State Fair

"Our state fair is the best state fair, yes the best state fair in the state!" I spent the day at the Iowa State Fair with some good friends, the Dawsons. We went around and saw all the exhibits and ate too much! The best thing about the Iowa State Fair is all the exhibits. There are a lot more things to see at the Iowa State Fair than in the Wisconsin State Fair. In Wisconsin there are a lot of beer tents and people with booths trying to sell you things but not many exhibits showing the things that people from the state have made or things they did. Iowa has building after building of these types of exhibits. That is the whole purpose of the fairs; to show off what your county or state had to offer. Baking contests, quilts, art work, and giant vegetables grown in your state. Something to be proud of that your state/neighbors have done, not beer tents and vendors. I can shop at the mall if I want to, not the state fair.

Cleaning Out Grandma's

Tombstones, etched with your name and dates of birth and death, are that people will know you about after your death. Your entire life is sumed up in that small little dash between you birth and death. There are no grand epitats of old, just a small little line. How you lived, what you liked or disliked, those you love and those you hated are all forgotten and replaced by a hyphen. Only those who loved you remember those things, and many times they forget as the years pass by. Only the things you leave behind remind them of these likes, dislikes, and the things you held dear.

I travelled down to Iowa to help clean out my grandma's house and get things reading to sell, and I learned a lot about my grandmother just from the things she left behind. Old pots and pans, lots of clothing, somethings she bought her self, somethings gifts from the family. A few iteams from her mother and grandmother, and those things you wonder about. Why did she keep this? What is that? You can learn a lot about a person from the things they owned and kept through the years.

Two Wedding, a Funeral, and Camp

I've been home for almost two months and I have so far attended two weddings and a funeral. My sister's wedding on June 2nd, and my friend Julie's brother's wedding at the end of June. I went along as a nanny for Julie's four daughters. I also recently attended my Grandma Bonny's funeral. She died on July 6th from cancer. Many relative came to Iowa for the funeral. The week before my grandma's funeral I was at youth camp as a counselor for a week.

A lot has been going on here for the past two months. I still need to find a job though.

When is the 20th?

Sometimes I believe that my natural hair color should have stayed blond like it was when I was a little girl. I have some classes to take in order to renew my teachers license. I signed up for one of these classes and wrote the dates down so I would not forget. So yesterday, I get up early pack an overnight bag and drive an hour and a half to the class in Milwaukee. I arrive with about 30 minutes to spare. I grab my letter to check the time for registration. On the top of the letter right before the registration time the date is typed. Registration begins at 8:30 on Wednesday June 20th. Good I'm early, then I looked again. WEDNESDAY!!! I was a day late. The genius in me wrote down the wrong day. I had the class written down on Thursday and Friday, but the class started on Wednesday. Can you say BLOND!

Home Again

It has been a long time since I last wrote. I arrived home to Wisconsin safely and have been busy ever since. My sister got married the Saturday after I arrived home, June 2nd. The wedding was small and everyone has a good time. I've been keeping busy visiting friends and taking care of some house cleanning that I needed to do. I am still looking for a teaching job for this fall. Please pray that I will be able to find a job.

Ohrid

On my second to last day in Macedonia I took a day trip to Ohrid with my freind Sonja. We were going to go earlier, but it was raining all last week. We took the bus to Ohrid, aobut a 4 hour drive in the bus. We walked all over the city and looked at all beautiful churches, ruines, and even an active archeological dig. I loved watching the workers dig, clean, repair, and sort all the artifacts that were found. We even went into the old amphetheater. We talked and had a wonderful time until it started to rain again. We came back a little earlier than expected, but I would not have changed anything about that day.

Youth Picnic

Today the youth group had a picnic outside of Skopje. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and playing games. There were even two girls who do not come to the youth group who joined us because they were invited by a friend. We were able to use the picnic as evangelism tool for these two girls.