2008

I suppose this is my last post of 2008. It's crazy to think my first year in the blogging world is over. I've really enjoyed putting some of my thoughts and experiences up on this page. Today I'm looking back on this year, reflecting on all that it brought. I learned a lot and I changed a lot. I am not the same as I was twelve months ago.

I began the year by finishing up my second semester of college. I met some amazing people with whom I goofed off, studied and honoured God. I traveled away with a friend to meet her family and just have fun for a weekend. My family was a part of a mission team and we spent every Sunday raising funds for our trip. Perhaps the most life-changing time, however, began in the summer.

Every year my family discusses options for our summer vacation. Every single time I suggest that we travel to Alaska or Greece. I have wanted to visit these two places for years. 2008 stands out as the year that I made it to both of those wonderful places. A summer mission trip took me to Kenai, Alaska and a Study Abroad travel break saw me visiting Greece. I cried tears of joy as the plane touched down in Anchorage. Tears once again slid down my cheeks when we landed in Athens.

From Texas to Alaska and from England to Ireland, Spain, Switzerland and Greece, my journeys took me around the globe. My experiences were much more than just "dreams come true". I have new ideas about the direction in which my life may be heading. I am more confident in myself and thus a more outgoing person. I believe that I am more fully living out the message of the gospel. I grew and I think that I'm a better person than I was 8,766 hours ago. In a lot of ways I don't really want this year to end. I enjoyed it so much that I would like it to just keep on going. Of course, that's not going to happen so I can only hope that the next thousands of hours will be as formative and wonderful as each of those in 2008.

Dear Santa

Blessing Line

Wilderness Trek was without a doubt one of my favourite high school trips. I grew a lot on that mountain, Mt. Antero. I also formed some great relationships. Today I remember Tyler, one of the young men who was on the trip with me. He was an amazing person and I wish we had been given more time to know each other.

I think everyone would choose the Blessing Line as their best experience on Trek. I certainly would. It was a special time, and very moving. We all stood in two lines, across from each other. One by one, each person would walk down the line with their eyes closed and receive a blessing from everyone while we sang. But it wasn’t without humour. Tyler was tall, considerably taller than me. In fact, he was the tallest person there and I was the shortest. I grabbed his hand and thought of all I could say about this amazing young man. But I couldn’t reach his ear to whisper the blessing to him. I grabbed his shoulder and tried to push myself up several time, but to no avail. I just wasn’t tall enough. Finally, Tyler realized who was blessing him and squatted down so that I could talk. Afterward, he told me that if he had realized who it was, he would have just bent over to begin with.

Blogging

Because I know this blog is more for me than anything else. If you know me, you know that I just like to talk a lot.

Well, I'm Back

"Well, I'm Back."

These are Samwise Gamgee's final words in the Return of the King, and with these words the entire trilogy ends. Such simple words carry so much weight. After traveling the world, fighting in battles and saving Middle Earth, Sam returns to his quiet life in the Shire. He is overjoyed to return to his beloved Shire and start a family, yet the memories he made and adventures he survived cannot be forgotten.

Right now I feel a bit like Sam must have felt. The relationships I forged in England are priceless. I already miss my housemates like crazy and January seems so far off. I had so many wonderful adventures in Europe and did some amazing things. I grew and learned a lot about myself and about God. I am constantly reminded of experiences I had in England that no one here can relate to. Each time I feel a little forlorn, sort of torn in two.

I am glad to be home, happy to spend time with my family. Even so, I miss Oxford and our wonderful group. After an exciting fall abroad, quiet Abilene seems sleepy. Right now all I can do is relish my memories, writing down my experiences and flipping through pictures. But I also have to sit back and just enjoy time with my family, sinking onto the couch with a soft, "Well, I'm back".

Most of the girls


My Beautiful Roommates

This is Home

This is my last post from the city of dreaming spires. It's so difficult to express the conflicting emotions within me. I love Oxford so much and I consider it one of my homes. I've spent close to five years of my life here. The relationships that I have formed this semester are unbelievable and the memories priceless. I'm excited to see my family, but right now I just want to stay right here. I know that as soon as I step onto that plane tomorrow I will be ready to be in Texas. But until then, I'm hanging on tightly to my last few moments. Here's a small glimpse into this place I love and the people who have become a family. This is home.

