Yay! I had a lot of pictures from the weekend, too many to post without it being obnoxious, so I made a slideshow of some of them. (And I stole three from Blair, to make up for the gaps of time that I missed with my camera...) They start with the spa morning on Friday and go through the reception!
It was a really great weekend, it was so good to have most of my closest friends together in one place for a couple of days! So without further ado, here are some pictures of a fabulous weekend:
And Oklahoma people, I'm headed back in 2 weeks and would love to see you all soon!
Myrtle Beach is stepping it up. We now have an Ethiopian restaurant. After hearing me talk about the wonders of Misir Wat (my favorite lentil dish!), my friend Becca decided she wanted to try it out. Then her parents decided they'd try something new, too. So I then persuaded my parents to have a cultural experience. Thus began our Ethiopian adventure. Pre-dinner, I explained the whole eating with bread without utensils deal, but it was still a bit perplexing to some...
They started out with something everyone was more familiar with. Bread with butter and berbere for dipping. This was quite tasty! (You might notice the picture quality is 1000x better than in the last post. That is thanks to my new camera! Yay!)
Rebecca and I got a vegetarian platter, with the lentils, cabbage, and split peas. I must say, the Queen needs to start serving cabbage, it was delicious! Here's Bec's first taste of injera with lentils.
Our vegetarian platter:
The Sansburys, in the middle of telling a story.
Mis padres, being adventurous. They were game day players. Dad cleaned his plate...mom, not so much.
I don't know that everyone will want to go back for more, as we know, injera is not for everyone. But yay for trying something new!
I also want to point you all, once again, to Ron and Sarah's blog. They are still in Burundi, and are having some truly amazing experiences. One situation that they have been made aware of is the plight of a minority tribe in Burundi, the Twa tribe. They are completely disenfranchised. From what I understand, they are totally landless (they have no money to buy land), it's next to impossible for their children to get an education, and they get an average of two meals per week. The good news? Now they have some advocates.
Because of Ron and Sarah's super slow internet connection, I made a slideshow of their visit with these sweet sweet people and they should be posting it, along with much more information as soon as their internet will let them. Be on the lookout! You should check out their blog anyway, though, because they're pretty great.
*More information on the Batwa situation and what the Gonskis and their friends are trying to do there can be found here.
** Also, here is a video from Brian McLaren's blog about his time with the Batwa...
I just got back from a long weekend spent visiting family in the Hudson River Valley area about 60 miles north of NYC. It was a good time!
We visited some sights, saw a hilarious production of Twelfth Night, and went to West Point's 4th of July celebration (which was actually on the 5th). One of my favorite Fourth's was the one we spent at West Point when I was in high school, and I was so happy to be able to go again! If I had to show someone from a foreign country how we celebrate Independence Day, this is where I would take them. There are thousands of people on blankets with picnic dinners:
The newest cadets (class of 2012 - babies!) file in and sit, carefully supervised by upperclassmen:
Then parts of the Declaration of Independence are read, and the history of the flag is told, with a new cadet from every state marching in with their state flag, starting with the 13 colonies, all the way through to Hawaii. We cheered loud and proud for the Palmetto state, and I'll admit, I gave a little yell for the Sooner state as well.
My mom and aunt enjoying our picnic dinner:
A self-taken picture of me and mom:
After all the beginning ceremonies, the Academy band plays all kinds of different patriotic pieces, and ends with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture right as the fireworks start over the Hudson River.
I don't think you can get more Americana in one place. And I love it.
I just stole all these from my friend Blair, just so you know. I thought you should see more of the fun that was Girls' Mountain Weekend '08 a.k.a. Helen's Bachelorette.
Before tubing down the river:
Group picture post-tubing (hence not so much make-up!):
My name is Christie.
I like: cool weather. hummus. nail polish. coffee. funny people. new running shoes. baking.
I dislike: mean people. white condiments. flossing.
I am a medical Speech Pathologist.
And I'm glad you came to visit.
After all the beginning ceremonies, the Academy band plays all kinds of different patriotic pieces, and ends with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture right as the fireworks start over the Hudson River.
