Happy Birthday Sumer!

Today is Ms. Sumer Nicole Baugh's birthday. She has been my friend since we were about 8 or 9 years old. Sumer is one of the hardest workers I know. She has a commitment to her family that is unmatched and I love her dearly.

Happy Birthday Sum Sum!

Megan, Sumer and I

Blessed

I have been blessed to have 3 sets of visitors this holiday season! I love familiar faces almost as much as i love the unfamiliar ones:)

The first were a couple JBU girls that, although several years behind me, were rejuvenating to see as we come from a similar world at JBU. We ate Chinese food and chatted about the places in life we were experiencing and what was ahead. I don't know if they knew what a blessing this simple conversation was for me. It did my heart good to share a bit of life with these wonderful girls, Natalie and Kristin:

We didn't actually take a pic together so i stole this off their facebook page!

Next was Heather Westbrook, a dear friend from the SCLE and kindred spirit in the traveling world. She was en route to her sister's in Coventry and stopped in with a friend Lynette. We saw some sites and did a day's worth of adventuring around my new home. It was a blessing as well to hear her life in the world I was consumed by over the past couple years. I was also encouraged by her perspective on my personal/professional dilemma's. She is a gem.

In front of Big Ben

And most recently was my dear Calley Louise! I was her mentee my freshman year at jbu, which was the foundation to a beatuiful friendship. I was planning to see her in a couple weeks on the back end of her trip to Ghana, but she called Thursday and said she had missed her flight to Ghana and was in town for a day - translation = i get to see my wonderful friend on both ends of the trip! So she came over, sacrificed some sleep and a shower to go out on the town with me. We visited the traditional pub as well as the "Urban Vine" and talked with many nice British boys. I love my Calley and am so thankful for a friend like her - she asks me questions even though she knows the answer could take an hour, will abandon hope of R&R for an adventure and shares her life with me.

Prior to our bus experiences of the morning:)

thankful

Being thankful today meant this:

I met two women over the past week that reminded me of my mom in a beautiful way - they were free, confident, inquisitive and honest. They come from a different place and maybe have the same zodiac sign as her or something, but I was thankful to have a piece of her over here.

There was this guy in the pub the other night that was kind and real. It wasn't anything flirtatious, just a good conversation that I realized had been missing recently. He didn't want to get in my pants or do anything weird, but tell me about life, including his great girlfriend in Cardiff. It was refreshing and hopeful.

Christmas in Ricky

I now live in Rickmansworth which is the town where I work. I live in my friend Jon's house, about a 15 minute walk from the pub and train station. This Christmas we spent at the house, cooked up all the traditional goodies, watched a few Christmas films and took the obligatory couch-nap (i took 2:). here are a few pics of us and our Christmas feast:

Jon and his beautiful turkey!

The final product: Roasted potatoes and parsnips (in goose fat), brussells sprouts, turkey, steamed veg, stuffing with blueberries and walnuts, and of course - cranberry sauce (not pictured: sweet potato pie with marshmallows on top).

The flatmates before feasting!

leah in london goes to Spain + Italy

Over the past month I have had the opportunity to visit two of my dear friends - Michael in Rome and Jason in Granada.

I visited Michael, a good friend from JBU, during an unexpectedly opportune time for him. The day after I arrived his ex-girlfriend and very dear friend died suddenly in her sleep. I wasn't sure what to do or be for him but it turned out being a blessing for both of us. He appreciated an English-speaker and friend who knew him well, to process the experience with, and it was a blessing for me to be told of a woman who lived so pursuant of God. We did have a bit of fun in the midst of it all - it was great to see some of Michael's favorites in Rome.

In front of the piazza near Michael's place - opera house in the background

Piazza del Popolo
Michael and I giving weird faces while out on the town:)

SPAIN

My friend Jason Opheim. We met in 2002 while he and some other OKC boys worked at a camp near my house in NM. Since '02 we have seen each other 6 times, 4 of which in the past year and a half and 3 of those 4 in Spain, where he teaches English. He has been living in Granada these past several months and that is where our recent adventures took us. We saw the sunset over the Alhambra, enjoyed a little mountain town at the base of the Ubeda mountains, ate kebabs and tapas till we popped and walked up and down the streets of Granada to work it all off:)

J and I during a wonderful walk around the city

The Alhambra - Moorish Palace

J and I watching the sunset - beautiful!

The three roomies and I after late-night Spanish club

during the last tapas session before I left - delicious!

Slough it off

Today I took a bath. It was great for 2 reasons. 1) my flatmate has great taste in purchasing tubs and got one of those great ones that are taller on one end so you can comfortably recline into it.

2) I discovered my new favorite bar of soap. It's an exfoliating bar i bought at Tesco but hadn't opened yet. I love to exfoliate. This bar of soap made me feel like anything on me was getting nicely scrubbed off (not in an intense way, but nicely).

I'm not a clean-freak so the drive to exfoliate isn't really about an OCDish tendency. Rather, I am intrigued and driven to expose myself to true feelings, ones without barriers. If I have beer and liquor spilled on me (not because I'm an alcoholic, but a barmaid) I hesitate to touch people bc i don't want to rub the guck on them.

My mom is a vital part of my life. I don't know if it is more who she is or what she brings out in me that lifts her in my thoughts. She reminds me of the feelings involved in every interaction. She helps me slough off the residue and interact on a real level. Recently I had a few experiences where I was surprised by my reactions. I didn't really FEEL bad or good about them, but walked away indifferent and maybe even removed. Sometimes that is good, but in these situations I realized I was losing a sensitivity that I value in my life. I remember seasons of prayer for a sensitivity to people, a connection to something deeper that may also bring a level of responsibility. Today in the bath, with this wonderful new exfoliant, I was reminded of the need to slough off the barriers and seek a truer experience.