Bubble Terror

We discovered recently that Divya is totally freaked out by things that are sticky.  We realized this when she was playing with Deja's jelly window stickers last week.  She was happily playing, then all of a sudden out of no where, she started screaming and acting completely freaked out.  It took us a while to figure out what scared her, but we finally did: it was the sticky!

Here's a video from tonight.  Arie and I were dying laughing.  Check out how Divya reacts to Arie's bubble gum after she realizes it's sticky...

Nine Month Pics

I'm not sure who enjoys the wagon more-Divya or Clemson!

Gotta love bath pictures!

My cutie pie

Words cannot describe how much I love this picture: Divya doing liase mikha (fluttering her eyelashes).

She loves playing in the kitchen...just like her mommy!

Divya getting some Erica love.  This picture makes me smile.  Erica looks so beautiful and radiant with baby Williams growing in her belly!

Sweet moment with Khairie....(made possible only by the fact that Divya had just been holding food. Khairie was hopeful)

'What? Is there something on my face?'

She thought it would be hilarious to give herself a shower with her sippy cup while we were driving back from Madison.  She is insane.  Gets that from her daddy.

Telling Clemson to keep all paws inside the moving vehicle.

Playing while daddy works

Eating the blanket out of her book. Such a silly monkey!

Divya is 9 Months Old!!!

It's hard to believe that Divya has now spent more time in the outside world than in my tummy.  It seems like she has grown up so quickly!  I think the last time I did a Divya update was when she was 4 months old, so it's amazing to think how much she has changed since then.  Here are some of the highlights:

• She is becoming more mobile on her feet.  She gets around on furniture (or whatever she can hold onto) pretty easily now.  She can also walk pretty well holding one hand--though she prefers to hold both hands because she is much faster!  She has gotten better at dropping down to her butt from standing (as opposed to going timber!).  In the last couple days she has gotten good at holding onto furniture and reaching down to pick up something off the floor again, and then return to standing.  
• She is a great eater.  She loves all and every kind of vegetable.  She even loves eating onions and garlic!  It is so great to have her sitting at the table with us and eating what we eat.  It was really important to me instill a family tradition of sitting around the dinner table while enjoying each other's company and enjoying food.  Right now, our schedules allows us to sit together for breakfast and dinner, which is awesome!
• When she eats something she really likes, she says, 'mmmmm!'  She also does a happy food dance when she's eating something she really loves...must have gotten that from her mommy ;)
• She is very generous.  She is happy to share her food with the dog.  I think she takes pity on Khairie and want to share her food with her.  It's sweet, but still makes me cringe! 
• She is learning more words everyday.  She is starting to understand phrases in both Nepali and English, and I'm hoping she will become equally comfortable with both languages.
• She just started to shake her head.  A couple weeks ago at dinner, Arie was being his usual goofy self, so I shook my head at him and said, 'daddy's silly!'  She immediately started shaking her head as well!  So now, I say 'daddy's silly!' and we both shake our head at him.  She also shakes her head when she eats something she doesn't like.  Yesterday it was avocado and today it was yogurt.  She makes a face after tasting, so I ask, 'you don't like it?' and she shakes her head no!
• She has also learned 'No'.  Well, sort of...I don't actually say no.  I read somewhere once that a child hears no like a billion times, and only hears yes about thirty times or something like that.  So when Divya puts something in her mouth that she's not supposed to (such as paper, the cat ball, or a computer cord), I'll say, 'that's yucky!' and she will remove the object from her mouth and say, 'ugh' as if to say, yes that IS yucky! 

It's so amazing how quickly the time has gone.  We love her so much and she is such a blessing to us.  She makes us laugh every single day!

I no pics on this post, but I will upload some recent pics soon...stay tuned! :)

 

'Bow wow wow'

Our little puppy dog says, 'bow wow wow!'

