wood-burning or paint if you wanted, which would be sick!" Sold!

The next hurdle though was what to paint? I had to think in terms of the right picture as well as feasibility. (Fun fact: I considered a similar endeavor for Mr. Jake back in 2008 or 2009 involving a dragon painting on the underside of a skateboard. But my ideas back then weren't fully developed and I wouldn't even know how to paint a legitimate dragon.) I thought and thought, what image sums up Jake's personality? Calvin and Hobbes!

Finding this picture on the internet solidified my decision:

It was so perfect! So I bought some brushes and acrylic paint at Michaels (my first time using this medium) and set to work. First I sketched out the drawing on newsprint in pencil and then sharpie.

Then I traced the back of the sharpie in pencil and transferred it to the board.

Then it was painting time! The sketching and transferring took me about an hour and a half and then I painted the board in three sessions, each an episode of Sherlock (mostly reruns). I wasn't really happy with the first layers of green because the medium was quite foreign to me and it wasn't turning out like my picture. So I didn't take a picture of it. But as I got into the second layer, it really started to take shape.

Once I added in a few more layers of color, it really started to shine! The black was truly the finishing touch on the piece and it made a HUGE difference!

I had my doubts in the beginning, but at the end of the day, I really couldn't have been happier with the outcome!

Merry Christmas Jake!

Good Chocolate (Christmas 2014)

Christmas should be like eating good chocolate. You savor it, letting it roll around in your mouth a little so you can taste each layer of flavor. You don't gobble it all in one bite! -Misha 

A little humorous, but so true, isn't it? Even with sleeping in as late as possible (9 a.m.), I still felt like the morning passed too quickly. "Can't we linger over breakfast a little and open stockings?" I asked, recalling fond memories of the four of us sitting around the table with the mandatory Christmas breakfast casserole (quiche maybe?) taking painfully long to get through the stockings and on to the true Christmas finale: the presents. This year, the tables were turned as I was the one my parents were waiting on, not the other way around.

Tea at hand and a half-eaten bagel, we began the unceremonious unwrapping of gifts. Cameron got some really exciting ones this year--including a fancy acoustic-electric ukulele (and many accessories), a Ghostbusters lego set, and a number of other interesting and eclectic gifts. I, for one, gave him a hand-made squid hat (post pending) which he was very impressed with. :D Over the years, I've noticed that the gifts tend to come in themes--one year might be clothing, or journals (several years of journals!), another year books. Cam's theme was definitely all about the ukulele. For me, I'm pleased to report that it was a year of French everything. Mom gave me my own copy of Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking and a macaroon baking set, while Bruce and Stacey gave me a beautiful Parisian journal with water color pictures scattered throughout. I also got several books which I am excited to read! Jake gave me my very own pair of Toms (which I would never buy for myself!) and an amazing atlas-printed cork board for my wall. I'll be hanging it up above my desk as soon as I can find an appropriate frame for it. And he was very surprised by the skateboard I got him. (Post pending on that as well.).

We passed the day relatively quietly as a small family plus 3 (Bruce, Stacey, and Jake), playing Mexican Train (and shouting "Doubles!") and eating excellent food. Before we knew it, it was already 10:30 p.m.! It was a good day, but I wish it had lingered with us a little while longer, like the taste of good chocolate.

 

The Stats on Misha's New TV Habits

Friday Stats:

episodes of Sherlock watched: 3 (season 1)
episodes of Lost watched: 5
episodes of Scorpion watched: 1
movies watched: 0
weeks of Christmas vacation: 3!
days until Christmas: 6
presents to buy: 0
presents to wrap: 4
learning: students love having a finished product to look at
highlights: 55ers/improv with the kids, last day of school, mentoring session, school Christmas pageant.
looking forward to: Caroling! Christmas!


Update:

Lately, I've been watching a lot of tv shows. I used to be such a snob about tv shows, thinking I was above them. But I've learned that one cool thing about tv shows--they can develop characters and storyline so much more deeply than say a movie, for instance, because tv shows are not confined to two hours to tell everything. This has its pros and cons, of course, but perhaps that's a blog post for another day. (Stay tuned for "Literary Lost: Misha's Analysis"!)

