m biased, but you're welcome to send me pictures of yours if you think they might give mine some competition. Last night I got home from my whirlwind tour of Western PA, South Bend, IN and a wee bit of Chicagoland. It was a FANTASTIC trip!!! I got to see a lot of my college friends, some who are still students and others who have already graduated and still live in the Greater Pittsburgh area. I also got to go to my church in Slippery Rock. SO GOOD!!!!! Then I went to Indiana to visit my brother and sister in law and their 3 adorable, brilliant, tall, well-behaved, affectionate, precious children. We had a wonderful time together! More details on the blog and pictures coming really soon on facebook!!
Here is the “brief” rundown of my trip. I squeezed a lot into a few days!
Saturday I traveled to Chicago. I had about a 6 hour layover in Atlanta. And get this-there was SNOW there!!! And it didn't melt the whole afternoon I was there!! Unreal!! I took advantage of my long layover and walked between all the terminals, especially enjoying the 2009 International Year of Astronomy photo essay of nebula, galaxies, planets, constellations, etc. One of my favorites it a picture of the earth lit up at night. No borderlines are drawn, but you can tell what's where. It's really cool. The other REALLY cool thing is the Sculpture exhibit from Zimbabwe. There are probably about 20 sculptures between terminals A and T (check it out sometime if you have a layover there). They all reflect the life and culture of various communities in Zimbabwe. I have a lot of favorites-one of a man and an eagle embracing each other, a group of 3 people being held by a huge hand, a foot with the faces of people as the toenails (that sounds weird but it's actually really cool), and one of little kids playing leapfrog. All the sculptures are really impressive though and most of them are made out of a really hard, difficult to sculpt stone called springstone. So fascinating! And the walls have all these great fotos of sculptors at work, zebras, lion, elephants, hippos, traditional costumes and instruments, etc.
Saturday night Carrie (one of the 2 Carries for whom I was named. Boy do I have some big shoes to fill!!!). This Carrie was a dear friend and mentor to my mom when she was in nursing school in Chicago. She still lives in the same, lovely house. She did a great job listening to my culture re-entry blathering and took me out for a yummy roast beef sandwich “au jus” and then we ate brownies and watched the Olympics. Oh and I got to drink hot. It was great. If you don't know what hot is, don't worry. Just know that it is yet another way in which I am similar to my mom.
Sunday morning I woke up much earlier than necessary, even though I had been really tired the night before. I had a nice little journaling session before getting ready to go. Carrie and I had a lovely breakfast and then she took me back to the airport.
When I arrived in Pittsburgh I was so excited I almost wet myself and had to make every effort to keep from squealing aloud. My dear friend Bryan picked me up, quite literally in fact. I threw a snowball at him before going to the car. Yup, snow is just as cold as ever. Before heading up to church we swung by his apartment so I could see it.
Church was A-MAZ-ING!! It was so beautiful! I love being part of such a rich, deep faith. But more than that I am just in love with Jesus. I am so in awe of God and all He has done for me. So often, unfortunately, I think we end up softening and shallowing what we believe. Sometimes I think this is even used as a tactic to make it look more appealing. And that is SO NOT the case!!! People want and need something they can really cling to. Warm fuzzies and niceties are just that-warm, fuzzy and nice; but nothing more. Jesus Christ came to earth as 100% God and 100% man. He lived a perfect life and then gave himself completely in the most extreme act of love ever. He died-taking upon himself the penalty/punishment of all my wrongdoings, disobedience, selfishness, meanness, etc. And that act reconciles me to God. I am no longer separated from this Demander of Perfection. Jesus lived the Perfect life and transmitted it to me by giving up His life and dying for me. And he didn't just do this for me, He did it for you, reader, you and your friends, your family, your classmates, coworkers, your enemies, for everyone! And to really seal the deal, Jesus Christ rose from the dead and broke the curse of death. Those who accept the new life He offers us are promised to spend eternity with Him. We will still die an earthly death, but that will really only be just the beginning of forever with Him. That is salvation, that is a promise I can cling to. That is my hope. Jesus is the Rock I can cling to, not just a nice guy who loves me. His love is so much more profound than I will ever be able to grasp!!!
Ok, enough of that. But if you've got any thoughts on it I'd love to hear them!!! Church was amazing. Ethan (my rector/pastor/presbyter) gave us a great reminder to listen to the Words of Jesus. For He alone has the words of Life. Communion was beautiful. The whole things was just great. I cried twice.
After church we had a delicious potluck dinner and I was so happy to get to see and visit (briefly) with so many people! I wish I could have had more time, but that just wasn't possible. Then Ethan let me share briefly about things in Costa Rica. I had a table set up with some souvenirs and a slideshow running of a year in review. Hmm, I'll see if I can't put that on the slideshow on the left here. So yes, church was great and a HUGE highlight. Pretty much the main reason why I went to visit. 
Then I went to Keegan's apartment. She was my suitemate senior year. Her boyfriend came over for a bit so I could meet him and then she and I just laid in bed and talked for a long time. We had a nice relaxed morning on Monday (and we exercised together like in old times) and it was just great.
My friend Jason came and picked me up at noon. We headed out to Rachel's for a yummy lunch full of laughter. After lunch we went for a GORGEOUS walk on the bike path back by the sewage plant. It was so pretty with all the snow and trees and dear old Wolf Creek! I wish I had taken a picture of that too!!
Yikes, I just realized how not brief this is. Monday evening I had a delightful, delicious dinner with the Harps and one of my many dear Megans. I only wish I could have been able to bond with them more before leaving the GC area! Then I had a really sweet time hanging out with my friend Chrissy.
