More gift ideas for Stephen!

Peace, love, blessings!

Nice picture, Lisa! When you learn to play an instrument, it's something you'll always have.

I've been trying to think of other things I might want to add to my list of things I might want to have for Christmas. I got my truck back from the mechanic the day before my birthday. I'd been doing without it since around Labor Day so I could save up some money. When I blew the head gasket in South Carolina, two mechanics told me to put radiator stop leak into the radiator. Apparently, that stop leak gummed up everything. The mechanics were able to clean it up to the point that it doesn't overheat anymore, but they couldn't save the coil for the heater and it would be a thousand dollars in parts and labor to replace the part. I've been doing without a heater anyway for a few years, because I didn't want to fix something else that was keeping it from heating. It's not like I need a heater in Georgia, but it would be nice to have a heater that I could plug in just for once in a while.

Then there's that green backpack that Joy and Michael have been telling me I orter replace. All the seams are coming unravelled and there's not much left to the top flap but the straps. Still, it serves it's function. I wouldn't mind getting a new one, though.

I was taking Spanish classes for a little while at the senior center until they found out I wasn't a senior and I haven't been studying Spanish at all for most of this year. I'd like to get back into it, but I don't have Spanish-speaking friends who don't speak good English, and there just isn't that much of an incentive, especially when I have other things to do. However, I would like to get a maintenance and construction Spanish-English dictionary: Terms for tools, hardware, materials, and procedures.

I guess that's all for now. I don't mean to be begging. I really can get all these things for myself. Talking about the material things that I might want and need seems like a good way to share a little bit about the way I live and the things I think about. I used to ask for big things. Now I'm more concerned about not having more than I can accommodate.

Wisdom and Happiness,
Stephen

AJ playing his trumpet

Here's a little video of AJ playing his trumpet with band. The parents were invited to sit with their children and see what they have learned since October. He goes to the Baptist School twice a week to practice. The American missionary that runs the band there has been here for over 25 years! It's great that she lets kids join who don't attend that school. This is beginner band and hopefully AJ will continue on to the intermediate next school year. So far it's really easy for him since he had lessons last year. Good he's not stressed about practicing.

Hope you are all well and are getting excited about Christmas. We're lucky to have neighbors with lots of decorations and lights!

Love,
Lisa

Greetings!

Dear Family,

It was a close game, but the Falcons came out on top of the Packers last Sunday. I was also happy to see the Bears beat the Eagles, even though it put the Packers in second place.

Thanksgiving in Atlanta turned out to be a beautiful and relaxing day. This weekend has been rainy and gray: Great weather for music and writing; not so good for scraping and painting.

I'm thinking about what I might like to have for Christmas or the Fourth of July. It's true that I have not replaced most of the tools that were stolen last March. I'm not that interested in having a big collection of tools again. I can get tools and hardware items at a discount, although they're still not necessarily cheaper than Wal-mart or Home Depot. One thing that I can't get at the hardware store, and that would be nice to have is a small compressor. A Bostich trim nailer would be nice to get to go along with the trim nails I still have, but that's an expensive item and not something I need right now.

I bought a mixer for my stereo at a thrift store for $6 and I finally got it to work last night, except that I can't get it to produce sound for the phonograph, which is the main reason I wanted a stereo in the first place. Chances are I will not get the mixer to work before next July, and I wouldn't complain if someone bought me a new one. Come to think of it, the tape player, which I bought for $4 only works on one side and it buzzes, so that would be a good thing to replace, although I have other tape players. I also have 5 CD players, but none of them work. If I want to listen to a CD, I have to listen to it on the computer. It also might be neat to have an mp3 player to listen to while I work out. The TV programs they have on at the gym are not always all that interesting. I'm not sure it's a good idea to listen to the radio while I ride my bicycle, but it would be nice to be able to listen to Prairie Home Companion on my way home from work Saturday night, and This Old House music program on Sunday mornings. I love bluegrass, Americana, gospel, and blues music. I seem to have so little of these in my tape collection. I heard a song by Ricky Skaggs recently. I wrote something like Gaither Gospel H- down next to his name, but can't read my writing very well.