I'll confess that's all I had motivation to do in my free time the last few weeks with the school semester wrapping up (no pun intended) and making Christmas arrangements. Up until this point, I'd been looking forward to the end of the year in earnest. Yesterday the end seemed bittersweet, as I had no idea how much I loved my students in my heart. But today, I can breathe a sigh of relief--last day of work before vacation officially begins! Hoorah! The pieces are finally starting to fit into place and I feel like I am ready for Christmas, or at least mostly ready. From this point, I think I'll be watching a little less tv since I'll have more energy for baking cookies, singing carols, and all-around spreading the holiday cheer over the next six days.

Days Like These: Flash Fiction and Improv

It was one of those rare "good days" at school today. Don't get me wrong, I love my students, but some days are definitely harder than others. Thankfully, today was not one of them!! It's the last week of school before Christmas break which means two things for me as a teacher:

1) Lots of big assignments due (meaning I can't assign homework)
2) Distracted kids thinking about Christmas

The temptation is to relax, have a party, and put on a movie for the kids. At least they'll sit quietly through 50 minutes of Elf, right? Wrong!! As anxious as I was for the semester to finally be over, I've been very reluctant to do a free-for-all just because it's the last week of school. I wanted to make the most of our short time together and do something fun and slightly educational (but mostly fun). Thus: 55ers and Improv Games.

In 8th grade writing, I showed the students how to write very brief pieces of fiction called 55ers in which a story is communicated in exactly 55 words (excluding the title). It is truly an art form and much more difficult than it sounds! But the students were up to the challenge. I plan to take the students' pieces and compile them into a booklet to give them on Thursday. Here's the one I wrote, inspired by this goofy picture:

A Tribute to ChildhoodRunning barefoot through the woods withBlackberry scratches and violet-dyed mouths.Buckets brimming with plump purple berries they are too delicious to resist.“Stop eating them all, or we won’t have enough for cobbler!” Mother warns. Those were the best days. Little did we know how quickly they were slipping through our tight-fisted, purple-stained fingers.

Even just rereading it makes me feel a little nostalgic! I was so proud of the 8th graders for jumping right in to the task! From what I've read so far, their stories are excellent!

In seventh grade, I taught the students the art of asking good open-ended questions using the 5Ws+H (who, what, when, where, why, and how). "These will be crucial to the game we're playing today." The game in question is an improv game called "Expert Interview" in which the audience is allowed to ask questions of the "expert." Meanwhile, I MC-ed the session to keep things from getting out of hand. Visiting our classroom today, we had a carniverous plant expert, a pirate linguist, a professional cat bather, an excuse maker, a dumpster diver, and two other experts one on interpreting apocalyptic weather patterns, the other on traditional Czechoslovakian Polka dance. As you can imagine, much hilarity and laughter ensued and all left the classroom with a smile on their face, including myself. 

Truly, it's days like these that make teaching one of the most creative, inventive and rewarding things I've ever done.

Published Article!

Check it out! Yours truly wrote an article for the CollegePlus blog!! ^-^ CP has been gracious enough to me to send a few writing projects my way over the course of my time with them and this is one of them! I am so grateful for all the writing practice! This one features 9 "bad" reasons for going to college and it was a fun one to write! I think the most challenging part though was balancing the cheerfulness of the CP brand with the sarcasm of the article's content. It went through several major revisions and finally, we are pleased with the balance.

Let it Snow!

This weekend, instead of planning my lessons like I should have been doing, I helped Mom make decorations for our caroling party on the 20th. We threaded cotton balls and pompoms on white thread and fishing line and hung from the ceiling to make "snow" in our living room! Eventually, we will hang up the strands in our church foyer, but in the meantime, this was our test run. It looks so magical!! I'm really starting to feel the Christmas spirit!!

Interacting with Iraqis

LtoR: Me, D, and L.

