i just got back from an eventful 11 days in galilee and northern israel and it was one of the best 11 days of this entire adventure! i saw Lebanon and Syria, went to Mt. Tabor (Jesus' transfiguration), Mt. of Beatitudes, Mt. Carmel (elijah/fire/prophets of baal story), swam in the Sea of Galilee, went to Megiddo (armageddon), went to Capernaum, Nain, Nazareth, Akko/Acre, Haifa, the Golan Heights (there are fenced off fields everywhere with signs saying CAUTION LAND MINES), Caesarea Philippi, Caesarea Maritima (I saw the ruins where Paul testified before Agrippa!), and so many other tels (ruins archaeologists have uncovered) and national parks. The New Testament classes I had there were some of the most in-depth and inspirational i've ever had. Studying the scriptures truly does bring happiness and comfort to my life. I would get up early and sit on the shores of Galilee reading from the Gospels or from the Book of Mormon and I would think, i am here reading about our Savior's life and ministry where he actually taught. He was there! I put my feet in the water He walked on. I walked along the shores He taught on. The experiences I had in Galilee are ones i will cherish forever. i have come to know my Savior in much more literal way and i know that He lives!
as soon as i got home last night i uploaded all 1500 photos i took in galilee and my computer crashed. thanks to my polynesian heritage, i'm not freaking out. i may have lost all the photos i've ever taken in college and all the photos i've taken in israel up until galilee and all my music and all the cool notes, quotes, art i've collected. c'est la vie. at least i have kept a really good journal and i have all the memories in my cranium. let's hope that doesn't crash soon, too.
Thursday, July 15
Saturday, July 3
stars and stripes forever
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!!!
i love America.
i love my freedoms; both "to" and "from".
i love the safety of the land.
The United States of America is a gorgeous country and I'm so blessed to call it my home.
and i love America even more after living in Israel.
I had the funnest 4th of July!!! i spent the day at Jaffa then at Tel Aviv.
The pizza store on that corner was so ideal-it tasted so american. I just sat at the bar outside with my diet coke- in a glass bottle of course- and watched all the people passing by. perfect afternoon. and i laid in the sand reading jane eyre while simultaneously counting how many buttcracks there were. what a combo. we got up to 9, but i'm sure if we walked the whole beach it would be more like 90. people have no inhibition here when it comes to swimsuits. or should i say the lack there of. we also found a TON of jellyfish in the water. i think i was the only one who didn't get stung. I tend to ere on the side of caution when it comes to potentially harmful animals. we tried to go sailing, but that didn't work. i didn't mind- i was laying out on the Mediterranean!!!! after our day there we came back to Jerusalem for a 4th of July barbeque at the center. it finally felt like official summer!!! i bobbed for apples and plums and lit sparklers. I think I spent 80% of the day laughing because i have met the most fantastic, superb, stellar, witty, FUN people here. And then i ended the night playing guitar and watching heavyweights. I LOVED today!
I just finished packing for 10 days in galilee, which starts in approximately 5 hours.
xoxo
i love America.
i love my freedoms; both "to" and "from".
i love the safety of the land.
The United States of America is a gorgeous country and I'm so blessed to call it my home.
and i love America even more after living in Israel.
I had the funnest 4th of July!!! i spent the day at Jaffa then at Tel Aviv.
The pizza store on that corner was so ideal-it tasted so american. I just sat at the bar outside with my diet coke- in a glass bottle of course- and watched all the people passing by. perfect afternoon. and i laid in the sand reading jane eyre while simultaneously counting how many buttcracks there were. what a combo. we got up to 9, but i'm sure if we walked the whole beach it would be more like 90. people have no inhibition here when it comes to swimsuits. or should i say the lack there of. we also found a TON of jellyfish in the water. i think i was the only one who didn't get stung. I tend to ere on the side of caution when it comes to potentially harmful animals. we tried to go sailing, but that didn't work. i didn't mind- i was laying out on the Mediterranean!!!! after our day there we came back to Jerusalem for a 4th of July barbeque at the center. it finally felt like official summer!!! i bobbed for apples and plums and lit sparklers. I think I spent 80% of the day laughing because i have met the most fantastic, superb, stellar, witty, FUN people here. And then i ended the night playing guitar and watching heavyweights. I LOVED today!
