Salsa is so much fun....

Have I mentioned that I have become addicted to salsa? So I still am having a blast and can't wait to learn more. If you would like to see some of the fun. Check out the link for some pictures from Bongos last night. Susan brought a cake and candles to celebrate Milton's birthday from earlier this week. And he got the typical salsa birthday dance. (The girls circle around him and take turns to dance with him during a song). We had a great turn out and it was great to see some show up who haven't been there in a while. There were still many others missing -- probably due to holidays. But we did get several new faces as well. Its great to hear new people coming. A few of us are going to Atlanta on Saturday for some workshops and a social dance -- I can't wait -they have awesome dancers there. Here are some pics

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I pray that God bless each of you with a new awareness of the love that God has for YOU – EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU. He desires to be able to speak with each of you so much that He sacrificed a part of himself – his son – to come and live far from him and bear the weight of our sins and failures and insecurities that have kept us separated from him. And now we can celebrate in the joy of being able to communicate directly with Him. And may we all be startled once again with the special knowledge of how precious we each are to Him and how amazing and huge His love is for us….

May the true spirit of Christmas be real to you tonight….

Christmas in the Carolinas

We had Christmas this weekend with my parents and sisters families. Unfortunately my brother and his family didn't make it. :( We still had a great time eating, cooking, opening gifts, taking pictures & playing games together. Mom and Dad drove in as did Kristin & Matt. They got in on Friday and enjoyed hitting a favorite Thai restaurant in downtown Greenville.. unfortunately I missed out having to work. But I got off early at 6:30-- Praise God and made it to Greenville by 7:45.


Saturday we got to open presents -- big ones












funny ones (like the tickle me Elmo from Mom to Jayden)

















small ones












We had great meals. We all jumped into help... from preperation and eating
















to clean up afterwards... even Jayden jumped into the middle of the mix to enjoy in the socializing











And then we got to go to church at Redemption on Sunday morning together. The Wilder's stayed home as Jayden has been fighting a viral Upper Respiratory infection. Ron talked about being in the right environment to live to our fullest potential. And that God will open up the doors and provide us with what we need to be in the environment that He has designed for us. I believe that He will provide for my environment in the near future too-- Thank you God for knowing what we need before we even know it.

Sunday night Matt & Kristin came and visited me at my cabin in the woods. We chatted til late -- like I do every time I am visiting with loved ones. It was fun to show them the house. If you would like to see more pics look no further

I took a picture of me in front of my tree at the house

"Thats the way she always eats!!!!

When is the last time you made a face like this for fun?


This week Tim, Lindsay & Sammy have been visiting. We've had fun making new recipes for meatloaf with carrots, sick as sin if you eat it chocolate cake, quiche -- one tomato and fungus infested (as Lindsay described it) and one broccoli & sausage (chicken sausage -- trying to cook in a healthy way to balance out that chocolate cake), & orange and rosemary chicken, spicy rosemary shrimp, twiced baked potatoes to name a few. Since Trevor has the two oldest kids while Kendra is in Florida for her grandfather's funeral with her mother and youngest child Kyrie, the remaining Foskey's have been stopping by to hang out and have dinner with us each evening. Its been fun.
The other night as I broke out the chocolate cake, Olivia (2 year old) became coated in chocolate within about a minute and Trevor chose to remove her dress to have something clean to wear home. And Asher, her 4 yo old brother, found it confusing that we were laughing at his clear intentions -- easier clean up. And trying to explain it to us... loudly announces "That's the way she always eats". Which just made us adults laugh all the harder. Life through the eyes of a child is always so interesting.



Now you see why she is easier to dress after she has eaten....


The spicy rosemary shrimp was a good dish -but super spicy -- maybe thats because I couldn't find red pepper flakes in the normal spice section but found them in the Mexican/Spanish spice section of the storen -- we had to revert to eating the twice baked potatoes, drinking milk or eating an apple...


Asher did a great job eating 3 servings of his broccoli but didn't care for the spicy shrimp. He did enjoy the ice cream.