Strange smells wafted from the pot-luck buffet of hot plates arranged across the counter. Peppers and tomato sauce and sweet fruits and foreign combinations of seasonings. At the end of the line are the sweets. Some kind of nut--like a large almond coated in a sweet outer layer with little... bumps? horns? Beside the almonds is a bowl of small round balls. They crunch into a fine powder between my teeth like cocoa pebbles, but not as sweet and only the barest hint of chocolate. I load a few more dolmas on my plate and head for the living room.

Their language is melodic and beautiful and unlike anything I've ever heard. They correct me when I try to pronounce their names the right way. After four times or so, they say, "You can just call me Rana. It's easier that way." I feel bad that I cannot pronounce the hidden syllables or even remember the easier English-ified versions of their names by the end of the night. But there is only one of me, and so many more of them. "You'll get it with time." my mentor Sandi reassured me. Most of them have lived in America that they speak English well enough--especially the children in school--but they still turn to one another from time to time and speak in their own private tongue.

This semester, I've been branching way far out of my comfort zone in more ways than one! Sandi and her husband Tom invited me over to their house to meet their Muslim friends from Iraq. Not knowing what to expect, I went. And I went a second time, and a third time. Their group is called "People of Peace" (or POP) and they try to meet a couple times a month. They've been building bridges with these Iraqi refugees for over five years and the families are all very close.

Every time I hang out with them, it's different. At my first meeting, everyone recited poetry (some original some not) and even the children participated. The next meeting was held at a different location and a few others I hadn't met showed up. A girl named Nora (??) told me about a Chinese folk tale she was reading at school and we talked about peacemakers in the past. On the day after Thanksgiving, we held our own Thanksgiving to welcome a new Iraqi family to America. I tried my hardest to learn all seven of the children's names, but now I can only remember three! Maybe it'll stick the next time I see them. They don't speak as much English so one of our friends translated. We'll hear their story, bit by bit, just like the others before I came. But for now, I guess I'll have to learn some Arabic or just try to transcend the barrier with the language that everyone understands: a smile.

An Attitude of Grattitude

Things I am Thankful For:

• the week off from school
• Christmas carols
• cool weather and warm kitchens
• time to read books
• new and old friendships

A rare non-blurry picture of Cameron!

I'll confess that I was not very Thankful this thanksgiving. To be even more honest, I didn't even think about the things I was grateful for. I'm not sure why I was such a rain cloud on the most thankful day of the year so I won't even attempt to explain it. I was so ashamed of my bratty attitude that I don't even mention it when people ask me how my Thanksgiving was. "It was good!" I chirp instead.

And it was. I have no right to complain. I helped my parents around the kitchen and watched snippets of the Thanksgiving parade whenever Cameron called me into the other room. The weather was warm and I decorated the tables. As usual, we invited a bunch of friends over from church and pot-lucked the traditional evening meal. Apart from my gloomy, selfish disposition, it was a lovely day. I can only hope to redeem myself next year with a better attitude.

Art Class Photo-Progression

One of my early sketches

 When I walked into the first art class at Tucson Parks and Rec, I wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't expecting the teacher to tell me to "just draw" for three hours with the still-lifes she had set up. But that's what I did for the first two weeks. I think I expected her to give some sort of mini-lecture and then give us the opportunity to practice it. Instead, she wandered around the room, commenting on people's drawings or works in progress that they'd brought. When she got to my table, she said, "Oh you're a very good drawer..." and meandered away, leaving my alone for the rest of the class. 

Big Bites: A Reflection On Time

Sonya Langeford via Unsplash, used under CC0 license

When I graduated from college, I thought my free time would grow exponentially. After all, studying was what took up all of my time, but if you took that away, then it follows that I would naturally have more free time for whatever pursuits my heart desires, right? Wrong.

Even over that first summer, I noticed that I didn't feel much change in the amount of free time I had/wanted to do things like reading, painting, and dancing. It was filled up with other things--soccer (plus practices), meeting up with friends and mentors, and of course spending time with Jake. As fall approached and my career path gained more definition, my time was even more consumed by my work. Believe it or not, lesson planning can take a long time!

