May 26, (year confidential)

Today… on this day… during an undisclosed year… my best friend in the whole wide world was born!

She’s the first person I run to (or skype to, I should re-phrase) when I need ANYTHING: love, comfort, advise, stress release, family news, encouragement, and to just plain talk.

She’s MY MOM!

She wasn’t always my best friend, in fact, we’ve had our ups and down (enter teenage years); but when I finally grew up and realized what a jewel I had in my midst it all changed.  Now we love spending time together (when I’m home on furlough) doing mother-daughter things and also friend-friend things.

This past home visit my mom lost her mom.  Though it was extremely difficult for all of us, and I was also losing my grandma, I think the hardest part of it for me was seeing my mom lose her mom.  She is the only girl with 4 brothers, and I know she had a very close relationship with her mom, just like I have with her.  My mom and my grandma share so many amazing qualities, but most importantly they are STRONG WOMEN OF GOD and they love they families with the same love that God loves us: UNCONDITIONALLY.

One day I pray and hope that I will be a mom too, and when that day comes I want to be a mom just like mine. I want to instill in my children all the morals and values that she imparted in us.  I want to make her proud to be not only my mom, but my best friend.

I LOVE YOU MOM!!! Though I’m not there to see you blow out your (undisclosed number) of candles, you know that I’m sending you a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY hug your way….

our favorite pastime when I was a child

Christmas w/my mom and sisters

Show my mom some birthday love today…..

Our Generation

I was skyping the other day with my childhood friend, Jodi, who just had her first baby… which led us to the topic of raising children… which led us to reminiscing about our childhood.

We both agree that we were soooo lucky to have been born when we were, still the “simpler” times, but leading into the “technology” era. Kids today have NOOOO idea what it was like without cell phones, email, SMS-ing, X-Box.. etc.  And while all those things have made our lives a bit easier (and lazier) we couldn’t resist wishing that our children could experience childhood as we did:

• When EVERY kid either walked to school or rode a bus… no parents driving them to and from school.
• Running home after school to ride bikes with your friends around the neighborhood and play kickball in the yard, until you knew it was time to come home for dinner.
• Rollerskating in the garage, pretending to be at a roller rink, with music booming from a boombox the size of a tire.
• Spending your Friday night at the actual Roller Rink.
• Making tents in the backyard out of blankets draped over the clothesline.
• SPUD. (if you don’t know that game, you definitely didn’t grow up in my generation)
• Spending 2 hours of your night out, driving around looking for your friends, because there was no way to contact them once your left the house. (but having a blast while you did it!)

While I could go on and on with my memories, the point is that even though we are only one generation away, we are truly WORLDS away… and while technology is a great thing, and I LOVE it, I also long for the simpler days of the past as well… when we got all our exercise from just living and being kids! 

Here I am feeding the ducks in the park with my dad (who will just LOVE that I posted this pic!), my grandma, and my aunt. (Or are we being attacked by them?!?)

Any special childhood memories of the simple times??? 

It’s that time of year!

Morning ritual:

6:22: alarm goes off (and I press snooze)

7 minutes later + another 7 minutes later: its ringing again

6:45: I’m finally up-ish. boil water for coffee. do morning stuff. 1st cup of hot coffee hmmmmmmmm

7:35: leave for school with 2nd cup of hot coffee in my take-away mug.

BUT WAIT!

Summer has arrived (or is slowly arriving) so I’m losing my 2nd cup of take-away hot coffee and replacing it with an iced-cafe when I get home!

Even as I’m sitting here typing this blog, I’m sippin on my Iced-cafe…

Anyone else as excited as I am for warm weather and Iced-cafe’s???

May 4th = Happy Star Wars Day!

May the Fouth Be With You!! Happy Star Wars Day everyone! 

I even changed my Iphone Wallpaper foto to Chewy in honor of this important holiday

Birthday Bliss

This past weekend I turned 36 (though if anyone asks me, I’m still 35!)

I was so blessed to have some wonderful moments:

A friend gave me a full-day at a spa up in Tiberias, right on the Sea of Galilee…. fantastic!

Cotton Candy on the Boardwalk

My annual picture with the T-Rex!