Tipsy figured out where to hover under the table for dropped scraps -- the two year old who often dropped little tidbits on the bench or on the floor.

bragging about my nephew.... and praising God

I can't get over my cute little nephew who is growing into a handsome little toddler. So I thought I would catch you up on the activity of this little one. I took a few pictures a week ago. He just doesn't stay still these days.



He is so much fun to take pictures of...


He is walking and starting to do that run and catch me moves.


Say cheese... or just bring out the camera and he knows what to do...


And he loves to be held and loved ...


I spent some time with him this weekend on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. And he warmed up to me again. He has me wrapped around his little finger. All he has to do is run to me with his arms out to hug me goodbye, purse his lips and fall into my face with his kiss. Then back up and scrunch his hand open and close and say bye bye and blow kisses to me. That melts my heart like nothing else can. And my heart melts now just recalling it. I can't help but be proud of my sis and brother in law in the way they encourage their son to develop in a creative, learning and loving environment.

And feel blessed to have a loving family who care and want to stay connected despite the thousands of miles between us from PA to LA. Problems and all we still are a family. And I am blessed to have a brother and two sisters to turn to to pray with, get sound advice from, laugh with and grow with. And I find that I am amazed with where I am these days. God is still developing me into the loving beautiful well rounded woman that He has created me to be. And daily, I am curious to discover more about who I am and to explore life with God and those in my life. I ask for those to pray this week for a special offer from the interview I had in Greenville. And I thank Him in advance for his blessings and for all He continues to amaze me in how He provides for all my needs. And I praise Him for the perfect job, perfect hours, good income, housing arrangements, networks of good friends, church family and personal relationships.

Thanksgiving in the Carolinas...

This picture is from a random moment stopped to enjoy the beauty of color last week. I just had to show you the glory of God that I got a chance to enjoy.

This was my first taste of sweet potatoe pie, made by Myrana, everyone liked it...

My holiday feast provided and shared with co-workers.

I experienced my first Thanksgiving in the Carolinas.
Last year I did the road marathon to visit friends & family in VA, MD & PA which was wonderful, busy and the first time I've participated in so many Thanksgiving meals in one extended weekend.
This year I took my turn, on duty in the ED. It was steady for the first half of the day but slow in the afternoon.

Our charge nurse got organized and had everyone sign up to bring in different food to have a holiday meal here. He made turkey and sliced it up nicely for everyone. At his request I cooked ham and made a pumpkin pie. (Side note: Let me tell you -- those plastic baking bags that you can cook a turkey in -- they work well for throwing a ham in and baking it. I was able to throw the ham in the oven and go back to sleep for another hour. :) A great thing since I got off late last night and then went to the gym and got home around midnight & had trouble falling asleep last night.)

We had a variety of foods -- turkey, spiral sliced ham, mac&cheese, mashed potatoes, greenbean casserole, fruit tray, bread, italian wedding soup, cranberry sauce, and for desert pumpkin pie, sweet potatoe pie and a bundt cake.

I have never eaten sweet potatoe pie before. I think it tends to be a tradition of the south. Recently I was talking with someone who said that sweet potatoes pies and casseroles were a must have tradition as part of the southern Thanksgiving. I tried a piece and it was fabulous --It was very moist and lots of the same flavors of pumpkin pie. And I had to laugh that it was one of our registration girls, Myrana who made it for us. She moved from Ecuador last year and knows how to make this southern dish already and I don't. She did an excellent job so I asked a few questions.
Now I can say I have experienced a traditional southern/ Carolina Thanksgiving -- sweet potatoe pie and all...
I pray God blessed you all with special moments and good food today & safe traveling for all those on the roads and in the air.

Top Ten list for a better holiday

Its time for the Holidays... I figured why not continue my previous year tradition of sharing my lessons observed in the ED for a better holiday experience.

Top Ten list for a better holiday

#1 Wash your hands often and especially before that special family meal or food prep- you don't know where those friends and family hands have been -- wiping kids noses or scratching skin coated with MRSA (okay I had to throw in that word :) to spread more paranoia - You all must realize by now that we almost all have probably been exposed by this point)-- But seriously -- wash with water and soap but the key is the friction of the rubbing the hands together for 20 seconds or so.

