CS Lewis

Kat had me read this essay, The Weight of Glory , by CS Lewis. Pretty powerful.

Love sucks

...love just sucks sometimes. It can rip your heart out. Who ever said "feeling" was a good thing? Huh? Where is that person now?

Peru: The Sunflower Orphanage

The Sunflower....

My time at the Sunflower orphanage in Peru touched my heart in ways imaginable. I never knew I could fall in love so quickly. The children seriously captured my heart. They were all so beautiful with their big white eyes, dark hair, and infectious smiles. When I asked 11 yr old Jason what his favorite day of the week was, he told me, “Sunday. Because it’s the day most important to God.” These children were spiritual giants…so humble and giving.

Although we worked so hard (digging multiple trenches, mixing cement, making mortar, hanging 800 pound gates, shoveling/transporting rocks, creating a cobblestone walkway, painting the bathroom ceiling while standing on the shower ledges, digging 3x3x3 ft holes in cement-like dirt; it was more of a spiritual experience than anything else. I felt like everything made sense there – life was simple and clear, it was easier to feel the spirit, and there was time to notice the stars. Although their circumstances are meager, I envy them for their way of life.

I can't wait to go back. And I start my Spanish classes on Thursday, so wish me luck.

Viva Peru

The Gang...Love 'em all.

The Sunflower, Peru
Jill, Illadio, Lauren, Neptali, Kayla, Yeison - The Workers

Sacred Valley, Peru
Above the orphanage...we're at about 12,800 ft.

A Taxi in the Sacred Valley...motorized style

The Sunflower, Peru
Digging a trench for the water line

Painting the boys bathroom...we had paint everywhere.


No uniforms required...

Urabama, Peru (right beneath the orphanage)
Gathering rocks for the cobblestone path

From the river to the path...

The Sunflower, Peru
Yeri- absolutely the cutest boy alive

Our fearless leader - Scott Evans

Taxi Ride in Puno
Racing to the port - that was one wild ride!

Lake Titicaca, Peru
The highest lake in the world! And even cooler - they have 36 man-made floating islands.


Lake Titicaca, Peru
The children on the floating islands- brightly clothed.

Paragliding in Lima, Peru
Getting prepped to jump off the cliff - that's me in the white helmet. Dead sexy.

Flying along the Pacific ocean

Custco, Peru
Just some darling school children at a festival

Lima, Peru

Grandma McKinnon

My grandma was a legend. She really was. She taught me so much about life and love. She would always say, "You can never run low on love. The more people you love - the more it grows. " In my old age of 25, I've found that to be true.

Grandma Thelma would also teach a lot through song. For example, if anyone was ever having a hard time with the men in their life, she would break into song and sing...

"Hug him in the morning, kiss him every night.
Give him plenty loving treat him right.
'Cause a good man now days, is hard to find. "

As I was searching for all the words to this song, I found the rest of the lyrics to be rather interesting...it has a little bit of a different twist to it.

A Good Man by Brenda Lee

A good man is hard to find
You always get the other kind
Just when you think that he's your pal
You look for him and find him fooling around some other gal.

Then you rave you even pray
To see him laying in his grave.

So if your man is nice you better take my advice
Hug him in the morning, kiss him every night
Give him plenty loving treat him right
'Cause a good man now days, is hard to find.

A good man is hard to find
You always get the other kind
Just when you think that he's your pal
You look for him and find him fooling around some other gal.

So if your man is nice you better take my advice
Hug him in the morning, kiss him every night
Give him plenty loving treat him right.
'Cause a good man now days, is hard to find...

Aunt Jill

Aunt Jill. Just the sound of this brings a smile to my face. The other
day Kennedy and I were out crusiing the ranch on the 4-wheeler. She begged with those big dark eyes to drive, so there was no way I could say no (ever notice that 'what the hell'' is always the right decision?). Her little hand gripped the throttle, and before I knew it we were being thrown back and forth as she would press on the gas and let off and give it a punch and let off... I kept telling her, "Slow and Steady. Slow & Steady." Well, it didn't take long until it was FAST and steady. Quick learner, my little niece.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;I
f you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
--Rudyard Kipling

Peace

peace. it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

...even when you're dressed as a crazy indian!

Life's Run

Do you ever find yourself running and running a million miles an hour and when you finally have to stop for a breathier because you're exhausted and completly out of breath - you wonder why in the world you've been running so hard and so fast? You've completly missed the last 7 miles. You're numb to the people around you, the fields you just ran by, the rain running down your face. And where in the world are you even running to that requires you to get there so fast you can't even enjoy the journey?
Good question. Too bad I don't have a good answer right now. But I do know I need to take time to notice how beautiful the sky is, to remember how I love to gaze at the stars, and what about the countless times I used to lie on the grass with my dad and find people/things/shapes in the clouds?
When was the last time I took 10 minutes to remember all the fun memories this past year holds - like boating in the rain at Flaming Gorge, attempting to "barefoot" on the Palisades Resevoir, rounding up cows with friends/family, hiking Mills Canyon and climbing the cliffs, the bottle rocket war in Star Valley, falling off the ski lift with my sisters, training for the triathlons, riding our bikes around the neighborhood late at night, road tripping it to California and chilling on the beach for 3 days, sleeping on the deck in Swan Valley and getting soaked by the rain, setting off fireworks in downtown SLC, running the Ogden Half with new shoes/no training, learning how to long board on the CA boardwalks, hiking in Yosemite National Park, running across the Golden Gate bridge, running the New York marathon, playing in the ocean waves, riding the motorcycles along the peak of the mountains, taking the gondola up to Snowbasin under the full moon, playing Balderdash with my family, getting up at 5 am to run 18 miles and then having breakfast at Ruth's diner, dropping off the zip line in a freezing pond-twice, riding the 4-wheeler with my niece, going snowmobiling in -6 degree weather, the 3 am excursions to the OX Ranch...there have been some good times this year.
Maybe this blog seems like a rambler, but I just realized as I reflected on some of this year's memories that maybe life is all about running hard and fast- BUT taking the time to enjoy every second of it....all the smells, hearing all the music, seeing all the beauty. Life is sweet. Love every second.