A New Season

Because it was in the time of silence on my blog I never mentioned that Asa and I have been married two years!  I can hardly believe that two years have come and gone.  They have been great years, so far... One of the things I am most grateful for is the way that Asa supports and is enthusiastic at every new meal, dessert and project I start! 

However, there's a new project that we both have stepped into. It's something that takes two and complete commitment on each person's part.  It's scary and exciting at the same time, and DEFINITELY a first for both of us.  Can you guess what this new journey is?

Parenthood!

Yes, Can you believe it?  We are actually going to be parents! On September 14th we took one test (later I find out most people take multiple), and got the results that it was true, We're FINALLY going to have one of our own.  Over the 4 years of our courtship if there was something I learned it was that everything happens in God's perfect timing.  During the past year while I was waiting to have a child, I was once again at peace with the fact that I knew there was something God had in store and He would work all things out in His timing.     SO for the past year I have enjoyed endless sewing with my Grandma, I count this as a very special time that would have been a little more difficult with a toddler crawling around.  

Every time I tell people we're pregnant there are always a few questions that are first out of their mouths, so I'll try to answer them now :D  Baby Kiser is due to arrive sometime in the first half of May.  Everyone tells me May is the perfect time to have a baby, so we'll see. I'm hoping I have some extra warmth over the winter that seemingly has already started.  We are NOT finding out what we're having... as of now we want the surprise and the joy of telling everyone what we had!  AND the other most important question: "Have you been sick?!"  I have been tired, but thankfully haven't been sick!!!  (I thank my Mom for her good genes)  

It has been fun the past months finding out how big the baby is and comparing it to a food that we can relate with.   It has gone from the size of a lentil (the week we found out) to the size of a LIME (this week).  It has definitely become more real since we got to see the baby on an ultrasound on Friday!  I couldn't believe there was actually something in there!  The picture was great, I could see it's little nose, mouth, hands, ear, and hear the heartbeat! During the course of the ultrasound the tech. mentioned that we have an active one.  Sure enough there it was swimming, kicking and arching it's back!  I sat there think, "I should be able to feel that!"  but all I felt was the pressure of her ultrasound thing and my full bladder!  Asa of course was asking all sorts of questions!  It was such a joy to see our active little baby for the first time, even if it was just on a computer screen!

I look forward to keeping you all updated and I am THRILLED to be able to share this news with you!  

~Erin 

Wow, it has been MONTHS...and I have missed writing... I hope I haven't lost too many people in the busyness of my summer!  There has been so much that has happened... so much that honestly I don't know where to start... DO I start with the garden?  OR continue with the India trip?  What about telling you about a beautiful friend of mine that has missed all of Summer due to a car accident one Monday morning? Then there's the trips to the Lake, the Fourth of July dessert contest, with many smiles, tears and days of mowing lawns in between!

AND there's MORE news, BUT that shall wait until another inspired post!

I have had all summer to think about this blog, and still I wondering where I want it to go.  In June I took a trip to visit a very dear friend and her family.  Some of you know her as the writer and amazing crocheting of http://keepyourlidon.blogspot.com/ .   While I was out there we spent lots of time gabbing, and being together. I have never felt so close to someone I have never met before and I left feeling as though I was leaving family.  One thing we managed in, between talking and iced coffees, was some kitchen adventures!  We made delicious pretzel wrapped hot dogs from Willow Bird Baking and some other goodies.  One thing that I left thinking about was the how do present spending time in the kitchen to people who read my  blog.  Do I use recipes that look nice but in reality come across impossible? Or do I present the recipes and tasks in such away that they go away empowered and feeling up to the task of creating something new?  These are all musings that have been going through my mind this summer when I've thought about my blog. I don't expect to be famous but if I can encourage one person to get out the mixing bowl, or another person to write their thoughts and ideas down.... then my time here will be well spent.

I want to make a difference.... whether I'm in my kitchen and writing on this blog, or serving donuts to a crowd of people making apple cider in my back yard...

More blogs to come... just want you to know, I'm still here... and I'm still thinking!

~Erin

A New Perspective

Back a few blogs ago I said, "going to India was like stepping back in time."  If you would ask me what I learned in India or how it effected me I would have to say it gave me a new perspective on the Bible.  I've been raised in a Christian home where the Bible was talked about and read a lot.  However, as we all know it wasn't written in our time or culture so there are things we can read and know about... but until we experience cultures similar to that time period, there's a part of the Bible that I don't feel can be reality to us here in America.  Take for example the story of Esther.  Esther was taken into the kings house to be prepared to go before him.  Ok, so yeah... pretty straight forward, BUT I got a picture of what that might have looked like when we went to India. We got to experience the traditional custom of preparing the bride for her wedding.  I couldn't help but wonder if what the bride, in India, went through could possible be similar to that of Esther.

