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Dovewithin.com ~ personal website of Korah Winn
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Monday, March 24, 2008 I've been working as an English
Literature teacher at Rock Falls High School for the past several weeks so the only reason I'm finally showing up here is that it is Spring Break and I don't have to think of grading or reading.
There has been so much to say lately and yet I've found that all I've done is work. I don't email anymore and rarely call people but by golly, those kids have gotten the best education I
could provide them with. :-) My thoughts next are to run away into isolation once the teacher I replaced returns in April. I'm thinking my grandparents extra home in Ollie, IA
(population 137) is the perfect spot for me to finish off my Master's thesis. Once I get that monkey off my back then it's on to new things. :::::::::::::::
Thursday, March 06, 2008 Teaching has pretty much made me
clear out my calendar to accommodate grading and catching up on the readings I'm to teach but I did do a little something for myself that made me feel like the old me. Last Sunday night I
read in a swing email that a new movie called "Public Enemies" is going to be shooting in Chicago in May and they need some dancers for some kind of ballroom scene. I fit the profile of what
they were looking for in women so I made the decision to call up Tigerlilie salon and make an appointment for after school to get my hair done 1930's
style. Angelica did my hair and she did an amazing job! Take a close look at this link: 1930's photos here. I felt like a
sculpture when she was working on me. The audition went super well and afterwards, me, my new friends and my dear friend Stephan all ran over to the Green Mill and danced until after one to
the sounds of the Alan Gresik big band. It was a stupendous evening and just what I needed to perk myself up a bit. Look through all the
pictures for a kick. :-) 
I felt awfully authentic :-)
::::::::::::::: Sunday, January 27, 2008 I was feeling a bit on the punky
side this weekend so I didn't get much accomplished but my big brag is that Grandpa Roger and I finally finished season one of Prison Break. It took us hours. It brought on
consternation. It caused me to say I must swear off getting TV series on DVD's from Netflix, but we accomplished what we set out to do. Season two comes after I finish the spring
semester. I mean that. I definitely mean that. ;-)
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Thursday, January 17, 2008 Happy day after your real
birthday, Roger.
Poor Roger. It was his birthday yesterday and I had resolved to call my former youth pastor and wish him a great day, but alas, I didn't get on the ball so I called him today. I teased him and told him I
should make his birthday present this update on my webpage since he teased me over Christmas about not updating since Trevor and Hilary's wedding. So here it is, Roger. Promise Kept. (Oh, and I told
Pastor Skipper you said hi, ;-) !!!Happy day after your birthday, Roger!!!
Coincidentally, today is Lisa Parchert's birthday but I don't have her new number so I'm going to take a quick break and send her a message since I'm on a rare birthday kick. I guess it's in my mind since
Grandma Bev is turning 70 on the 30th and I want to think of something really really special for her since she takes care of the whole family and yet her idea of being pampered is for someone else to fill and start
the dishwasher.
Ok, so I broke away and wrote Lisa and about 10 other people right after that. I'm soooooooo behind on emails. I don't have internet at Grandma's house so it seems like just about the time that I check my
email accounts and clear out the spam, I have just enough time to reply to the urgent emails then my hour on the computer at the public library is over. It's the rare occasion anymore that I get to bring my
laptop to church and use their wireless internet connection. Thank goodness for a technologically forward thinking pastor otherwise I'd never get any internet work done. It's odd saying that since in
Belfast I was connected practically 24/7. I didn't necessarily go through withdrawal once I got back to the states, but the weight of not responding to my emails is finally catching up to me. Poor Michael
& Jolie have had to wait months before I finally wrote them tonight and apologized for thinking of them but not writing. Thomas is probably going to get a hand written letter before he gets another email from
me since it's easier to write something at home and mail it than wait until I "find the time" to email. Then there's wonderful Shirley from China who wrote me a sweet note back in November and I finally kicked
something back to her tonight. (Le Sigh) Will I ever make time to tell all these wonderful people that I miss and care about them? Can't eat an elephant in one bite so I'll keep plugging away.
I'll finish this out with a quick shout out to Chuck. I've owed you an update for quite a while. I'll try to get the story I wrote for you up here as soon as I type it out. So, ummm, in conclusion,
ummm... Happy New Year, All.
