hello everyone! I know I am probably the biggest slacker in the blog world and I'm terribly sorry...I'm trying to get better, but its going to take some time. so cut me a little slack, please and thank you! as many of you know, autumn is my favorite season. the leaves changing color, the crisp air, and last but most definitely not least, thanksgiving! thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. wanna know why? okay..I guess I'll tell you.
thanksgiving is filled with family, fellowship, and (most importantly) food! if you are lucky like I am and we were blessed with a family who knows how to cook, you totally understand where I'm coming from with this! we always have thanksgiving lunch/early dinner at my grandparents house (my dad's parents). grandma stilwell is the BOMB when it comes to cooking. oh my goodness. I could probably go on for days about her sweet potato casserole but I'll spare you...just thinking about it makes me hungry! she is one of the only people to get my to actually enjoy eating green beans too! and let me tell you, that is near impossible. ask my mom, I absolutely despise green beans but somehow I eat grandma stilwell's green bean casserole like nobody's business! one thing we always laugh about is how much food she cooks! you would think she is cooking for 20 people when in reality, there are 6 of us. we will be in the middle of eating and about 3 different buzzers will go off because more food is ready in the oven! anyway, this is just a little preview of why I love thanksgiving so much.
after we have eaten ourselves silly at grandma and papaw's house on thursday, we pack our bags and head to good ole west virginia for the weekend! west virginia in itself is one of my favorite places but mix the mountains of wild, wonderful west virginia with thanksgiving...JACKPOT! my entire family on my mom's side get together and stay at a lodge for the weekend. there are about 100+ on an 'on' year. 'on' years are when everyone comes (and I mean everyone) and 'off' years are when some of the family is spending the holiday with the in-laws. this year is an on year and I couldn't be more excited! you are probably thinking, lots of little kids running around with chocolate drooling our of their mouths, how is that fun? ohh trust me, its hilarious! side story: I remember one specific time when my cousin adam was probably 5 or 6 (he is 14 now) and he came in the room with a plate full of MnM's. little man has chocolate allllll over his mouth and his entire face. let me remind you, it was probably around midnight at this point. you couldnt get mad at the poor kid because it was so stinkin funny!
this year at the lodge will be a little different because I'm bringing someone special. I know it doesnt sound like that big of a deal but it totally is. my entire family will be there and last time I checked, meeting distant family is kind of a big deal. anyway, I'm bring my boyfriend Barrett! I have met the majority of his family and I'm excited for him to meet mine! I'm sure it will be a little overwhelming for him, but he is a pretty tough cookie. I think he can handle it ;)
another thing I love about autumn is the weather! can you say jeans and a sweatshirt!? that honestly is the perfect weather. not too cold and not too hot. and you know what that means? football season! I grew up going to virginia tech football games and I love me some football! I have the best memories of watching football on sundays after church with my family. who is my favorite nfl team? well, I'm torn between the packers (daddys favorite) and the panthers (scotts favorite). but I think I'm gonna have to go with the packers because I have always been a daddy's girl :)
leaves. that one word sums up my obsession with autumn. all the leaves on the trees are changing colors and everything is just so beautiful. I have a love for photography and I recently went down to the arboretum right off campus and took over 150 pictures...I posted just a handful of them on a page at the top of my blog! check them out if you love fall as much as I do and let me know what you think!
love yall :)
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
happy
lots of exciting things have been going on in my life recently and I am just now finding time to blog about them! I know I'm a giant slacker..but I have just been so busy lately! School is definitely in full swing and I am swamped with work alllll the time.
school. lets rewind to this past sunday. I had probably 3 mental breakdowns/mid-college crises. I have literally been studying for one class for almost an entire week. what class it is? death. okay I'm kidding...its anatomy. but it may as well be called death by stress. we have covered all the muscles, nerves, veins, arteries, organs, and anything else you could possibly think of in your trunk up to this point. and they couldnt make it easy on us and split up each unit and have a test every couple weeks. no, of course not! they decided to make our lives miserable and do a month and a halfs work in one test! woohoo! i LOVE it when they do that! I had my lecture exam this morning. wanna know how it went? well, it was alright. some parts i knew right off the bat, i could logically work through the others, and then there were my favorite kind. the questions that i had no idea what the answers were. dont you just love those? yeah..i feel the same way. i have my lab practical exam tomorrow and i think it will be a little easier because i just have to identify the structures on cadavers, diagrams, models, and cross-sections. i will probably blog again on sunday or monday to let yall know how it went.
my major. well, as you all probably know, i am currently a kinesiology-exercise science major with a concentration in pre-physical therapy. why i decided this would be a good major for me? it sounded like a fun idea and physical therapists make bank. and you may be asking, what are you gonna do? change majors? funny you should ask! why, yes i am changing majors! and now you may be asking, what are you changing it to? thanks for asking! im changing my major to elementary education and i could not be more excited! everyone who knows me, know i absolutely ADORE children. and i have wanted to be a teacher since about the 5th grade. my heart is finally settled and i am so happy about this decision. its going to be a strange transition from all science classes to education classes...so be praying for me that it will be a smooth transition please :)
housing. so jmu is super weird about how they do housing. all my friends at other schools dont have to decide on their living plans for next year until this spring. but of course jmu likes to be different and make us decide in october. yepp thats right. i have to decide this month what i am doing about housing for next year. so weird but oh well. i have been really conflicted about housing until earlier this week. i was going to live in a two or three bedroom apartment with two friends and i was pretty settled on that. but something just didnt feel right about those plans. (*background info - people in Christian organizations at jmu like to rent big houses with 6-10 people in their small groups and name them cool things. some examples, the yellow submarine, the funk house, the full house, the salt shaker, etc*) so i knew some girls in my small group were thinking about getting a house but i hadnt put much thought into doing that because i already made plans with other girls. on saturday and sunday, i randomly got the thought of living with my small group girls. it was so out of the blue that it had to be a God thing. later on sunday evening my roommate from last year (megan) had called me and told me that a spot in the small group house had opened up and they all wanted me to live with them. oh heyyy Jesus! i instantly said yes and knew that this is what i needed to be doing. we have been talking about houses for next year alllll week and have actually seen one house that we all LOVED and are pretty sure we are going to get! there are going to be 10 of us in the house and we will each have our own bedroom! this house is so big and im obsessed. it has lots of potential to be cute. we just need to go in with an open mind and bring lots of Jesus in that house :)
needless to say, this week has been very super stressful. like i said earlier, i had a breakdown on sunday night. i was just so stressed and confused that i didnt know what else to do but cry. i opened up my devotion that i do every night before bed and the verse of the day was 2 Corinthians 5:7 Live by faith, not by sight. let me repeat myself, oh heyyy Jesus! i love love love when things like this happen. it gives me chills just thinking about it. all these stresses in my life were not random or accidental. the Lord knew what i was going to be going through and he gave me answers that couldnt be more direct. i can honestly say that i am genuinely happy for the first time in a while. i was walking to class the other day and i randomly got the song God is so good stuck in my head. and yes, that is the song that we all learned in like preschool. i have been walking around with a real smile on my face all week and it feels so wonderful and so real.
* here are some Bible verses i have read lately and they have really stuck with me.