VIP Movie Night at Cinema City… I don’t think I can watch a movie in the “regular” section ever again! LOL

Dead Sea and Ein Gedi to top off the weekend! 

My Israel

This morning on my bus I saw a beautiful thing….

A woman from Ghana and her 2 year old son got on the bus and sat down next to a group of soldiers.  The little boy was coughing and obviously a bit sick and the woman was doing the best she could to comfort him.

One of the soldiers asked her where she was from (in English, figuring she probably didn’t speak much Hebrew).  She told him Ghana and he began speaking to her and her son… asking questions like, how old are you, how long have you been here etc. You could tell he was really good with kids, and kept talking with the little boy, trying to get him to smile.

After a couple minutes he pulled out of his backpack a bag of chips and gave it to the boy.  It was obvious by the boy’s reaction that he was beyond thrilled!  He even offered a chip back to the soldier (which was the cutest thing).

As I sat on the other side of the isle, watching this entire interaction, I thought to myself, “This is the Israel I know.”

Not the Israel, who takes the blame for almost everything negative happening in this region from the media-bashing…

Not the Israel, which is made to look like anti-Palestine monsters…

Not the Israel, who groups love to protest, even though most of them have never actually have been here themselves…

But, My Israel.  The Israel I know and love.  The Israel where you see real people doing loving things each and every day.

The Israel where you see Soldiers giving refugee kids chips on the bus….

The Israel where you see Israeli Doctors giving new hearts to neighboring Arab children, who cannot receive help from their own countries….

The Israel that sends a medical rescue team to every natural disaster in the world….

The Israel that continues to send tons of food, water, and supplies into the very same region that sends missiles into their country daily….

You might never hear about My Israel in the news, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist…. because I see it each and every day!

I finally found it…

For  a while now I’ve been on the lookout for something that’s been missing from my apartment. It’s a bit ironic that my apartment is lacking this particular item, since my landlord is an Orthodox Jew, but needless to say it’s been absent….

I’m talking about a mezuzah!

When I first moved to Israel, I blogged about my first experience with the mezuzah, and since then I have always had one wherever I lived…. except now.

Yesterday I headed over to Jerusalem to spend some time with my home church Pastor and his wife, who were here on a tour, and believe it or not I FINALLY found a mezuzah in the Old City that I really liked!

I decided to hang it on the doorpost of my bedroom instead of on the outside of my apartment (just to be on the safe side), but after I hung it I realized it was the perfect place for it.

I’m super happy with my new addition!

Star Wars Nerd with a Shoe Fetish

Over on the site, Fashionably Geek, they posted a picture of these:

The caption was, “If you’re a Star Wars nerd with a shoe fetish , you’ll love these Star Wars peep-toe pumps.”

I’m pretty sure, like 100%, they were talking to me specifically!

How do u like ur coffee?

My days of fru-fru coffee drinking are over.  While I was home on furlough, I was LOVING drinking all that flavored/Christmasy/holiday/Caribou coffee wonderfulness…..

Gingerbread lattes, Pumpkin Spices, Skinny White Mochas, Raspberry Northern Light Lattes, Peppermint Coffee Mate, Campfire Mochas……

But those days are over!

I’m back to drinking my strong, black coffee (with sugar!), since none of those other drinks exist here.  Even though my pallet is missing all the delicious flavors (I must admit) I am still happy with my black coffee.

So, here’s my question for all of you: how do u like ur coffee? What’s your SIGNATURE FLAVOR?

Let’s see how diversified my coffee-drinking friends are……

Saying Goodbye gets harder every time!

Tomorrow’s the day!  I am leaving the comfort of my family and friends in the US and return to the craziness of Israel….

I’ve been on furlough for the past month: spending time with my family, visiting friends and loved ones, sharing about my work in Israel, and mourning the loss of my grandma.  From Atlanta ✈ Kalamazoo ✈ Dallas ✈ Detroit ✈ Minnesota ✈ Wisconsin Dells ✈ New York… its been a whirlwind of traveling and emotions!