On Tuesday morning we walked into the kitchen and Ritu was there getting something ready.  It was an orangish/yellow mixture that she was combining in a pot.  Without looking it up I can tell you that it definitely had turmeric in it, lavender oil, and some sort of flour.  When we asked what this was we were told that it's the turmeric paste that we would apply to Manisha's, the bride, skin.  For days they had been talking about the gathering that would take place that night. Neighbor women and family were all invited to come and we'd put the paste on and feed Manisha sweets, so that she'd be sweet.  The entire day we teased Manisha that she couldn't eat ANYTHING except sweets from the night of the party until the wedding.  There was a lot of jesting and laughter, it was fun.  In the afternoon the men went to little Pakistan to get the food for the celebration.  Over there they believe that the muslims/pakistani make the best foods and so it's a big deal to have it at your celebrations.  In the preparation we moved the table out of the way, took all the chairs out of the house and got ready for the party.  We would be sitting on the floor so that more people could fit into the house. Manisha wore a Sari the color of turmeric and the rest of us dressed up and made sure everything was ready for the preparation.
Let me tell you what, they know how to put on a party.  The guests arrived and we all sat around and sang for a while.

 Then they started applying the paste on Manisha, and feeding her sweets.  Everyone got a chance to put the scrub on her skin, and when a neighbor walked in they would great the bride, apply the paste, and join the rest of us singing, clapping or talking.  They also poured oil on her head, which reminded me of the verse, "You anoint my head with oil." NOW how many of you have memorized Psalm 23 and said that verse? Question number two: how many of you actually put oil on your hair?  In india they use mustard oil to make their hair healthy and soft.

 Those were the two things in the bible that really came alive and gave me a realization of what actually might have gone on or what they were talking about in the scriptures.
After the paste started drying on Manisha we took more oil and carefully massaged it into her skin.  (that's what I'm doing in the above picture) You had to be careful though because the paste was very abrasive and was causing slight irritation to her skin.  The sweets that we fed her were an interesting combination of textures and flavors.  They were made up of some sort of meal or coconut that was SOAKED in corn syrup.  When you would bite into it the sweetness would ooze out of the dense meal coating your mouth with sugar syrup.  Emily really liked them, but I'd have to say they weren't my favorite, and I didn't like how sticky mine fingers were after eating them.  Poor Manisha had AT LEAST 6 sweets shoved in her mouth at once! (upper left picture in collage)

Once the traditional singing and preparation was over we the music started and we all started dancing together!  It was SO much fun and it made me wish all my cousins and favorite dancing partners were there to join me.  They dance in a different style than we do and I noticed that they use their hands and hand movements a lot.  My favorite was with the Aunt was dancing with one of the girls and they were all singing... she would sing and the others would respond.  It was so extremely festive!  Here's a video for you to enjoy!(sorry they're a little blurry, they're still so much fun!)

The begging "Auntie", isn't she sweet?

 We danced a while and then I told them they should put soldier boy on.  A few years ago, at my cousin's wedding, my younger cousin taught me part of the dance.  I thought it would be fun to dance for them and teach it to them.  It was so much fun and they loved it, however part way through the evening they were begging me to dance it again.  This one older lady was especially insistent, she claimed her daughter hadn't seen me dance.  I said, no because I was seriously sooo overheated... it was a pretty long dance for someone out of shape, like me.  But they continued begging and it got to the point where they told me it would be offensive and disrespectful to my "Auntie"  if I didn't dance again. SO yup, you guessed it, I danced again.  I did better the second time, I wasn't so rusty on all the moves.  The memory makes me smile... She was so cute and after I got done she told me she really liked the crisscross thing I did with my feet it was "very beautiful".   WE danced until after 11 and then we ate wonderful spicy chicken, rice, and cheese mixture with our hands.

In all this I gained perspective into a new culture a new way of living and celebrating.  I seriously LOVED every minute of it!  I long to hear them all sing again, even though I have no idea what they are saying!  If I remember correctly they said something about the one song being about a bride getting ready and being ready for her husband.

