The House of Constant Travelers

It's been an interesting couple of weeks. 

Me, Michael, Elena in front of the Old Well in CH.

On the Thursday before Easter Micheal and his girlfriend Elena drove up from Florida.  They wanted to visit Charlotte, Chapel Hill and the mountains.  We spent Thursday night in uptown Charlotte where Alive after Five was taking place (a large outdoor concert that happens every Thursday during the summer with various bands).  It was very crowded, but we met up with my friend Alissa there and walked all around uptown, showing off my beloved city to Michael and Elena.  Afterward, we ended the night at Press where we enjoyed the unique atmosphere and talked.

At the Carolina football stadium with Krystle.

On Friday, we drove to Chapel Hill because Elena loves college towns and wanted to see my old haunts.  Unfortunately, it rained all day long.  Literally, all day.  Once we made it up there, we walked with our umbrella's through campus and made it up to Franklin Street where my old roommate Krystle met us for lunch at Top of the Hill (the restaurant which is the embodiment of all things Carolina).  We had a great lunch and then walked through more of the old campus, taking photos and trying not to get too wet. lol  Unfortunately, my favorite buildings, Graham Memorial and Wilson Library, were closed since it was Good Friday.  However, walking through campus I couldn't help but issuing persistent sighs and looks of longing at the historical buildings, the green trees and the Old Well.  I so wish Carolina had a MFA program for Creative Writing.  There is no place I'd rather go back to school than there.

With beautiful azaleas on the Carolina campus.

Anyway, despite the rain, we had a fairly good time and about 5:30 got back in the car for the drive home - still in the rain.  Back at the house we were exhausted so we made mango smoothies and played Wii.

On Saturday morning Michael and Elena drove up to the mountains and I stayed behind waiting for my parent's return from Florida and feeling a tad been sad and nostalgic after seeing my best friend/cousin Michael and Chapel Hill the day before (both of which I had not seen in over a year). 

By Sunday I was feeling much better and went to church in a bright Easter skirt.  Later, the family all went to my cousin Kelly's for Easter dinner and it was so much fun seeing the little ones and hearing about what the Easter Bunny brought them.  I love having a big family. 

With baby Camryn at Easter dinner.

That evening, five couchsurfers came to stay with us.  They were all in town raising money for a non-profit organization which they volunteer with.  The money the raise in various cities up and down the East Coast goes toward a trip they will soon make to Africa where they will spend 6 mo. to a year helping with housing, water, education and health care.  Three of them were from Japan, one from Korea and one from CA.

Monday was their day off, so I took them all to Discovery Place where we had a ball.  The new renovations there include a 3D movie about sharks and a duct tape station.  Yes, duct tape.  In this room you can make anything you want out of rolls and rolls of different colored duct tape.  I made a little clutch purse out of tie-dyed duct tape.  Lacey (the one from CA) and I were like kids in a candy shop. 

With Dad and Sydney and Easter.

On Wednesday evening my friend Erika from California came into town to stay until Saturday.  It has been so nice seeing her again.  There are certain people in life that you just feel a connection with from the first time you meet them, and Erika is one of those people.  She used to be in my Bible study group, but since moving to LA, has missed it very much.  Even though her family is in Raleigh, it means a lot that she comes to visit her friends in Charlotte. 

The couchsurfers left Thursday around 5:30, after having a late lunch with me at Cracker Barrel (which, I told Lacey was a necessary experience for the Asians in the American South).  I think they quite enjoyed it.  I'll never forget the reaction I got last summer when I took Enrique, Carmen and Theresa to Cracker Barrel.  They thought they'd died and gone to heaven.  Now, the house feels quiet as Erika is out meeting with clients for her job today and I'm home by myself. 





Next week will be back to normal, but the following week I will likely be going to Disney World which I am totally thrilled about.  More details on that to come! :)

Mercy and Grace

I've been thinking about grace and mercy lately and what they mean.  According to the dictionary, grace is the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.  Mercy is compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power. 

Because of God's grace, he shows us mercy.  Without understanding that you have been granted mercy, you can't understand grace.  And if you don't show mercy to others, you don't understand grace.  Christians should show mercy, for they are the ones who should most understand it.  That Jesus came between us and our terrible, impoverished end, took it upon himself and served as our shield.  He took what we deserved so we wouldn't have to suffer it ourselves. 

This all goes hand-in-hand with the continual Biblical teaching of not judging others.  When we see someone who is spiritually and physically impoverished, we should stare down their sin, really understand where they are, how they got there, the extent of their sin, and say, "I understand what you deserve, but I'm going to give you nothing but love.  Nothing but the best.  Nothing but support."  Because that is what Jesus did.

James 2:13: "For judgement is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy.  Mercy triumphs over judgement." 

Good Days are Here to Stay...at least for now :)

So my spirits are much lifted since my last post.  I don't see my job returning anytime soon for various reasons, but I'm still doing a lot of freelance articles and I'm happy with that.  I'm also happy with my decision to apply to grad school to get my MFA in 2012. 

There are also some wonderful things coming up that I'm thrilled about.  First of all, my best friend/cousin Michael is coming up over Easter weekend with his girlfriend Elana (sp?) and we are going to Chapel Hill which I miss soooo much!!  I'll get to see Krystle and probably my friend Erika from CA who will be in Raleigh vising her family.  It'll be so wonderful to see three of my favorite people all in one weekend!

I'm also trying to convince Krystle to go to Disney World with me the second weekend of May b/c I really miss Mickey.  lol  But no, seriously, I want to see the festival of flowers at EPCOT and that's the last weekend before it's over.  I don't think I've ever seen it, so that'll be awesome. 

In June, Lieselotte is going to be home from Holland and we are planning to go to the Outter Banks together.  I've never been and cannot even tell you how excited I am to see both her and the pride of our state. 

I don't know if the trip to Spain will happen in July - I was hoping to get over to see Enrique and Carmen - because tickets are outrageous with the oil prices being so high. 

Anyway, I'm now off to a Carolina Young Alumni event! :)