Usually after an entire month of being Stateside, I’m MORE THAN READY to return, but I’m just not there yet.  Maybe its emotions of losing my grandma and having to say goodbye to my family again that’s tugging at my ❤, so I’ll have to hang on to the memories from this trip even tighter…

Here are a few from my wonderful time at home:

Caribou Coffee ❤

Star Wars Monopoly with my mom and nephew

Mom and sisters

My nephew.... the big time skiier

The earmuff brigade

Cross-country skiing with my dad

My sister and I with our grandpa

The whole family at my grandma's funeral

Golden Globes Boredom

I haven’t watched the Golden Globes in forever, which I’m finding out isn’t really that big of a loss.  Since I happen to be in the states for another week, I decided to watch them last night…. and I was completely bored!

The show itself was difficult to watch all the way through, especially if you don’t know any of the shows or movies that were up for awards (except Glee, which I was happy won for TV show).  I was disappointed that the ONE movie I LOVED this year (Inception) didn’t win anything, and the fact the Leo wasn’t nominated at all must have made me a bit bitter too.

The one thing I ALWAYS love about these award shows is the Fashion! What girl doesn’t wish to get all dressed up in those amazingly expensive dresses!  So, even though I could’ve easily changed the channel to watch a re-run of anything else, I did enjoy watching the red-carpet pre-show.

Here’s my two favorite dresses: Anne Hathaway and Scarlett Johansson.  I think they both looked so elegant and sophisticated, and I would die to wear either of those dresses!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did anyone else trudge through the Golden Globes?

My (Dream) Tree Topper

Staying with the Star Wars Christmas Theme, I just wanted you all to know that I found my DREAM Christmas Tree Topper….

Soooo, if any of you are looking for last minute Christmas gifts to give me, “May the Force Be With You” as you search for my Future Yoda Tree Topper!

Modern Day Gingerbread Houses

Gingerbread “houses” have come a looooong way since the beginning of their existence (whenever that was).  You all know I’m a huge Star Wars Geek, so when I saw this Gingerbread ‘creation’ I HAD to post it!

(photo from Flickr)

If I were going to build a Gingerbread Creation, I would definitely aspire to something like this.  What would you build????

Who LOVES Candy Canes???

Thanks to my sis’s facebook post the other day, I’ve had Candy Canes on my mind ever since.  Then my other sister commented about liking the Jolly Rancher Candy Cane, and I was like…. WHAT!?! I’ve never even heard of that type of Candy Cane!

There are SOOOOO many new flavors of Candy Canes out there, and being away means I’ve been slacking on my Candy Cane Flavor knowledge.  I think the classic Peppermint Candy Cane might even be on the bottom of people’s flavor lists now.

I looked online to see what I’ve been missing and WOW! There’s a lot out there:  Hershey’s Chocolate Mint Canes (which sound amazing by the way), Starburst Strawberry Canes, Jolly Rancher Smoothie Canes, Sweet Tart Canes, Gobstopper Canes, Root Beer Canes, Cinnamon Canes, Butterscotch Canes ….. the list goes on and on.

So, I’m curious to know: What is your favorite Candy Cane Flavor??? Any Classic Peppermint Red/White Striped Lovers Still Exist?? It’s my Official Christmas Poll, so don’t be shy…..

(I’ll start it off: my favorite flavor is the Blueberry Flavored Cane with the Dark Blue/Light Blue stripes that leave you with a lovely shade of blue tongue and lips)

Thankful, Week 4: Thanksgiving

That’s right, I’m thankful for Thanksgiving!  Being an American while living in other countries and cultures can quite often lead to loosing some of your own culture and traditions and adopting others.  I’ve actually done this a lot in the various places I’ve lived, but the one thing that does not change or alter one bit is Thanksgiving!

No matter where you are in the world, or who you are with, on Thanksgiving there is probably a 99.9% chance that you are thinking/dreaming/longing for Turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries, Yams, and that oh-so-coveted PUMPKIN PIE!

It’s the one day of the year that all Americans come together, near and far, and celebrate our Thankfulness via a huge FEAST. Everything about Thanksgiving day makes me happy (and run to put on some sweat-pants), and if you’re like me and from Michigan, then there’s the bonus delight of watching our beloved Lions loose yet again

Ode to Thanksgiving…. the only holiday that makes me remember I am actually an American (which I tend to overlook 364 days of the year), and reminds me that I have SO MUCH in life to be truly thankful for!

NOW GO STUFF YOURSELF SILLY…. and remember not to wear jeans to the dinner table!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!