These days, my week looks like this
M: Work for CP, Teach for VA, chores, art class
T: Babysitting for women's Bible study (a commitment I will not be renewing next semester despite the "easy thirty bucks"), work for CP, prepare youth group lesson, grading etc. Running with Dad
W: Work for CP, lesson-plan, youth group
Th: Teach for VA, work for CP,
F: Lesson-plan, lesson-plan, lesson-plan. Running.

Obviously, there is not a lot of time for Jake in all this, especially when he works all the nights that I'm free. Because it's so frenzied during the week, I tend to place my weekends on a pedestal as my only days to hang out and have fun (with Jake and others). But this weekend, I overdid it.

On Friday, I facilitated the youth group girl's retreat up on Mt. Lemmon with a team of other leaders. We decorated the cabin, cooked up some lasagna, decorated journals, sang worship songs, learned about God.... etc. etc. It was all a really wonderful time and I got to know a girl from our small group a lot better. But I stayed up til 1 in the morning and was up again the next, ready to serve these girls. It was fun! But hardly relaxing. I got home in the late afternoon and spent the rest of the evening trying to solidify my lessons for this week, calling it quits when my eyes watered from staring at my computer screen too intensely.

Sunday morning I went to early service, worked in Sunday school, and jetted over to me and Jake's small group with two newly purchased loaves of epi bread from the local bakery. After small group, I left for another dinner engagement with some friends on the Northwest side of town--which required a frenzied drive on the freeway taking the I-10 east instead of west, turning around, finding the right neighborhood, but walking into the wrong house, before I finally made it to Farzana's house where we enjoyed good company and much laughter together. It was very pleasant time together and I don't regret it. I rushed home so I could  go running with Dad before Jake arrived for a late-night catch-up before the week started again.

So here we are at Monday morning, the day I'm writing this post, and I'd intended on going to a breakfast hosted by the Tucson Missions Network. Having been two times already, the people there capitalized on my youthful energy and asked me if I could come early to help set up and bring some fruit for the breakfast. Despite the early arrival time (6:30 am, which meant leaving my house at 6am, which meant waking up at 5:55), I agreed and had bought the fruit and everything... but 7:40am rolls around and I wake up to my dad in the doorway saying, "So much for getting up at 6." I jumped out of bed, "Holy crap what time is it?" and in my feverish half sleep tried to calculate the math of how long it would take to arrive if I left in 2 minutes exactly. It was not enough. I'd set an alarm, but it didn't go off and now I'd let my friends down.

Perhaps I needed the extra two hours of sleep, but I didn't want it at the expense of disappointing my friends. I wrote an apology note and will see them in person soon. But I think I bit off more than I can chew. Maybe next time, I'll take smaller bites.

Making the Call

Long ago, I remember watching a pack of kids congregated around the pay phone at the local park. They were whispering. “I double-dog dare you.” Some brave kid picked up the phone, punched the three numbers. When it started to ring, he slammed it back on the receiver and the pack scattered. Less than five minutes later, the small town’s police and fire departments showed up at the park and everyone present got a hefty lesson in the seriousness of calling 911.

This last weekend, I was house-sitting for my friend Nicole’s and I had quite a scare on Friday night! Around 8:30pm Jake texted me asking if I was up for a late-night venture on Mt. Lemmon with him and Dave. Exhausted though I was, I hadn’t anticipated spending any time with Jake so it was a pleasant surprise to receive his invitation. The three of us bought hot chocolate at a gas station illuminated by fluorescent light and drove up the mountain to gaze at the stars. As you climb higher and get above the lower atmosphere layers, more stars become visible. The sky was stunning! The boys dropped me off at Nicole’s house again around 11:15pm or so and after locking down the house, I wearily crawled into bed.

Bark! Bark! Bark!! “Hush….” I groaned, turning over in my sleep. The dogs’ barking grew louder and more intense and they would not stop. I checked the clock. It was 11:52pm. That’s when I heard the rattling on the garage door just below me. I froze and waited.  Maybe it was just imagined. The boys’ stories are just getting to my head. A pause in the barking. The door rattled again. At that point, I was out of bed, pacing the landing and thinking of what to do. After several moments of debating it, I decided it was better to be paranoid than dead; locked myself in the master bedroom; and trembling, called 911. A calm man’s voice answered the other line, “What’s your emergency.”