I know this India trip is taking me a long time to post about but I really want to share my experiences with you!  I want to thank Mardi for giving me SO much traffic, Julie for being a great help, a wonderful blogger friend, and for featuring one of my cheesecakes on her site!  I want to encourage you all to check out, my two wonderful twitter friends and most supportive commenters, BUTTER and Stacey and their creative blogs!  I'm still very new at blogging... but I enjoy writing down what I see and think and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences!

Have you ever been to a different wedding with interesting traditions that changed the way you look at the traditional weddings you've been to? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

To market, to market!

Hey everyone.  I’m sorry that this post has been so prolonged in coming to the web.  We got a computer that was new to us, and we’ve had some slight problems and technicalities with it.  I had written over ½ of this blog post on it when it totally crashed and I haven’t been able to fix it yet to get anything off of it.  (Slight disappointment)  SO I was feeling extremely discouraged, upset, and not in any mood to blog.  BUT  now that you know my excuses let’s head to the MARKET! 

It was very important for us to go the market one of the first days we were in India, because we need to get ready for the wedding!  We needed to get our material for our sari’s so that our tops and under skirts could be “stitched”. I’m getting ahead of myself though, before we head out there are a few things you should know about shopping in India. 
#1: NEVER pay the price the person is asking for.

Isn't he charming?

Bartering is just a way of life in India, and in most of the foreign countries I have visited.  But what I found most interesting in India was how young they ingrain bartering in the children.  Ryan is four and he is the nephew of the family we spent most of our time with.  He is extremely charming and is going to an English Christian school where they are teaching him to memorize certain passages of the Bible.  His parents wanted him to quote psalms 23 for us.  He didn’t really want to so there was some bribery involved; they told him he could have a chocolate if he said the verse. Satisfied, Ryan starts the chapter. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  He makes me…” he stops mid sentence holds up two fingers and says, “TWO chocolates!” It was from this moment on that I realized how young the Indians learn to barter!

Me, Angelina, Emily and Rosie

#2 in most situations you should have an Indian with you so that you don’t get ripped off. Often if the sellers saw a white person the price would double and sometimes even triple.  And EVEN if you got the price to come down you still were paying much more than you should have.  In our case, Angelina, will be our amazing tour guide, and constant barterer.  I have NEVER seen anyone be able to haggle a price down like she did.  More stories of this to come!

 The bangle shop will be our first stop.  Make sure you watch out for the trash, and those power lines that are just laying everywhere!

 

  Under the canopy of the bangle tent we start looking at the multitude of colors and designs of bangles.  From what I heard, traditionally bangles were only worn by married women, but it’s not as common now, anyone can wear them.  In India the women LOVE their bangles.  I was talking to Angelina, our chatter box and constant shopping guide, about bangles and I asked her if she wears them to bed.  She said, “YES… I like to hear them jingle when I roll over at night!” We needed to find bangles that matched the material we had picked out… so we found them and now let the bartering begin.  The first price they are asking for is 1500 rupees which is 33 dollars.

Photo taken by: Emily Walters

  Angelina thought that that was an outrageous price and she starts talking a mix of fast English and Hindi all at once.  Meanwhile we all just stand and watch her pretending like we know what’s going on until we see her shake her head from side to side (the equivalent of nodding) and hear her say, “TK”.  She turns and tells us the final price, “500 rupees (about 11 dollars) for two full sets of bangles”.   Now I don’t know about you all but I’m amazed at this girl’s skills… over the course of 5 minutes she managed to pay a THRID of the original price! From now on we're not going shopping without Angelina again!

What’s that?  Did one of you say you’re thirsty?  Well you’re in luck; right next to our bangle shop is a man making chai!

He has a gas burner and he’s making chai for whoever would like to pay 30 rupees (less than a dollar).  The liquid boils up, he takes the pot swirls the chai so it almost sloshes over the edge and then sets it back down on the flame so it boils up again and he repeats the process. When he’s pleased with the caramel color he strains the tea into plastic cups and serves you your chai.
Please don’t be too anxious to drink the chai because it’s VERY hot, and I almost always burn my mouth! 

Let’s walk on and enjoy the sights, smells, and people.  I’m sure you’ve noticed there are a lot of cars, motorcycles and people everywhere and there’s NEVER a silent moment.  Horns are always honking and letting you know when you’re in their way.  All around you there are tables full of fruits and veggies.

Emily and our shopper, Angelina. 