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Sunday, November 4, 2007 !!!Congratulations to Trevor and Hilary for getting
married today!!! I finally got to visit Alaska. I've wanted to come here since I was thirteen years old when we studied the
Aurora Borealis in Science and Trenner gave me the nickname Koraborealis (which
Andrea Martin calls me to this day. :-) After I saw pictures of the Northern Lights I was entranced and wanted to see them with my own eyes. To me, never having seen the Aurora Borealis is the equivalent
of living an entire life without seeing a sunset. I dearly wanted to remedy that situation. Alas, it is my last evening in Anchorage and I have yet to see the amazing display. But... I shall not go
home in tears, oh no! I have had an AMAZING trip. I have been treated as good as gold during my time here. The reason I am here is for Hilary. We met in Guadalajara and hit it off immediately.
We planned that I would one day come and visit her in Anchorage and her wedding was an appropriate time to come. :-)
Her family, Trevor's family, their friends, their church members and Darren, Eric, Sean & Jodi have bowled me over with their kindness towards me during this trip. What wonderful people. I was in shock
today as Laura and her mother even gave me a going away present after we all met at Hilary's bridal shower and really connected.
Where do I even begin? I spent much needed quality time with Hilary. I got to watch her glow in the days coming up to her and Trevor getting married. I got to go on a pumpkin scavenger hunt through
Anchorage. I got to hang out with Jolie at Nordstroms and a chocolate lounge. Michael made us moose tacos. I became addicted to the hilarious show
the IT Crowd. Darren showed me Anchorage from the Crow's Nest and also grilled the best moose burgers I will probably ever taste. Sean & Jodi let me hang with them on Halloween and let me read stories
to their adorable Molly. I went to Hilary's bachelorette party. I got to ride a limo van to Girdwood. Eric let me borrow his kayak and he, Darren and myself successfully crossed the inlet with
snowcapped mountains looming in the distance. I was able to see Trevor and Hilary make their life long vows to each other. I could go on and on. This trip has been a dream come true. It's been
my last big BANG before settling down into a solid life with roots again. What a way to go out. :-) I'm going to leave tomorrow with a huge grin on my face and more books than what I came with.
;-)
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Monday, October 22, 2007 This past week was quite a bit busier than I
anticipated it being and I had hardly a moment to kick back which was good although I'm quite behind on emails at the moment. I've been spending lots of time with Mom which is what I was here for. Monday
was the visit to the Grand Canyon. I was pretty excited to get to see it in real life. Better than the pictures. We took the
train from Williams all the way to the canyon. We grabbed a nice meal while we were there then continued to view the "huge hole in the ground." It was a very good day. In the parking lot at
Williams, two bumper stickers juxtaposed caught my attention. When we got back to Prescott Valley, it was late so
Grandma Gerri stayed one more night. :-)
Today Mom convinced me to go shopping. I was dragging my feet because I don't like dealing with aimless wandering waiting for items to jump out at me. Mom convinced me that I need to look into getting a
sharp business suit though since I'm transitioning out of student life and back into the work force. Left to my own devices, I don't know if I would have gotten on the shopping ball, but Mom gave me the
necessary umph to look through the racks at Kohls until I actually found a couple items that I turned out to be quite pleased with. Ok, I have to stop. I'm writing about shopping. Ugh. There's
something in me that says I should be writing about a million other things instead of S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G. I'm actually going to stop here because I only had a few minutes to do this since I've been running with
little time. Apologies apologies ;-)
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Saturday, October 13, 2007 Well, my lap top has put up with a lot for the past
two years. It's been my constant companion and my right hand many a time. Unfortunately, I've been a punishing mistress and I've allowed it to get so jam packed that it keeps imploring me with bubble
messages to free up disk space. FREE UP DISK SPACE. It got to the point where I literally had less than 100MB's of free space, gasp! I wrote a friend this week and told him that this was how I
explained the situation to my Grandma Gerri. "Grandma, pretend that the space I have on my computer is 25 jugs of milk. Up until today, all of them were
full except for one half cup out of the very last one. I now have two jugs out of the 25 empty. Still not good, but much better than only having one half cup free."
The good news in all of this is that I went through my pictures (the biggest culprit of my space clogging) and I deleted many photos, but not before putting my favorites up on Google's Picasa (the link is on the left
hand side of this page and here under "new photography"). Some of my favorite pictures were from Sweden because it was all about nature there. :-)
Beeeeeeeuuuuuuuuuuuuuteeefulllllll. I loved Sweden. The specific link to those pics is
here. While in Sweden, I got to go on a great walk with two friends and we picked wild blueberries along the pathway. The sun
shone over us and the forest, then later the waters spread out in front of us and it was just right. I love nature. So even though I got to see some amazing European cities this past summer, it was an
even greater joy to see the Swedish countryside and also to hang out in Connemara in the Republic of Ireland. Don't get me wrong, I had
great friends to see the cities with, but it was the people that made the experiences for me, not the cities themselves. I'm too much of a nature girl at heart to get excited about lots of places to shop.
