Round 2: It passes all my understanding.

I am a bit in shock.

Just a bit.

And that statement is just a bit of an understatement.

:)

I have been in a bit of a funk trying to do a little self-evaluation.

Am I making the right choices?

Am I on the right path?

Am I looking at where this path is taking me, not just what I am doing at the moment?

Do I feel good about this direction?

Am I happy?

Why or why not?

Is there a purpose to what I am doing?

I could go on forever but these are some of the things I have been thinking about.

Sometimes life takes you on such an amazing ride so fast you feel like you are losing control.

So I wanted to make sure I knew what the heck I was doing - or at least trying to do.

Less than a year ago a very generous person donated a significant amount of money to grad students traveling to a specific dig in Apamea, Syria.

That miraculously included me.

(Click here for recap)

Long story short Syria fell apart and it was no longer safe for me to go so I instituted plan B and traveled all over Jordan, Italy (here, and here too!) and Great Britain.

It was a dream come true.

Since that point things have become increasingly...overwhelming.

1. I started my last class before my official thesis research.  
2. I presented at a research symposium for the first time - my own research (ahhhh!!!)
3. My thesis adviser approached me about trying to get funding for more research for my thesis this summer and needed a list of theaters to go to.
4. I've finished my coursework and am starting my personal research.
5. I am also getting ready to propose my thesis so I can start writing it.

Once Upon A Time: The Evolution of the Desktop.

When I was a senior in high school, for Christmas, one of my friends gave me a new desktop computer.

I was pretty stoked.

So I took it with me to school and typed a lot of papers, played a lot of solitaire and minesweeper, and basically survived my 4 years of university with that marvelous beast.

Not that I didn't sometimes "step out" with other technology.

Out of necessity my sophomore year of college I bought my first laptop to work with my desktop.

I named him Douglas, Douglas the Dell.

Yes, I name my technology, "whatcha gonna do 'bout it?"

After a couple of years of teamwork with the desktop, Douglas perished while the desktop lived on.

Yes, that is duct tape.

 Apparently two trips to the middle east and being on a few other digs was really, really hard on Douglas.

I knew Douglas was on his way out so I replaced him the summer before my first year of grad school.

With Tahla.

Who is marvelous, light, and has already traveled around the world with me this year.

Tahla in Arabic means "little palm tree". 

(or so I am told)

Considering the size and weight difference I thought it was appropriate.

I bought Tahla right after I got back from Syria and started working on a dig in Utah for the rest of the summer.

I had lent my computer to my familia while I was gone.

I came back and the monitor no longer worked and the computer had a few nasty viruses.  

So I reformatted it but it was starting to dawn on me that my desktop would not last much longer.

So I began saving and preparing myself for its death.

(backing up things and so forth).

It took a year and a half for it to die.

It happened this Thanksgiving.

I was angry at first but then I was relieved because I got black Friday prices.

So I bought my new best friend...who I haven't named yet. ;)

We got double monitors at job 1 and now I am a woman obsessed.  

It took me a few days to realize I could hook up my old monitor and then have love at home too.

It seems silly but the double monitor has changed my life.

Writing and researching is FANTASTIC!!!

So there you go.

The evolution of my computer life.

♥ ♥ ♥

Wow, it has been a really long time.

The last time I blogged was September 18th.  That is ridiculous. :)

A LOT has happened since then.

I turned 24.

My brother Juanita got engaged.

My brother Juanita got married. 

I am working on my last class before my thesis research.

I've been so busy I have barely taken any pictures in weeks.

(that may not seem like a big deal but I usually take a few everyday)

Hmmm....

I am in the middle of writing a paper...

ok, not that interesting.

Basically Jon's wedding, school, and...I'm not sure what else (bad sign) have taken over my life for the past few months and left no survivors. 

To show this, here are the only pictures I have taken since September 18th.

Ridiculous.

Walked by this as I was heading toward the library on Halloween.

Only at BYU 

:)

Fall leaves falling as I am walking to work.

Deruda took Rosie running 

(meaning he let her off her leash and let her go wild)

in an old parking lot.

She ripped up her paws and we had to bandage them.

I'm still mad at Deruda.

