This & That

I've had a wonderful/busy couple of weeks which has led to great times and little blogging! Last weekend, Brent & Kelsey were able to come up for a few days and we had a wonderful time just hanging out. It was blazing hot while they were here, so we spent a good deal of time lounging at the pool which is just the thing to do with your sister - plenty of time to visit and rest and work on your tan! Although, we were reminded how differently we approach pool time -- Kels is able to brave the heat & humidity for very long amounts of time before sticking her legs in to cool off. I, on the other hand, might last about 10 minutes without feeling the need to totally dunk myself and prefer to spend the majority of the time actually in the water. Somehow this seems to speak to our personalities quite well :) Thanks for coming down guys - come again soon!

Then, after they left on Tuesday, I picked up a gal named Yuliya who would be spending the rest of the week with us. She is from the Ukraine, and is here for a couple of months this summer to learn English. She's a missionary with Campus Crusade for Christ, and while challenging at times with the difficult communication, it was truly a blessing to get to know her a bit. She has such a heart for reaching the lost and is constantly looking for opportunities to share her faith - certainly a good challenge for me as I tend to sit back and hope others will be bold.

Yuliya enjoying some Ukranian borscht she made for us -a type of beet soup that was delicious! She also made that salad on the plate which I was a bit less fond of - mayo, pickles, bologna, peas, potatoes. Apparently it's a dish they always serve at a holiday meal. I also made some rolls, which seemed to pass as Ukranian according to Yuliya - she just added some olive oil & fesh garlic for dipping.

We also visited the Opryland Hotel, which she loved! If you've never been, it's a must-see in Nashville.

Yuliya left Friday morning, then I left bright and early Saturday morning (as in, I left the house before 5am) to head to Rapid City, SD for my dear friend Rebecca's wedding. This is getting a bit lengthy already, so I'll leave the details of that for another post. I got to see all sorts of old friends from college, which was just good for my soul. Any chance we could all move back to Northwestern? I think I'd like that.

(A few of us ladies enjoying the dance.)