I'd rather there be more trees where malls are. Anyway, in more current news, I'm pretty excited to go visit the Grand Canyon for the first time this coming Monday. Oh, and my Northern Ireland
presentation for the Lake Havasu City Rotary Club went really well. A guy made my day afterwards when he told me that I helped recharge his batteries about Rotary because I reminded him about what Rotary is
accomplishing around the world. That meant so much to me because Rotary has given me so much and I want to give back to them as much as I possibly can.
I've been getting to read a few more pleasure books than I normally would while doing academic reading. I'm all into purging possessions so I got rid of three books this week. Today I mailed Kinder's
Delaying the Real World to Michael then I exchanged Cather's My Antonia and Tenney's God Chasers for $4.50 worth of credit at a Lake Havasu City book exchange store. Unfortunately (more
possessions)/Fortunately (books are cool), I bought one gardening book at the Salvation Army and three books in the exchange store. One was Orwell's 1984 and the other two were about herbs.
I anticipate I'll keep one if not both of the herb books, but I'll purge the other two once I'm done with them.
I'm so keen on planting a vegetable and herb garden this spring. I want to GROW stuff now that I'm surrounded by land where I can do so. I want to grow yummy vegetables and be able to make my own salads
from spinach leaves I grew and add spices to meals from herbs that I carefully tended. Yay, growing stuff is so cool! Grandma Bev planted a basil plant for me in Illinois after she visited me in Belfast.
It grew all summer and I made my very first cuttings from it once I came home because Russell told me it was possible. I gave my first one to Ashly but I don't know if I let the root system get big enough or if
I over-watered it in the beginning but it's not doing so well. Oh, well, there are always more cuttings. :-)
I'm off to mom's tomorrow. It's been a wonderful week with Grandma Gerri and Dewey. Now I'm thoroughly spoiled to be turned over to my mother. It's a luxury to be spoiled so I didn't put up a
fight about it happening. :-)
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Wednesday, October 03, 2007 Ok, quick catch up
I came home. Yep I'm home in the United States now (but "how long is now?" is what is repeatedly asked of me.) I arrived safely and soundly in Illinois on September
11th. I spent the first three weeks sans a stable internet connection, but with a lot of family love getting poured on me. It's killing me not to be able to be in communication with K,
E, H, D and J back in Northern Ireland though. Almost everybody has mobile phones instead of land lines now and I can't afford the 25 cents per minute it cost to call. I left for
Arizona yesterday to go see momma and grandma G. and I plan to head out to see my lovely friend HM on the 24th and attend her and T's wedding in Anchorage.
Sooooooo much has happened since my summer trips and yet oddly enough...
THIS is what got me to finally open Microsoft FrontPage and update
the fact that I'm home. I also think the fact that I'm in Yuma at a hotel and there is wireless internet here definitely improved the chances of me finally updating. Anyway, the link "THIS"
is about the most ridiculous game I have seen in ages. It makes me want to shake my fist at Christians who capitalize on unchecked consumerism in some followers of Christ. The kind of
people who would buy special edition monopoly if the manufacturers of it chose to come out with a "Bible/Jesus" version of the game. Somehow some of the Christian buyers get the idea in
their minds that if they buy items branded with "Jesus" then they are directly supporting Him instead of seeing that they are getting manipulated by people who just want to make a couple bucks off
of them. Joel Osteen (have you looked at the link yet?) turning his positive Christian thinking book into a game was just so disgusting to me that it forced me into writing about it.
If he wants to make money off of people with that much unabashed solicitation then that is between him and God but I'm not going to just sit back and let the whole world think that all Christians
find this to be a normal and to be encouraged kind of pursuit.
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Summer 2007 I wrote page after page in my notebook while I
was traveling but I haven't made time to type them out since I got home August 8th. Julius (the person who sat next to me during my flight from Stockholm in Brussels) is the only person
who has read any of this so it's about time I got it out. I'll try to put it in order at some point but for right now I'm just going to type otherwise I'm afraid it won't get out here
because all my time is going towards my dissertation and saying goodbyes to friends. Mmmm, life is good. Here goes...