Matthew 11:28
1 Cor 16:14
Romans 12:12
Romans 8:28
Psalm 63:3
love yall :)
school. lets rewind to this past sunday. I had probably 3 mental breakdowns/mid-college crises. I have literally been studying for one class for almost an entire week. what class it is? death. okay I'm kidding...its anatomy. but it may as well be called death by stress. we have covered all the muscles, nerves, veins, arteries, organs, and anything else you could possibly think of in your trunk up to this point. and they couldnt make it easy on us and split up each unit and have a test every couple weeks. no, of course not! they decided to make our lives miserable and do a month and a halfs work in one test! woohoo! i LOVE it when they do that! I had my lecture exam this morning. wanna know how it went? well, it was alright. some parts i knew right off the bat, i could logically work through the others, and then there were my favorite kind. the questions that i had no idea what the answers were. dont you just love those? yeah..i feel the same way. i have my lab practical exam tomorrow and i think it will be a little easier because i just have to identify the structures on cadavers, diagrams, models, and cross-sections. i will probably blog again on sunday or monday to let yall know how it went.
my major. well, as you all probably know, i am currently a kinesiology-exercise science major with a concentration in pre-physical therapy. why i decided this would be a good major for me? it sounded like a fun idea and physical therapists make bank. and you may be asking, what are you gonna do? change majors? funny you should ask! why, yes i am changing majors! and now you may be asking, what are you changing it to? thanks for asking! im changing my major to elementary education and i could not be more excited! everyone who knows me, know i absolutely ADORE children. and i have wanted to be a teacher since about the 5th grade. my heart is finally settled and i am so happy about this decision. its going to be a strange transition from all science classes to education classes...so be praying for me that it will be a smooth transition please :)
housing. so jmu is super weird about how they do housing. all my friends at other schools dont have to decide on their living plans for next year until this spring. but of course jmu likes to be different and make us decide in october. yepp thats right. i have to decide this month what i am doing about housing for next year. so weird but oh well. i have been really conflicted about housing until earlier this week. i was going to live in a two or three bedroom apartment with two friends and i was pretty settled on that. but something just didnt feel right about those plans. (*background info - people in Christian organizations at jmu like to rent big houses with 6-10 people in their small groups and name them cool things. some examples, the yellow submarine, the funk house, the full house, the salt shaker, etc*) so i knew some girls in my small group were thinking about getting a house but i hadnt put much thought into doing that because i already made plans with other girls. on saturday and sunday, i randomly got the thought of living with my small group girls. it was so out of the blue that it had to be a God thing. later on sunday evening my roommate from last year (megan) had called me and told me that a spot in the small group house had opened up and they all wanted me to live with them. oh heyyy Jesus! i instantly said yes and knew that this is what i needed to be doing. we have been talking about houses for next year alllll week and have actually seen one house that we all LOVED and are pretty sure we are going to get! there are going to be 10 of us in the house and we will each have our own bedroom! this house is so big and im obsessed. it has lots of potential to be cute. we just need to go in with an open mind and bring lots of Jesus in that house :)
needless to say, this week has been very super stressful. like i said earlier, i had a breakdown on sunday night. i was just so stressed and confused that i didnt know what else to do but cry. i opened up my devotion that i do every night before bed and the verse of the day was 2 Corinthians 5:7 Live by faith, not by sight. let me repeat myself, oh heyyy Jesus! i love love love when things like this happen. it gives me chills just thinking about it. all these stresses in my life were not random or accidental. the Lord knew what i was going to be going through and he gave me answers that couldnt be more direct. i can honestly say that i am genuinely happy for the first time in a while. i was walking to class the other day and i randomly got the song God is so good stuck in my head. and yes, that is the song that we all learned in like preschool. i have been walking around with a real smile on my face all week and it feels so wonderful and so real.
* here are some Bible verses i have read lately and they have really stuck with me.
Matthew 11:28
1 Cor 16:14
Romans 12:12
Romans 8:28
Psalm 63:3
love yall :)
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
birthday shoutout
Today is a very very special day...wanna know why? well, today just so happens to be my favorite 4, now 5, year olds birthday! I'm sure most of you know about this little bundle of joy, but here are some pictures just to refresh your memory and remind you how stinkin cute he is!
fun with my macbook pro
smile like the mirror
chuck e cheese!
my graduation
beach trip
he is so adorable
rippppped
he gets his sassy-ness from me :)
As you can see from these pictures, he is the cutest child on the planet! I got to babysit/be his nanny this past summer and it was so much fun! There were times when he woke up with his sassy pants on and he had to sit in the blue chair for 2 minutes...but this didnt happen very often ;) This little boy has blessed me in so many ways. He is so full of joy and happiness and you cant help but smile when you are around him! The name Asher means "happy" and I couldnt think of a more perfect name for him! Its so hard to believe that I have only known him for two short years! He is the sweetest little boy you will ever meet and I love him like a little brother.
Happy birthday Asher! I love you sweet boy!
Monday, September 12, 2011
the smallest things
So I have successfully (well..kind of) survived my first two weeks of sophomore year. I have only had one mental breakdown! so I think I'm doing pretty well!
This post is going to be relatively short because I have lots of work to get done and I just dont have a lot to say! shocker...I know...
I live in an apartment with three other girls and so far its going alright..there have been a few instances with certain roommates but so far so good. One of the girls isnt a Christian and she gave me the biggest compliment ever tonight. While I was washing dishes after dinner, she was asking me a bunch of questions about InterVarsity. The conversation started because she asked if I was going with one of my other roommates to small group....I didnt go. I know it sounds bad that this is how the conversation started but I just have so much work and reading to do! and I'm not even being dramatic!
Anyway, she was asking me what we do at small group and how many girls are in my small group and just simple questions like that. Then she proceeded to ask me who some leaders were and how you got to be one. I explained the whole application process to her and then she said, "I really think you should apply! You would be such a good small group leader!" Holy smokes. That little compliment completely turned my day around!
I feel like this meant so much to me because she isnt a Christian and she can see something in me that, in her opinion, would make me a good small group leader. I can only hope that the joy I have in the Lord is rubbing off on her and others around me!
Being a small group leader is something I have done a lot of thinking and praying about in the past year. Applications dont come out til early spring, so I'm going to talk to my small group leaders and do lots of praying about it! It would mean a lot if you could pray for me too! and I will keep you updated over the next few months!
love yall :)
Thursday, September 1, 2011
i'm not even being dramatic..
I know I said I was going to start blogging regularly and so far I'm totally failing..my bad. but I'm trying to get better, I promise!
well, as most of you probably already know, I started classes this week. everything was fine and dandy until last night..I had, what you could call, a mini mental breakdown. okay, I'm being a liiiittle dramatic but you get the point.
my day started off pretty normal; went to class, had an hour break and read a book, went to class, went to lunch with kristen, and then went home to the apartment. it was my first day of anatomy lab and I was super stressed about it even after class was over. so to relieve a little stress, I cleaned/organized my closet and bathroom, hung up some new picture frames, and did a little facebook stalking. then to put off some homework and skyped with one of my best friends, caroline. after that, my day went downhill real fast.
