Long overdue post: Craft Shop Visit

Newsflash: Cherise is alive!  

I took a hiatus from the blog world for the past two weeks or so. It wasn't intentional; it simply got pushed into the back corners of life by...well, life. 

I flew back to Texas

I spent a weekend with my wonderful family

I applied to a slew of new jobs

I painted a picture

I spent some time to soul-search

And my part-time job has entered the yearly 50-hour per week phase of planning known as "Staff Retreat Season"

Whew! 

If life slows down, I might possibly be able to blog about these happenings sometime. But, now that she has received her present, here is a long-overdue post about the day I visited the YMCA craft shop in Colorado to make something special for my sister: 

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The pathway to the door is a work of art! Green...

Blue...

Purple...

Pink...

It's something I'd love to do with my non-existent kids someday in our yard! 

Once inside, I faced a dazzling array of beads: two ten-foot tables simply LOADED with them. I chose my favorites, and this was the finished product:

I wish I had gone back at least once before I left. Oh well...maybe I'll have the chance someday. :)

Flower Hike!

Zelda showing off a stalk of Tall Chiming Bells.

Gravel crunched thoughtfully under our shoes as we followed her khaki vest down the trail. Her practiced eye probed the brush on either side, looking for blooming bits of color to point out. Every few yards, she stopped, gathered us close, and explained the minute differences between the bracklets or petal formation of two close flower cousins.

I felt like I was eight years old again, treasure-hunting for beautiful flowers, rocks, and trees the way we always did in our homeschooling days. I was a very romantic little girl, almost Anne-of-Green-Gables-esque. For me, every tiny petal was something to pull out the magnifying glass and squeal over.


And even though I'm nearly two decades older, I admit unashamedly that I still squeal on the inside. As Zelda called our attention to nearly imperceptible wonders every few yards, I got that old familiar thrill of amazement that things so tiny could be so beautiful. And I couldn't help but worship my incredibly creative God.


I hope you feel some of the same thrill as you enjoy the pictures! :)

Crab Spider. These tiny white guardians wait on the flower until an unsuspecting insect comes along. Then...GULP!

The beautiful leaf of a member of the Geranium family. 

Narrow-leaved Penstemon. These beauties are everywhere!

Prairie Evening Primrose. I found it at around 11:00 in the morning, but only because it was in the shade of a large tree. 

Fremont's Geranium. 

Richardson's Geranium. This one is like the one above, except that, as the story goes, "Richard wouldn't be caught dead wearing pink".

Canadian Thistle. In the top picture, you can see the beautiful fuschia head, which resembels a sea anemone. The next photo shows the back of the flower, which tells you why my hand was not in the picture. :)

I have always loved the striking black and yellow of the Black-eyed Susan. This flower is actually composed of over fifty tiny flowers: black disc flowers on the circular central disc, and yellow ray flowers arranged like individual petals around them. 

I can't remember the name of this lovely five-pointed star, but isn't it beautiful?

This clustered white flower, named Yarrow, has a special secret. If you mash it's leaves to make a paste with some water and put it on a cut, it can stop the bleeding!

Sprawling Daisy. 

Common Evening Primrose. 

And I'm ending it with the sweet-smelling Ponderosa Pine...even though it's not a wildflower. :)  

Instagram-y fun

Ever since I first discovered the Instagram app on my smart phone, my photos have reached a new eschelon of coolness!  (Ok, well at least I think so.)  I love the daily deliberation between the Sutro, Lo-fi and Valencia filters, and the finished product seems to elevate everyday scenes to something I might see in a magazine. 

At the very least, I'm taking more pictures, which is always a good thing. 

Last Wednesday, I walked with a small group of thirty others into Chicago's, a cheerful hole in the wall that serves burgers, gyros, and pizza. The murals on the wall portrayed the Rocky Mountains in the best colors of every season, and the kitchen was only an arm's length away from where we stood. This man was fully absorbed in his work, brow furrowed with intensity as he mixed and poured and clanged dishes. I wondered how his day was going. 

A few days ago, hubby and I stole away from the YMCA for an afternoon date at a coffee shop. Like kids hiding away in a tree house, we took our drinks up the twisty stairs to a cluttered and cozy upper nook above the shop. They had checkers. We played four games, sipped our mochas, and let the world turn without us. I love that man so much. 

You know what else I love?  Skype!  Blessings on the inventor, whoever he or she was. I have missed my friends so much this summer, and last week I had a fabulous two hours chatting with this wonderful girl. Love you, Lissy!

Most cities have traffic jams, but I bet an ELK JAM is unique to this part of the country. This herd of thirty elk was leisurely crossing the road to Estes Park last Wednesday. 