29Jul2007
The early morning mists spread out over the plains in Sweden while the straight pine trees keep orderly fashion in the background. Foxes trek from field to field and elks play games on
the humans by being present but hiding themselves in the forests. It's hard for them to stay hidden if they venture out though because early morning light starts exposing them as early
as three in the morning. Sweden is dotted with red homes outlined in white trim and nestled cozily into nature. Seeing them makes me miss the Midwest with its faded red barns
leftover from days when farms were the work place AND residence of families. The impact of the Swedish pioneers in America is clearer to me now as their landscape and homes make me feel
comfortable and not quite as far away from my roots as I actually am. It brings me some peace to look out on a landscape that is familiar even though it's new. I can see why Swedes
chose areas like Minnesota and Wisconsin to pioneer. It wasn't home but it was close enough to it so that perhaps they could look out at an early morning mist and convince themselves for
a few brief moments that they were not thousands of miles away from the country of their birth. 29Jul2007
One thing I have a hard time stomaching is when people in service related positions care so little for human beings that they won't even give you full information because they can't be
bothered to explain details to you. My example of the day is when I went to the camp registration office and told the girl there my situation of only needing to go from Herrang to
Stockholm then Stockholm to the Bromma airport. Instead of taking the time to help me get a smaller increment, she sold me a whole batch of bus passes that I didn't need. It would
have taken her two extra minutes to search for a smaller batch. I didn't know any better at the time so I didn't stick up for myself and only found out later from another girl how much I
had been ripped off. It wasn't out of greed the girl did it, it was plain apathy. She just didn't give a care that she could have
saved me a nice chunk of money. What did it matter to her that I lost out? If she sold me something then that meant I was out of her face.
Ok, lot's more written but I gotstuh get back to work. ;-) :::::::::::::::
Friday, July 13, 2007
Just wanted to warn you to not waste your time checking here for the next three and a half weeks. I'm going away. I leave for Madrid tomorrow then I'm off to
Stockholm, Prague, Barcelona then Dublin. I'll write down stories while I'm gone. It's going to be a blast. Yay for cheap flights across Europe!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Woke up today singing this song. Forgot just how much I enjoy it. You know your kicks just keep getting harder to find,
And all your kicks ain't bringing you peace of mind,
Before you find out it's too late, girl
You'd better get straight
You think you're gonna find yourself a little piece of paradise,
But, it ain't happened yet, so now you'd better think twice,
Don't you see, no matter what you do,
You'll never run away from you
If you keep on running, you'll have to pay the price. You thought you found the answer on that magic carpet ride last
night,
But, when you wake up in the morning, the world still gets you uptight,
Well, there's nothing that you ain't tried
To fill the emptiness inside,
But, when you come back down, you still ain't feeling right.
Don't it seem like, kicks just keep getting harder to find,
All your kicks ain't bringing you peace of mind,
Before you find out it's too late,
You'd better get straight. by "Here they come, walkin' down the street. Get the funniest looks from, everyone they
meet."
:-)
Aw, just for fun let's sing this one too. Where's an electric guitar when you need one? I I I I I'm not your
stepping stone
I I I I I'm not your stepping stone
You're trying to make your mark in society
You're using all the tricks that you used on me.
You're reading all those high fashion magazines
The clothes you're wearin' girl are causing public scenes.
I said
I I I I I'm not your stepping stone
I I I I I'm not your stepping stone
Not your stepping stone,
Not your stepping stone.
When I first met you girl you didn't have no shoes
Now you're walking 'round like you're front page news.
You've been awful careful 'bout the friends you choose
But you won't find my name in your book of Who's Who.
By Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart
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Monday, July 09, 2007
New pictures finally. They're old pictures at this point. I finally put together a preview of my trip to Italy with
Janice and Kathryn. Italy was sooooooooooo lovely. I absolutely want to go back again. The food was as great as everyone says it is. You know how every city has a mix match
of Chinese, Italian, American, Indian, etc. restaurants? Well in Milan, most of the restaurants were Italian and I think that says something great about the food that the people of the area
want to it preferentially over other types of food. Gelato... mmmmmm. Got to go to the Leonardo Da Vinci Museum of Technology. Man was that guy prolific. There was exhibit
after exhibit of his inventions. I heard one time that Leonardo was said to have made a sketch for a bicycle but never did anything with it. The moral of the story being; a good idea
without implementation is meaningless. That one stuck with me. :::::::::::::::
Wednesday, July 04, 2007 Kathryn got married today and she looked absolutely
fantastic. Some women just look like a dressed up version of themselves but Kathryn was transformed into this absolutely stunning bride. It was cool to see the transformation.
The weather has been rainy for the past month, but even though the day started off dark, the sun came through in time for her wedding and the pictures at the reception at Belfast castle.
Everything went off without a hitch, from the music to the speeches to the tears in her dad's eyes as she was driven off with Errol. Beautiful day.
I missed fireworks though. What can I say... it's the American in me. It's the second year in a row too. :-(
At least my N.I. friend Dessie went to the States for the fourth. He promised to salute the flag for me. :-) My country 'tis of thee...
