Live your love.

I recently heard this quote, and it really rang true for me:  Life is beautiful not because of the things we see or do, it is beautiful because of the people we meet. I got to babysit my nephew and play with him at Gymboree! Sweet college friends, celebrating John's birthday! My roommates on Halloween My roommates took a road trip to Albuquerque for the Hot Air Balloon Festival Closest friends from high school help my nephew celebrate his first birthday! I constantly encounter people on a daily basis with my job. I am blessed by the kids I get to work with and my colleagues. There are so many people in this world that really want the best for kids and people, and I need to remember that. Those people make life beautiful. I recently started volunteering with a group of woman who are refugees from Somalia. They have taught me more about culture, overcoming adversity, and beauty more than I could ever teach them. I have been energized by conversations with really...

With Erin, Jessye and Jill at Machu Picchu My last day at the school with Nancy, Luz, two students, and a caregiver With my precious host family Out with Sandra & Maite, friends from Spain Summit of Machu Picchu Mountain With Simi on our Sacred Valley tour This week I spent the majority of time being a tourist! I spent monday, tuesday and wednesday at the school. I feel like I have finally developed relationships with the students and the teachers there! I made a list in spanish (with a little help) of various fine motor activities that are culturally relevant and helpful for their students. On tuesday night, i went out with my spanish friends and got to try a pisco sour, which is the drink of peru and was quite delicious. On wednesday after working at the school, one of the teachers took me to experience a peruvian wedding. I sat through a traditional catholic mass in spanish at one of cusco's beautiful cathedrals. I even went to the re...

I feel like I write about this a lot, but I really do feel so grateful for the people in my life. Tonight a group of good friends sat on our couch and shared if we wanted more HOPE, LOVE, or FAITH in 2011. What a great question to discuss. I want to be better about having more intentional discussions like that with the people I see on a daily basis. I got to have some really good conversations with some friends and family while I was visiting Chicagoland for the holidays. I feel like I try to fit in so much and see so many people on my visits, but I always leave feeling fulfilled and loved. The conversations were intentional and real and deep.. because we go months without seeing each other and maybe not talking- so catching up is necessary. I love it and I decided that energizes me. Anyways... I decided that I would like to have more faith in 2011. I've definitely grown to be quite a sceptic in  the area of religion the past few years. I don't regret that, but I do miss that ...

With Medeus (our patient with a stroke) and his wife in Haiti It's certainly been a whirlwind of a month. Tomorrow I will have left Haiti three weeks ago. I continue to miss it everyday and think about the experience and people often. Being there for a month made me realize how short one month really is in the grand scheme of things. It made me desire to do something more long term. I know that the timing in my life, I have a job I need to return to and financially I cannot leave that right now, but my hope is that maybe in the next couple of years, I can figure something out so I can live in a different country for a longer period of time... long enough to learn the culture well and learn the language a little more.. and really build some great relationships. Holding my new nephew, Blake Murray Heilicser for the first time My first friends in Denver Since returning from Haiti, my little nephew was born on 8/9/10! He is so precious and has brought such joy to my family. ...