“I’m house-sitting and the dogs just started barking and then I heard banging on the garage door and I wasn’t sure what I should do.”  It all came out in a rush; I wasn’t sure which details were important and which weren’t.  He dispatched me to the police department where another man asked me more pointed questions.

“What’s your address?”

“Did you see anyone?”

“Are you alone in the house?”

“How big are the dogs?”

“Where is the bedroom situated?”

 “Are you armed with a knife or gun?”

Finally, he said he’d send an officer to patrol the area and asked if I wanted to talk to him. Thinking that I didn’t want to risk opening the door for anyone who was not a police officer, I said no. They dispatched their officer and I curled up and slept lightly the rest of the night.

When Nicole and her mom returned I explained the situation to them, hoping that maybe it was just an overreaction and the dogs occasionally barked at nothing in the night. Apparently, the only explanation for their incessant barking was that there actually was someone there. It came to light that they’ve had several garage robberies in the neighborhood recently as well, so I did the right thing in making the call. It was quite a frightening and sobering experience, but the good news is that nothing worse happened than a little scare. 

Blog Posts to Write....

Stats:

dialogues worked this week: 11
blog posts to write: 10+
avg hours sleep: 8
adventures had recently: 3
stress level: <20 font="">
feeling: content but overworked
currently reading: Paris in the 20th Century by Jules Verne
highlights: winning first playoff game, inadvertently matching shirts with Jake (Wed.), and numerous adventures this week!


(Not so) Weekly Update 

I'll confess that upon returning from our trip to the East Coast, I've been quite overwhelmed with the several hundred photos I took with my iPhone, which has delayed me in posting here. In addition to that, I transitioned back into work-life at breakneck speed and between all the time I have to put into my lesson plans for school and the busy season at CP, my schedule became hectic and unruly.

Still I've been squeezing in time for reading, personal reflection, and having occasional adventures (sometimes with Jake, sometimes without. Stay tuned for more details). I finished reading Dickens'Tale of Two Cities this week! And I am quite proud of myself, if I may say so. I tried reading it back in 2011 and got a solid fifteen chapters in (which I thought rather impressive for a sophomore in highschool) but this time I finished it all the way to it's wonderfully dramatic ending! *Swoons* It saddens me that I put this one down for so long before picking it up again! Ah well. 

Everywhere to Call Home

If time or money were no object, what would you rather be doing?

Occasionally, I like to ask this question because I find that it reveals a person's deeper desires, hopes, and dreams. I like to see the light switch flick on and their smiles broaden as, for a glimmer of a moment, they give voice to those hidden dreams. When I've asked, I've always enjoyed the answer.

To answer this question myself, I always thought in such simplistic terms: "travel" or "art studio." I thought, if time or money were no object, I would travel the world and paint and write and live happily for the rest of my life. But not too long ago, I realized that I've never answered this question in its fullness. For I had only considered the money part of it. What is the most expensive (and somewhat frivolous) thing I desire to do? Travel of course (bien sûr!). Next most expensive thing: a personal art studio.

But the more I think on it, the more I realize that this is not exactly it. I do not want to travel the world merely as a tourist. As Maike expressed it so profoundly this summer, 

"I just feel like I'm intruding on other people's memories, if that makes sense. I've heard so much about Mexico, and had so many friends from here, that I feel like I'm surrounded by their past, and everytime I see people lounging around on street corners I think of my friends and their families and like I am intruding on some private thing... It's been great, and I'm so glad to be here, but I've also recognized this isn't the kind of trip I want to save my money for when I'm older," 

Tourism is not what I want. No, I want to know peoples and cultures intimately. And what does this require? Time. And enormous amounts of it. Money too, yes. But more than that it requires an infinite amount of time to become so acquainted with not just one people, but many. Therefore, I revise my earlier wish--if time or money were no object, I would travel, yes, but more importantly, I would stay. I would stay with one people for hours, days, months, years--as long as it took to know and understand and love them, and then I would move on to the next place--a nomad with no permanent resting place, but everywhere to call home. 

