the joy of the season

Apparently a few years ago I started a tradition--canceling Christmas. On my way home to Cleveland from Ligonier after the Christmas Eve service at church I got sick. Me, the one who doesn't get sick, didn't even make it to the bathroom at the rest stop. This week my niece got sick and spent two days on the couch. She declared she was up to having Christmas in the morning though, so everyone ran out and finished shopping. Only then to wake up to my oldest brother Jim throwing up during the night. Well, then my other brother Dave decided he couldn't listen to it...or smell it without joining in, so he wrapped his daughter up in a blanket and drove home in the middle of the night. Mom, Dad, and I spent Christmas afraid to come within 10 ft of Jim. Good times in the Leonard house.

yo hum? not not really

I wouldn't exactly say that an interview is yo hum, actually it's very exciting, but I'm trying not to set my hopes too high. I had a phone interview last week which went well and just set up a face-to-face interview for after the holidays. What's the position, you ask? Essentially it's an assistant adventure director(though not the official title)...which basically means spending a good amount of time "in the trees" facilitating and/or building ropes courses in addition to all the office work that it takes to maintain and market that kind of operation. I think what I am most excited about is caving. I have loved caving since the first time Quint took us to Bear Cave when I was a freshman in high school and then even more when I took a caving class with Tanya and Jack at Malone. Simply put, caving is special. There's something about crawling around (literally--no hand rails permitted)underground with a flashlight discovering life you'd never see above ground--whether that be in the cave creatures or in the people surrounding you. Anyway, I guess the caving program at this place is in need of a little TLC...which I'd gladly give...I just need Gabe's to sell coveralls again! I'm feeling good about the job; I just hope and pray this is it!

Elliana and David..."my" newest babies

I never would have thought in my season of unemployment I'd be in St Louis helping my friend's sister-in-law with her babies. Elliana and David are 8 months old. Though David is very healthy Elliana was born with a condition that made her lungs not work correctly treatable only by lung transplant. She came to St Louis in June and received her new lungs August 15. Mom and babies are staying in Ronald McDonald housing since home is actually Louisville, OH. Elliana's body has accepted her new lungs slowly but surely and has been out of the hospital for just about 4 weeks now. You can see from the pictures just how far she's come! Dad(Rob) is home working in OH but has visited whenever he can but that means Mom(Gina) needs help! Caring for twins is hard in itself but when one of them is a frequent hospital visitor, has a feeding tube, and LOTS of meds an extra set of hands is a must. Which is where I come in. For the most part I hang out with David...feed him, play with him, laugh at him, and cuddle with him. He's quite a bundle of giggles when you get him going! Unfortunately for me whenever I hold the phone camera up to take a picture or video he stops laughing and just stares at the phone--he does not perform on demand! We've had a lot of fun together...including all the times he's peed on me when I change his diaper...I'm get accustomed to boy diapers.

The recent big news is that if all goes as planned everyone will be home in Louisville in time for Christmas! They are suposed to make the long drive home this Saturday.

The other exciting news is that two kids also staying in the Ronald McDonald house got their heart transplants a couple week ago and will also be home--all the way home--for Christmas.

scrapbooking joy

A few years back a good friend of mine became a Creative Memories consultant and got me motivated to scrapbook again...of course the creative memories way so my pictures wouldn't be destroyed over time! When I went to Guatemala I packed away all of my supplies and equipment and thus my scrapbooking fun--booo! In the last couple years my niece started asking about when she was a baby so I decided to dig it all out. We started on an album together, she picked one out at Target(much cheaper than creative memories:)...a REALLY simple one. I had a bunch of baby pictures so she picked out some she wanted to use. I laid out the pages and she'd pick out stickers. At this point her book has become a bit more elaborate and she LOVES it...which makes me want to keep adding to it. She took it to her moms, to church, to school...and has shown it to anyone that will look at it. On Thanksgiving she read it to everyone like it was story time:) It's been so fun for me-to work on it with her and hear about how she shows it off! I think this is my scrapbooking dream come true:)

vision

In the months since I left Guatemala I have been trying to find a job and a new home. I can't say that has happened yet but I'm getting better. For all of about 24 hours I was a teacher last week in a charter school. The whole situation was little odd to say the least and my snap decision to accept and then unaccept the position did not help matters. I can safely say I remembered quickly why I don't want to be a teacher...don't get me wrong I adore kids/teenagers but being the person responsible for their education is not who I want to be. The director of the school told me I need to pray for direction...I didn't have the guts to say I have been for months.
This afternoon I was thinking about what I want to do and how maybe I need to settle somewhere whether the job is really what I want or not cause I'm not just looking for a home I'm looking for a community. Its hard to not have one after living at camp and working at CAG.

I am reminded of a simple song we sing at camp...it is my prayer...

Lord, I want to know Your vision though I’m in a foreign land
Grant me heartache for the hungry and the grace to understand
Lead me to the ones who suffer, those whose hearts cannot find rest
Lord, I want to know Your vision Put me where I can serve best

power tools

I think I finally understand the empowerment/need men have for power tools. I wanted to build a cornhole set for some friends and had mentioned it to my dad. This morning after mom was out of the house he asked if I wanted to get to work. That we did...and it was fun. It was entertaining to watch/try to follow my dad's train of thought on how he does things. I was surprised at the tools my dad brought out. He's had them for a LONG time and they are still in great shape! Apparently investing in great tools is worth the money twenty years later. I must admit I was a little intimidated when I first pulled the trigger on the circ saw but I improved a lot as the day went on. I'm a big fan of a jig-saw...I think that's what it was. I used it to cut holes. And unlike Tim-the-tool-man-Taylor I don't need more power!

buckeyes...the edible ones

My eight-year-old niece is to say the least opinionated when it comes to food...even candy! We saw buckeyes(peanut butter balls) in a checkout line not to long ago and she claimed she didn't like them. This is peculiar because she lives and breaths for Reeses peanut butter cups. I decided it was time for this kid to make buckeyes. So this afternoon I pulled out the peanut butter, butter, and powdered suger. At first she wasn't a fan but then suddenly she was begging to lick the spatula. I thought for sure she would get a tummy ache before we even dipped them in chocolate! The good news is that I don't think she got sick...the weird news is that she didn't like them coated in chocolate, so she went home with a container of chocolate-less buckeyes!