I continue to play hymns and Christmas Carols on the piano almost every day. It would be nice if I had Clementi's Sonatinas and John Thompson's Third Grade book! Other piano books would be appreciated but I don't know how much I would actually play them.

I'm not a person who is very much inclined to take pictures, but it would be nice to have a digital camera; another item that was stolen.

I no longer get stock loss produce from the More House, as they have decided to implement a different system for processing and distributing it. However, I still think it would be useful to have a good food dehydrator with temperature control.

That's all I can think of for the time being!

Love,
Stephen

Happy Thanksgiving! from Lisa

Hello my Family,
How are you all this Thanksgiving week? It's still warm here in Jordan but the leaves on the fruit trees do change color which is pretty. I'm ready for some RAIN as are the farmers and fellow cloudy/rainy day lovers. We'll have Thanksgiving dinner with my friend Kristina and her family for the fouth year this year. This year is her house but we always share making the food.

Thanks for your Christmas wishes Becky. I'm up for waiting till Lake Geneva but will post some wishes in advance :). I'll take Trale's idea and ask for any old (or new) family pictures. Also, I'm interested in a subscription to Cook's Illustrated magazine that can be sent to our PO box in JO. I'm always up for a good book too. Speaking of books, there's a new website for books called bookdepository.com that ships anywhere in the world for FREE. I used it for the first time a few weeks ago and got the book within two weeks no problem. This is nice for anyone who wants to send books to freinds/family overseas and not pay for shipping.

Looking forward to hearing about all your Thanksgiving celebrations. I'm counting the months until Lake Geneva when I can see you all again.
Love,
Lisa

Christmas Exchange

I hate to be the first, but I can say that I stopped myself from ordering a cheese making kit that I read about in Barbara Kingsolver's book for making mozzarella. I've made a little cream cheese, and think it would be great to try others.

OR - I love to get good reading ideas - if you have a book you think is good.
OR - a back packing sleeping bag (at least to go as low as 10 degrees farhenheit)(for when Jon wants to use his and I don't have one)
OR - giving to a charity - I like the idea of providing an animal for a farmer...

I've just finished visiting Steve, and hiking in the North Georgia mountains. It was a beautiful time of fall, and the companions I had on the hikes made it all the more fun. Also, visiting Dad, Connie and Linda for a day in Chicago (and Ned) was a good boost for me. Family is wonderful:)

Germany 2010

Just a few more pictures.


Nadja's family at the famous Leipzig zoo. Nadja is tall blond in center, her mom (Katrin) is on the right and her dad is hidden behind. Her cousin, Peggy, and Christian - who is her partner are with us,posing

Liz and Michelle at fountains in Berlin. They left from Berlin to return to Iowa jobs.


Jan & Katja of Berlin, Karl and Alyssa.


Peter Kusel and his wife at their home. Peter had to leave this farm when East and West Germany were separated, and often walked to the Elb River to look across at it. He buried the papers in the barn that was changed to a dwelling, and was able to reclaim his property after reunification. Now he offers place for people and horses to stay as they travel through the countryside.


Martin's family

Outside Martin's home. His dad is far left, his mom's parents (Josephine and Heinz) live in the house that they are standing in front of. His mom (Angelika), Andreas (Martin's 13 y.o. brother), Martin, and his aunt (wife of mom's brother). You can see Martin's home behind the first home.

2010 Postcards of Europe, emphasis on Italy

After arriving in Frankfurt, July 21st, we wanted to
-(Jon) see as many countries (Lichtenstein, Austria, San Marino) as possible and
-(Becky)visit as many people as possible:
Renata(2005 exch-Milan),
Vittoria (2010 exchange at Gangestads-Near Venice),
Luca(2009 exch-Trento),
Nadja (2005 exch- Leipzig & the zoo there),
Jan (1998 exch-now a Medical resident in Berlin),
Peter(Jon's relative),
Martin (2008 exch-Heinsburg, & Belgium & Netherlands)
-(Michelle & Liz)see a bit of Rome and Pompei before
-pick up Karl and Alyssa in Rome
-See the castle that Disney castle is modeled after,
-visit a concentration camp of Buchenwald
-attend the Passion Play at Oberamergau
-eat gelato, (becky)see a beach
-(Karl) see a science center