Being a Backsliding Daughter with a Renegade Boyfriend

My parents gave completely different reactions to my announcement that I would be skipping church to go hiking with Jake on Mt. Lemmon this last Sunday. My mom laughed and said, "I would skip church too if I could!" My dad also laughed, but he said, "When I'm giving announcements, I'll make sure to ask for prayer for my backsliding daughter and her renegade boyfriend!" Funny, Dad.

After rescheduling this adventure twice already, we decided that Sunday morning was the best time for it and although sacrilegious, we ditched church to enjoy warm drinks and breakfast at LeBuzz (my favorite French-style café!!) and drive up the the hill for some mountain fresh air!

The morning was filled with marveling at the Lord's creation (especially the turning leaves!), huffing and puffing uphill, and pleasant conversation mingled with the songs of the birds, the chatter of the creek, and the whisper and rustle of wind among the leaves--the epitome of contentment.

Reflection

Upon returning from our Durango road trip adventure, I expected to have time to post a few more things on this blog before heading out to our next grand adventure: Graduation/East Coast! Alas, I was so swamped with catching up with my work and social life that this was not the case! In fact, my schedule filled up so much that on Saturday, I was a melancholy soul all day and I couldn't determine why. Indeed several disheartening events had taken place throughout the week and it was on these I hinged my listlessness.

However, after a lazy Sunday which involved much laying around on my bed and reading, it occurred to me that I'd had no time for reflection. Saturday was busy busy: going out for coffee in the morning, soccer at noon, hanging out with Jake after that...and I didn't realize how little time I'd had to just think. "You haven't had much personal time all week!" Jake pointed out when I mentioned it to him. "Really?" I asked, surprised. I could hardly remember how I'd spent my time... It was true though; the week had filled up with socializing appointment after appointment and I hadn't made any time for myself (which turned me into a very disagreeable person, I am unhappy to say).

Realizing that, I've been much happier and I can finally get excited about this trip! (Except my deplorable fashion dilemma! Nothing in my closet seems suitable for the fashion capital which is New York!) Fashion quandary aside, I am very much looking forward to it! As I've said on several occasions, I'm hoping the ceremony will bring the closure I need to my academic journey and add some legitimacy to my accomplishments. We'll be staying in Philadelphia but we also plan to spend time in Trenton, NJ (for the ceremony on Saturday), New York City, and Washington D.C. Not sure yet if we'll take "the fancy camera" because it's a pain to carry around, but I'd love to practice my photography! If nothing else, I'll definitely post a few iPhone photos!

More Flooding

Like I wrote about a few weeks ago, we had some more serious flooding this week and I got caught in it! This picture shows the street just before the intersection that turns into my neighborhood. If you look closely and squint a little, you can see two cars stranded on the right side of the road up ahead. The water covers the sidewalk.

When I'd set out at 6:30 that morning to attend a breakfast hosted by TMN (Tucson Misions Network), I didn't think much of the nearly grey sky that had been just harmless puffy white clouds the evening before. Having checked the weather, I felt confident that I wouldn't need my sweater today, since the weather app forecasted 73 degrees. To say, I needed my sweater, would be an understatement.

It began lightly--at first. I shot a worried glance toward the grey as the missions meeting let out. It was already beginning to drizzle. I was not well-dressed for the rain and I had another stop to make. As I drove down Swan, the heavens opened up and poured out their anguish on the earth. I could not see out my windshield. Within minutes, signs of flooding emerged at the sides of the road. I gritted my teeth and gripped the steering wheel harder, "Just two more blocks and I'll be there." More water pooled on the side of the road and where it dipped, cars in front of me created 4-foot "rooster tails." The longer I stayed on the road, the more nervous I became. I slowed down. After what seemed like 30 minutes, I arrived at my destination: my ex-boyfriend's house.

I dashed for the doorstep, rapped on the frame, and before waiting for an answer, let myself in. I was there to collect a water bottle I'd left at the park over the weekend near where everyone plays frisbee. Usually when people leave things behind, someone from the group grabs the item for them and gets it back to the original owner. It just so happened that my ex grabbed my water bottle for me. He offered to bring it back next Friday, but I needed it before then and arranged to pick it up, since I would be in his area of town for the TMN meeting.

