missionaryMAC

'Twas the day before Christmas...and I went to the bank at 7:30 am. It was as filled with the magic and wonder of the season as it sounds. No, really! Regional Business Manager Stan & I got there before they opened and were 3rd in line.  As if anything could top NOT waiting 2 hours, I made pumpkin baked oatmeal  to fuel me for a marathon day. I knew it'd be a long haul, but I was giddy with excitement for each of 4 events:  1. Lunch at the Shavers'.  I got there early and put myself on sous chef duty...until this little cutie absconded with my apron.  Kris's adorable place settings went up a notch with "under the plate gifts," a family tradition she decided to bring to the DR. I made mashed potatoes for a bunch of Idahoans. I'm not sure how much stock to put in a 2 yr. old's opinion, but he was LICKING the bowl. His idea to take a picture with Tía Erin, not mine 🥰 2. English Advent service at the regional office.  3. Spanish service of Lessons ...

Way back in early January, my friend Tirzah commented that she was going to count the number of times she visited an airport in 2024. That sounds fun , I thought to myself; I'll make that my 2025 "gimmick" (in 2021, I counted how many beds I slept in , and in 2022, I made a 1SE video ). But it truly was early  January. As in, I could list all of my airport visits from memory.  It's now late December, and all of my airport visits are meticulously recorded in a spreadsheet with the following columns: Date Airport Purpose (departure, layover, arrival, pickup, or drop-off) Designation (work, personal) It has been fun! I think  I go to the airport more than the average person?! You tell me after you peruse the following stats, concluding with the final tally.  I made the most airport visits ( 13 ) in May and the fewest ( 5 ) in March & December.  Eighty percent of my travel was work-related; 20% was personal.  I departed & arrived 25 times (glad ...

My favorite Christmas song is really an Advent hymn: "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." In Spanish, it's "¡Oh, ven! ¡Oh, ven, Emanuel!"  " Ven "  is a form of the Spanish verb "venir," to come; its Latin root is evident in the name of the season itself (Ad ven t). Yesterday, which I'll get to in a subsequent post, was the culmination of a season of waiting for the Christ child's coming as a babe in Bethlehem (OK, and His coming in Word and Sacrament AND His second coming). Whilst unpacking all of that in beautiful Sunday and midweek worship services, I invariably kept busy with a plethora of festive activities. December alternated between flying  by and dragging as slow as the molasses I put in multiple baked goods as I... ...rode Santiago's new cable car with new missionaries & Spanish teachers. It's a form of public transportation that connects the outskirts with the city center, but we did the ~30 min. roundtrip just for fun...

I spent almost six months studying abroad in Granada my junior year of college. It was...a test of faith in many ways, but I came home feeling like I could conquer the world. I'd visited Spain - not Granada - once in the intervening years and ever since, had had a hankering to stroll my old haunts and let the memories wash over me, see how the city that changed me so much has changed.  First glimpses...although I honestly don't think I was ever  at the train station way back when.  We found our Airbnb and then headed out for two places I used to frequent. I'm not sure what happened to the color/light show at Triunfo Fountains, so that was a quick stop. Pictured above (and three more times before the end of this post): 2008 vs. 2024. I HAD to order the "siesta" for old time's sake. Happy Tuesday, Granada. Looks like a beautiful day for reminiscing. My old apartment. Maybe the place I used to meet a friend for churros con chocolate every Sunday before church? ...