Connie (sadly not pictured) Dad and Linda helped us get from the Iowa City-Chicago mega bus to a good night sleep and meals before the plane the next day. Here they are in front of Dad's station wagon he's enjoying. (It takes me back to my highschool years when he'd find cars for us to drive)

Renata is holding some wonderful grapes and apricots of Milan. Michelle Voigts is with her. She had made plans to travel to Spain with her boyfriend, but had to go to Track 400 hurdle Nationals on that date, so chose to join us, meeting us at the airport in Frankfurt.

This Duomo (cathedral) is what I try to imitate whenever I try to make a sand castle with as many drip towers as I can. It was so cool to climb to the roof and see the view, and the spires up close.
It was beautiful driving through the Italian alps to Milan, then Rome. A little confusing- road signs not matching the GPS signs or map info - and a little anxiety about having space for 2 more and their luggage in our little 7 passenger van.
Here we are at St. Peter's cathedral.
Of course, I have a few more pictures than what I'll put in here. Here is a link to shutterfly, if you want to see more of what we saw: http://italyandgermany.shutterfly.com/
Let me know if I need to do more to let you get in to that site.
Jon did a good job of finding us reasonable rooms (hostels, a bed and breakfast at pompeii).
a view of Vesuvius: somehow I like seeing volcanos.

We got Karl and Alyssa from their school group and started going north. We found ourselves wanting to see Venice which is close to where Gangestads were going to meet their future exchange student (here right now) and they said we could stay where they were staying. We had such an interesting accomodation at a vineyard.

First we found Vittoria's home and they seated us all for a fine dinner

Alyssa (In Karl's class, she goes to our church, Karl took her to prom, she hosted Luca last year. Her mom works with me at the library) by the grape vines

At 16, Vittoria was a great tour guide, taking us on the 1 hour train to Venice and showing us around there. We walked through to St. Mark's Cathedral, had a meal near there, and then took a motor boat to the glass factory island.
This pic just shows some gondolas. We were told 1 hour ride would cost 80 euros.

Liz and Michelle in our little van. Riding in the back with the luggage was not as uncomfortable as being 3 in the middle seat. Once in a while Jon or Karl would take their turn in the back, but never in the middle and they were usually in the front seats.
The day after Venice, Vittoria took us to a beach:) This was much nicer than the one we went to in Pompeii (just by following the GPS).

After some swimming, a sand sculpture project got started.

Here the sun bathing girls get into a discussion.
We left the beach and drove to Luca's home, about an hour west, into the Dolomites. Our GPS didn't take us to the right spot, but when they found us, we had a nice tour of their home and gardens, designed by his dad and finished just so they could move in when Luca was 6 months old.

We enjoyed the meal with them and then walked around the town - going to a fancy place for icecream and meeting some of Luca's friends as we walked.

Karl got a ride on Luca's motorcycle.

The next day we toured Trent(o) - right next to Luca's town of Lavis. One of the few rainy days we had.

Then we headed north, through Austria to Neuschwanstein (Disney) castle. We left Italy on July 29th. It was so nice to be welcomed by Renata, and given a taste of where she lives and how she shops. Reconnecting with Luca's family was nice. What a mountainous world he left to come to flat Iowa. We had met some new friends at the bed and breakfast in Pompei and in Vittoria and her family. We were just starting to hear recognize some Italian words, (like uscita, which means exit- at first I thought it meant University of Southern California, Italy). Now we had to switch gears to understanding German words and customs. (ausfart)

Marli & Nick

Dear Family,

Hello!

Marli and Nick have decided to live together as a loving couple!!Many of you already know this, -- it deserves more than a passing mention-- it DESERVES

CONGRATULATIONS AND BEST WISHES!! MAY THEY HAVE MANY LONG AND HAPPY SEASONS TOGETHER!