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Monday, July 02, 2007 I know that it's
blackberry season back home right now and it's one of my most favorite times of the year. I hate missing out on it. I love how little things happen though that cause you to feel as
though God is looking out for you and planning small surprises just to bring some joy and affirmation. I was walking to Stormont park a couple of days ago to go for a run and on my way there
I looked at the hedge and noticed that there were some raspberries growing in the underbrush. They were just becoming ripe. I picked a couple ones that were ready and then went for my
run enjoying the taste of a berry from the wild. (And don't worry, these were berries that would be left for the birds. I'm not stealing them out of someone's yard.) Over the
next couple of days, each time I would go for a run or walk, I would collect some berries on the way home as a little treat. I felt like God remembered how much picking berries at home means
to me and since I can't be there now this was a little pick me up. Life is so good.
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Friday, June 29, 2007 I have to say you have it really rough in life when you
have more invitations to go around the emerald isle visiting places and people than you have time to accept. Rough stuff. ;-)
Dad promised to pick some blackberries for me and freeze them for when I come home!!!!!!!!!!!!
Got some sad news this week. A friend of mine was possibly going to get to come on Monday but everything fell through at the last minute so that means good and bad. Good, I'll have
more time to work on my dissertation before my trips begin July 14th. Bad, I'll be stuck in my room until July 14th concentrating mostly on my dissertation. Kathryn's wedding is coming
up on Wednesday though so that is a major high point. :-) My other sad news is that Wednesday was my last day volunteer teaching English with NICRAS because the students are enrolling
in a six week summer course so I won't get to see them again until the 8th or possibly 15th of August. I'll miss them. We always have a good time.
I came across a poem I found quite a few years back. When I first read it, it made me step back for a moment to take in what it was saying and what the author truly wanted to communicate.
“I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a
cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the
womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please." Source: Wilbur Rees, from "When I Relax I Feel Guilty" by Tim
Hansel.
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Wednesday, June 27, 2007 I haven't moved on with the times. I realized
this just recently when I read a story about a guy visiting Argentina and he noticed that there was a big buzz going on in the restaurant he was eating in. He asked the waiter what was going
on and the waiter told him that his president's daughter was sitting at a back table with some of her friends. My immediate thought was "Chelsea Clinton in Argentina???"
Either I haven't moved on with the times or the Bushes have done an excellent job of keeping their kids out of the limelight. (I think I haven't move on. ;-)
My friend Hilary in Alaska might just be getting married soon. I'm really excited for her. I love her to pieces and wish her the best. Hmmm, I wonder what a ticket from Chicago
to Anchorage would cost?
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Monday, June 25, 2007 This is a quote from C. S. Lewis' book "Mere Christianity"
Wouldn't I be a happy camper if I could just get this down. Page 154 - "That is why the real problem of the Christian life
comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each
morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on,
all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind." I guess what Dr. Samuel
Johnson said has even more bearing given that I don't have my act together yet. "People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed." :::::::::::::::
Friday, June 15, 2007 I got up this morning and realized that I had some
leftover strawberries in the refrigerator that I needed to use up. I decided to put them in my cereal. As I was cutting them, I thought about why I would put strawberries in cereal in the first place.
I realized it was because when I was a child, I remember seeing commercials that had children with
bowls of cereal with bright, red strawberries in them and I remember feeling left out because my mother never did that for me. I wanted fruit in my cereal too for goodness sake! That then caused me to
think about how much television places wants and desires in children's heads. Without those commercials, I would have felt perfectly content with my normal, plain cereal. After seeing though that other
kids got special, strawberry preferential treatment, I was jealous and felt a little put out that my mom apparently didn't care enough about me to make my breakfast as fun and delicious as those other kids.
That's a light-hearted example of the power of TV over children but I am certain if I thought harder I could come up with much more insidious ones.
It's weird how good can come from from a culture that pushes so hard to fulfill unconscious, (on the part of the viewer) created desires. Until today, I could have never told you that the reason I wanted fruit
in my cereal was because I was trying to compensate for a childhood bereft of it. (Small grin.) My generation's insatiable desire for Care bears, pogo
balls and slap bracelets gave countless jobs to some Americans and probably many more Chinese people, then allowing them to buy even more of their
conscious and unconscious desires. And so goes the cycle. My childhood discontent/adulthood overcompensation has probably provided a fieldworker with a job picking berries which will then give her more
money to go and get the things she is told she needs. Oh, TV, how I disdain you and find you useful at the same time. My country (and probably my accent) wouldn't be what they are today without you.