I was being super moody and cranky for no apparent reason. I thought venting to the boyfriend would help and it did for about 3.4 seconds and then I was all upset again. at this point, I had no idea why I was so upset. so what does every girl do when they are confused about their life? call/text their mommy! (and btw, my mom has some of the best advice everrr) I texted her and asked her a perfectly logical question, if I could drop out of school and live on my brother scott's futon in blacksburg. and what do you think she said? typical, she said no...scott and I had it all planned out too! oh well..a few seconds later, I burst into tears. I thought I was losing my mind for crying over nothing but of course, mama bear cheered me up!
why was I crying? yeah, thats an excellent question and I wish I had the answer for you. I told barrett that I just needed a good cry and that probably added to my river of tears. another big part was that I was feeling so overwhelmed with classes starting and actually having homework to do. so basically, it was just me being dramatic that made me cry.
and if you were wondering, I feel much better today! every morning, barrett calls me between 6.45 and 7am before his 7.30 class to wake me up and chat for a few minutes. I know this sounds crazy, but we don't have a lot of time to talk during the day, so its worth it to be woken up an hour or so before my alarm :) cheesy...I know but whatever! its about 5.15 and I'm all done with classes and I'm gonna go hit the gym and work on my fitness. hopefully this will help relieve some of the left over stress from last night.
love yall!
well, as most of you probably already know, I started classes this week. everything was fine and dandy until last night..I had, what you could call, a mini mental breakdown. okay, I'm being a liiiittle dramatic but you get the point.
my day started off pretty normal; went to class, had an hour break and read a book, went to class, went to lunch with kristen, and then went home to the apartment. it was my first day of anatomy lab and I was super stressed about it even after class was over. so to relieve a little stress, I cleaned/organized my closet and bathroom, hung up some new picture frames, and did a little facebook stalking. then to put off some homework and skyped with one of my best friends, caroline. after that, my day went downhill real fast.
I was being super moody and cranky for no apparent reason. I thought venting to the boyfriend would help and it did for about 3.4 seconds and then I was all upset again. at this point, I had no idea why I was so upset. so what does every girl do when they are confused about their life? call/text their mommy! (and btw, my mom has some of the best advice everrr) I texted her and asked her a perfectly logical question, if I could drop out of school and live on my brother scott's futon in blacksburg. and what do you think she said? typical, she said no...scott and I had it all planned out too! oh well..a few seconds later, I burst into tears. I thought I was losing my mind for crying over nothing but of course, mama bear cheered me up!
why was I crying? yeah, thats an excellent question and I wish I had the answer for you. I told barrett that I just needed a good cry and that probably added to my river of tears. another big part was that I was feeling so overwhelmed with classes starting and actually having homework to do. so basically, it was just me being dramatic that made me cry.
and if you were wondering, I feel much better today! every morning, barrett calls me between 6.45 and 7am before his 7.30 class to wake me up and chat for a few minutes. I know this sounds crazy, but we don't have a lot of time to talk during the day, so its worth it to be woken up an hour or so before my alarm :) cheesy...I know but whatever! its about 5.15 and I'm all done with classes and I'm gonna go hit the gym and work on my fitness. hopefully this will help relieve some of the left over stress from last night.
love yall!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
so blessed
hello again. i know i am probably the worst blogger ever because i havent updated since my trip in june...oops! i have been super busy all summer between babysitting, vacation, and spending time with friends and family. so today i am finally gonna start blogging regularly again (hopefully). this is a very special blog because its dedicated to a very special person in my life..my mama!
today is my mom's birthday! she is finally turning 40! (i hope that gets me some brownie points...) my family is one of MANY nicknames, courtesy of my goofy brother scott. a few of mom's nicknames are mama, little mommy, tubsy, t scrubbs, q tip, and the list goes on and on...but lately we have just been calling her q for short :) so for the rest of this post, if i refer to q, you will know its my mom.
my mom has been such an incredible blessing to me since i was born. i know its so cliche when everyone says 'my mom is my best friend/hero', but my mom really is. she is such a positive, awesome role model in my life. even my girlfriends go to her when they have problems or need someone to talk to about anything and everything. i want nothing more than to be like her when i'm a mom.
scott and i always pick on her because its almost impossible for her to be mad at us. if scott does something dumb and it makes her mad, he just says something stupid or the always classic 'i love you mommy!' and we all just crack up laughing. its takes lots of patience to put up with the two of us, so i give her a lot of credit. even though we (and when i say we, i mean scott) pick on her and get on her nerves, we love her more than anything in the world.
she is one of the biggest spiritual leaders ever. and im not even being dramatic. she is the bomb. mom wakes up at the crack of dawn everyday to do her devotions and pray for us before we start our day. she prays specific things for each of us every morning and if you are reading this, i can almost guarantee that she has prayed specific things for you too! my mom is an incredible woman of the Word. i always say that she has memorized the entire Bible but being the humble woman she is, she denies it...but we all know she really does know it by heart :)
i could legit go on for days about how wonderful and awesome she is. no matter what i do, i dont think she will ever know how much she really means to me. i could not have asked for a better mom, best friend, or role model.
did i mention how smokin hott my mom is? well in case you forgot, here are some pictures ;)
im pretty sure she is the only one who reads this so, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY! i love you so so much :)
today is my mom's birthday! she is finally turning 40! (i hope that gets me some brownie points...) my family is one of MANY nicknames, courtesy of my goofy brother scott. a few of mom's nicknames are mama, little mommy, tubsy, t scrubbs, q tip, and the list goes on and on...but lately we have just been calling her q for short :) so for the rest of this post, if i refer to q, you will know its my mom.
my mom has been such an incredible blessing to me since i was born. i know its so cliche when everyone says 'my mom is my best friend/hero', but my mom really is. she is such a positive, awesome role model in my life. even my girlfriends go to her when they have problems or need someone to talk to about anything and everything. i want nothing more than to be like her when i'm a mom.
scott and i always pick on her because its almost impossible for her to be mad at us. if scott does something dumb and it makes her mad, he just says something stupid or the always classic 'i love you mommy!' and we all just crack up laughing. its takes lots of patience to put up with the two of us, so i give her a lot of credit. even though we (and when i say we, i mean scott) pick on her and get on her nerves, we love her more than anything in the world.
she is one of the biggest spiritual leaders ever. and im not even being dramatic. she is the bomb. mom wakes up at the crack of dawn everyday to do her devotions and pray for us before we start our day. she prays specific things for each of us every morning and if you are reading this, i can almost guarantee that she has prayed specific things for you too! my mom is an incredible woman of the Word. i always say that she has memorized the entire Bible but being the humble woman she is, she denies it...but we all know she really does know it by heart :)
i could legit go on for days about how wonderful and awesome she is. no matter what i do, i dont think she will ever know how much she really means to me. i could not have asked for a better mom, best friend, or role model.
did i mention how smokin hott my mom is? well in case you forgot, here are some pictures ;)
Israel - Spring 2011
Israel - Spring 2011
Israel - Spring 2011
Aunt Janets wedding
lookin good with no makeup in cancun :)
trip to nashvegas
Cousin's wedding
my senior homecoming
im pretty sure she is the only one who reads this so, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY! i love you so so much :)
Saturday, June 18, 2011
day 6
Going into today, I had no idea what to expect. But if I had set any expectations, they would have been blown out of the water. For real. Today was AWESOME! It was our first day of the sports camps! We have basketball, football (soccer), volleyball, and swimming! Each sport is at a different camp and some are at different times so for most of the day, it was just DeeDee and me!
DeeDee is one of the best swim coaches ever. She coached the US National team, Honduras National team, Chile National team, and now she is coaching a swim team in Iraq! She was a teacher/swim coach in the states for 20 some years, lived in Mexico and Chile for a while, and she is now living in Iraq. She just opened her own school in northern Iraq and she is an English language teacher! She is such an amazing woman of God and I have learned so much about swimming, life, and Christ this week!