Nick Malkewicz (mal like sal, ka like duh, wits) was Trale's friend at U of I a few years ago-- graduated at the same time. So- Trale introduced them, but "sparks did not fly" until just last year sometime.
Phil and I met Nick's parents, Phil and Kathy, at Willow. They live in Plainfield, IL; Phil is recently retired after a busy career as a food chemist-- Kathy enjoys work as an accountant in Chicago area.
They have 2 or 3 sons and 2 daughters, Jensene and Melanie. The sisters live with Marli,too.
I meant to say something publicly at the family reunion about the JOY of Marli and Nick together, but somehow did not.

So-- we have been gypped out of a party (wedding) but that may yet happen in a year or 2. Right now they are involved in "building something" (Nick's words)-- so - blessed building to you two!!

CELEBRATE! DANCE TO THE MUSIC!!

Love to all,
Pat and Phil

Bardells all together!

I was so very happy to be able to make it to Willow- our family folk festival tradition- earlier this month! It was great seeing both Miles and Trale (and of course Mom and Dad). My boyfriend, Nick, and I flew up to Illinois on Friday the 13th and were able to spend some time with his parents that evening and sleep at their home in Plainfield. On Saturday we popped in on my Dad at his farmer's market in Rockford and took some time to visit the farm before heading to Willow.
It was a beautiful weekend- great music, perfect weather, good company. We camped out, and had some delicious campfire meals. Nick and I took a walk up to the top of the valley and enjoyed the beautiful view of rolling fields, pastures, and the tiny little tents of Willow campers down below.

This was my first time back to Illinois since moving to Texas and it sure was a great visit! Life is going well down here. I'm on the job hunt again since my summer position ended, and looking forward to moving into a house next month where we will have a little more space. Love to everyone!

Marli

lisa and kids after ice cream

 

Time at Lake Geneva, WI

Liz and Kyle - glad Kyle could be with us!!

Gladys, Joy and Ensign, Gladys & Ken were about to go back home to Arkansas.

Chapin cabin, where we love to stay

Stephen Albert Leininger, out on the Adirondak chair, Sunday morning


Janet in the tree!

Trale and Miles - yay

Yerkes Observatory
The "profile of a man" is John D. Rockefeller who had a bee on his nose, but someone chipped off the bee.


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Lisa and Andrea on the walk next to the Lake


This is Ken's car with Gladys' power car strapped onto it.

Summer's Here

Hi! From Linda! I just tried to put a few pics onto this bog, but failed. So I will write only, and get help, and post pics another time. I did get some good ones of us, like Miles and Janet on the white chairs as we were having out Sunday morning service, and Miles and Trale together in front of the Yerkes Observatory.
Our car driven by Connie, on the way home stopped in Evanston to deliver Marlies to her friend. Her soman friend's daughter had her toe nails polished all different colors like ours were. Also her friend had a GIANT dog named Aslan, who was happy to see Laila and somehow knocked Laila down, then thought she wanted to play. Laila laughed and laughed with all the dog kisses, and was surprised that a dog could just knock her off her feet.
So when we got home all the others were here, having delived Miles to his plane back to Georgia.
The weekend after Lake G., Ensign, a church woman and I drove to a small town near Wausau, WI, and attended a celebration of a wedding whose bride and groom mainly wanted to celebrate the wedding that had taken place about 3 monthes ago. We are friends of the bride, plus we knew people there who had also driven north from the Chicago area. We stayed in a Comfort Inn, and found it very nice, with a pool and also a wonderful hot breakfast in the morning. Our trip back was good, Ensign was stopped by a state trooper for speeding, but he did not get a ticket, just a slap on the wrist, and making Ensign promise that he will drive the speed limit to the Wisconsin-Illinois border. The trooper said - I don't care how you drive once you get into Illinois. - (Can you believe that? It is true)

The night is getting late, after midnight, and I need to get up for church tomorrow, so this is all I'll say for now. Good bye - God be with ye. And I promise I will write again, pics with captions!

2010

It was fun to get together at Conference Point July 2-5, 2010. Here is a link to Marlies' pictures.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mmorsink/2010070105LeiningerSelection?feat=email#

Connie says hi

Hi everybody! Here's a blog from Connie.

