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Tuesday, 20 October 2009
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Currently
August Rush: Music From The Motion Picture
By Various Artists
Bari Improvises
see relatedMidwest Trip (Part B--October)
(On Bethy's 10th birthday, Rachel & I took her downtown to enjoy the Art Prize displays)
(Rachel & Bethy enjoying it a little too much...)
(Bethy & me NOT enjoying it so much...
)
(A real Gypsy wagon!)
(The next day, we all drove to Three Rivers to visit Uncle Lee & Aunt Diane)
(Then Mom got there, and we enjoyed some Joe Chicago's Pizza on Sunday--Nate in Red, Josh in Blue)
(Bethy's birthday present from Guatemala
)
(Rachel and I matched!
)
(Em & me)
(Ang & me)
(Kris & me)
(Dave Harkey--friend from Moody Chorale--MI)
(Kimberly Lindley & son--random friend from years ago--MI)
(Mary Mitchell--Smith5 of Moody!!!--Chicago)
(Moody Campus)
(Ben & Sarah Bowler--old friends from Moody--IL)
(Just walking around Chicago)
(Chicago River)
(The amphitheatre in Millenium Park)
(Millenium Park)
(The Bean--Millenium Park)
(Inside The Bean--Millenium Park)
(Mike & Anna Desmond--Mike was a close friend from Moody--IL)
(Kindl Correa--random friend from Moody--IL)
(A session at Moody's Missions Conference)
(Melody Corcoran--Smith5 girl!!!--IL)
(A wild bunch...
)
(Naomi Johnson--Smith5 girl!!!--IL)
(Aaron Johnson at the desk, with Kimberly Wehr [L], Jenny Greening & Hanna Riddle--current students at Moody)
(We enjoyed my first time out for sushi that night!
)
(My hosts this year at Missions Conference
)
(Katelyn Aulie--Smith5 girl!!!--IL)
(The Watertower--such a precious place to me!)
(The Watertower & Hancock building)
(Kat & me at the Watertower)
(Kat Semeraro--Smith5 girl!!!--IL)
(My last glimpses of fall colors!)
Thursday, 01 October 2009
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My Mid-West Trip (Part A--September)
I hit the road on September 6th and have been gone ever since. I will return to Tallahassee on October 17th. Here are just a few of the highlight photos from Part A. Enjoy!
(Kurt, Priscilla & daughter--MO--friends from Youth Haven Bible Camp in Beattyville, KY)
(L-R: Keira, Carole Snee & Nancy Snee--MO--Nancy is one of my best friends in the world, and Carole is her lovely Mom, Keira a friend of the fam. Nancy and I also met at Youth Haven.)
(Water lily at the Missouri Botanical Gardens...complete with bumble bee!
)
(Did I find my Prince Charming? Maybe...I know he was HOT...seriously! He was burning me...
)
(Nancy
)
(Having too much fun...
)
(We had a Musicals Night at Nancy's...)
(Rose Harrison--KY--one of my best friends from Youth Haven Bible Camp--she is now a missionary serving there with Kentucky Mountain Mission)
(Jenny Moore--KY--another wonderful friend from Youth Haven)
(My new friends in Ohio...
)
(My grandmother, Margaret Starbuck McConnell)
(Michelle--OH--taking care of Grandma while Uncle Dick and Aunt Jeannette were on their trip to Maine...)
(Julie Farr--OH--a lovely friend from Moody)
(Kim Robertson--MI--a great friend from my FIRST camp ministry experience...Camp Maranatha of Ila, GA)
(Melanie Lonsway--MI--my lovely friend from ballet class in Tallahassee & life at Moody!
)
(Rachel Evans--MI--my delightful friend, sister of one of my best friends, Sarah Bowler)
(Jon Doe--MI--having fun at an art show around town)
(I found my moose!)
(New meaning for "tree people" hey?
)
(NESSIE'S IN THE GRAND RIVER!!!)
(Jon Doe--MI--a close friend from Moody)
(Colby Bardin--MI--a great friend from Continental Singers & Moody.
)
Friday, 25 September 2009
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Singing with a 95-Year-Old
This past week I have spent with my 95-year-old Grandma, Margaret Starbuck McConnell. Born to a farming family in 1914, my grandmother grew up with several siblings, all of whom worked hard their entire lives. Some of them have passed away, but Grandma and one or two of her siblings are still left. My grandma knows who I am most of the time, but sometimes she forgets and asks how my mother's only daughter is doing. Sort of a bitter-sweet thing: she's thinking of me, but doesn't realize that she's talking to me.