Over there are some coconuts, yes the green round things are really coconuts!  They are the type that they slice open, stick a straw in and you drink the milk.  I don’t really enjoy it but everyone here says it’s good for your stomach if it’s upset.  They also have other coconuts too but the green ones seem to be much more common.

This face should have been a clue!

 Angelina has gotten ahead of us and has
joined a crowd of people standing around this street vender, holding paper bowls and eating something that the man seems to be making for them.  In her cheerful voice she tells us that we HAVE to try Panipuris, they’re Max’s favorite and he can eat FIFTY of them!  Emily and I decided to be brave and we step up in the circle and join the hungry crowd.  I hold my bowl and the man puts this small fried bowl (the size of the mini cream puffs) in my bowl.  He places a few cubes of fried egg, adds a red sauce and some cool broth into the fried bowl.  Joseph, the man shopping with us, has already gobbled one down so we ask him, “Is it good?” He smiles and says, “yeah kind of”.  Well that seemed safe enough so Emily and I decide to dive into the water together, you see because the liquid you have to pop the whole thing into your mouth at once.

Into our mouths the concoction goes and I chomp down.  There’s NO way possible to prepare yourself for what was next to come.  Water gushes out, filling my mouth, the fried dough turns into crumbles and my cheeks are filled with swirling textures.  I don’t know what I’m supposed to do swallow it all or a little bit a time?  In the delay of swallowing my gag reflexes kick in, and I almost lose it all.  I quickly gain composer and just take 1 huge gulp.

photo borrowed from http://myrecipeflavors.blogspot.com/2009/03/pani-puri.html

You all are cheering and laughing and Emily declares that she “was fine until Erin gagged”.  Before we realize it the vender man is filling our plate with bite two.  The textures were too much for me, I drained the broth almost completely out and ate the snack that way, but after two I’m finished and ready to move on to our next adventure.

  I still feel a little hungry so we find another vender selling something like deep fried grilled cheese with a relish inside.  This is MUCH better and I enjoy a whole serving of this! 
 

 In this market you can find anything you need or want.  One shop is selling small tea cups, plates, and serving dishes.  Another vender is selling white material and next to him are the men dying scarves whatever color you need.  Men are sitting on low stools putting mehndi on hands and feet for about 200 rupees (4 dollars) and others with little carts selling soda. Something I find very interesting is all the men sitting next to sewing machines altering or sewing new designs.  I had to laugh and think about some of the guys at home sitting down to a sewing machine.  They think varnishing is “women’s work”, I can’t imagine what they would do if they had to alter or mend their own clothes.  

Most of the streets are just repeats of other streets we’ve been down, but it’s fun to see the people, smile at the children, and just experience it all!I can’t help but wonder what it would be like living here… day in and day out, until you know all the venders, and they no longer see the color of our skin.  

Let’s hop on a rickshaw and ride home.  Rickshaws are bikes in the front and a cart with two wheels on the back.  Most times you can fit three people on and the driver will peddle you where ever you’d like to go.  A good price from the market is about 30 rupees (less than 1 dollar).  I hope you don’t mind the bumping of the uneven streets or the panic of being in the middle of the intersection surrounded by honking horns.  Rickshaws are a fun, and cool way to get around and they let you see all the sights of India!




 
What are some memories of adventures this has brought back to you?  Have you even been to India before?  I know there are a lot of people who read this blog and I'd LOVE to hear some of your adventures!  Don't be shy, I'm waiting to hear from you!

India, the land of Color

sorry the pic is blurry it's the only one we have :/

photo taken by Emily

I'm back again for day number 2 of our trip! On Saturday night the family told us that we would be going to church Sunday evening after Holi Festival was over. It was too dangerous to be caught anywhere in the city during the midst of the celebration.   People flooded the streets in a city wide water/color fight.   There was colored flour that would float down from balconies after a flood of water.  We enjoyed watching all the festivities from the safety of our balcony!  The neighbors loved posing for pictures and at one point they called Emily down and PROMISED they wouldn't put color on her.  They greeted her and gave her the special drink that they drink on this day.  And even though they didn't COVER her in color they did put some on her forehead.  At one point when we were standing on the balcony a group of guys gathered in the ally and we quickly asked, "what are they doing?".  It looked as though they had firecrackers and they were going to set them off.  WELL to our surprise it wasn't firecrackers. They were tubes filled with colored smoke and when they were lit colored smoke went every where!  Floating down the ally and up past the balcony into the, already polluted, New Delhi sky.  It smelled the same way sparklers smell on the Fourth Of July.   This celebration represents India's colors to me.  The flowers in all the parks, the colorful scarves and saris of the women blowing in the breeze, and the colorful characters of the people I have grown to love.

photo taken by Emily

Asa was still full of questions on day # 2 and at this point the family had given him the nickname, Question Mark.  It's good to ask questions though.... sometimes you are able to find out interesting facts.  In the case of Holi I really felt like none of our questions were answered.  