Your blogs (you who posted) are great, thanks for posting. We are looking forward to Karl's graduation on May 23. Congrats to the youngest cousin of his generation, and best wishes.

I'm up early every morning, getting myself to the 6:39 train. Two classes for jail residents every day. I love my men. Wish I could pour motivation into their heads through their mouths. I had SIX men graduate last month! One was signed up for this month, but he went to discipline, so he could not take the test after all. :(

My two classes at Loyola were challenging, especially the on-line class, Theologies of Suffering, which had reading and writing assignments every week, then respond to others' posts. The professor kept complaining that my submissions didn't relate the material to my life. Hmmm. It was great! I am glad to be done. Not taking any academic classes this summer.

I hope to catch up with myself in the next few weeks. Be able to just stop and appreciate a swatch of beauty. Might take an art class. Think I'll go to Washington DC for the progressive spirituality conference in June. (11-16)

Well I look forward to seeing you all in July!

Hi from Ensign

Spring is wonderful! I used to say Fall was my favorite, but this year we had such cool days that the flowers have lasted longer than usual...forsythia, magnolias, daffodils, tulips, and lilacs, in succession.
We have had a succession of guests too. Andrew and Sylvia Taussig from Oklahoma City came with daughter Alex. For 20 years he was doing well in a heating, but all along felt that he was being called to serve needy children in Africa. He is now with Children of Nations. They build schools and "compounds" for children with cottages and house parents. He is so sure that he is doing the right thing. He and Sylvia must raise their own salary.
I decided to help with that.
We also entertained Marli, Trale, Pat and Phil, and Kristi, who was with us last Christmas. She is from Korea, studies in Texas. She enjoyed Chicago so much that she wanted to come back for Spring Break. And Ken, he had a fare for his Taxi that came to Illinois ($800), so he came to see us.
I can't wait for July 4th. See you then!!! Peace be with you. Dad, LOLO, Ensign.

Cruisin'

I just got back from a wonderful vacation in the Bahamas :) I have to admit I had my reservations about going on a cruise- it seemed a little to packaged and pretty for me. BUT, I am happy to report it was absolutely fatastic! This is a picture of our ship. I went with a group of 15- pretty much a group of Trale's friends from college whom I have infiltrated, one of whom I'm dating. We went snorkeling, sang karaoke, did yoga on the deck, saw lots and lots of fish while swimming (and even an octopus!), and enjoyed a LOT of delicious food.

One of my favorite parts was this little man who played his guitar and sang oldies every night in one of the bars on the ship. Getting away was really great- it helped me realize how much I detest the town I'm living in and inspired me to move! Woohoo. So I'm looking at jobs and pretty excited about the possibilities.

Saying Goodbye to our Visitors

Hello everyone! Has spring sprung in your neck of the woods yet? There are pretty wild flowers everywhere and the hills are all green here. We have to soak it all in and remember it when those hills turn different shades of brown in a few months. We said goodbye to Mom Saturday night and to Grandpa a week before that. It was great to have them visit and we had loads of fun visiting sights around Amman as well as a trip to Jerash. The highlight, for me, was our trip to Jerusalem and beyond. We spent two nights at the same guest house where the whole family stayed in 1965! It was pure coincidence that I reserved there - or was it?! From there took a bus to Haifa where we viewed the Bahai gardens from the top (couldn't go down with our roller suitcases). Then we took a 30 minute taxi ride to a school that Grandpa had read about and wanted to visit. I'll let Grandpa tell you about the school and its history. We stayed a night there and then came back to Amman. It sure was nice to have family here. Know that you are all invited any time you can come! Happy Easter and Happy Spring!

Mendoza

Hey everyone!

Here I am in Mendoza, and I am finally ready for climbing the mountain, one of the principle motivations for the trip.
I've been here since the 25th of Jan, and in that time have had two trips out into the mountains camping to get my body and my mind ready for the final trip out to go after the goal of climbing Aconcagua.