Tuesday morning I went for a run in the halls of 2nd floor South-I lived in that dorm building 6 of the 7 semesters I was on campus. It was fun to see all the decorations. And bummer, I forgot to take a picture of my friend's engagement posters!! :-(
Anyway Tuesday I had breakfast in MAP where I worked last year, so I got to briefly see several of my old fellow employees. That was fun. I started by going up to the lady who trained me and telling her she was out of eggs, a frequent occurrence on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I had her fooled at first and then she recognized me. It was great. Anyway, the real purpose of eating in MAP (I was reminded at how disappointing the food is) was to hang out with my good friend Rachel. It was great to catch up with her. 
Then I went back up to Keegan's apartment. Sb (my college roomie, L) drove up from Pittsburgh with her dear little daughter Allison (who is slightly younger and way smaller and lighter than my nephew Isaiah). We had a blast together playing, talking, eating and being silly. It was a really good day.
Next I headed down to the Coffee Grove to meet with Ethan. We had a marvelous conversation and I got to have a fantastic chai. I appreciate Ethan so much! I know that he cares about how I am and will do his best to encourage me, counsel me so that I am as well as possible spiritually, emotionally and mentally. HUGE BLESSING!!!
Then I went over to the apartments to hang with Beth, Caroline and Meg (and Ned for a bit too). Beth is an amazing cook. And these are great girls I have lived with before and I just adore them. We always have a blast but also manage to have really good conversation.
After dinner we headed off to IV. YAAAY!! It was at Slippery Rock, but they still gave me a chance to share a little about Costa Rica and how I ended up here anyway and what I've been up to. I was so glad to be able to share with the chapters! Meg commented to me later that what I said got her thinking! I am so grateful that God used me there! Anyway, InterVarsity was WONDERFUL!! I thought we were going to have a concert of prayer, but instead Paul (the staffworker for Grove City) led us in a spectacular manuscript inductive study of Acts 11 and the first portion of Acts 13. Oh it was SO good!!! I LOVE studying the Word like that!! We focused on discipleship but God's Word is just oh so rich and it was great! I felt like I got some good solid food!
Afterwards we went to Eat'N Park!! YAAAY! It's never really anything that special, but the company is what really matters. It was so great to be able to see so many people and briefly catch up with some of the ones I hadn't been able to see yet. Tuesday night Meg and Beth and I stayed up really late talking. It was really really good though.
Wednesday Meg and I got up and ran over to our friend Patti's house. We had a hilarious Zumba party together. I wish we could have stayed to hang out more, but I had my schedule crammed full, so I couldn't. After a quick shower I ran to upper campus to go to IV's daily prayer meeting. I liked that a lot. They have even been adding some extra daily prayer times this semester and I think that is fantastic! Prayer is so so so important!!
Next I had a meeting with Paul (The same one mentioned above). It was really interesting speaking with him now that I've graduated. I feel like we are on much more even ground. He gave me some good encouragement though, and reminded me of future possibilities of serving with IV/IFES in the future. We'll see.
My next activity was another highlight. I got to share with my friend Megan's (the same Megan I had dinner with on Monday night) class! She teaches 5th and 6th graders at the little Christian school in Grove City and has had them send me letters and Christmas cards and they pray for me every week. What a blessing! I got to share with them and have a little Q&A about Costa Rica and it was fantastic!They asked me a lot of great questions and the 45 minutes seemed more like 5 minutes.
After that there was a whirlwind of visiting my Spanish profs back at the college and then going to visit briefly with the Reubers briefly. I'm so glad I got to go to their house again! It felt kind of like going home. (I lived there for a few months between graduating and getting here).
Then Bryan and I went out to the Brewery in Slippery Rock for dinner before the Ash Wednesday service. Oh they have such delicious burgers!!!
The Ash Wednesday service at church was wonderful. This might sound weird, but I REALLY love Lent!! It is very good for me to remember that it is about God and not about me and humble myself before Him.
Bryan and I had great conversation in the car on the way down to the 'burgh where I spent the night at Sb and Jon's. It was pretty funny sleeping in a double bed by myself after 2 nights of sharing twin beds with another girl. I'm really glad I got to see Sb and Allison on Tuesday because our time Weds night and Thurs morning definitely would not have been enough. Sb took me to the airport and I flew back to Chicago. Once more dear Carrie picked me up and this time she drove me all the way to South Bend to my brother's house!! What a huge blessing!
I was SO glad to see Ezra (4), Agnes (3), and Isaiah (1) and Dan and Sarah. They are a wonderful family! Sarah is a wonderful cook and a fantastic mom. And Dan...I am so proud of him
. I love being his sister! He is hilarious and an all-around admirable guy. I really enjoy being with them both. And the kids, are well...you know. They love to draw and read and play and they are just great. They are good snugglepusses too and I LOVE that!! We got to make homemade pasta, play outside in the snow, read and draw, go out for Indian food, watch some Olympics and enjoy lots of yummy food. We had a fun little birthday party for Agnes Saturday evening. At night after they went to bed Dan and Sarah and I played Settlers of Catan (so fun!!!) and watched Olympics. That's the life!! Also, Dan took me cross country skiing for the first time in my life. It was great! I couldn't believe I'd never been before. The time went by so fast and it was hard to say goodbye, but I knew it needed to come back to Costa Rica.
So, here I am once more. Aren't you glad I gave you the brief version? ;-)
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