Sabotage

Martha Stewart, I love you.  I really do.  I have your books, I subscribe to your magazine, and I frequent your website.  But I am convinced you are trying to sabotage me.  Last week, I had a craving for cookies, and fitting with my resolution to only eat junk food that I make myself (thank you Michael Pollan), I decided to whip some up.  I have always used the same chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I had just finished thumbing through a copy of Everyday Food where I came across a recipe for 'Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies'.  So I decided to give it a whirl.  I really should have known better.  What did I think was going to happen when you bake 1/4 cup balls of dough at 375 for 15 min??  Not good.  Would have been better off just eating the batter-that part was good.  Then, this morning I decided to try out her recipe for quinoa breakfast cereal (like oatmeal, minus the oats, plus the quinoa).  I've really been on a quinoa craze lately and I really liked the idea of quinoa for breakfast.  I followed the recipe to a T.  According to Martha, my quinoa breakfast cereal should have been ready in 15 min.  Nope.  35 minutes later, I settled for al dente quinoa.  It's a good thing quinoa is a complete protein, because by that point my blood sugar was really low and I was really crabby.  That's not to say all her recipes turn out this way...her rigatoni with chicken sausage, spinach and cream tomato sauce and her buttermilk banana pancakes are absolute family staples of ours.  So, I have created some guidelines for following Martha's recipes.  First, only attempt a new recipe when I'm in the right frame of mind.  That would be the 'oh, wow, failed again. That silly Martha!' sort of mood.  Second, wait to entertain with a Martha recipe until it is been tested and the kinks have been worked out.  Lastly, keep in mind that this is a dysfunctional relationship and just accept it.  All that being said, Martha I still love you...but I am watching my back. 

mmm....Peas!

This child is a pea lovin' fool.  Here is a (short) clip of one of many (very long) peafests. 

Where's your Monkey?

A Snowy Day

We really haven't had much snow this winter.  I'm pretty sure our friends in Greenville have had more snow than we have actually.  Today we had an awesome snowfall.  It was such a gorgeous day: big fat snowflakes falling from the sky and relatively warm outside.  Arie had been working on his references for dissertation (i.e. a butt load of references) all day as was starting to lose his ability to articulate basic sentences, and I had been working around the house cleaning, cooking and doing bunches of laundry.  We decided to take a break and go for a hike in Hickory Hill Park, which is literally right across the street from our house--it's so great!  Here are a few of the pics from our snowy outing.

Getting a ride on daddy's back

No one was more excited about the fresh snow than Khairie

Peeking at the white stuff below

Love this picture!

Snowy hike

Not sure what Khairie is doing here...but I'm pretty sure that's her butt in the air!

Khairie checking in on Divya

Eskimo baby

Snow bunny

'OK mommy, my butt is getting cold!'

4 Months Later...

It's been 4 months since my last post, and that literally seems like a lifetime ago.  We've been down a pretty crazy road and back.  Last semester I tried to take a full load of classes while working 20 hrs a week as a TA and RA, all while still figuring out this whole mommy thing.  It was nuts.  It was WAY too much.  It took a lot of support from Arie, my family and my closest friends to get through it.  Get through it we did, but as most challenges in life do, it made me (and us as a family) re-evaluate what our priorities are and how to best move forward.  All that being said, I am still pursuing a PhD but I am slowing things down by taking one class at a time to finish out my coursework. I am super grateful that I have the opportunity to continue with my program, while being able spend lots of time with Divya and enjoy watching her grow.

It just amazing to me how much D has changed in 4 short months.  She is such a riot these days.  She is learning how to walk (totally uninterested in the whole crawling thing) and becoming pretty proficient at cruising along furniture.  All she wants to do is walk with a little help from mommy or daddy...all day long!  She is 'talking' more and more every day.  A few of her favorite words right now are 'mama' (when she's upset), 'dada' (when she's happy) and 'cat' (when she's trying to play with the animals--cat or dog!).  Although our favorite was when she said, 'momo.'  She can identify objects like her monkey, the cuckoo clock, and...cat (yes, she really loves the animals).  For the last 2 months, she has been exploring the world of food, which has been especially fun.  Being Ms. Independent, she never wanted to be fed, so my visions of making all varieties of organic baby food purees quickly went out the window.  So now, she pretty much just eats what we eat.  She loves bread, beans and pasta and cannot get enough veggies.  She could eat peas for hours on end.  It's crazy!  Fruit not so much, she definitely does not have a sweet tooth--which is good!.  She has no teeth (yes, we call her 'toothless'), but she can chew like it's nobody's business! 

Saying something...and making a funny face as a result

'I love beans!'

'...and butternut squash'

Crib entertainer

Serious face off for the cat ball

There's lots more to get caught up on, and I promise to be better about keeping up with the blogging.  Not another 4 month hiatus...I promise!