They took down a sculpture on campus that I used to play in as a child.

It was not earthquake proof so they took it down for the winter and are going to rebuild it in the spring.

Members of the family of deer that live on the hill between upper and lower campus decided to come down.

For fun I guess.

I was walking from job 1 to job 2.

Yes, I have 2.

Yes, I love them both.

The top of my car a week or so ago.

I wore flip flops and a skirt the day before.

Gotta love Utah weather.

This is from the inside of my car looking through my windshield on that same day.

It took a bit to scrape through that mess.

It was fun though.

:)

Juanita over Thanksgiving break.

Cousin Taylor taught him how to do a back bend.

He was showing off for his cute wife.

True story.

:)

In summary,

life is good,

I've been unbelievably busy,

and the semester is about to end.

YES!

♥ ♥ ♥

Consequences of not sleeping

Apparently lately there have been a lot of consequences in my life.

(Consequences for writers block a few days ago being an example)

For another example, here is my list of consequences linked to my inability to sleep this week.

1. Next to no working out - this makes me cranky and my muscles tight.
2. Not getting my homework done - I try so hard but the page keeps going in and out of focus.  Unfortunately now I am several hundred pages behind in reading and have not done what my thesis adviser insisted be done...by tomorrow.  Guess I'll be able to do it tonight since I probably won't be sleeping.
3. Being a tad bit antisocial - I'm cranky why would I want to be around people?
4. Eating badly - I'm to tired to make things so I pick up gross, fast, and angry food that I eat, even though it makes me sick.
5. Getting sick - No rest and bad food (among other things) have contributed to the state I am in this morning.  

Even though this was an incredibly tough week for me there were some definite positives.

1. I met a world-famous anthropologist - I helped pick him up from the airport and he was very kind and interesting.  Not one of those egomaniacs whose articles you read and sometimes run into.
2. I made it to all of my classes and all but one of my activities.
3. I got a new project at work (which adds majorly to the stress level, but which is a fantastic opportunity).
4. Rosie, my family's dog, loves me.  That sounds a bit silly but when you've had an incredibly rough week there is nothing better than the softest little thing running up to you, jumping in your arms and kissing your face.  She also loves to sit in my lap and just cuddle which is nice after a hard day.
5. The poster sale.  I got 4 new posters that I was going to stick in my kitchen, but I liked them so much I stuck them in my bedroom.  Maybe I'll post them someday - not today though.

So there you go.

There is good and bad to every day - and in this post every week.

So I try to keep on keeping on and count my blessings along the way.

September 11th

On September 11, 2001...

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock radio.

In the middle of the song the DJ said that an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center.

Half asleep I didn't think it was real.

As my mom drove me to school that day I told her, but she didn't believe me.

I thought I had dreamt it.

As I walked into class every television was on and it was real.

I was in my freshman English class when I saw the south tower fall live.

I couldn't breathe.

I don't remember much else after that morning.

We were sent to all our classes, but I don't remember doing anything.

By lunch the principal of our school asked the teachers to turn of the television.

When I got home that evening we prayed as we watched rescue workers attempting to find survivors.

That was my September 11th.

Today I am grateful for the gospel that gives me perspective in the face of tragedy,

for my country,

and for the example of people who sacrifice themselves in an effort to save those around them.

That is what it is to be truly Christlike.

9/11 we will never forget.

Consequences of Writers Block

I love grad school.

I've said this before but I think it needs to be repeated...every day.

There are several reasons for this:

1. sometimes I need to remind myself how much I love grad school, especially when I am pulling all-nighters for weeks at a time.

2. I actually do love it.

Despite this love, everyday is not perfect.

For example:

today.

This morning I am trying to write a paper.

I have lots of (what I think) are fantastic ideas, but for some reason when I try to type them I just can't find the right words.

In other words: WRITERS BLOCK!

ugh.

I am not a fan.

So instead of writing my paper I thought I would play catch up.

Here is goes:

A few weeks ago we (the padre, the bug and I) dropped Stephie off at school and helped her apply to about 15 jobs.

It was a busy day.

Yes, we did it all in one day.

It was on this day that Bug and I became famous.