#2 Avoid unnecessary cuts ----Stop opening cans with knifes or fingers -- what is it with trying to use hand held can openers that don't work completely so I will try to pry it open.... (famous last words let me tell you)

#3 Drink more water -- it helps you stay hydrated while traveling -helps give you energy to deal with additional stress and helps your immune system fight new germs and may help avoid hangovers for those who dip into alcohol

#4 Don't leave the turkey thaw on the counter or in the sink and please please please refrigerate left overs-- let me introduce the concept of food poisoning and not leaving the bathroom for the next 24-48 hours... enough said.

#5 Watch out for the pranksters... there's always one funny one in the group -- make sure the chair is there before you sit etc...

#6 Watch for uneven pavement and unexpected steps in homes while visiting family or friends especially when our parents and grandparents may be around and need more help with stability-- they have a way of jumping up and knocking people down

#7 Be careful if children are visiting homes with dogs that they are monitored as old dogs may not tolerate tails being pulled or untrained dogs may not tolerate children near their toys or food. A dog bite is traumatizing to everyone involved.

#8 Remember to plan for time to kick back and have some quality time with friends and family. These are opportunities to build relationships and memories -let go of little things and use your time wisely. Love your friends and family and chose to use this time to "Encourage one another daily"

#9 If you get talked into the traditional family games such as basketball or football -- remember to have fun -- but warm up and stretch to avoid injuries.

#10 Take time to thank God for the good things in life (you can always find bad things but I think everyone can find at least one good thing and its amazing how focusing on the positive can change your attitude and stress level -- Like -- Thank God I have a job (despite the fact I have to work Thanksgiving). Thank God I have friends who take pity on me and bring me food and co workers who creatively plan ahead to share our own holdiay meal.

-- And my prayer is that you all have a great Holiday season and it does not involve visits to the ED.

Whether to come...or Whether to go ... Weather for sun .. or ... Weather for snow.

I SEE SNOW!!!!!!

Flurries that is.

Weird... considering I was sweating in a tank top while weed wacking and raking leaves just yesterday. The temperature was in the 70s yesterday. At least this year I learned to clean out my gutters before it froze.

It feels like winter....

Where can wisdom be found?

Last night I was praying for guidance. I really want to have the ability to know the future and therefore make wiser decisions when it comes to life... But little do I really comprehend that burden. Instead God guided me to pray for specific guidance and for me to come to him for each of the decisions in my life. And gave me peace that He would provide me guidance at the times when I need it most. And to trust him when I don't know what to do. He is faithful in all ways. He can recover any lost ground and lost opportunities when He desires it.
Today I was scanning some verses on Bible gateway at work. I was filled with annoyance at a patient who was not faithful in taking meds prescribed to them. They even had the meds in their possession that would probably cure their ailments. What do they not understand about that?
It made me reflect back on my life. How often do I make decisions that do not help me? And how often do I forget to go back to my resources (the scripture) highly available in my own life. The Word that brings life. When I am searching for wisdom why not go to what God has already given me?.... Maybe I am more like that patient than I wish to be. "There but for the grace of God go I" was a fitting statement. And as I looked I found this beautiful scripture.
May it encourage you as it did me.

Job 28: 12-28
"But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?

13 Man does not comprehend its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.

14 The deep says, 'It is not in me';
the sea says, 'It is not with me.'

15 It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed in silver.

16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or sapphires.

17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
nor can it be had for jewels of gold.

18 Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.

19 The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
it cannot be bought with pure gold.

20 "Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?

21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds of the air.

22 Destruction [c] and Death say,
'Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.'

23 God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,

24 for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.

25 When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,

26 when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,

27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.

28 And he said to man,
'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.' "

Saturday Night at Clave Brothers Party

Clave brothers Nakia & Milton hosted a Halloween Costume party in Simpsonville Saturday night. It was amazing the quality, variety & quantity of costumes. From dancers, police women, nurses & demons, grim reapers and nuns, french maids & prisoners, from Disney to Renaissance. You think of it, you could find it, in the room.