Two Mommies

Divya now officially has two mommies: me...and daddy.  Last week I returned to work and being a full time student.  It was a rough week to say the least.  After spending nearly every moment with Divya for four months over the summer, being away from her for 15 hours last week felt agonizing.  Every time I was away, I felt like I had left half of heart and half of my brain at home.  Thankfully, Divya was at home in very good hands.  Now, I have blogged about what an awesome daddy Arie is...and it's true, he really is.  BUT, as I told Arie before returning to work, 'you have to be mommy now.'  Because at this age, daddy is optional, but mommy is mandatory!

Turns out, Arie is a great mommy as well.  He had an awesome first week with Divya: they played a ton, he bottle fed her, and he danced her to sleep.  It made an extremely difficult transition much easier.  That's not to say there weren't plenty of tears...there were (but they all came from me).  At the end of the week, as he was snuggling with Divya, Arie said to me, 'you know, I loved her before but now I really feel like we're bonded.'  And I see that as well.  He is acutely tuned into her needs and how to care for her as only a mommy could.  It's a beautiful thing.

So, we did survive our first week.  It's all downhill from here, right?!  In addition to being emotional about returning to work, I've been a weepy mess watching the amazing events unfold in our dear friends Mary Beth and Donald's lives.  Every time I think about what has happened in their lives in the last couple of weeks, it gives me goosebumps and brings tears of joy to my eyes.  Mary Beth and Donald are two of the most amazing people I know and it  overjoys me to see such blessing poured out onto their lives.  Check out their blog Our Life Spann on my blog roll.  Mary Beth and Donald, we love you guys SO much and wish we could be be there to celebrate with you!

Divya at 4 months!

Words cannot describe how much I love this picture

A Few Randoms...

Yesterday, Arie said to me, "You need to blog, otherwise you'll never keep up with it."  Very true.  Divya has been waking up at 6AM lately (and of course she is asleep again now), so I figured I might as well take advantage of this time.  So here are a few randoms...mainly beacuase it's too early to think too coherently about any one thing.

First of all, my parents and sister are in London right now.  And I'm insanely jealous.  They're going to London, Paris (to celebrate my Dad's birthday), Geneva, Turin, Venice and Rome.  They're off bumming around in Europe while I have to return to work.  How is that fair??!!

That brings me to my next point.  Next week, I have to go back to work.  I have many mixed feelings about this undeniable reality, but most of them revolve around this sentiment: I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to.  No really, I think the anticipation is worse than anything.  And when I try to think about it logically, I realize it could be a lot worse and my situation really isn't that bad.  I shouldn't be gone more than 20hrs a week and when I am gone Divya will be with daddy.

Speaking of Divya and her daddy, I just LOVE watching them interact.  They have the sweetest relationship.  D has totally stolen her daddy's heart.  I'm so impressed in the way Arie so seamlessly became a father.  It just makes me love him that much more.  Here are a few videos of the two of them that I shot yesterday.  The first one I just think is so sweet and the second is absolutely hilarious. 

Divya is 3 months old!

It's totally crazy.  I cannot believe Divya is already 3 months old.  The last 3 months have been a blur, but also one of the most amazing times in our lives.  So, here are a few things I'd like to share about our little girl...I'm doing this MB style ;)

• She is 'talking' more and more every day.  She now will hold a 'converstation' with you.  It's too cute for words...literally.
• She is fascinated about the world around her.  Her newest obsession: trees.  She will stare at them for hours.  Now when we go on walks, we'll say "Divya, let's go look at trees!" and she stares at them for the entire hour long walk.  Yesterday at church, we stumbled upon a fish tank which was a HUGE hit.  She was so happy watching the fish swim around.  I think she could have watched those fish forever.  She has no interest in toys, she just wants to explore the natural wonders around her.
• Things that make her smile: mommy, daddy...and the ceiling fan.  I never realized how funny and entertaining a ceiling fan could be!
• The oral stage has fully taken hold.  She loves sucking on her hands (often both at once). Yesterday I was holding her while doing some chores around the house.  She was sucking on my arm, and all of a sudden it really started to hurt!  The next thing I know, I look down to find a huge hickey on the inside of my arm!  She actually gave me a hickey!! A big purple one!!
• She just loves to be snuggled, held and worn.  Absolutely nothing makes her happier than being close to you.
• She's starting to discover the strength in her legs.  She loves to stand, dance and walk..with a little bit of help, of course!  This is great, but makes bathtime a very messy affair.
• She loves hanging out on her belly.  She can lift her head and chest up and look around.  She just started to push off her elbows too.  She kicks her legs like crazy like she's ready to crawl but can't seem to find any traction.  She kind of looks like a beached seal.  It's hilarious.