She gets up each morning now, between 7:30 and 8:00 (and feels guilty for getting up so late), eats breakfast around 9:00, spends the morning looking out the windows, trying to watch the birds and listening to them sing. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, she goes to the Senior's Centre for lunch, and there she still reaches out to those less fortunate than she. There's a woman there that cannot speak, and no one sits with, so Grandma sits with her and talks to her, even though she herself cannot hear very well and cannot converse very well at all. Then she comes home after lunch. She makes many trips back and forth to her bedroom with her rolling walker, carrying her coffee cup or water bottle in the basket under the cushion on it, and sometimes sits down in her recliner, or takes a nap on the bed. Then, out to the sunporch again to watch the birds, play cards or snap beans. Then dinner. Then more sitting and thinking. Sometimes she does the dishes. Then she starts to head to bed at about 7:30 or 8:00, and finally crawls under the covers with her eye-drops applied, her glasses off, her pj's on and the radio tuned to a classical music station. Fighting sleeplessness follows the next few hours, then off she drifts, only to awaken the next morning to do the same things again.
In many ways, it's hard to see her like this. I remember my vibrant, highly active 80+ Grandma, without a walker, without need of assistance. I had never seen her without her dentures until this week, and, in fact, thought she still had her own teeth (she's always had good teeth). It was sort of an emotional shock when I walked in one night to say good-night, and she was laying in bed, her glasses off, her eyes puffy & red, her teeth out. At night, she gets more emotional, naturally being tired, and she clings with such strength when you hug her, it's a bit shocking that she has so much strength left in her shrinking form.
But as we've spent time together this week, my Grandma has turned to me at least four times a day and said, "I have had a good life. The Lord has been good to me. And I talk to Him every day. Every morning when I get up, and every night when I go to bed, and sometimes in between." We had glasses of iced-milk (we're the only ones in the family that both like it), swapped some stories about my childhood and her life on the McConnell Berry Farm of Mount Vernon, Ohio, and then we sang some old hymns together.
And I was reminded of what a precious gift we have in Life. Not just "life" that we live, day after day, but the Life that Jesus Christ Himself grants us through His grace if we simply trust Him and believe in Him. Grandma couldn't remember the words of the verses of the old hymns, but she knew the choruses. She sang with a gusto on "In the Garden," but she was strongest on "I Need Thee Every Hour." And it hit me: she had learned how to truly trust Him with every hour...all the ones past, the present and finally, the future ones, when she'll spend the rest of Eternity safely with Him.
Monday, 13 July 2009
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An 8,000 Mile Journey
After 8,000 miles alone (May 31 to July 3), I made it back to Florida alive! Here are the photo highlights: (More coming soon)
(With Daniel Lloyd--FL--a friend who used to go to Northwoods before moving away)
(Uri & Melinda Brito & daughter--FL--a fellow camp counsellor [Melinda] at Camp Maranatha)
(At Cafe Dumond in New Orleans with Hannah Sandau, friend from Moody & SMITH5!!!)
(Rachel [Coate] Peters and son--LA--high school best friend)
(Clint & Mandy Picard--TX--new friends!!!
)
(Amy Rye & kids--TX--Amy is my "adopted Dad's" "adopted daughter" too!
)
(With Ryan Sandlin--TX--tour buddy from Continental Singers)
(Regina Erwin--TX--long-time friend from online!--our first time meting after 10 years of correspondance!)
(Nate & Galina Ross--TX--Nate was in the Moody Chorale with me)
(Nate & Galina, myself, Tyce & Bethany Jensen at the Jensen's home after dinner that night)
(Tyce & Bethany were both in Chorale with me
)
(Statue on the Dallas Theological Seminary Campus)
(Sunset in Albuquerque, NM)
(Village view in NM)
(Mark & Cerenity Incze--NM--friends from Northwoods who moved away [and Mark is Aussie
])
(Kenny Beahm--AZ--friend from Continental Singers)
(Cactus in Arizona)
(Colorado River, Grand Canyon National Park)
(Tower at the Grand Canyon)
(What do you know?
)
(Grand Canyon)
(Grand Canyon)
(Grand Canyon)
(Grand Canyon)
(Grand Canyon)
(We all went to see the movie Up in 3-D!
--Fantastic movie!!!)
(They now have Chick-Fil-A in California--for Lisa, Brian, Jordan & the rest of the crew on Capital Circle!
)
(Shauna Salerno--CA--we met at the Bodybuilders Seminar in Nashville, back in February!
)
(Shauna & her friend Marisa & I went for some YUMMY frozen yoghurt!
)
(Sunset at La Jolla)
(Sunset at La Jolla)
(Sunset at La Jolla)
(Sunset at La Jolla)
(Jenelle Arp--CA--new friend, yay!
)
(Jenelle, Shauna, myself & Brenda Woodward--CA--Brenda, another new friend!
)
(Sunset at La Jolla)
(The Sealkiller was happy at La Jolla [if you don't know the joke, just ask!
)
(Isn't God's creativity amazing?)
(Me being, well, me...
)
(Shauna & I hanging out with Gerdonna, an amazing lady who has been supporting tons of missionaries for YEARS--it was so encouraging staying with her and hearing her excitment over giving to the Lord!
)
(Ruby's on the Pier, where Shauna works...)
(Elizabeth Glovier--CA--best friend & roommate in Uni or college)
(Elizabeth has younger identical twin brothers named Jonathan & Joshua--just like my brother's kids!