We got to the pool around 7.30ish and met the other swim coaches Moosa and Elias! Moosa doesn’t speak a lot of English, but enough for basic communication, and Elias speaks great English and would translate for us! There were kids from age 20 to age 8! All the older swimmers (high school age) spoke English but the younger ones did speak a lot of english. At first, I was afraid the language barrier would be really difficult but it really wasn’t! I picked up some Arabic words pretty quick and whatever I didn’t know, I just got Moosa or Elias to translate for me! As a whole, I think practice went really well this morning! Especially for it being our first time with the kids and not really knowing where to start with their training.
Coming in, I didn’t really think I would make close friendships with the kids here but I was waaaay wrong! Sabine Hazboun changed that thought very quickly. I became instant friends with her. Sabine is the Palestinian National Champion Swimmer. And did I mention she just turned 17 a week ago? Yeah..ridiculous! She is leaving in a couple weeks to go to China to train for a month and then she is finishing her senior year of high school in Barcelona, Spain! She is going to be training and going to school there. There is about an 85% chance that she will be swimming in London for the Olympics next summer..CRAZY! Her family runs the Catholic Action Center is Palestine and they are all very strong Christians. Sabine is such a sweet girl and I am definitely going to stay in touch with her! aka I will go to London with her next summer for the Olympics :)
It’s only day 1 of camp and I have already met so many great people! I cannot wait to spend more time with them the rest of the week!
love yall!
day 5
HOT. HOT. HOT. And that would be an understatement. We started the day in Masada which is in the middle of the dessert. Basically, it is a giant mound of dirt and rock with zero shade. To get to the top there are two options: hike up on a little tiny snake path or take a ski lift type thing up to the top. Clearly our guide chose the ski lift because we got there right as it started to get real hot. Masada is where King Herod lived with his 239834697298347 slaves. He had several palaces that overlooked the Dead Sea from the top of Masada. Back in the day, the Dead Sea water level was much higher and much closer to the mountain. This is the site that got destroyed and lead to the downfall of the Jews. Fun Fact: When a soldier of the Israeli army completes their 3 years of service, they have to pledge to always protect Masada to prevent another fall of the Jews!
Next, we drove down the road about 20ish minutes and went to Ein Gedi! Ein Gedi is where David hid from King Saul when he was trying to kill him. David found one of the caves that was in the rock and hid there for a few days. At one point, David got out of the cave and found King Saul and had the chance to kill him but he didn’t. Instead, David just cut off a piece of the King’s robe. There are several trails in Ein Gedi that lead to different waterfalls and/or the very top of Ein Gedi which would be a verrrry long hike. We took about an hour hike and went to a couple different waterfalls and they were breathtaking. David’s Waterfall was beautiful. It was so tall and the view looking back towards the Dead Sea was incredible! Most of us had on our bathing suits and took a short dip in the pool and stood under the waterfall and got a nice massage!
Qumran was next on the list of places to see in the middle of no where. We literally got off the bus, watched a short film about it, toured it, took pictures, and got back on the bus in a grand total of 30 minutes. It was probably the shortest stop so far! Qumran is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. These scrolls had the Old Testament written on them and they were found in random caves on the side of a mountain. Fun Fact: Ester is the only book in the Old Testament that doesn’t mention the word ‘God’!
Now time for everyone’s favorite…the Dead Sea! It was so much fun! Fun Fact: If you swallow the Dead Sea water, you could die within minutes of swallowing it. The water is so salty, that it dehydrates your body so fast, that your organs cannot function and they will all shut down. After hearing that, I second-guessed whether I really wanted to get in or not! But we all got in anyway and put mud allll over us! Back in March, I just put it on my arms and legs but this time, we got a little more adventurous and put it on our face! It burned like heck but it was so worth it because my skin was so smooth afterwards!
Jericho was our last stop of the day. We went to a shop that sold all the Dead Sea products and some random pottery before going to dinner. There were probably 10 peacocks just hanging out outside the shop! There was some bird and (it may have been a peacock but I’m not sure) and it sounded EXACTLY like Kevin from the movie Up! Being the child that I am, I totally freaked out and got so excited! I wish I could have recorded it making the noise because I’m pretty sure Pixar found that bird, recorded it, and used it as Kevin’s voice…We drove to this very elegant restaurant where we met Taysir Abu Saada. He wrote the book, Once An Arafat Man and he is President/Founder of Seeds of Hope. After he talked to us for a little bit about his story and his foundation, we ate a fabulous dinner. My true Rinehart colors were shining during this meal…It was probably the best dinner I have had in years! (no offense mom…) All the salads, pita, and meats were so delicious. And we had this super tart lemonade with mint leaves and it was just the perfect compliment to the entire meal. I could go on forever about it but I’ll stop before I embarrass myself!
Today was a very looooong day! We left the hotel before 8am and didn’t get back til about 10.30pm and we were going non stop from place to place. I am so exhausted but it was totally worth it. The sports camps start tomorrow and I am pumpeddd! Good night!
Love yall!
my bad...
I'm so sorry I have been so awful about posting for the past few days! We have been so so busy and the internet crashes like every 10 minutes..We are at a different hotel now, so I'll try to get all caught up tonight!
Monday, June 13, 2011
day 4
My feet are not very happy with me today…We did a normal two day tour, in one day! We walked essentially through all of the Old City of Jerusalem. We started out on the top of the Mount of Olives where Jesus started his journey through Jerusalem to his crucifixion. There is a beautiful view of Jerusalem from the top of the Mount of Olives even though the Dome of the Rock is directly across the valley.
As we made our way down the Mount of Olives, we got to the Garden of Gethsemane. I love gardens, so once again I was lovin every minute of it! The story behind the Garden of Gethsemane is in Matthew 26:36-46! Right next to the garden is the Church of All Nations. There are 12 (I think..?) different nations represented on the ceiling of the church. The United States dome is the first one on the right side! This is the site where Jesus prayed so hard he sweat blood!
The Pools of Bethesda is another really cool place in Jerusalem. This is there sick/disabled people would hang out because the spirit would stir up the water and the first person in the water after it has been stirred would be healed. This is where Jesus healed a man who had been going to the pools for over 30 years and never got healed. He was paralyzed so he could never get into the water because he didn’t have anyone to help him. Jesus saw this man’s desire to be healed and he healed him right then and there!
The Western Wall was next on the list. Since it is Saturday and we went before sunset, lots of things were closed because people aren’t allowed to work on the Sabbath. This is the Holiest site for people of Jewish faith because they believe that the presence of God is in the wall. When they are finished praying, Jewish people walk a certain number of steps backwards because they do not want to turn their backs on God. We went up to the wall and some people put prayers in the wall, prayed, and then we left. It was super crowded so it was a pretty quick trip! We couldn’t even take pictures at the wall because that is considered work!
Next, we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This church is believed to be one of the possible sights where Jesus was crucified. The church is divided between 3 major religions (Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Armenian). The Greek Orthodox parts of the church are the most obvious because it is decked out in gold and jewels! There are several mosaics on the walls that would have taken forever to complete and they were all done by hand! They were truly unbelievable.
One of our last stops was on the other side of the Mount of Olives at Caiaphas’ house. This is where Jesus was taken before he was put before his crucifixion. He had to stay the night here because it was the Sabbath and there was no working allowed which meant no judging was going on that day. Jesus was lowered down into a pit/cave that only had one opening at the top so it was impossible for anyone to get out. Psalm 88!
Last stop: the Garden tomb! The Garden Tomb is another place that people think Jesus could have been crucified and buried. The mount that is believed to be the crucifixion site is all rock and there is the face of a skull in the rocks. It’s called Golgatha which means ‘skull.’ The garden was full of gorgeous flowers and foliage so once again, I got a bunch of pictures!