We had just dropped off the last application for Steph and a woman approached us.

She was doing a recording for a special artist presentation/video thing and needed two female voices to record a  written statement.

Well, Bug and I realized that there were two of us, and this woman was in definite need.

So we did it.

And now our voices are on some random video that will probably get an Oscar or something.

But....probably not.

It was fun though.

In other news:

I love my job.

I love both of them but ESPECIALLY job 1 (in publications).

Not as much as I love grad school.

But I really do love it a lot.

Let me explain...no, there is to much, let me sum up.

While this is the first time I have had this particular job, it is housed in the same location as another job that I had.

The Museum of Peoples and Cultures.

(which you should definitely check out for a good time)

Awesome things happen at that place, especially on the 2nd floor (where I work).

Like the traveling gnome, and other remarkable events.

For a review look here, here, here, and here.

This time, a toy dinosaur broke into the museum and left Lindsay a present.

and yes, the gnome is still wandering about the 2nd floor. 

:)

In conclusion:

Life is grand, work is groovy, and school is great.

I realized how blessed I was while I was studying on campus,

next to a water fall,

in my little corner of heaven.

As I was sitting there reading about the Romans and thinking about how beautiful it was that morning, 

suddenly light peaked through the leaves of the trees and warmed my face.

It was pure heaven for a minute there.

So happy.

♥ ♥ ♥

Tender Mercies -- a listening ear.

I had the most wonderful afternoon today.

Today as a whole was pretty good (Mondays and Wednesdays are my work instead of school days).

I worked at the museum,

then I went to the class I TA for,

and then my good friend and I sat in the hallway of the JFSB for over 2 hours talking.

It was so nice.

Life has been pretty lonely.

My research trip was wonderful but not without some pretty excruciating trials.

I got home, started a wonderful new job, but I'm still figuring out some things.

I haven't really had anyone to talk to for awhile.

I didn't think I was much of a talker but I certainly was today.

Poor Lynn got an ear full.

Lynn and I are in the same cohort, meaning we had basically all the same classes our first year.

So we talked, struggled, and pulled through a lot with the other girls in our class.

It has been a long time so we caught up on crazy things.

Like her crazy experiences this summer,

and my experiences with crazy people.

:)

Anyway, bottom line:

I am grateful for kind people,

who sacrifice their time and sanity for someone.

Because really,

I think we all are struggling a bit more than we let on.

Often more than a bit.

♥ ♥ ♥

Awesome archaeology -- "We like them to be dead...and human."

Yesterday was technically the first day of classes.

I say technically because I technically went to class but it wasn't mine.

Let me explain.

This semester I have 2 jobs.

I love them both.

Not equally, but there is enough love to go around.

Heaven knows I don't love anything outside of archaeology at present.

But that is besides the point.

My first job is my favorite.

I work for the publishing arm of the Anthropology department.

I absolutely love it.

I am learning so much.

My second job is also for the Anthropology department.

I work as a TA for the Intro to Archaeology course.

This job is also fun.

It is the class I attended yesterday.

The quote in the heading was said by the professor who was trying to explain to the students what exactly archaeologists study.

Dead people and their cultures.

Not dinosaurs.

People really struggle to understand that.

I can't figure out why.

Oh well.

In other good news I am now a part-time student.

There are good and bad things about this.

Good: I can afford tuition.

Bad: I am a part-time student and therefore am a lesser citizen in the eyes of the university.

...or so I thought.

I wanted to use the facilities here.

Not the bathroom...the pool, weight rooms, courts etc.

It costs $45 for part-time students.

I went to pay it and the guy asked me if I was a grad student.

I said yes.

He informed me that grad students are super special and always have access to facilities,

even if they are part-time.

I am sure I have said it before but I love being a grad student.

It is marvelous.

So life is good, school is starting, and happiness is the most present emotion at present.

Yay!

♥ ♥ ♥

Weak Sauce -- The BYU all-happiness pass.

Ok, it is really an all-sports rather than an all-happiness pass but it does make me oh so happy.

I bought a BYU all-sports pass.

Which lets me into any BYU NCAA event.

Which I think is fan-friekin- tastic.

http://byucougars.com/home/w-soccer

Last night I went to the BYU Women's Soccer game.