I really enjoyed getting time to chat and get to know people. Many of which I see regularly at Eastside & may have danced with, but never got the time to get to know. I enjoyed how many people were willing to mix outside of their typical circles to get to know others. And it was interesting to see the wide geographical patterns from Simpsonville to Spartanburg from Inman to Tryon to Hendersonville.

And everyone was kicking back & relaxing and enjoying hanging out. Food & drinks for all. The house was laid out perfectly to allow people to circulate. And of course I enjoyed catching shots of the many people there. Take a look at the fun photos. If anyone wants me to make a copy or email them one just let me know...

Haloween Salseros

Costumes are fun

... It's fun to see the creative sides of our natures. For some the masks are applied before they will share another dimension of their creativity, while for others the masks come off and the bravado is flashed. What I enjoy most ... celebrating the individuality that exists for those few moments in costume.

One interesting thing to attempt is to wear a costume while dancing. There are difficult challenges -- headdresses requiring further reaches, shoes or boots that are difficult to dance in, or ears that fall off during turns.

During this years contest the top six -- construction works, dracula, geisha girl, Carmen Miranda, Carlos the free gynecologist and the pineapple lady. The winner of the night was Alex the Dracula. Check out the fun pics from the evening. Click here

Jayden's Birthday

Jayden's first birthday appeared to be a success. :) Janelle did a beautiful job decorating. Tons of family and friends showed up to watch and share in the celebration. Janelle used a theme of ducks and now Jayden has several stuffed animals- including ducks that quack,dogs and cats as well as a few puppets. He has his own leap frog laptop and elmo phone, several puzzles and tons of books- several with noise squares to push, two riding toys, two tonka dump trucks Jayden liked to turn into riding toys, blocks, several cute outfits, some baby einstein videos, duck slippers, tadoodles, a basketball hoop to name a few.... There was tons of food. It was nice to see so many come out to celebrate. And several other children who played well with Jayden. Jayden did well and I am sure is blessed by everyones generosity...

Jayden's Birthday pictures

Sushi and salsa and church in less than 24 hours

I got a chance to go to a salsa/hibachi restaurant on Saturday and then went salsa dancing later that night. Here are some pics from sushi.Its been fun getting out and doing things. It was such a blast at La Montana dancing with a crowd we knew from the other club- Eastside. I stayed out way beyond late that morning. And then got up after only a few hours of sleep to go to Church. At church the pastor challenged us to stop trying so hard to fit in and hide our uniqueness when God created us to be unique. He challenged us to stop caring about what people think and more about what God thinks -- especially when it comes to evaluating our life. And especially not to allow others attitudes or interactions with us to stop us from the work or destiny or harvest that God has called us to. (for example --when we are surrounded by others who are failing in our lives choosing to fail at something in order to fit in and not be isolated by being so blessed with success instead of living in the blessing God intended)

Time with the Wilders

I haven't had time to hang out with the whole Wilder family in a while. I got to babysit Jayden Friday and then hang out on Sunday. Jayden is so sweet and growing up so fast. And it was fun to hang out with Janelle and tag team shopping -- helping find things we both needed - in this case shoes. And chilling with Josie who pampered us by running out for pumpkin cappuccinos. Check out some of the cute pics and the kitchen colors in the Josie and Jayden pics and the dining room colors with Jayden and the ball pics.

My first video in a while

I had a great time at the beach with the Foskeys & the Whitcombs. I especially love my dawn and sunset walks on the beach, collecting shells, laughing at the childrens screams of delight/fear, scuba diving (super awesome :)) and playing with the sand with my toes and splashing in the surf.

Homeowner tasks & blessings

I must say. Last year I worked on trimming my shrubs and forsinthye bushes with the hand powered trimmers. This year I borrowed an electric hedge trimmer. They turned a three day project into a four hour task. Motors are a great thing... And I love to see them look neat again. I even had time to stop and smell the flowers. And time to go visit with Janelle & Josie prior to salsa class.