Today was great and filled with lots and lots of walking but we covered the whole city in one day! Pretty impressive, huh? Tomorrow is going to be a long, hot day because we are basically going to be in the dessert all day..good night!
Love yall!
day 3
The Mt. of Beatitudes is my all time favorite place in Israel. Today is already a good day because that’s where we started out tour. I know I’m a little bias, but I think its one of the most beautiful places in all of Israel. It is this big octagonal shaped church with beautiful flowers overlooking the Sea of Galilee. I have a weird obsession of taking pictures of flowers and nature, so of course I took full advantage of that and I now have tons of pictures from the Mt. of Beatitudes! (Sparknotes story of the importance of this mount – This is where Jesus walked after the feeding of the 5000 and preached the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5-7:29) Coach Dye was challenged to memorize the Sermon on the Mount by someone who went last year, and being a typical male, he took on that challenge. I am so impressed that someone could memorize 2 and a half chapters of the bible and get it almost word for word perfect. He gave us the sermon outside the church where Jesus would have been. It was so awesome! Needless to say, round two at the Mt. of Beatitudes was a huge blessing and I loved every minute of it.
Tabgha is the site at the base of the Mt. of Beatitudes where Jesus fed the 5000. Now there is a church built there and it is called the Church of Multiplication (get it? Jesus multiplied the fishes and loaves..bad joke?) All over Israel, there are place mats, plates, key chains, and so on that have the word Tabgha and a picture of 4 loaves and 2 fishes on it. A little fun fact about that pictures is that one of the loaves of bread is missing from the picture..any guesses as to where it is? Well, it is said that the missing fifth loaf of bread is in the hands of Jesus as he is holding it up to God and blessing it before he multiplied it. I thought that was very interesting! The story of the feeding of the 5,000 is found in Matthew 14:13-21!
Next, we went to Peter’s Primacy on the Sea of Galilee. This is the place where Jesus told the fishermen to cast their nets on the other side of the boat and they would surely catch some fish. It is also where Jesus asked Peter 3 times if he loved him and every time the answer was yes. Jesus knew that Peter was going to deny him 3 times but he also knew that Peter loved him with his whole heart. Another fun fact! When they cast the fishing nets to the other side of the boat, they caught 153 fish. There were 153 different kinds of fish in the Sea of Galilee and there were 153 nations they would preach and teach the Word to. How cool!
We also went to Capernaum where there was an old synagogue and Peter’s mother-in-law’s house! This is the site where Jesus heals the paralytic (Mark 2:1-12). We saw lots of cats there...joy.
Tonight was THE BEST. As some of you know, Barrett (the boyfriend) is also in Israel right now. He goes to West Point and is here with some other guys from West Point, Navy, and Air Force traveling to all the different military bases and some Holy sites. We planned to meet up one day/night but we didn’t think our schedules would cooperate because we were in different parts of the country at different times. But we worked it out! His last night in Jerusalem was my first night in Bethlehem and the cities are like less than 10 miles apart! Our awesome tour guide Rami worked out all the plans with me and dropped me and Grandpa off at Barrett’s hotel to spend some time with him. I cannot even describe how great it was so see him, especially on the other side of the world! We had dinner together and spent some time with his friends and it was just so great! I am so thankful and so blessed that everything worked out for us to see each other!
Today was such an awesome day. All the sites around the Sea of Galilee are my favorites because they are just beautiful all the time. I got to see some of my favorite Holy sites and my wonderful boyfriend, doesn’t get much better than that! Well it’s past my bedtime and we have a very busy day ahead of us tomorrow! Good night!
Love yall!
*side note: long story short, my camera got wet on the hike of day 1 and is broken..so I’m taking pictures on my phone and I cant upload them til I get home. But I will definitely add some pictures later!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
day 2
Today was our first real day in Israel and there is about one word that sums it up…INCREDIBLE. Holy Shmoley, it was probably one of the best days of my life. We got up around 6, ate breakfast, and got on the road. We drove around to the eastern part of the Sea of Galilee and were dumped off in the middle of no where..We put on harnesses, grabbed 4 liters of water, and a helmet and hit the trail. We probably hiked for a good hour or so through nothing but grass, prickles, rocks, and dirt. When we got down into the canyon, it was amazing! There were trees, flowers, and waterfalls everywhere!
Well before we started the hike, we were told that we were going to be jumping off cliffs and it about scared the pants off of me. When we actually got to the cliffs, I had a rush of panic and excitement all at the same time. We threw our bags into the water and took a leap of faith after them. The water was the perfect temperature to cool us off but not make us cold. I couldn’t have imagined anything better! All 14 of us jumped off, got our bags, and started hiking to the next waterfall. The rocks we were climbing over got a little old after the first few hours. I’m pretty sure I rolled my ankles 1209209458 times..I felt like Indiana Jones climbing through all the vines and trees. I was only missing my satchel!
The next drop we got to was a little too high to jump off of, so what better thing to do than rappel down! I was one of the first to go because the longer I stood at the top and looked over the edge, the more I would freak myself out. It was a little scary at first but the guide who was helping me was super nice (jenna marbles anyone? J) so that made it a little better. At the end, we had to completely let go of the ropes and let ourselves fall into the water from quite a few feet up. That was a nice little surprise they didn’t tell u s about until it was time to let go..how kind, right? After that little moment of panic, I let go and swam to a few rocks that were a barrier between another waterfall that we could just jump into. SO AMAZING.
After climbing up more rocks and trees, it was time to hike back up to the top of the canyon. When I say canyon, it literally looked like the Grand Canyon. And we had to hike up it…There was a little more than a mile of just rocks, trees, and vines and then about 500 steps that went straight up to get out of there. My legs were jelly by the time we got to the top. But it was so worth it!
I have never experienced anything like this in my life. I have gone hiking but nothing compares to this. I was just so overwhelmed by God’s beauty I didn’t know what to do with myself! It truly was the most incredible experience of my life. I am so thankful to be on this trip!
Love yall
day 1..again
shalom yall!
ROUGH START. That is all I have to stay. First of all, we had a 6 hour layover in the JFK airport in New York. Not the best place to spend 6 pointless hours. After we finally boarded the plane, we all thought we were ready for take off…not quite. We have been sitting on the airport runway for the past 2 and a half hours! The problem? Software issues. Aka the lights were flickering and the audio for the tv’s didn’t work. I guess it’s better safe than sorry but COME ON! Get me out of here! This is already a 12 hour flight..another 2 on the runway are about to put me over the top. Its 10pm and our flight was supposed to take off at 7.25. Great start, right? I hope this isn’t a foreshadowing to the rest of the trip…prayers please!
We made it! I was doubtful at first, but we finally made it! After going through customs and getting our luggage, we got on the bus (mercedez-benz bus, I might add) and drove to Tiberias. The hotel we are staying in tonight and tomorrow night is sweeet! I’m on the 9th floor overlooking the Sea of Galilee! It doesn’t get much better than this! We just finished a delicious dinner and are getting ready for bed. We have to leave the hotel by 7am in the morning..so we are definitely calling it an early night! Tomorrow we are going hiking, rappelling, and cliff jumping! I’m a little nervous but so pumped!
Love yall!
Monday, June 6, 2011
round 2
hello everyone!
As some of you know, Im going back over to Israel for two weeks! This time its not a sight seeing trip, its a mission trip through FCA (fellowship of christian athletes). Sus is not going on this trip which is a huge bummer..but I'm going with my grandpa! This is his high school graduation present to me and since it didnt work out to go last summer, I'm going this summer!