What does it really matter? I have no reason to be angry with you. You're only a tool. If I'm going to be angry, I should be mad at myself and my countrymen for the times we misuse you to fill some
needs in our lives whether they be valid or invalid ones. Sorry for dissing on you earlier. I'm just so much more fond of your cousin the Internet.
My musings bring me to the conclusion that I won't let my kids watch much TV... but I will put berries in their cereal. ;-)
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Go on Loving You
by Brenton Brown, Brian Doerksen, Joyce Doerksen
This is my prayer, this is my cry
I want to go on loving You
All through the joy, all through the fire
I want to go on loving You
I want to go on loving You
Seasons will change, people depart
I want to go on loving You
In times of pain, when life is hard
And when the journey seems so long
I want to go on loving You
Your love for me, new as the dawn
older than time
Stronger than death, greater than life
this love is mine
In everything, through all of my life
I want to go on loving You
This is my prayer this is my cry
I want to go on loving You
I want to go on loving You
1998 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing
CCLI Song No. 2678171
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Thursday, June 14, 2007
I finished a notebook recently. It's always a bit momentous when a
notebook's last pages are finished. The stories my notebook tell are ones of traveling through the interior of Mexico, being a primary school teacher in Mexico, lesson plans, a list for Hilary and numerous ones
for myself, recipes for: Banana Pancakes, Pumpkin cookies, and lime potatoes, my leeches, addresses of the people I wanted to come to my graduation, preparation lists to move to Northern Ireland, finding my feet in
Belfast, songs I am going to buy: Joe Cocker-With a Little Help From My Friends, Patti Griffin-Time Will Do the Talkin', Van Morrison-Moon Dance, Randy Travis-King of the Road, Joe Williams-Smack Dab in the Middle,
Frim Fram Sauce-Diana Krall, lyrics to a song I heard and scratched out so I could play it on the guitar, notes for my N.I. presentation for when I come back to the states and list after list of things to do, think
of doing, wanting to do, might do, have to get done, wouldn't it be nice if I had time. The end of a notebook means going through all the things that have meant enough to me in the past fifteen months to write
down. Some of them make it into my computer to live on, others got ripped out today and made their way to the garbage bin outside my apartment. Some of the pages that had some meaning I will share here so
that they don't just get lost in oblivion on my computer. Here's one of the first ones back from April 1, 2006: pre-Belfast For the past
seven years I have been traveling across states and countries and living life fully. After living this way for so long, I can truly say my life has no significance if God is not in it. If I am not
following Jesus and living a life that pleases God, then all my actions are utter futility in an eternal perspective. The thought struck me today that if all my plans for the summer fell apart and if I lost my
scholarship for Belfast, what would I do. I fantasized about getting some basic job in a factory where I had no responsibility for anyone. I would just do my job, get paid and then go home and be with my
family. I realized that if I were to choose this course, I would be running away. This would be turning my back on the path God currently has me on. He has trained me through circumstances to be a
sojourner. For how long, I don't know. He has me traveling and for me to run right now to the comfort and security of home would be running away from the responsibility of seeking Him daily to ask,
"What's my next step, Lord?" It's interesting to me to read those words written over a year ago now. Now, as I look to the future, I
have a peace about coming home. I find comfort in knowing I will find a job to work hard at and I will have my family close to me. If I had done that before now, I would have been missing out on what God
had for me here in Belfast. I've learned so much and changed in ways I will probably only understand after I get back to my own country and settle back into life there. Timing makes such a difference.
I have different skills and opinions to offer after all this time spent in Mexico and Northern Ireland. Each country I have visited opened my eyes a bit wider whether it showed me Orthodox Christianity in
Greece or DaVinci in Italy. It showed me that little girls in Catalonia are the same as little girls in Iowa and that stereotypes of the French are just that, stereotypes - sometimes they hit, oftentimes they
miss. Home is more treasured now than when I left it. I still am a sojourner and doubt greatly that my coming home in September will change that, but at least I have peace that for the next year I'm gonna
quit these ramblin' ways and rest my feet for a wee bit. There's an awful lot of good in that.
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Monday, June 11, 2007 My most recent Rotary update
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Friday, June 8, 2007 Well, grades are in. My harebrained scheme got me an A and A- so I am
pretty delighted over that. Of course behind the harebrained scheme was countless hours of prep work before I sat down and wrote the papers. The combination paid off and that means I am officially 2/3rds
of the way through my Master's degree. Woo-hoo!