)
(Lydia Arkelian--CA--friend I made last year upon my arrival back in the USA)
(Leslie Brier, Invisible the Monkey
)
(Leslie Brier--CA--friend I made last summer upon my arrival back in the USA)
(Elizabeth & her boyfriend, Mike)
(Yes, I took this photo while driving through Northern California...)
(Brian & Kelly Johnson & daughters--OR--friends from Moody)
(A stop in Oregon...)
(Bethany Dudenhofer--OR--friend from Moody & SMITH5)
(Crystal Strickler--OR--friend from Moody & SMITH5)
(Brenda Parsons--WA--friend I met through a friend from Moody.
)
(Amber Saldivar--WA--one of my best friends from Moody)
(We had a great, fun meal that night!
)
(Public Market--Pike Street Market--WA)
(Taxi Dog??? What???)
(Random band "on tour" in front of a shop in Seattle...)
(The original Starbucks)
(Seattle Skyline)
(We went to the Seattle Aquarium...
)
(Having too much fun...)
(Harbor Seals)
(This picture apparently captivated some random guy enough to take it too...why he'd want a pic of me I don't know, but whatever..
)
(Jellyfish!)
(Sherb & Lillian, the older couple that Amber lives with in WA)
(John & Sarah Doty--WA--John & I did Open Air Evangelism at Moody together!)
(The Stuart Range, WA)
(Some random "scenic stop" along the way to my next location--WA)
(Peter & Linda Stuart with their brand-new baby boy!!!
--WA--friends from Moody)
(Me holding their new baby! I arrived about six hours after he was born!)
(Random park in Idaho)
(Same random park in Idaho)
(Pretty mountains in Montana)
(Driving through Montana)
(I saw some antelope when I stopped along the road to photograph the mountains!
)
(Montana Traffic Jam!
)
(Taken through my passenger window while I drove along the Montana highway...
)
(And I thought Quincy, Florida was small!)
(Entering Wyoming--and I would say that driving into this valley was one of the most beautiful sights of this entire trip--unfortunately, I couldn't photograph it very well...)
(Random in Wyoming)
(With Brendali Bautista--CO--friend from Moody)
(Lamont Glasby--CO--former co-worker at Chick-Fil-A, now a church planter
)
(Driving from Denver to Colorado Springs)
(Pike's Peak as I drove along...)
(Garden of the gods)
(Lindie & me at the Balancing Rock in the Garden of the gods)
(Lindie was getting a haircut for a wedding she was attending, and we discovered that the American Idol auditions were being held in the mall that day...I'm not a fan, and neither is Lindie, so we were slightly amused and simply walked on...
)
(Adam & Lindie Patterson--CO--Lindie & I were aquaintances from Moody and I'm so glad to have gotten to know her a little bit that weekend!
)
(Sign in the old train station in Pueblo, CO, showing what it used to be like there..)
(Another...)
(While in Pueblo, CO, I discovered the roots of modern feministic movement!)
(Beautiful daughter of James & Amy)
(Double rainbow in James' backyard!
)
(The Dasher family--all of them!
)
(James & Amy Dasher & daughter--CO--James and I toured in the Continental Singers)
(The Arkansas River!!! I know my excitement might seem strange, but the first novel I wrote is based upon this River in the 1830's)
(And there was a snake just chilling there when I stopped for pics...)
(Arkansas River)
(Stockyards in Kansas)
(I stopped in Dodge City, Kansas for a breather--and Invisible the Monkey got to meet Miss Kitty!
)
(This brought back Chorale memories--we stopped there one afternoon on a drive through Kansas on some tour...)
(This cracked me up!)
(Sunset in Kansas)
(Sunset in Kansas)
(The Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas)
(Inside the Thorncrown Chapel)
(I would get SO distracted having church here...
)
(Uncle Don with one of his planes in his workshop--this is Mom's older brother, a twin, and the one she always told me picked on her the most. I asked if he had any fun stories of Mom and he couldn't think of any...
)
(They really do exist, at least in Eureka Springs!
)
(Sarah Newell and her boyfriend, John Michael--LA--After playing cards until 1:00 a.m.!)
(Sarah Newell was a freshman on my floor at Moody my senior year...one of my "girls"
)
(The Mississippi River)
(Hibiscus along the Mississippi)
And that is the end of my trip!
Thursday, 04 June 2009
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For Chet
Well, I'm in TX, staying my second (and sadly my last!) night with Amy, my "adopted sister."
I finally saw Australia the movie, and it was with Amy, so that was especially cool. Loved the movie (even if it wasn't actually ABOUT Australia!
), and will buy it some day... Anyhow...Here's a shot of Amy and me at her house. Enjoy.
punksealkiller
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- Name: Rita Juanita
- Country: United States
- State: Florida
- Metro: Tallahassee
- Birthday: 11/4/1981
- Gender: Female
- Member Since: 9/16/2005