We asked a number of different people what they were celebrating and we seemed to get different answers every time.  The lady who owned the hotel we were staying in told us that they were celebrating all the differences around them and how on this one day everyone could come together and be friends. Another person said they were remembering this woman who needed to burn her dead son, but the people who kept the fire wouldn't let her have a flame.  She decided to steal some of the fire and in the process she caught her skirt on fire and died with her son.  AND yet another person said they were sacrificing to the god of destruction.   SO in the end of the day we still didn't know what the country was celebrating or worshiping on that day.   All the celebrating something no one seemed 100% sure of really got me thinking just now. I'm wondering if there are things we celebrate that have been passed down generation upon generation, but the true reason of the celebration has somehow been lost in the passing of time.  Easter is right around the corner, stores all filled with candy bunnies and Easter grass all ready for baskets.  We dye eggs and tell our children that the Easter bunny will be coming... BUT I wonder how many Americans, if asked, would know the reason for the actual celebration of Easter. Do you know?  Just some food for thought....

photo taken by Emily

India, the land of Chai

Hey All!  I have been there, back again and now I'm finally sitting down to write.  Today is beautiful here in Guilford, the sun is kind of shining and it's 70 degrees!  THIS is the weather I was hoping for when I came back from India!  Honestly, I've wanted to blog, but I've had some computer problems and I just haven't known what to say.  I still don't know how to put into words all that I saw, felt and experienced over there.  There were times when I thought I had stepped back centuries into another time period, then someone would walk past me on their cell phone and I would be reminded that I was still in 2011!

photo taken by Emily

I think that for the next few weeks I'll be writing different posts about my time over in India.  That way you don't have to sit at the computer reading one HUGE post, you can simply sit down and read it as if it was happening day by day! :)  Blogging would have been possible over there, but I really wanted to soak up the experiences while we were there!

The Flight:

The flight was very interesting.  Our first flight was from JFK to London.  It was a very empty flight, which was wonderful.  Asa, Emily, and I all had a row of 5 seats that we stretched out on and attempted to sleep most of the night.  Our second stop was in Bahrain. This was the place that caused us most stress before the trip, people were calling us making sure it was safe for us to go and I was really worried.  We got through Bahrain safely though it was very  oppressive.  Emily and I felt naked compared to the women who were COMPLETELY covered there.  Another bit of culture shock was when the Prayer time came and their prayers were broadcasted over the loud speakers.  It just felt erie to me, and not understanding what they were praying was just a completely different experience.

photo taken by Emily

 The total duration of the flight was around 23 hours.   However because the time changes we actually lost time and got to India 1 and 1/2 days after we had left JFK.  We arrived in India at 7:30 am and promptly went through customs, got our baggage, and headed outside to wait for our ride.   We weren't very tired, just extremely happy to be at our destination.

photo taken by Emily

photo taken by Emily

We had our first welcome to India in the airpot.  While waiting for Conrad and his future brother inlaw we girls sat on the bench and Asa was wandering around.  Pretty soon we noticed a sheik openly staring at us.  He was dressed in all white and popping out of his pocket was a very large knife which was, no doubt, sharp and dangerous.  His gaze lingered for about 15 minutes until Asa's protective side kicked into gear.  Asa stood a little taller, stuck out his chest a little further, and promptly placed himself between the sheik's gaze and Emily and me.  WELL the match was on, it was clear that this sheik was not going to let some white boy spoil his view so he moved to a new spot and started his staring once again.  Asa quickly stepped up to the plate and intercepted the stare with a look that could kill.  The dance between the two went on for a while until the family of the man had gathered and were ready to leave.  Meanwhile Emily and I were having FITS that this man was going to get upset and do something serious, as you can imagine our gaze was fixed on the knife in his pocket! :)

The first thing we learned while we were there is how important it is to serve their guests and make them feel as comfortable as possible.  The second lesson, Chai is a STAPLE!  When you go into a house or even into some stores the first thing that is offered to you is chai.  If you decided that you wanted Chai they would scurry off to the kitchen, boil up chai and be back with a tray full of little tea cups to serve you the steaming beverage.  The hospitality our dear friends showed us was beyond ANYTHING I have every experienced.  You would hardly be in the door and they would ask if you wanted chai or if you were hungry?

photo taken by Emily edited by me

Chai was the ONE thing that I actually learned how to make and that can actually make just about as good as my dear Indian Family!!!  If you find some loose tea you should definitley try the recipe out! Since I've been home coffee hasn't tasted good to me, but I still love a good cup of Chai!