D has been such a blessing in our lives.  It's so amazing to watch her grow and see her explore and learn the world around her.  We're so thankful that our little tiny preemie baby is doing so well, gaining weight like crazy and developing beautifully.  We can't ask for anything more.

Hanging out

Playing with daddy

 Sucking on her snuggle puppy

Playdate

Becky and I (and Aunti Jo) had another playdate this week.  We've had several playdates already, but this was the first where Bronx and Divya were actually both awake at the same time.  So of course, we had to monopolize on the opportunity and snap lots of pictures.  They are HILARIOUS.  Bronx was totally mackin' on D! And she does not look too happy about it...at all.

Bronx: 'This is kind of nice.'

Divya: 'I don't know about this...'

Bronx: 'Hey, what's up?'

Divya: 'Get off me, that's what's up!'

All joking aside, these two are totally buddies.  They're womb buddies.  Bronx was 3 weeks ahead of Divya in the womb.  It was so great being pregnant with Becky and sharing in that experience together.  She could always give me heads up on what was about to come down the pipeline (cravings, strange sensations, etc).  We ran together most of our pregnancy...and then walked together when running became a bit ridiculous!  Since D was born 4 weeks early, she actually came earlier than Bronx, but not by much!  She was born on a Friday and he was born early Sunday morning just two days apart.  So, their first playdate was actually at the hospital.  Now Becky and I get to share in the experience of being new moms and see the two of them grow up together.  It's truely such a blessing!

Worst Blogger EVER

Ok, I'm finally updating my blog and giving myself the title Worst Blogger EVER. I'm pretty sure the 3 people who actually read this blog have long given up on it. So much has happened since my last post. Arie is done with his coursework and is now working on his dissertation (yay!). I am still chiselling away at coursework for my PhD...slowly but surely. Big news in the Shrestha/Greenleaf household is the addition of our daughter, Divya Aleydis. She was born April 30, a good 4 weeks before her due date. She is 11 weeks old today, and like everyone says, her arrival has changed everything. I'm not sure how someone so small could have so much persnality...and with parents like us, she's bound to be nuts. Sorry, Diyva.

So, I am going to try to start blogging again. If there's anyone out there who is actually reading this...feel free to keep me honest. I should have no trouble finding the time. Right?!

Divya deep in thought...

Laughing at her daddy. Look at that hair!

26.2

Ok, so it's been a ridiculous amount of time since my last post. Shameful, really. But I did want to blog about my recent marathon, since it was my first. The entire experience went better than I could have ever hoped for. I felt great the entire time, even in the last 6 miles. I've heard so many people say that running a marathon is more of a mental challenge that a physical one. Personally, I never felt mentally fatigued. I think this is solely for one reason: Long's Peak. Climbing that mountain is still, to this day, the most mentally and physically challenging thing I've ever done. We spent 14 hours climbing that day, and didn't even summit. And if the altitude didn't get you, the knee jarring descent will. I cried the last 4 hours of that climb. Unlike running a marathon, you can't just walk off the course. You MUST get down off that mountain. There's no choice in the matter. I haven't reflected a lot on that experience, but now after running the marathon, I think much of my success can be attributed to that torturous, failed climb.

So, back to the race itself, the conditions were absolutely perfect, the course was beautiful, and the race was extremely well supported. It was, in a lot of ways, the perfect first marathon to do. I didn't start experiencing pain until around mile 21. My back started to cramp up terribly and of course my legs and feet were screaming. I started to take walking breaks, but then I quickly realized that it hurt just as much to walk as it did to run...so I figured, why not run and get this thing over with sooner?! Right around mile 23, someone was giving out gummy bears. I grabbed a handful, started eating them and all of a sudden I started feeling good. Like CRAZY good. After that, I felt really strong. I was passing people left and right. I had lost my 4:30 pace marker a few miles back, so I figured my goal of coming in around that time was shot. It was right after the mile 25 marker that I asked someone what time it was (I had fogotten my watch, of course!). They informed me it was 12:20something and I was completely shocked. I thought for sure it was almost 12:45, which meant I needed to hustle to make it to the finish line under 5 hrs. After discovering my goal was still in tact, I just went for it. I'm sure I wasn't actually running that fast, but to me, I was sprinting. I crossed the finish line in 4 hours and 36 minutes. I was thrilled with my time and the fact that I literally left it all out there. As soon as I crossed that finish line, I was completely spent. I happily collapsed into Arie's arms. It was such a great experience!