We lost.

It was very sad.

It was a bit of a dirty game.

Miami was not always so friendly.

Pushing, punching, and kicking won them more yellow cards than points.

But regardless of how much better your ball skills, if you can't get it into the goal, you will still lose.

Unfortunately Miami got it into the goal...once.

We did not.

Oh well.

Next game.

Which I will be to.

Because I have my all-sports pass.

♥ ♥ ♥

Weak Sauce -- working at working out.

Working out...ugh.

I'm not one of those girls that heads to the gym for the fun of it...despite a pretty athletic background.

I have to have some kind of purpose.  

Losing weight or having a six-pack really isn't that inspiring to me.

Which is strange apparently.

Or so I am continually told.

So I gave myself a goal:

Do a triathlon!

But then I needed something to keep me going.

So I talked to my sisters and we are talking to others and we are all going to keep each other in check.

Sounds fantastic right?

Except we don't necessarily live near each other...

and we all kind of have different goals...

and like to work out at different times...

so working out together won't really work.

So what did we do?

We made a blog where we are going to post our goals, workouts, inspirations, and whatever else we feel like posting.

We're girls, there are endless possibilities.

(the inspiration for this came from my brother the little juan and his cross-country team)

It is called The Rolee Polees.

It's going to be so much fun!

♥ ♥ ♥

The end of Project 52

I honestly wondered if this would happen but it has.

Over a year ago (on August 1, 2010) I started a photo project to document a very important year in my life.

The goal was to take a picture each week that summarized my feelings for the week.

It is now completed.

Which is really strange.

This year I started and completed my first year of grad school,

decided on my thesis subject,

got a grant to get my data for my thesis,

excavated in Jordan,

researched for 2 weeks at the American Center for Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan,

drove all over Italy and Sicily to Roman theaters,

went to England and Wales,

decided to pursue a doctorate...in England,

and basically changed my life.

These are a select few things, and in no way give an accurate picture of this year; more things have happened and there is no way to include them all.

The overarching theme is:

Life is a gift, everything this year has attested to that.

It is a blessing.

For some reason that I cannot comprehend I am on this particular path.

I am so grateful for that.

It has been amazing and I have no doubt whatsoever that it will continue to be that way.

I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for all of these blessings.  

I wish I could tell you all of the miracles that have happened this year.

But it would go on for way to long, so I will resist. 

Suffice it to say, it has been a miraculous year.

Here is some photographic proof: 52 Lights in the Dark.

♥ ♥ ♥

Leaving Italy!

Quick post before take-off!

We are leaving Italy today.

During my week here we have literally driven from one end of "the boot" to the other and back and forth.

Quite amazing. 

Next stop:

GREAT BRITAIN!

Arrivederci!

Day 2 of Italia

It feels like I have been here much longer than 2 days.

Apparently, I've counted a few times that is how long it has been.

Today we drove 9 hours down the Italian coast and along the little "boot" of theirs.

THEN

we took a ferry.

To SICILY.

Sicily is crazy.

The roads are so narrow mopeds have a problem passing each other,

and we are driving a large 9 passenger van,

with people driving at you,

while you are trying to find your hotel in the maze of narrow streets and tall buildings.

Thankfully the Sicilians are nicer than the main-landers.

At least in Taormina (the city where we are staying).

When we couldn't find our hotel, we got some petrol from a man and then his friend led us to it on his little scooter, which really, was the only way we would have found that hotel.

The hotel is a bit...interesting.  

It is absolutely beautiful, and each room is unique in that each is designed after a specific artists work.

Our room was made by someone who is...a little on the creepy...I don't even know how to describe it. 

Anyway...

I watched the lights blink on the coast on our balcony as I wrote in my journal.

We are eating breakfast under the awning in the garden in the morning and then we are heading to at least 2 of the theaters here in Sicily.

Life is crazy busy, but it is definitely amazing.

We have been very blessed.

I am so very grateful.

♥ ♥ ♥

Dip your toes in this!

I would add pictures but the internet is to slow where I am.
They will come later.
So...

Today I went to Italy.

Yes, the country.