Anyway, I'm leaving tomorrow morning around 11am. I'm so excited but nervous too..I don't have the safety net of having Sus there telling/showing me what to do or what to eat :) I'm like a real adult traveling the world without her mommy and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it.
I'll try to keep yall updated every night but I cant make any promises! I'm for sure going to journal every night and maybe type it up every few days? idk yet but I'll figure something out.
love yall!
p.s. keep me in your prayers please! those middle easterners can get a liiitle crazy...
As some of you know, Im going back over to Israel for two weeks! This time its not a sight seeing trip, its a mission trip through FCA (fellowship of christian athletes). Sus is not going on this trip which is a huge bummer..but I'm going with my grandpa! This is his high school graduation present to me and since it didnt work out to go last summer, I'm going this summer!
Anyway, I'm leaving tomorrow morning around 11am. I'm so excited but nervous too..I don't have the safety net of having Sus there telling/showing me what to do or what to eat :) I'm like a real adult traveling the world without her mommy and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it.
I'll try to keep yall updated every night but I cant make any promises! I'm for sure going to journal every night and maybe type it up every few days? idk yet but I'll figure something out.
love yall!
p.s. keep me in your prayers please! those middle easterners can get a liiitle crazy...
Sunday, May 1, 2011
surprise
This is officially my last weekend at JMU as a freshman in college. so weird. I was expecting a weekend full of studying since I have my last two finals this coming week but those plans changed when I got a little surprise..But before I go into that, here is some background info.
I recently started dating a guy I dated in high school. He goes to West Point and is genuinely one of the best guys I know. and I'm not just saying that..Since we live 6ish hours apart, I don't get to see him very much but when I do see him, it's worth the wait. He is respectful and treats me like a princess.
I had talked to him on the phone friday night and he was saying how he tried to come down here and surprise me about a month earlier but I had gone home for the weekend. This weekend, he was already in Harrisburg, Pa visiting some family and he was only 2 hours away from me! I knew he was with his family and he wouldn't/couldn't come down here this weekend but I shouldn't have been so sure of myself..
Saturday morning, he called my best friend Kristen and planned the whole thing. He told me he was going to Gettysburg with his family for the day so I had no idea he was coming. Throughout the day, Kristen and Megan (my roommate) had been acting a little weird but nothing out of the ordinary so I didn't really suspect anything was going on. I had literally just gotten in bed to take a power nap when Kristen threw my door open and said she had a surprise for me. I figured it would be some sort of food or something #typical. And the next thing I knew, my wonderful boyfriend was standing in the doorway with flowers. I had to pick my jaw up off the ground and wipe the tears from my eyes before I really realized what was going on.
This is probably one of the best surprises ever. That afternoon, we walked around campus, found a bench on the quad, sat for hours, and just talked. It was seriously the best. He took me to a fancy restaurant in historic downtown for dinner and then we came back and watched a movie with Megan and Kristen. The night was perfect. I was with my two best girlfriends from school and my boyfriend. I am beyond blessed and so thankful for all the wonderful people in my life.
:)
I recently started dating a guy I dated in high school. He goes to West Point and is genuinely one of the best guys I know. and I'm not just saying that..Since we live 6ish hours apart, I don't get to see him very much but when I do see him, it's worth the wait. He is respectful and treats me like a princess.
I had talked to him on the phone friday night and he was saying how he tried to come down here and surprise me about a month earlier but I had gone home for the weekend. This weekend, he was already in Harrisburg, Pa visiting some family and he was only 2 hours away from me! I knew he was with his family and he wouldn't/couldn't come down here this weekend but I shouldn't have been so sure of myself..
Saturday morning, he called my best friend Kristen and planned the whole thing. He told me he was going to Gettysburg with his family for the day so I had no idea he was coming. Throughout the day, Kristen and Megan (my roommate) had been acting a little weird but nothing out of the ordinary so I didn't really suspect anything was going on. I had literally just gotten in bed to take a power nap when Kristen threw my door open and said she had a surprise for me. I figured it would be some sort of food or something #typical. And the next thing I knew, my wonderful boyfriend was standing in the doorway with flowers. I had to pick my jaw up off the ground and wipe the tears from my eyes before I really realized what was going on.
This is probably one of the best surprises ever. That afternoon, we walked around campus, found a bench on the quad, sat for hours, and just talked. It was seriously the best. He took me to a fancy restaurant in historic downtown for dinner and then we came back and watched a movie with Megan and Kristen. The night was perfect. I was with my two best girlfriends from school and my boyfriend. I am beyond blessed and so thankful for all the wonderful people in my life.
:)
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
random thought
I would start out with saying the classic, 'this isn't random but...' but this truly is so random. Once again, it's crunch time with finals coming up and what am I doing? Procrastinating...shocking, right? Yeah, I didn't think so. Well, I'm sitting here attempting to write a paper that counts as my final that is due tomorrow at 12.30 and its obviously not going so well. It's for my least favorite class (my professor is a psycho but that's a story for another day) and I am seriously lacking motivation. That's not my random thought..just some background info to get you in my mindset.
Although I really don't like this class, some of our assignments made me do a lot of self-reflection. This class makes us go deep into ourselves and just think. Ironic that I'm writing the final for this class and I'm just sitting here in deep thought about my life.
I am so thankful for my life. I am most thankful for my 3 F's: faith, family, and friends. I honestly don't know where I would be without them. I have nothing but love and support coming from all three. I know I complain (example: 'why do I always have to do everything!?') but I really don't have anything to complain about. My life has been pretty grand thus far and I can only imagine that it will get better from here. Granted there will be MANY bumps along the road, but I know that the Lord has a plan for me. This makes me think of my favorite Bible verse, Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future." Whenever I am going through one of those bumps, I am constantly reminded that Jesus Christ has my back and always will :)
There is my random thought and now I am back to writing this silly paper. Hopefully I will get it done in a reasonable amount of time because I'm trying to actually get some sleep tonight!
love yall!
Although I really don't like this class, some of our assignments made me do a lot of self-reflection. This class makes us go deep into ourselves and just think. Ironic that I'm writing the final for this class and I'm just sitting here in deep thought about my life.
I am so thankful for my life. I am most thankful for my 3 F's: faith, family, and friends. I honestly don't know where I would be without them. I have nothing but love and support coming from all three. I know I complain (example: 'why do I always have to do everything!?') but I really don't have anything to complain about. My life has been pretty grand thus far and I can only imagine that it will get better from here. Granted there will be MANY bumps along the road, but I know that the Lord has a plan for me. This makes me think of my favorite Bible verse, Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future." Whenever I am going through one of those bumps, I am constantly reminded that Jesus Christ has my back and always will :)
There is my random thought and now I am back to writing this silly paper. Hopefully I will get it done in a reasonable amount of time because I'm trying to actually get some sleep tonight!
love yall!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
8 more days..
I cant believe how fast my freshman year of college has gone. I know I'm only 19, but it makes me feel so old! Finals week is next week but two of my professors decided to make the finals the week before finals week..aka this week. I have two finals tomorrow, a final paper due thursday, and one final on friday. Needless to say, I am a little stressed.
Since I'm writing this post, I'm clearly putting off studying. Which is probably bad since I have a final in 9ish hours. but I did go to a study session with my TA and I have been studying all afternoon! so I'm not a complete slacker..