"Hello?" I called into the empty house. My voice sounded small and shaky. "Is anyone here?" His mom came down the hallway, "Oh! I didn't hear you!" I would've grabbed my water bottle and left, but the conditions were not fit for driving. My phone blared its Flood warning signal at me. Good until 11am. Great. Moments later, Christian and Logan sprung through the door, both soaked. On their way to class, the rain forced them to turn around and head back due to flooding. "We saw trashcans in the street because the water is above the sidewalk." So, despite the mild awkwardness of the situation, I stayed to wait the rain out. When we broke the silence, it was only to talk about the weather or school. Checking the clock often, I worried about making it to my class on time. (Unfortunately for me, I could not simply skip class, since I was the teacher.) They left again as soon as it showed sign of letting up, and I shortly after them.

But my adventure was far from over as I picked my way back the four city blocks to my house. The whole right lane was flooded most of the way and the traffic crawled, making the journey last twice as long. At one point, a firetruck blew past in my direction, driving on the wrong side of the road. Cars dive-bombed out of its way. Police officers stood at key intersections, cordoning off flooded lanes and directing traffic. This is a nightmare. I thought. The good news is I made it home safely and to my class on time, and now I have my water bottle back. All in a morning's work, I guess.

Heading Home

On the way home, we drove through Cortez, CO and Four Corners (paid the five bucks to go stand on that little circle) to Flagstaff where we stayed with some good friends of ours from church. They had an ADORABLE little house just outside of Flag with a massive garden and chickens and turkeys (who are soon to be butchered!) and lots of fuzzy little caterpillars! Although we hadn't seen this particular couple in a few years, they were wonderfully hospitable and welcoming. We enjoyed a regular feast together with garden-fresh salsa and pickled green beans, ears of corn and bratwurst! After dinner, we played a couple rounds of Apples to Apples over (homemade) peach cobbler and icecream and caught up on the last few years of life. Plus, they do a lot of missions work among the Native Americans around Flagstaff, so they had a bunch of missions-related resources for me to check out here in Tucson. The next day, they sent us home with food for the road, reading materials, and refreshed souls.

The final leg of our journey took us through beautiful Sedona, AZ and (the less beautiful) industrial Phoenix. Relatively uneventful, (except for some hairy lane merging through Phoenix) but in the best way possible. For now, we're home safe and my thirst for adventure is temporarily quenched. What do adventurers say at the end of a journey? Honestly I do not know. Maybe I need to take another one to find out! ;)

Bisti Badlands

Believe it or not, we almost didn't go down to the Bisti Badlands. It seemed like there were so many interesting things to do on the property (like horse-back riding and goat-milking!) that we didn't need to go! But we took our opportunity to get away from some of the younger members of Grandma's homesteading partners after a train-wreck of a game--Mexican train. (When it comes to games, I can tolerate people who take extra time on their turn in order to strategize, but I absolutely cannot stand it when people waste my time because they are not paying attention to when it is their turn!! /end rant) In any case, I'm glad we went, although if we'd gone a day or two earlier, we might've gotten some cloud cover, making for better photos.

Then, after we decided to go after all, we almost didn't make it!

La Plata Canyon

Sprawled across the bench of the kitchen nook and bathed in the warm afternoon sun, I was perfectly content to cradle my book until I'd read the very last page. "You guys look bored!" my grandma (incorrectly) observed, "let's do something! Do you wanna go for a hike?" Reluctantly, I placed the book in my lap, "Sure, Grandma. That would be fun." Off we went on our adventure, hiking through La Plata Canyon!

Cameron seemed less content than I was to hang around the property that afternoon, but nonetheless he was the least enthused for our new venture. Later he recounted, "Misha, hiking involves trails. You know, like a path." Okay, so maybe it wasn't a hike--more like rock-hopping and bush-whacking with Grandma leading the way. I couldn't help chuckling a little thinking of what a strange group we must've looked with Grandma picking her way among the rocks and yelling, "It's okay if you get your feet wet! It's not as cold as snowmelt!" and her two grandchildren following unsteadily behind.