I just finished packing for 10 days in galilee, which starts in approximately 5 hours.
xoxo
Monday, June 28
a good day
today is such a good day. nothing extraordinary happened, yet it has been an extraordinary day. I slept in a bit- 7:30 is sleeping in. Then I went to this Franciscan monastery, Terra Sanctae, in the Old City. Father Angelo gave us a tour and even showed us the door that Orson Hyde carved his name into when he stayed in the Holy Land on his visit here in the 19th century. I bought a necklace with my name in Arabic. My name looks dang good written in Arabic:) Even though I'm in the throes of finals I feel completely content and at peace. I feel so right about being here. I know that this is where Heavenly Father wants me this summer and I'm maturing and growing in ways only He could provide. I feel like clay being molded and it's painful and uncomfortable at times, but ultimately it will be so worth it. SO worth it.
I started reading Jane Eyre yesterday. I need to be more cultured in brit lit. I'm on page 15 and i'm already in love with Charlotte Bronte's ability to captivate me with her writing.
Also, dinner was highly entertaining. All i have to say is that the toast and beef are REALLY good. And meal times are a great time to play marco polo
P.S. Reason #35 why today is such a good day: I got a package from HOME. i love hot tamales and red vines. israel doesn't know what it's been missing out on.
THANK YOU MOM!!!!!!!
I started reading Jane Eyre yesterday. I need to be more cultured in brit lit. I'm on page 15 and i'm already in love with Charlotte Bronte's ability to captivate me with her writing.
Also, dinner was highly entertaining. All i have to say is that the toast and beef are REALLY good. And meal times are a great time to play marco polo
P.S. Reason #35 why today is such a good day: I got a package from HOME. i love hot tamales and red vines. israel doesn't know what it's been missing out on.
THANK YOU MOM!!!!!!!
to dream anything you want to dream- that is the beauty of the human mind
- bernard edmonds
The best thing about the future, is that it only comes one day at a time.
- abraham lincoln
i love whipped cream, too
imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.
-marilyn monroe
next stop: Italy
to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment
-ralph waldo emerson
too many people miss the silver lining, because they're expecting gold.
-maurice seitter
we must be our own before we can be another's
- ralph waldo emerson
Wednesday, June 23
in reality
back to normalcy
back to my life that i love and have not forgotten
back to the kitchen making, baking, creating
ridiculously random photos. there is no order
Let me just preface this by saying I have had the raddest adventures. I am so blessed.
in the dead sea. i was floating in there for about 30 seconds until my eyes and every cut on my body burned like no other. plus, the water was warm and i had been hiking allllllll day long.
oh just me and the little old dead sea
party in west jerusalem
herding sheep. way harder than you'd think
new love: caves
jared and jud being a creeper behind a Torah scroll.
bell caves. these are made of limestone and the walls are like chalk
church of the nativity. underground this floor is the location of Christ's birth
the best salad ever at the foccacia bar. fried goat cheese, sundried tomatoes and perfection on a plate.
singing christmas songs under the nativity church. i LOVED celebrating christmas in June.
coming all the way to bethlehem made us realize we needed to confess.
jessie, lisa, bekah, katie, abby, me, lauren at ein gedi
guitars turn that frown upside down
original mosaic floor in the nativity church
cave under the nativity church
AND NOW for the beauties of the middle east:
hairy man has a whole new meaning.
he looks like fun.
ein gedi
i was walking with lisa in the middle of nowhere in blistering heat and we were 15 min behind everyone else and i just stopped and thought "i am walking in freaking israel. who does that?" it's so unreal to live here and i am so happy i've been able to live here for the past 9 weeks.
ibex are like cows here
just walking from ein gedi to the dead sea. peace in the middle east. i've become so carefree here that i forget that terrorists live right around the corner. ok, not literally. but, the news back home portrays this place like it's a complete war zone everywhere. yeah, that's spot on for the gaza strip, but most of the other areas in Israel are safe and just peaceful. my perspective has been expanded beyond words.
enough said.
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