Every once in a while, God gives me "valentines" through nature. Check out this fluorescent green lichen heart that I spotted on a rock the day we flew balloons. 

Tiny bits of colored glass and rock are sometimes as good as a canvas when I get the urge for self expression. (I can't show the finished product here because it's a birthday present for my sweet 22-year-old sister, but I promise--I will once she gets her package!)

And...I saved the best for last: the Trash & Tray Creature! The staff that work in the dining room will sometimes create odd structures out of fruit and send them through the tray conveyor to us. This one had quite the personality.

That's all for now! :)

Balloons over the Rockies

What weighs you down? 

So many things settle with undue weight into the corners of our hearts, puncturing our tank of joy and contentment with devastating precision: 

Worries about our families

Fears of an unknown, uncontrollable future

Hurts from words spoken years ago

Hurts from words that might have healed, but went unspoken

Secret shame

Insecurities that taunt us from the mirror or our GPA

Tight finances

In the desert with a complaining group of nomads, God used symbolism to seal the significance of deep truth in their hearts. Physical rituals like washing, celebrating, and sacrificing made unseen promises tangible, concrete, and less easily forgotten. 

So my life group leader got a great idea. 

We would write out the worries, fears, hurts, shames and insecurities in a letter to Jesus. Then, we would attach them to helium globes and literally release them to Him from a mountain top. 

When we found that our letters were too heavy for our little balloons, we took a marker and improvised. :)

We shared our burdens, gave them to Him as a group. As we let the plastic ribbons slip from our hands, we felt weightless in the freedom of surrender. 

We are spiritual beings, but we are also physical. These two aspects of our nature are so enmeshed that we cannot be wholly well if one is broken. Doctors and psychologists and ministers have long known that cheerful patients heal faster and that depression increases the risk of all kinds of life-threatening diseases. When we physically lift the edges of our mouths there is a corresponding glimmer of joy in our hearts. When we physically place our hands over our breast pockets and sing, we feel a soulful camaraderie with a nation of others doing the same. 

All that to say, I personally need physical reminders of spiritual truths. I need to kneel--it humbles me. I need to sing out--it reminds my heart of the reasons for singing. 

And sometimes I need to literally release my burdens to the Lord in a balloon. 

Wanna be challenged?

I do.

Every Tuesday and Thursday night here in Colorado, I sit for the challenge in Hyde Chapel. Speakers from all over the country have come to teach us about leadership and about Jesus, our ultimate example of how to follow and lead well.

I have been a believer in Jesus for a good chunk of my life, but I have been so humbled to realize how much I still have to learn about following him well. If I say I follow Jesus, I should have the same attitude about life that he had.

In everything.

Every teaching is uploaded to this Colorado LT Tumblr for us to review and share. So I'm sharing! Please check them out and tell me which ones were your favorites.

International Dinner!

One of my favorite parts of working at the YMCA, hands down, is interacting with the large population of international staff. 

Many of them are studying Tourism Science in their home countries, and they come to the USA excited to work at a resort and to practice their English. Despite these similarities, their stories are each so unique. To spend time with any of them is to become a student. 

To help us get to know them better, the LT program organizes an International Dinner each summer. Think of a delicious outdoor pot-luck show-and-tell, and you'll have a pretty accurate picture of what it was like. The international students cook traditional foods from their own countries, and the pride they have in the finished dishes is obvious. 

The sun was barely up on Friday before our cabin's kitchen had been turned into the Brazilian's preparation zone for the night's festivities. (Remember the awesome Brazilian friends we met after that guy's concussion two weeks ago? They have joined us for a lot of activities, and now we're pretty tight!) Chicken was bubbling in herbs on the little gas stove, and Vanessa was mixing a rich concoction of condensed milk and chocolate to make caramel chocolate balls for dessert. 

Brazilian chicken appetizers, breaded and fried

Erika, making Colombian arepas from corn

As evening fell and we arrived at the pavilion, moist, savory air enveloped us and made our mouths water. Delicious vapor was rising from metal pans and from every plate, and excited accents - American, Vietnamese, Ukrainian, Jamaican, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, and Bulgarian - echoed against the concrete floors and ceiling. 

As music played from a corner speaker, good conversations flowed at every table. There were coconut drops and two sorts of chicken from Jamaica, seafood and rice from China, fresh lime cevice from Turkey, and a liquour-drenched coconut cake that disappeared in about two minutes. After eating the same two-week menu at the Spruce cafeteria for the past month and a half, my taste buds were in a heaven of flavor! 

Afterward, an impromptu dance party happened, led by the Jamaicans and my sweet Colombian friend, Erika! (Yes, that's me in the gray shirt.)

Please ask God to make us faithful to these new friendships. We want, above all, for them to experience the love of Jesus and to have a personal friendship with him that will last long after they go home.