Although, in the pictures I got, Cameron doesn't look too unhappy, by the end of the short "hike" he'd grown sulky and quiet. Don't ask me why; the answer remains a mystery. Boys, I will never understand them. Despite my brother's attitude, I enjoyed the Colorado scenery and tried to engage my Grandma in conversation. We stopped a few moments at a quiet part of the river, each absorbed in their own thoughts. Eventually, we found a path leading back to the dirt road and walked back to the car on...smoother terrain. The wind ruffled the treetops, filling the air with the shhhh shhhhh-ing of leaves against leaves. It was all so beautiful, so enchanting, I decided not to click my camera and simply enjoy this moment, perfectly content.

Through Cameron's Eyes: Grandma's Garden

 Grandma keeps a 1-acre plot of land for her gorgeous flower garden! Though wildflower season in Colorado is wrapping up, there were still a few purple ones remaining. Cameron took most of these photos (all except the white one above)

For a while, I entertained a little daydream about someday getting married in Grandma's garden. It is so beautiful and the flowers are already there! (Not to mention Colorado's gorgeous, albeit sometimes sporadic, weather!) Looking around with fresh eyes, it was clearly not designed for a wedding, but I think it is still a promising venue! I'll hold on to my hopes a little longer! In any case, it is still early to be thinking about that, but I'll admit, that Grandma's garden has definitely been on my mind!

Horseback Riding and Tractor Driving

 As I mentioned in my first post, there are several horses on Grandma's farm (and one donkey):

Haha! That picture ^ makes me laugh! ...and we got to ride some of them! I'd ridden a pony before when I was nine years old, but that was also ten years ago. (Amazing how time flies, huh? I feel so old!)

 I remembered quite a bit from my first experience, mostly the brushing part before you buckle up the saddle, but the first time, Lisa used a lead rope for me. Unlike last time, this time I was maneuvering the horse myself!

Downtown Durango

Isn't it beautiful?? *swoon*

At the moment, this is the view as I sit in a quaint little coffee shop in downtown Durango to write this post. (Quite an agreeable wifi situation for the time being.) We decided to come into town today instead of Monday so I could post pictures and check emails for work. I took Cameron to Fuzziwig’s candy shop just down the street where he learned that the pounds add up when you’re buying candy! “Fastest twenty bucks I’ve ever spent!” he said. Haha! I'm sure he learned his lesson!

I was a bit less heavy-handed with the levers, because I knew I wanted to purchase an iced coffee. I settled for a little less than half a pound of sour candy and this gigantic peanut butter cup:

That's about all I have in terms of an update. The peacocks crowing woke me up pretty early, but it afforded me some time to keep chipping away at The Hobbit (still a few chapters left to go) and chat with Grandma over some tea (Green tea for her, English Breakfast for me). After helping Edit keep the sheep from escaping again, we enjoyed a leisurely morning together at the breakfast nook where Grandma showed me old photographs of (young) Grandpa and the houses they built together back in the day. I'd never heard much of their history together, so it was wonderful to hear all her stories for the first time. Tomorrow, we are planning to visit the Badlands south of Farmington. We thought about going today, since it would be slightly cooler with cloud cover (which makes for better photography, most days), but I think my body is glad we didn't because I am still quite tired from yesterday's journey!

Welcome to the Farm

Shortly after we arrived, Grandma gave us the grand tour of all the animals! Goats and horses and piggies, oh my! These are the cream of the crop; I could definitely use a lot more practice! But not a bad start, if I may say so. 

I've gotten quite an education in farming and agriculture in the short time since we've been here. Since I haven't been exposed to much "farm culture" up close and personal, I'm finding it very interesting! We've even seen a few escaped sheep!

The other family on the property introduced themselves to us--Edit, and Greg, and Finn and Atalantia. There are a few more children who are off visiting friends, but we'll be able to meet them in a couple days. At dinner, we had a very enlightening conversation about the world and different cultures and countries. I loved every minute of it!

Hopefully more pictures to come; we'll see how the wifi situation goes.