I spent 3 and a half months training, which is crazy to think about now. I actually miss training. I really became quite fond of my long training runs on saturday mornings. Especially once school got going and I had no time to myself, those few hours a week became priceless. I was just me, the road and my thoughts. That I really miss.

Just some final thoughts: I am fully convinced that any and everyone one can run a marathon if they are committed to train for it. It was amazing to experice the changes and adapations my body went through during training. Trust me, if I can do, it anyone can! Also, I have a new found respect for all my friends who are marathoners. It's an amazing accomplishment.

No Reservations

Well, actually, there are some reservations. But, very few. And what better excuse to use the title of one of my favorite shows. (I don't know, something about a travel show hosted by a very cynical old chef who hates vegetarians is very entertaining to me.) So it's that time of year: our, what has become, yearly trip to Colorado.

We arrived two days ago. The first night, we hung out in Ft. Collins a bit and then headed over to Rocky Mtn. National Park and spent the night at the trailhead of Long's Peak. We got there at about 10 PM. Arie got up and left to climb Long's at about 2AM. I remember sitting up, half asleep (we made a bed out of the back of the xterra) and looking around at that dark parking lot filled with bunches of people getting all their gear on guided solely by the light of their head lamps. I remember thinking, "these people, including my husband, are INSANE."

Arie made it up to the summit in an insanely short amount of time (4.5 hrs). I woke up at 7:15 and hit the (same) trail by 7:45. I was thinking all along that I would hike up part of the mountain and then run down. It became clear quite early on that there was no way I would be running down the mountain. The trail was very rocky and twisting an ankle was pretty much a sure thing. To my surprise, I felt great hiking up. A VERY different experience from the last time I was on that trail. I felt so good I ended up hiking up 4 miles to the Chasm Lake overlook. It was a very natural spot to wait for Arie, who would have been coming down around that same time. I hung out there for a bit and actually met 5 people from Iowa! It was so exciting seeing Arie come down that trail. I was SO happy to see him. He had strained a muscle in his thigh and was in need of some TLC and some cheerleading. Which I was happy to provide.

From there we headed to Boulder where we spent the night. We had a nice dinner out at a local microbrewery and then crashed at a (very luxurious compared to the xterra) hotel. This morning we we had breakfast at our favorite cafe in Boulder and indulged in my once a year breakfast: lox cheesecake. Yes, cheesecake. I mean, think about it...they took all the best parts of a lox bagel (smoked salmon, capers, tomatoes, onion) and put it in a cheesecake made of...cream cheese! Absolutely brilliant. But definitely a once a year treat.

Today we hung out in the very rough around the edges, but very cool, town of Leadville. At 10, 152 ft., it's the highest town in America. A big mining town at the turn of the century, it now is a very interesting mix of abandoned mines, shacks, a cute downtown and stunning views of 14,000 ft. mountains. Think of Vail, now think of the polar opposite, and you have Leadville. I like it. Tonight we watched the sun set at Turqoise lake, absolutely gorgeous. And then had the best Mexican food I've ever had. Leadville has an extremely high population of Mexicans, which was evident in the food. My intuition told me to order a margarita, which was definitely an inspired idea. It was the best margarita, no, the best drink I've ever had. Words cannot describe the perfection of this margarita. It's definitely now on my death row menu. (If you watch No Reservations, you'll know what I'm talking about.)

We're spending the night at the Leadville hostel. Ranked as one of the best in the nation, I can totally see why. It's very clean and cozy. Run by Wild Bill and Cathy, it feels more like you're staying with your sweet aunt and uncle (and a bunch of hyperactive, thrill-seeking cousins) than what I imagined a hostel to be. It's even dog friendly! There are 2 other pups staying here tonight besides Kharie. AND they have WiFi, which you, reader, are reaping the benefits of.

Tomorrow, we're headed to Aspen. We'll be camping there tomorrow night. And then we'll make our way back to Leadville to camp and wake up the next morning to climb Mt. Elbert, the highest 14er in CO. Arie, Khairie and I will all be climbing. Should be fun!

I will update our travel again when I can. And pictures to come...I promise!

Ahh, summer!