Italy is beautiful, the people talk beautifully, and it has been a good, good, good day.

First we left at 1:30 am for the airport.

Had some peanut m&m's with a sandwich and then boarded our flight at 4 am.

Slept A LOT on the flight,

no Dramamine needed on this flight, pure exhaustion did the job.

We arrived in Italy and had a bit of an issue getting out of the airport.  

Literally.

After about 2 hours of gathering luggage, exchanging money, getting the rental car, and finding the rental car...

we headed out for Ostia and the theater there.

It was a beautiful and a very quick drive to Ostia, right outside of Rome.

The survey went quickly, I'm getting a good system worked out.

Then we left for Sperlonga.

An estimated 2 hour drive.

Nope, that did not happen.

It took 2 hours to find the right road to get us out of Ostia.

Then it took another 2 hours to get to Sperlonga.

A total of 4 hours of the most terrifying driving I have ever been witness to.

People who have driven in the Middle East (Dr. F) have certain skills and guts that terrify me.

So, eventually, and after a loss of many fingernails, we made it to Sperlonga a little later than we had initially anticipated.

That is ok, it was worth the wait.

We hiked up to the museum and to the cave where some pretty remarkable massive marble figures were found.
Then we went to our hotel (very nice).

Finally we went to the beach.
The Mediterranean beach to be precise.
And we swam there.
In fact, Kristin and Jess had to drag Holly and I out of the water.
It was so marvelous.

It was a perfect way to end the day.
Then again, things with water usually are the best way to end the day.

Waiting for 1am.

Well I am back at ACOR for a few hours after 2 days in the land of Petra.

It was pretty fantastic really.

The first day there we sat in the back of a truck and drove for almost an hour from Um Sayhoun to Wadi Sabra.

Unfortunately, the truck can't make it all the way there.  

After that long drive along large drop-offs, and sections of road that...don't look like road at all,

we made it to the end of the line.

So we hiked for another hour DOWN into and through the Wadi Sabra

so that we could make it to an unexcavated and quite amazing theater built by the Nabataeans in the Roman period.

By the way, this water theater was fed by a waterfall that was then channeled into cisterns and/or into the orchestra floor.

Awesome huh?

That is why I am writing my thesis about this kind of stuff.

Because it is awesome.

After taking tons of pictures and measurements (it really was an amazing water theater),

we had a spot of lunch.

During which time Kristin saved Holly's life a little bit.

Turns out that Holly had an incredibly small and very POISONOUS black scorpion that was highly attracted to her feet.

Kristin brushed it away from her before it could get her,

and our Bedouin guides threw it in the fire.

It was a bit of a heart stopping moment.

After that I got some final measurements and we were off...at midday.

The hour hike nearly doubled in everything,

time,

heat,

and elevation.

While the hike down was nice, the hike back UP out of the Wadi was rough.

But we made it.

By what I call divine intervention.

It was an unusually cool day for the first of July, which is why we made it back really.  

I don't think we would have otherwise.
The heat made us a bit goofy.

After that theater we went to the theater at Petra, got some stuff, and then headed back to our beds to leave in the morning.

Busy day.

Today we drove the 4.5 hours to Jerash in northern Jordan.

It was MUCH, MUCH hotter today.

I have the sun burns to prove it.

We did the 3 theaters in Jerash, it was beautiful, but by the end we were glad to be done.

Now we are at ACOR trying to get everything re-packed for our flight to ITALY!!!!

There you go.

Good times,

more to come.

I should say how grateful I am for this entire thing.
I am constantly overwhelmed by how great the people are that I am with,
and what an amazing experience this is.

I am learning so much.

I also must say, hiking up and down these theaters for pictures and measurements is giving me some fantastic legs.

Just sayin'.

♥ ♥ ♥

I had a dream...

Actually I had a few weird ones last night but I also had a really, really good one.

You could say it was a productive dream.

I will explain.

Once upon a time in my subconscious sleeping mind,

I had a dream about my thesis.

I was doing my proposal presentation and it was a little different than what I thought it would be.

I would get into the details, but then I would have to explain my whole thesis, and that would take SOOO long.