One Cup Recipe of Chai:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 TBS sugar
1TBS loose black tea

Heat water and sugar until boiling and then add the milk and tea.  Boil all together until creamy color, strain and ENJOY!  (this recipe is for a LARGE cup of chai)

The rest of the first day was spent trying to get adjusted to India time.  As you can see when Asa wasn't asking a MILLION questions he was catching up on some much needed sleep!

Tomorrow I will fill you in on The Festival of the colors, also know as Holi.

Best Friends and cousins

Before we were friends we were enemies.  My cousin, Sarah and I use to fight after spending more than one day together.  Our older brothers thought it was funny, they thought we were just playing but we weren't.  I remember one distinct time we were in the barn going at each other, pulling hair, biting and all the works.  Our two older brothers were there cheering and clapping.  As the years went by things got a little better.  By the time we were in our lower teens we could bear each others presence for two to three days.  Then after that, in my mind it, became a competition of who was better what I could do to make her look bad and make people like me more than her. There was and still is something about Sarah, that everyone loves.
  Kids are naturally drawn to her and adults can quickly be caught up in talking to her about anything.
During the middle teens and  upper teens we became best friends.  Sarah came down with cancer when she was 13 going on 14.  It was a crazy time in life, for the next few years she battled cancer, I wrote her letters and constantly prayed that God would heal my best friend.  After watching her go through many trials, loosing her hair, being sick, spending long amounts of time in the hospital,  her time with cancer was over and I saw a beautifully strong girl with an amazing sense of humor emerged from the struggles!  Her faith was stronger than ever and she was such an example of faith.

Throughout high school we talked about traveling together and after I graduated we wanted to go to Honduras together, but I had just gone to Peru and so she went without me.

We didn't give up hopes though a few summers later we went on our first adventure together.  WE went to Peru, South America.  We spent most of our time in Lima, Peru, where we helped out at a Christian school and stayed with friends.  We enjoyed walking around Lima and seeing all there was to see.  We also spent one weekend traveling to Cusco, Peru were we got to see Machu Picchu and explore Cusco.  She was very patient with me when I got sick in Cusco, due to food poisoning!  We felt like such great adventurers!!!  The most memorable thing about Peru was getting the chance to eat guinea pig. Not something we'd want to try again but it was worth the experience.

The next summer we didn't know if we'd be able to travel, but I was drawing closer to getting engaged and married so we decided it might be our last chance for a little while.  Thirty days before we wanted to leave we bought tickets to Guatemala and signed up for two weeks of Spanish school in Antigua, Guatemala.  This was a bigger adventure, because in Peru we knew people but in Guatemala we were going out all on our own!

In Antigua we learned Spanish, hiked a active volcano, and visited a little lake set in the midst of towering mountains.  We fell in love with Antigua and picked out the houses we would live in, if we ever moved there.  We also found a home that nursed malnourished children back to health.  We sat and held the babies and fed them milk, from a spoon, ever couple hours!



Our time passed quickly and the night we arrived home I got engaged!  She knew it was going to happen and didn't tell me!!!! She was there on the beach when Asa asked me to be his wife.  Through the next six weeks Sarah was a VERY supportive bridesmaid and even though she was busy in college she made time to be at my bridal shower and my
wedding

Together down life's road we walk... and all the while, I talk!

I could go on and on of stories, adventures and times together but I'll leave those for another time.  Although Sarah and I no longer fight, I'm still jealous of her.  I'm jealous of her zeal and commitment to God and the adventures she still has to go on.  Sarah has now graduated and started out on an adventure without me.  She is now in Cambodia teaching school for the rest of the semester.  I wanted to write this blog post because she has been my best friend, through the years, AND I want YOU to check out her blog, Sarah's Adventures, and follow her journey! She's always had an amazing way with words and I know you will be caught up in her adventures as I have!  Someday we'll travel together again and I'm so proud of her grit and spirit in all that she goes through!

Do you have someone who you went from enemies to best friends over the years?  Since I'm being all cheesy I'd love you to join me, tell me about your special friends!