This post was pretty much pointless and was probably a waste of your time. So, sorry about that! I just cant handle the fact that this year is almost over. that means I'm one year closer to graduating and being on my own..and I'm definitely not ready for that. So lets hope this whole growing up thing slows down.
love yall :)
Since I'm writing this post, I'm clearly putting off studying. Which is probably bad since I have a final in 9ish hours. but I did go to a study session with my TA and I have been studying all afternoon! so I'm not a complete slacker..
This post was pretty much pointless and was probably a waste of your time. So, sorry about that! I just cant handle the fact that this year is almost over. that means I'm one year closer to graduating and being on my own..and I'm definitely not ready for that. So lets hope this whole growing up thing slows down.
love yall :)
Thursday, April 21, 2011
homesick or friendsick?
Halfway through this post I changed my mind..I'm not homesick, I'm friendsick. I miss my friends more than anything (no offense family..). I seriously cannot wait to be reunited with Caroline, Jenny, Jojo, Sally, and Bekah! Thank the Lord I saw Jenny two weeks ago or I would be completely friend deprived. This entire school year up until now, Caroline and I haven't been more than 3 or 4 weeks without seeing each other. But it's been about 5 weeks since I have seen her...I haven't seen Jojo or Bekah since we went to Charlotte for Jojo's birthday in february and I haven't seen Sally since winter break. So needless to say, I am very friendsick. When I was super sick last week, Jojo diagnosed me with 'best friend deficiency.' If you are unfamiliar with this disease, the only cure is a little does of Jojo, Jenny, Caroline, Bekah, and Sally :)
Random side note. I was texting Jenny this morning during class and we were talking about how excited we are to come home. She just texted me saying I should blog more...I was in the middle of this post. best friend ESP at its finest :)
love yall!
I feel like this picture represents our friendship perfectly
This was taken at our farewell dinner, real housewives style, a few nights before 5 of us left for college :(
Another typical best friend picture
This was from our reunion/christmas sweater dance party over winter break
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
sick and not happy about it
So I have decided to start blogging about everyday life. I really enjoy writing but I'm not the best..so no judging.
For the past three and a half days, I have been real sick. I have gotten the question, 'what do you have?' about 3 million times and the answer is still the same. I have no idea. I'm going to the health center after my 1:25 class but my expectations are super low. Back in the fall when I fractured my thumb, the 'doctor' at the health center told me to ice it and take some ibuprofen...Well after not being able to move my thumb for a while, I went to the hospital and they said it was fractured. High quality health center, right?
Anyway, this weekend I'm going to..wait for it..NEW YORK! I have never been and I'm so excited! I am hoping we will get to go see a play on Broadway because that is one of the many things on my bucket list.
Off to class..joy. I'm praying that the health center will be halfway decent and actually give me medicine to kick this sickness!
For the past three and a half days, I have been real sick. I have gotten the question, 'what do you have?' about 3 million times and the answer is still the same. I have no idea. I'm going to the health center after my 1:25 class but my expectations are super low. Back in the fall when I fractured my thumb, the 'doctor' at the health center told me to ice it and take some ibuprofen...Well after not being able to move my thumb for a while, I went to the hospital and they said it was fractured. High quality health center, right?
Anyway, this weekend I'm going to..wait for it..NEW YORK! I have never been and I'm so excited! I am hoping we will get to go see a play on Broadway because that is one of the many things on my bucket list.
Off to class..joy. I'm praying that the health center will be halfway decent and actually give me medicine to kick this sickness!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
day 7
Dear caroline, jenny, and evan,
Our last day in Israel..let's just say I shed a tear or two. This trip has, by far been the best trip I have ever been on and I didn't want it to end. Well to be honest, I kind of wanted this day to end because once again, the weather was awful. Cold, windy, and rainy..
Stop number 1 was the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock. It's kind of hard to miss because of the big gold dome..slightly obnoxious but pretty at the same time. It makes a nice addition to the background of all our pictures overlooking the Temple Mount! Muslims believe that this is the site of Muhammad's night journey to heaven. This is also where the Jews believe the 3rd Temple will be built.
Our last day in Israel..let's just say I shed a tear or two. This trip has, by far been the best trip I have ever been on and I didn't want it to end. Well to be honest, I kind of wanted this day to end because once again, the weather was awful. Cold, windy, and rainy..
Stop number 1 was the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock. It's kind of hard to miss because of the big gold dome..slightly obnoxious but pretty at the same time. It makes a nice addition to the background of all our pictures overlooking the Temple Mount! Muslims believe that this is the site of Muhammad's night journey to heaven. This is also where the Jews believe the 3rd Temple will be built.
Dome with the fam..oh look, its raining!
While at the Temple Mount, we did something that could have gotten us in BIG trouble. Of course the leader of this little adventure was..my mother! Who knew she was such a rebel! We wandered around and went to the back side of the Eastern Gate aka where Jesus will return to earth! Where the spring will burst and wash out all the graves outside the gate. While we were taking pictures of it a lovely middle eastern man was watching us very closely..and when I say lovely, I mean he was super creepy and he did not like us!
my beautiful roommate Eve in front of the backside of the Eastern Gate
Funny/nasty story. Today for lunch we went to this little restaurant that seemed a little sketch since we had to go down an alley to find it..Apparently people had eaten there before and it was cheap, so we gave it a try. We should have walked out when we could..I had packed my lunch that day and was going to eat later on the bus, so I didn't get food but I got coffee. MISTAKE. Scott, Don, Russ, and I got coffee at our table and we had a little surprise in our coffee..
yummy..bugs!
Yes my friends, we had bugs in our coffee..I was fortunate enough to not have the whole bug in mine, just some legs and pieces of wings. Russ and Don both found whole bug in their coffee. I wanted to cry because it was so funny and so nasty all at the same time. Oh and after Russ fished the bug out of his cup, he drank the rest of his coffee. GROSS
Russ LOVES bugs in his coffee!
After an eventful lunch, we arrived at the Western Wall or better known as the Wailing Wall. This is the holiest place for Jewish people because it't the remnant of their last temple that was destroyed in 70 AD. There are separate sides for men and women to go and pray. I wrote some prayers down on a piece of paper on the bus and stuck them in the wall!
me and Eve at the wall
i couldn't pass up taking an artsy pic
After we put our prayers in the wall and met back up with the guys, we went underground to the tunnels under the Western Wall. In the tunnel, there were several rooms, halls, water tunnel, a pool, and a Second Temple road. These tunnels were super small and if you are claustrophobic, I would NOT recommend you go down there!
as you can see, we were pretty far underground
To finish up our last day, we went to the Garden Tomb. The weather had cleared up just a little bit which made this a little more enjoyable! It made perfect sense to end our trip at the Garden Tomb because this was where Jesus was buried and rose on the third day! The tomb was in a beautiful garden and I got lots of cute flower pics.
chillin outside the tomb with the fam...nbd
heard thattt!
After taking our pictures inside the tomb, we went to this little chapel in the garden for a final service. He had a little music, a good talk, and then took communion!
Jeff prechin the Word
Sadly, this is the end of my wonderful trip to the Holy Land. I would go back in a heartbeat. I highly recommend anyone and everyone to jump at the chance if they ever get the chance to go. It is so life changing. One of the guys on the guys on the trip put it perfectly, "it turns the Bible from black and white, to color." I have never heard a truer statement in my life. Now every time I'm reading the Bible and it mentions a place that I have been, I can picture it and the Bible really comes to life. Jesus is da bomb. the end
love yall!