I love, love, love summer! Here are some recent pictures:

Khairie swimming in Lake Mendota at the union terrace. She was actually chasing those ducks, but clearly, ducks are faster than K, so she gave up.

my parents are so cute!

Hangin' out with our wet dog. The party ended when she shook wet fur into my beer.

The next few pictures are at the Navy pier in Chicago. Look at how beautiful that water is!

I want to be on one of those boats out there. Preferably that fancy looking one back there!

Me and my sis

A Public Declaration

This post is less for your benefit than it is for my own. I am declaring to the world that I am training for a marathon. It's now official. The greater the number of people who know about my plans, the more my pride will keep me from giving up (at least theoretically). I'm training for the Des Moines Marathon which is Oct. 19. Not fancy, not glamorous, but it'll do. Actually what happened was...by the time I finally made the decision, all the other (better) races were already booked up for fall. Also, it's summer and I have the time to train, which I'm finding very important. So, here are some realizations I've made since making this decision:

1. Saturday mornings will have a whole new meaning for the next few months. Instead of sleeping in or hopping out of bed and going to the farmers market, I'll be lacing up for long runs.
2. Iowa is humid. Like psychotically humid. If I don't get out there by 8am, I'm in trouble.
3. Iowa City is very, very small. Yesterday I spend the afternoon on Google pedometer planning new running routes. I've come to the (sad) conclusion that for my longer runs I'll be running laps around the city. I'm unfortunately not kidding.
4. Listening to Matt's sermons while running is great. A solid 45 min. Edifying and calorie burning.

More of these little gems to come, I'm sure. So, I'm putting out a request (for all the hundreds of you who are reading this). I am in some serious need of good running music. I really don't have much on my ipod that qualifies. Most of the music I enjoy listening to is better paired with a glass of wine than miles of pavement. I've got to start downloading some more appropriate songs, so any and all suggestions would be great.

Thanks for letting me make you accountable for keeping me on track with this.

Impromptu Vacation

Since the flood shut down the university for a week, we had a nice little impromptu vacation. It was so great! And so needed! We had no schedule to keep and no obligations. It was such relaxing, fun week. So, here's a brief rundown of how we kept ourselves busy:

photo op with Dad on Father's Day

I convinced Sara to play hooky from work and spend the day with me! We went to lunch, went wedding dress shopping (Sara's getting married in May), and went to the salon and got our hair did :) It's going to be really hard for her to pick out a dress because absolutely everything looked fabulous on her!

For our 7th anniversary (yes, I know) Arie and I treated ourselves by spending a night with Jack. We had amazing seats. The concert was awesome. Definitely the best way to celebrate 7 blissful years of marriage. hehe

Last, but not least, Deja competed in a pagent. She was so beautiful. She did a great job carrying herself with confidence and grace. Here she is after the formalwear competition with our uncle Deepak. She didn't trip or fall-better than I would have done!

Unfortunately, we had to return to reality-back to our lives in Iowa City. Things are getting back to normal, at least for those of us unaffected by the flood.

On a side note, Coldplay just released their fourth album Viva la Vida. It is amazing! I highly recommend it. It's probably my favorite album of theirs-which is saying a lot. Check out the single "Lost" which has quickly become a fave. Who can get enough of Chris Martin's fantastic falsetto? Not me!

Flood Update

Here's the latest (via the internet) from IC. The river has crested, earlier than predicted. However, reports are saying that the flood waters are going to remain high for a few weeks. The university expects to open classes next Monday, but we'll see. I'm sure there will be a lot of work to be done.

Here's an arial picture from today of the UI campus that was the worst hit. Some of these buildings include the student union, the art museum, and the music, journalism and english/philosophy buildings.

Parkview church is still just as flooded as yesterday. I just saw feed of the church on CNN. I think that the church is going to have reaching influence beyond what they could have imagined before the flood.

Right now, I think that these words from Jack Johnson (who we are going to see in concert on Saturday) are very fitting.

All at once

The world can overwhelm me

There’s almost nothing that you could tell me

That could ease my mind

Which way will you run?

When it’s always all around you

And the feeling lost and found you again

A feeling that we have no control

There’s a world we’ve never seen

There’s still hope between the dreams

The weight of it all could blow away with a breeze

But if you’re waiting on the wind

Don’t forget to breathe

Because as the darkness gets deeper

We’re sinking so we reach for love
At least something we can hold

But I’ll reach to You

From where time just can’t go