Needless to say, I was proposing what I've been researching the past few weeks, 

but with a "twist" of sorts.

I woke up with this excitement because it made perfect sense.

Yes, even after I woke up, that is not always the case.

You see, I've been struggling because I've picked a subject that I could do a doctoral dissertation on.

and a few books,

actually I could do 30 years of work on it and still feel like I was scratching the surface.

I am really not up for a thesis that is that long.

So I've been trying to find ways to shorten it.

To no avail.

Until last night...well early this morning.

So, this morning, with a fire in my belly (as well as cornflakes) I am changing tactics.

I have a plan that will reign in all those lovely tangents I love,

and make this project a good thesis,

as opposed to a lifelong pursuit.

I'm feeling pretty dang good about that.

So good in fact that I am quite literally bounding in my chair.

Which has caused some dangerous squeaking.

So I will have to stop.

Good start to the day.

This clarity is perfectly timed really, because my adviser is coming into the country today.

Yep, and now I will have good news and lots of work done!

Yay for blessings!

♥ ♥ ♥

It's all Greek to me - scratch that - it's all looking a bit Roman.

Hello from the land...not down under.

More the land east-north-east.

or Middle East.

I wish I could say the 'Land Down Under'.

It has such an appealing ring to it.

My good friend Laurie, whom I adore, she is awesome...

recently went to the land down under. 

I will go...one day...I hope.

Here at ACOR things are going just dandy.  

Well things weren't going dandy, but now they are. 

:)

If you don't know the story I'm not going to tell it to you.

Suffice it to say that things can get a bit monotonous at a desk for 2 weeks straight.

I'm getting a lot of research done, but I never felt like I was going to reach the end...that I would be at this desk forever...sweating, reading and typing my life away.

Thankfully, yesterday changed all that.

I had this "fire in my belly" yesterday 

and

(drum roll please)

FINISHED!

Well, kind of.

:)

Yes, I know it doesn't make sense but I kind of finished.  

I had 3 goals when I came here  

(I wrote them down and everything)

and they are now 2/3 of the way done.

which is fantastic,

and happened yesterday.

In other ACOR updates.

I did my laundry.

BY HAND.

Ok, it really doesn't matter that I did it by hand, it matters that I was able to get off away from my desk long enough to do it.

That is the exciting part.

I'm a little embarrassed about how dirty this water is but guys, I've been living in a desert for the past month.

Give me a break.

Just a little one.

I hung the semi-dry pajamas in my closet...unfortunately that was not a good place.

It was to humid in there and they did not dry...they just started to smell.

So I washed them again.

Because I can.

By the way, if anyone from my familia ever reads this, the green bag has presents in it.

:)

Overall, things have been marvelous.

They feed us really well,

their library is full of marvelous books for research,

and their internet works so I have been able to keep in contact with the loved ones.

Which makes me look like this:

That is a happy face by the way.

Today is Tuesday.

Friday I leave ACOR and head back down to Petra.

Saturday we leave Petra and head all the way back through Amman, to Jerash and Pela.

Finally, on Sunday we leave the beautiful country of Jordan and head to another beautiful country.

ITALY!!!!

Yes, sometimes I don't believe my life either.

It has been such a blessing and I am so, so, so very grateful.

I will write again before I leave.

Adios!

♥ ♥ ♥

The Blogging World

A ways back, wow its been several years now, I started a blog.

It was 2008 I think. 

At least that is what blogger is telling me.  

I was so excited about it!

I am generally pretty shy at first and I don't like to push anything on people.

So during a hard time, with no one to talk to, and a desperate need to vent

I started blogging.

I REALLY liked it.

and the funny part was that it wasn't really the writing my days out to the universe that attracted me.

It was something that I created, continued to tweak, and it was all mine.

But then I wanted more outlets for different parts of my life.

So I made more for others,

like Stephie  and my family.

Then I started getting into tumblr.

I created a blog for my Project 52 

(which I am still doing by the way, I just can't load those pictures until I get back to the States)

and another blog just for me with inspirational pictures and quotes.

(but since it is just for me, I'm not going to give you a link...wahahahaha (evil laugh))

It has been marvelous.

My life is crazy right now.