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Friday, May 4, 2007 Me + Any harebrained scheme that involves me not sleeping in
order to get work done =
not a bright idea (even though I inevitably convince myself to retry it over and over. ;-)
Circa 3:48 a.m. Word count 2,377 Coming into round nine. (Hee hee)
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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 "Yes, you're richer than me and that probably makes your life easier than mine,
but that doesn't necessarily make it better." For Greece pics click here.
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Monday, April 30, 2007 Grandma went home today. I think she had a great
time, in fact she told me she did. That makes me happy. She deserves the best this world has to offer. We went hundreds of miles while she was here. She hit Dublin, London and Belfast in a
period of time so short it made my head spin. Thank God for grandmas. 
At the Limavady Rotary club on Wednesday, April 25th
Paul Hutchinson, Sam Connelly, Me & Grandma 
Getting blown around in front of Dunluce Castle
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Sunday, April 29, 2007 Errol taught me a new phrase today. We were talking
about Grandma going home tomorrow and he said to me "It's back to porridge." I really like that phrase. Yep, come Monday it's back to porridge. :-)
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Sunday, April 22, 2007 !!!G-Day has arrived!!!
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Saturday, April 21, 2007 Today, a grandmother is leaving the United States of
America to fly to the Republic of Ireland. An expectant granddaughter will be awaiting her at "Meeting Place" as she leaves the airport terminal to be greeted by hugs and kisses and exclamations of delight.
Here's a toast to a week of memory making in the emerald isle.
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Saturday, April 21, 2007 To my friend who asks with arms and legs flailing in
the air, "Do I look crazy to you?"
- No, no you don't. ;-) On the banks of the Rock River
Passed a moment that I love much
As we witnessed the sun setting
And the river flowing onward.
All the busyness that breaks us
Sat forgotten on the back porch
As we relished in our sweet songs
And the good times to be had then.
Not a moment can be taken
Not a memory forgotten
From that night that was so simple
And the forest that was so dark
With the campfire burning brightly
'Til its' life it then surrendered
As the night closed out the day that
We still yet remember fondly.
::::::::::::::: Friday, March 20, 2007
I was thinking of my future last night and I was grateful that I don't serve a capricious god. God doesn't set down one set of rules for me to live by and then switch them
on me for His own amusement. He is faithful and unchanging even when I am unfaithful and double-minded. He is quick to get me back into a right relationship with Him when
desires for things less important than Him take root in my life and choke out His life in me. He is slow to flare up at me for my
cheatin' heart against Him when my actions say that I love praise, security and diversion more than Him. When He has shown anger to me it has been that of a father who loves his daughter enough to discipline her
when she's on a path that will make her a grumbler or easily influenced to do wrong. Better to have a parent who
will rebuke me when I'm doing wrong than one who hides their love away from me by not bothering to correct me. God hasn't changed the rules on me and hasn't failed me. Just because I don't have every single
thing I desire in my life, it doesn't mean He's switched what He said. I heard a story once about two teenage boys who took a dollar bill and smeared dog poop on one side of it then they took it to a busy park to
watch people delight to find unexpected money then they would watch their disgust as they found out it was a purposeful trick played on them by someone unseen. I can't think of an illustration more far away from
God's character than that. I want to remember when I feel disappointed, God is faithful and loving. I want to live a life showing reverence and faithfulness to God. He doesn't play tricks on us. He loves us.
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Monday, April 9, 2007 For Greece pics click
here. It's very easy to get spoiled when you get to travel to a
country where you don't speak the language but you visit a bilingual family and travel with them. All of a sudden language problems go poof and you've got an insider's view into the country and its' culture and
history. I count myself very fortunate that I have a lovely, bilingual Greek-American friend named Anna who invited me to visit her in Greece for a few days over Easter break. She's been visiting her dad
and brother there for a few months so she said I should come and see Greece while she was there and could be my guide. That sounded like a wonderful idea to me so I hopped on a bus to Dublin on the 4th of April
then flew into Zurich for a four hour layover before finally making my way to Greece. Since Anna's dad and brother had vacation time, they had planned on us all going deeper into Greece to enjoy a different
part of the country. It's been an amazing whirlwind tour. We arrived in Meteora (May TAY or uh) on Thursday but took time to visit a Spartan battlefield before arriving. We explored Meteora's
monasteries the next day and finished Good Friday in Trikala (TREE kah lah) holding lit candles in a Greek Orthodox procession into the center of the city to commemorate what Christ had to suffer. Saturday was
spent driving through snow covered mountain tops while we made our way to the mountain village of Metsovo (MAYT so vo). On Easter Sunday, we ate lamb in Elath (ay lah TEE) since lent had finished. We
finished the evening in a tiny village where a cousin of Anna's father was staying for the weekend with his family. We could see Mt. Olympus in the distance. On Monday, we slept in and then hit the road
back to Athens but not before visiting Delphi to round out the trip. That's the skeleton of the trip but there are tons of little stories that
combine together to breathe life into the trip. Firstly, the Greece in my mind was one of white washed homes with vivid blue outlining and cupolas. Ancient architecture featured dominantly in my mind too.