Sarah
day 6
Dear caroline, jenny, and evan,
Hmm...let's see how much I remember. I did cheat and call Sus and get a little recap of each day but to my defense, I remembered more than I thought! I see it as using my resources ;)
Day 6, hello horrible weather! The weather had been perfect until today..it was freezing, raining, and super windy. Wonderful..Despite the bad weather, we still had a great day! We started today on the Mount of Olives. The road down the Mount was real steep and the fact that it was raining definitely did NOT help..I'm pretty sure I slipped about 1203982395 times. embarrassing, I know.
Hmm...let's see how much I remember. I did cheat and call Sus and get a little recap of each day but to my defense, I remembered more than I thought! I see it as using my resources ;)
Day 6, hello horrible weather! The weather had been perfect until today..it was freezing, raining, and super windy. Wonderful..Despite the bad weather, we still had a great day! We started today on the Mount of Olives. The road down the Mount was real steep and the fact that it was raining definitely did NOT help..I'm pretty sure I slipped about 1203982395 times. embarrassing, I know.
fam at the top of the mount!
you can see how bad the weather was by looking at my hair...
Along the road to the bottom on the mount, there were several churches we stopped at. The first one was the Dominus Flavit, which means the Lord weeps. The church is shaped like a tear drop in resemblance of Jesus crying over the doom of Jerusalem.
Dominus Flavit Church
After that pit stop down the mount, we stopped at the Garden of Gethsemane. This is where Jesus and His disciples got together after the Passover meal to pray. The night before Jesus was arrested, he prayed here! I have prayed where Jesus prayed, heyyy! We got some time to ourselves in the garden to just go off and pray/have some personal time with the Lord.
creeper pic of my precious brother praying in the garden.
doesn't that just melt your heart?
There were tons of olive trees in the garden that have been there for centuries!
Keep walking through the garden and you will run into the Church of All Nations. The inside of this church was gorgeous! The ceiling and walls were blue and gold and had symbols of each nation that helped build it. There were twelve domes in the church and each nation has their coat of arms on a dome. The church was built around the Basilica of the Agony, aka the rock where Jesus prayed so hard he sweat blood. crazyyy!
The dome that has the United States coat of arms
the rock of agony with my two favs :)
From the Church of All Nations, we went to the Pools of Bethesda and St. Anne's Church. The church is named after Mary's mother, Anne and the church is supposedly built above Anne's house. Inside the church there is a lovely statue of Anne and Mary!
Anne and little Mary
The Pools of Bethesda are two cisterns that date back to the 8th and 3rd centuries. King Herod turned this area into curative baths and the waters were believed to have healing powers. This sight was believed to be where Jesus healed the paralytic in John 5. There were three people in our group who had various surgeries 4 weeks before the trip and it was such a blessing that they got to go. Since this was a place of healing, we prayed over each person recovering from surgery. It was very powerful.
Pools of Bethesda
Next we went to the shepherd's cave and had a little concert from the one and only Michelangelo Caggiano. He did all the worship on the trip and of course, it was fabulous! I have one of his CD's and yall can borrow it if you want! When I say we went to the shepherd's cave, we legit went underground in a dusty, dirty cave. There were lots of little tunnels inside and we went exploring..probably not the smartest idea but hey, you only live once, right?
angelo and john rockin outtt
On the way to the next stop, we drove through Bethlehem and saw what we thought was a Starbucks..but we were seriously mistaken. Check it out...
bahahaha how ridiculous
Our next destination was the Church of the Nativity. Part of this church was Greek Orthodox and let me tell ya, they aren't shy with the gold and decorations! Everything was brightly colored and there were things hanging from the ceiling. This is one of the oldest churches that still has services in the world. This is supposedly where Jesus was born.
that church was blingged out!
Next, we went to St. Jerome's Chapel. I had no idea who Jerome was before this trip, but he is pretty important guy if you ask me! He translated the ENTIRE Bible from Greek to Latin. Do you know how long that must have taken? I'm thinking along the lines of..forever!
This mosaic was in Jerome's Chapel
I think that is all for today!
love yall!
Sarah
day 5
Dear caroline, jenny, AND evan,
So I have been back from Israel for about a month or so and I am just now finishing the descriptions of the last few days. Can you say procrastination? my bad yall...Looking back through these pictures just reminded me of how blessed I am to have gone on such an amazing trip. Since it's been so long since I was in Israel, I don't exactly remember every little detail, so cut me a little slack :)
First stop on day 5 was the southern steps of the Temple Mount. These steps lead up to the temple and we know for a fact that Jesus climbed these steps! So cool, right? I didn't get a good picture on my camera, so I stole one of Sus's pictures!
David's tomb and the Upper room were next on the list. The building they were in was built over where they think the tomb is around the 11th century. When the Muslims invaded Jerusalem, they didn't touch this building because the consider David to be a 'true prophet.' This site is one that is shared by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. And there aren't very many of those..
After the Upper Room and David's tomb, we went to Caiaphas' House on Mount Zion. The view from the top was gorgeous! You could see all around in the valley and you could see the Dome of the Rock in the distance. It is now the site of St. Peter in Gallicantu and under it is the pit where they think Jesus was held after his arrest.
So I have been back from Israel for about a month or so and I am just now finishing the descriptions of the last few days. Can you say procrastination? my bad yall...Looking back through these pictures just reminded me of how blessed I am to have gone on such an amazing trip. Since it's been so long since I was in Israel, I don't exactly remember every little detail, so cut me a little slack :)
First stop on day 5 was the southern steps of the Temple Mount. These steps lead up to the temple and we know for a fact that Jesus climbed these steps! So cool, right? I didn't get a good picture on my camera, so I stole one of Sus's pictures!
Southern steps with the whole crew
David's tomb and the Upper room were next on the list. The building they were in was built over where they think the tomb is around the 11th century. When the Muslims invaded Jerusalem, they didn't touch this building because the consider David to be a 'true prophet.' This site is one that is shared by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. And there aren't very many of those..
This is a statue of David outside the building where his tomb is located
The Upper room is where Jesus had the Last Supper with the disciples. This isn't the exact location or building, it's just a replica! The real site of the Upper Room is on Mt. Zion.
This is a picture from inside the Upper Room
This is one of my favorite pictures from this day.
It was such a beautiful day!
The door leading into the church had the coolest door! It was a picture of Jesus, His disciples, and a golden rooster. Jesus is holding up three fingers and pointing to Peter and he is telling him that he will deny him three times before the rooster crows. Check it out in Mark 14:27-31! I love the expression Peter has in the picture. He is probably thinking, 'who me? uhh..yeah I don't think so!'
There was lots to see at Caiaphas' house..He must have had it going on back in the day, so many things happened at or near his house! Outside the church we went to the steps that connected the Kidron Valley with the city. These are the steps that Jesus walked after he had be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.
The steps are in ruins, obviously, so we couldn't walk on them..major bummer
Our final stop of the day was at the Israel Model City Museum. By this point in the day, it had gotten so cold and windy that we just wanted to get back on the bus. I loved our guide to death but..he could talk for HOURS. I'm not kidding. It felt like we were there forever and it was right before dinner and it didn't help that we were all starving. It was a lovely model, dont get me wrong, this stop just lasted a little too long in my opinion..We were there around sunset and the rays from the sun were coming through the clouds. Oh it was so beautiful!
this is probably half or a third of the whole model..exciting, right?
absolutely breathtaking
oh heyyy Jesus!
Love yall!
Sarah
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