Shell Alley just off Sunset Sandbar

Tonight I chose to walk along the beach. I walked further than I have in the past. I came upon this area of beach full of shells. I was so excited. I decided to name it Shell Alley. I found a small conch shell about the size of my thumb. And I found several olive shells. ( A lettered olive shell is the South Carolina state shell. One of the other ladies along the scuba trip on Wednesday gave me one. I also found two dead sand dollars about the size of my hand while scuba diving on Tuesday.) Then I started to wade out into the water to take some sunset pictures. It was low tide and the water stayed below my knees for a long way out. I got to go out and take lots of cool sunset pictures out in the water. I decided it should be called Sunset Sandbar. It was beautiful tonight because from our area of the beach you really can't watch the sunrise, but this was a little harbor or river. I took a few pictures of my shell pile because I was so excited about what I found.

Sun, Sand & Surf -- who needs anything more?

The beach is great!! I did not get to go scuba diving Tuesday because they didn't have enough people signed up to go out on the boat. It got rescheduled for Friday. I got to go out today. I was rusty and this was my first small boat dive with swim lines. We didn't go very deep -- staying around 65 feet. It was a good practice dive. They had an old barge they sank but it turned on its side. They originally built it with concrete beams with activities like triangles to swim through etc. Unfortunately when it turned on its side, it left lots of debrie with not much to do or look at. So they took some old tanks(APOs -I think they called them) and gutted them and allow you to dive straight through or go up the manhole opening. The water was 82 degrees so I didn't need my wet suit. I just used my new SPF/surf shirt and tankini. This was fun but I did scrap my leg as I tried to turn to quickly coming out of an opening. It was superficial luckily. It was so great to get back in the water and scuba!!!!
Thanks to all who prayed that we get enough divers because we only had 6 which is the minimum number they will take out. They have enough for my second trip on Friday but the low pressure developing off the coast is suppose to cause some good wind. Bad enough that they probably will not go out Saturday, but they think they will be able to take us out to Sherman which is only about 5 miles off the coast. Its an old civil war frigate that sank and broke apart. Nothing to practice penetrating (going down into the wreck) but it should be exciting to see it. And its another day out scuba diving.

On another note. I have the place to myself for the rest of the week. I really enjoyed the time with two families and enjoyed playing nanny at times. It seems so quiet. Trevor & Kendra needed to go home early for some work Trevor needed to get back and do. Tim & Lindsay had and unexpected death - Lindsay's grandfather passed away and they had to pack up early to go home for the viewing and funeral. I am going to relax tommorrow and hopefully scuba. And I will play it by ear if I go home on Friday or Saturday. I had fun tonight with the tripod taking some pictures of myself on the beach. Did you know its difficult to take pictures of yourself doing a flip? It was fun trying :) I also decided that without the tripod I will be taking pictures of my feet in the places I've visited since my arms aren't long enough to get good face shots. :) Check out the web album for more pictures

Relaxing at the beach

The water was perfect/tepid temperature. Asher (4 yo), Olivia (1.5 yo) & I were the first to hit the beach with excitement. They were ecstatic to find a reservior of water about 5 inches deep where they could splash and dig their toes into the wet sand. They were hesitant to go into the water but with big eyes of anticipation helped me find shells since it was low tide. I am greatly enjoying it. I will update more but here are a few pics

Weeds weeds and more weeds

 
 
 
 

I seem to have a huge list of things that need done around the place. One of which, has needed work for about 2 months, was weeding. I must admit I don't mind weeding when you know you are helping plants to grow b u t when the weeding goes on and on and on again... I struggle to even start it. So I decided the vegetable garden will go unattended and I will weed wack and then till it under at the end of the summer. The flower garden unfortunately needed weeded. Its a part rock garden and therefore you can't rototiller it up. So the last two days I worked on pulling weeds. It was in the 90s yesterday and I could only tolerate about 2 hours. Today I started earlier and it was only in the mid 80s. So I was able to finish it. I ended up with five piles of weeds. I forgot to take a picture before pulling weeds but I have the after pictures. I also have a few pictures of the embankment that goes onto my neighbors part of the land. It shows the intense height and depth of weeds I had to fight. Keep in mind those are not planted trees in there. I hope to get a few more flowers to put into my garden in the near future and a bench to put at the end of the garden.