The mountains are so beautiful here- so raw and sharp and relatively new. There is no thrill like riding the motor bike out into the hills that surely grow into snow and glacier capped mountains of the most awesome proportion. A real joy for me is the very evident change in climate that I can experience in the course of just one day: from the high alpine regions where the only plants are lichens and the temperatures are generally below freezing, to the high desert plane, filled with all manner of birds, insects, cacti and sage-brush like plants.
The scent of a campfire made with the left behind dead bones of the plants out in the desert is like no other aroma, and the beauty of the first flowers that one sees when coming down a mountain, peaking through the snow sometimes, is really great.



I've been enjoying drinking some pure, clean, fresh-ice-melt water off of glaciers. I've been through the trial of acclimatizing to the high altitude, though this time I took it relatively slow and did not suffer too much.




Mendoza is a nice civilized town, with lots of wine, nice pedestrian-friendly town center, and a fine old cathedral(which is only open in the morning and the evening during the week). I am enjoying being in town to strengthen up before the climb, but I am discouraged and tired by the mundane lives that I see most people living- and equally troubled by those who are just out touring or adventuring, with no higher apparent purpose. Its a riddle of contentment.

In answer to what I do for protection at night- now I am in the city, staying in a hostel, but out in the bush, I have a pretty good camp set-up. I guess that when I get up on the mountain, especially higher up, more than 4500 meters, I will use a stronger tent that I can rent here in town.



mine is the not-so-bright yellow tent kind of by itself to the left in the picture. This is camp "Salto de Agua" in the Cordon de Plata.



Love to all,

Trale

PHANTIIISMO

"He doesn't need that on the outside, he just needs a little sasparilla on the inside"

Hey, it's Karl giving a short update on my life.

The above quote comes from El Phantismo, the comedy our drama department will be putting on Friday, March 26 at 7:00 p.m. Mark your calendar now so you don't forget. Did it? Ok. I will be playing Diego, the love interest of Nina but things do get a little complicated. I don't mean to brag, but it's probably going to be the greatest high school play ever.

The snow kept us from playing our basketball game yesterday, leaving us with one regular season game and district play starting next Monday the 15th. You can tune in to watch me online at Clarion Sports.com at around 6:00 p.m. central.

Also, check this YouTube Series out! It's done by a couple of guys in Clarion and can be funny at times.

Thanks for your time and I hope to see you all soon,

Karl

Hello! We've fianlly gained access to the blog again! So we're ready to say how grateful we are for 2009! and 2010! We had many guests in our home during 2009, including Stephen, to whom we are very thankful! He did much while he was here in repairing our house and painting our ramp! Our most recent visit was from our new daughter-in-law and grandson! What a wonderful pair! We hated so much to see them leave. Debra is a wonderfully attentive mother, a little over anxious sometimes being a first time mother! She had to get back to the fayetteville area to go to work today. She's a 'teacher' at a day care center there. She and a helper have the responsiblity of 16 toddlers from 12 monts to 2 years! She absolutely loves it!
The big highlight of our past year, other than the arrival of our grandson, was our visit to Chicago! We enjoyed it so much! Visits to the art institute and the sushi restaurant next to it, plus other attractions we took in on our trips into the city. We're hoping to see everyone at the lake this summer! Gladys

Hi everyone! Since Christmas Gladys and I have been on a diet and I have lost 16 pounds! It's a vegan diet with no sugar or oil. We eat mostly soups, beans and salads. I probably couldn't do it without Glad. She prepares the meals and I take leftovers to work with me. No snacking is allowed between meals! I have been trying to get more exercise-walking at work and sometimes climbing stairs at the airport.
I'm still working lots of hours-about 86 last week. I did enjoy my night off last night and I got plenty of sleep. Last week I started going in in the afternoons, getting to Little Rock by 3-3:30 and then coming home early in the morning. I liked that pretty well so I think I'll try to continue with it.
Before Christmas I got a phone call from cousin Paul Taussig. He and his wife live in Bradford, less than 30 miles from here. They come into Searcy regularly to see her mother so we hope to get together with them sometime. Love to all, Ken