I'll be Home for Christmas

Christmas is in the air. Tonight we went to a Christmas carol service in the Sheldonian Theater. It was such a joy to sing carols with friends and welcome in the Christmas season. After the service we headed over to St. Aldates for mince pies, which are my favourite Christmas treat. Oxford is so joyful this time of year, holiday lights dancing overhead and Christmas trees in every window. I'm still loving Oxford and will miss this place terribly, but I'm also missing home more than I have in a long time. Tonight I'm dreaming of home.

I'll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree

Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light gleams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams

Splashing in the Aegean

Anyone who's reading this probably just wants to see some pictures. So instead of my normal long-winded post, I'm just going to post a few pictures from the second half of my Greece trip.

Imagine showering there - not pretty

My Oxford roommates on the boat

No cars on Hydra, just horses, donkeys and mules

Dipping my toes in the crystal turquoise waters

Poros

Beautiful sunset over the Aegean

And again, because I love sunsets so much

At the beach

Delicious Baclava

Ancient Corinth

Wednesday, November 26



In Corinth

Wednesday took JoAnna, Mary and me to Corinth. We weren't sure how complicated it was going to be to get there, because everyone kept telling us not to go to Corinth. Waiting for the bus I had a tasty pretzel that the street vendors sell all over Athens. A very sweet lady helped us out by telling us how to buy our tickets and exactly where our stop would be. After a couple of complications we made it out and walked down and old, deserted-looking road. And then we stepped into Ancient Corinth, to be met with the sight of an archaeological team hard at work. That in itself was really neat and we watched them with their shovel and pick-axes, uncovering ancient secrets. We spent most of our time taking pictures and gazing at the wonderful architecture. The city was larger than I had expected and quite a few portions had been unearthed so that it actually felt like a city and not just random ruins. The sun shone down brightly on the dusty land and shade was scarce. Crazy to think it was the end of November and the temperature was around eighty degrees.

Of course the coolest part is the fact that Paul lived in Corinth for a few years and wrote letters to the Christian there. We read from Acts, where Paul travels from Athens to Corinth, which is exactly what we did. We then read passages from 1 and 2 Corinthians. It was a powerful thing, to read it there. I could imagine myself as a Corinthian in the first century.


Reading Corinthians

Back in Athens we were followed to our hostel by a couple of dogs. They are everywhere in Greece, even amongst the ruins. These dogs are hilarious, because they stop right at the crosswalks with all of the people and cross when the green man shows up. I think they should put a green dog up there as well so as not to discriminate. Once we got back we went shopping again and then met up with Josh and Erin. We ate dinner at the Hard Rock Café, getting our hamburger fix.

Athens, Eye of Greece

I can't believe we only have nine days left here in Oxford. It's gone by so fast! Thanksgiving break was a fun and relaxing week. I finally made it to Greece! We had an amazing time, even though our group did not communicate particularly well.

Monday, November 24 & Tuesday, November 25

Our plane took off from London in the snow, so now at least I've seen snow in England! We spent most of our time in Athens, but took a few day trips as well. Athens was very neat and there are ancient ruins everywhere. We started our day out on Monday heading immediately to the Acropolis. The entire Acropolis is littered with bits and pieces of stone - a column here, a statue there. On the very top of the Acropolis are three temples, the most famous being the Parthenon. Though scaffolding marred our view (no surprise there), it was amazing! I've dreamed of seeing the Parthenon for years and it was almost surreal actually being up there. My batteries died at the Parthenon and my brand new spare set didn't work, so I didn't get quite as many pictures as I would have liked. The city of Athens sprawls out from the foot of the Acropolis. One one side, the Aegean shines silver in the sun breaking through the clouds. On the opposite side, gleaming white houses stretch to the surrounding mountains.

The Parthenon

Up against the Acropolis is the Aeropogus. It was here that Paul preached to the Athenians, using the altar to an unknown god as an illustration. This scripture is even posted in the rock face, though I did a very poor job of deciphering it. From here we walked down to the Agora and another temple. It is such a beautiful oasis in the center of a busy city. Within the Agora is an old church from the 11th century. Lunch that day was chicken slouvaka, a sort of Greek version of an American kebab, and Greek yogurt and honey for dessert.

Temple of Zeus

On Tuesday we slept in a bit and then headed across the street to the Temple of Zeus. We had a lot of fun there and took a ton of photos. Afterward we walked around and shopped in the Plaka, which is full of fun tourist shop. Dinner was from a little grocery store that also sold olives. These delicious olives were the huge Mediterranean olives that Dad always refers to at Passover.