Those things are most definitely a part of Greece but the Greece I got to see wasn't one of its' islands; it was its' mainland and its' mountains. I saw a Greece in bloom with wild flowers sprinkled through the
countryside.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2007 If you are ever feeling
sad and need a little pick me up, just go to this page and click on the highlighted words "The Littlest Birds" and you'll see a video that will make you tap your feet
and put a smile on your face. "I'm gonna quite these ramblin' ways one of these days..."
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Monday, March 19, 2007
Bank holiday today in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. St. Patrick's Day was Saturday so people are supposed to be allowed Monday off work. Queen's University
is closed, Catholic schools are closed, Protestant schools are open. Kathryn and Melanie still have to go to work while I was given the day off. I've been told no other bank holidays are treated in this
manner here. I feel sorry for all the people who flew to Belfast to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in grand style on the Emerald Isle. The city isn't exactly (diplomatic phrase following) unified in its support of the holiday.
I met quite a few people here who don't celebrate it whatsoever. The Catholic/Protestant divide kept people from sharing the holiday in Northern Ireland. It's funny to me how people in numerous and unique
(some with absolutely no Irish roots)
places on this planet celebrate this holiday (e.g. Japanese students in a bilingual school in Okinawa pinching each other for not wearing green) just for the fun of it and yet there are quite a few people here for
whom
March 17th is just another day and they certainly wouldn't be donning the color green for the occasion.
Joe was kind enough to take me to the coast of Donegal today. He was off because of the bank holiday so we made a quick run for the coast even though the weather had turned
winter on us all of a sudden. We left at nine and drove past Enniskillen and hit coastal towns like Ardara and Gweedore. But my
favorite time was when we stopped at Cruit Island and took a moment to brave the winds and step out on the low tide beach. I wrote my friend
Judy today and told her it was gut punchingly beautiful there. The wind was whipping sand up and the waves were wicked and there wasn't a soul in sight (they were inside the golf club ;-) Great day, great
views and great conversations. It's a memory I'm filing away under "appreciate these times." :::::::::::::::
Rural Ireland is soon to be, if not already is, a thing of the past. Modernization strikes everywhere.
Come and see the scenery while there's a wee bit left to be seen that's not blocked by a vacation home.
(But don't stay in a thatched roof house. Only complete and utter tourists stay in them.
You'll get snickered at right after you're handed the keys. ;-) :::::::::::::::
Friday, March 16, 2007
Last night the Hutchinson's brought me over to their home again for supper. They're so lovely. They
invited a friend of their's named Mandy to also come. She was incredibly easy to talk to so the night went faster than I could imagine. We sat by the fireplace in their drawing room and chatted the night
away.
This morning I had to run some errands and one of them was to aid my addiction to Fred's Homepride Tikka Masala. I've fallen head over
heels for it for months now. I went to the only place I know where to find it (Spar's on Malone Rd.) and I bankrupted the store of its supply of it. I'm hoarding the jars for when grandma comes so that I
can send some back with her to hold me over for a couple months after I get home. Why not buy American Tikka Masala sauce you say... because it's not Fred's Homepride. I'm loyal. ;-)
I also got a fantastic surprise today when I checked my email and saw that my cousin Jamison had written me a great note. This meant tons to me because one thing I feel God's been teaching me about since I got
here is just how important family and roots are. Blood means a lot and though I've never lost sight of that, I haven't always given it the priority it deserved while I was off adventuring for the past several
years. My plans for the coming year are going to be to try to get a job close to my family so that I can really invest in them. I'm really happy for this opportunity. I'm also grateful to God to see
other members of my relatives making stronger connections also, e.g. Jamison, Jonas and Missy. The year to come will be a great one filled with a lot more weekend trips to visit cousins and aunts. :::::::::::::::
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Finally I learned it. I think I've probably aimed at it for maybe eight years now since I first got interested in kayaking. Today I did my very
first kayak/Eskimo roll. I was ecstatic. It's such an empowering feeling to be totally stuck underneath the kayak and submerged in water and then you find the magical way of twisting your paddle correctly
and flicking your hips and all of a sudden you're on top of the water, breathing air again and feeling a whole lot less helpless. Yessssssssssssssssss!!!! :::::::::::::::
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