My latest news: Ensign,

Dear family:
This is Martin Luthers's Weekend, and we have been reminded of his passionate dedication to freedom and justice. On Sunday in church we reflected on Speak Loudly. To say nothing i o n the face of injustice is shameful; and in the afternoon we heard Aaron Freeman, an actor, read the speech by MLKjr. against the Vietnam War in 1966. Except for the references to VN it could have been spoken today about how force and militarism have infiltrated our national psyche. This afternoon Ella Jenkins, a friend of MLKjr and folk singer, did her 20th annual concert for families. About 200 parents with their children came and sang together with her. Afterward there was a cake with candles for MLKjr's birthday, with a piece for each person.

At Christmas time we entertained 2 Korean girls (students in U S universities-California and Texas) We just loved having them with us. 8 other students were in other homes for what is called Christmas International HOuse. We took them all to a Bulls Basketball game and beat the Indiana Pacers 104 to 98. Because the home town team won everyone with a ticket was given a Big Mac free!

I'm looking forward to my trip next weekk to Mexico, a country I have never visited. Lutherans and Presbyterians are holding a seminar about world trade there for eight days. It's nice to go to Mexico in the middle of winter!

We learn from Michael that we are all set for our summer reunion at beautiful Lake Geneva WI. He made the arrangements for us. We find July 4th a good time to gather.

Mkay joy come too the hearrts of peope everywhere. May barriers crumble, suspicion disappear, hatreds cease and may all divisions be healed. Love to all. Ensign

My latest news: Ensign,

My latest news: Ensign,

Trale Travels Update

Hello from Uruguay!
My good luck in connecting with Nicolas and Marcos there in Panama has extended here to the home of Nicolas and his family in Montevideo. They have welcomed me (along with Nicolas) just like we are their sons (well I suppose one of us would fit that description).
Spending some time here to get to know the city with a good family base to support me has been very good. I also went with them out to their cabin down near the beach- nothing fancy, by any means, but still a nice place to stay away from the city for a weekend. In general I find the people here further south more agreeable than up north in the tropical areas. Perhaps it is just my being more comfortable with the more temperate surroundings, but all the same I feel more at home here than up there in Peru or Bolivia for example.
Uruguay is a well-kept secret, or a little known destination- there are plenty of tourists here, but they are mostly from Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay itself. It seems that the beaches are the most popular thing to visit in the summer- the beach towns are very busy, packed with all the seasonal visitors. And rightfully so! what nice towns, clean beaches, and refreshing seas there are here at the coast.
I have not lost sight of Aconcagua, but it is taking me longer than I had planned to get close to it. I've scheduled a few weeks in the area of the mountain which will be reserved for last minute high altitude training, and I have been keeping pretty active trying to focus on leg and cardio training the last few weeks down here at sea level.
The coming weeks should prove to be interesting and perhaps different from experiences that I have had in the past. I enjoy the newness of every day on this trip, but I AM beginning to have some fleeting moments here are there of wishing to be back at home.

with Love,

Trale




Piriapolis, with the family of my friend



Cooking out



Bolivia

Bolivia

Happy New Year!

(My new home)
2010 is here! I've been surprised to discover the general attitude a lot of people have is one of "thank God 2009 is over, let's hope 2010 is better." I don't agree with that sentiment. I think that every year is wonderful and filled with it's own beauty, whether it is painful and difficult or pleasure filled and carefree. So while I love the possibilities and excitement that a new year holds as much as the next person, I don't think there's any need to immediately shun 2009. It was a year of change and new horizons for me- graduating from Illinois, traveling in Europe, moving to a new town, starting my career, and a whole host of new relationships! I grew a lot.

I am a bit of a resolutions junkie regardless of the time of year, so now that it's OFFICIALY resolution time I feel like a kid in a candy shop! I decided to make 3 resolutions. One for the betterment of my mind, one for my body, and one for my soul.

Mind: Read the Bible front to back
Body: Participate in the Yoga class at my gym once a week
Soul: Learn two new guitar chords a week

I think those will work well as three big resolutions to compliment the myriad of little personal development aspirations that fleet in and out of my life.