I travel the world a little bit,

I move around a little more,

and I do as much as possible to drive myself to insanity.

At this point I have a creative outlet for when

I take a few pictures, 

read a ton of books, 

get inspired by more than a few things,

and have a place to put them all.

So there you go.

Thank You Mr. Reynolds

I just wanted to share a link that one of my friends posted.

It is an article written by a Mr. John Mark Reynolds writing for the Washington Post.

I just wanted to post my appreciation for someone who refuses to simply "jump on the bandwagon" when it comes to discrimination and bigotry.

Mr. Reynolds, you rock.

To read his article click HERE

or copy and paste this address into your browser bar.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/post/amos-and-andy-and-the-book-of-mormon/2011/06/15/AGRlHPWH_blog.html

Putting Humpty Dumpty Back Together Again

Alright, I do realize that the title of this post is a horrible title but that nursery rhyme kept going through my mind as I put together the hands hand feet of a nearly 2000 year old skeleton.  Sometimes you just can't help yourself.

Life is fantastic in good old Jordan.

By old I mean very old.

It's interesting getting used to a place that has so much history.

I remember the first time I went to Damascus (in Syria not Jordan) and walked where I knew millions and millions of people had walked for centuries.

On the very street, under the very arch, through the same doorways.

It is a little bit mind blowing.

And it has this...feel to it.

Like you can feel all the people that have been there, like when you go somewhere you leave a little piece of yourself that those following can feel.  

I love it.

While I am now at ACOR with lovely internet access and no longer at Petra (I was there for 3 weeks), I do have some pictures.

I will only post a few though because if I start putting more I may not be able to stop.

So here goes.

If you haven't seen pictures before (and you won't see it in the post) I wear a bandana (shown here) under a kaffia on site to avoid sunburn and dust in my eyes.
It is actually cooler too.
Picture Lawrence of Arabia and you will have an idea.
This is after work one day (sans kaffia).
I collapsed on the floor from heat and exhaustion.
But not heat exhaustion.
But if you look closely you will see that I have a Harry Potter lightening scar dirt mark.
Don't know what that means.
But if I get super powers I will let you know.
:)

Another day I came home after digging through a meter and a half of goat dung.  

Let me rephrase.

It was a meter and a half deep.

And it was from a loculi that was a little over 3 meters long.

I'm not going to do the math because it will depress me how much dusty poop we moved.

So that "dust" on my face?

Yeah. 

:(

Here is a view leaving Petra.

I love the landscape there.

Although I could put up a picture of St. George and it might be hard to tell the difference.

:)

We uncovered an undisturbed burial (very rare).

I had a bit of crash course in Osteology.

I think I did pretty darn good to be honest.

I was in charge of putting her hands and feet back together.

Yes, some of them fit perfectly which was amazing.

(and if you are thinking about that Humpty Dumpty song I was definitely NOT a member of all the kings horses and all the kings men, because we were able to put this skeleton together...haha nursery song, take that)

After we cleaned the skull we were able to glue what remained back together.

It was really remarkable.

So there is a quick update of things.  

I post so sporadically I won't make any more promises but I will definitely try.

That's if they can keep the internet working at ACOR.

Could use some prayers there. 

♥ ♥ ♥

From the Golden Tulip

Well I have a lot to be grateful for today.

1. I made it to Jordan via Paris safely.  Despite flying through a storm (I thought someone had taken a picture with their flash in the middle of the night...until I heard the following thunder) we arrived well and whole, and only a little motion sick.
2. We found the shuttle to the hotel...no taxi fee.
3. Our room has a marvelous bed with2 fluffy, fluffy pillows each, we get free dinner and breakfast for the 2 nights we are here and I have been sleeping all day.
4. We in the hotel for 2 days.  This one is a bit odd because being in the hotel gives me ample opportunity to be homesick but I'm a little more than homesick.  Right before I left I caught some kind of head cold and the ability to sleep all day is doing marvelous things for getting over this cold.  Yay for healing!
5. The thing I am most grateful for is that the hotel has free WiFi.  The fact that Skype is a free internet calling service is also top on my list.  Because of this I got to video skype my family last night, and have chatted with them several times since then.  It has been a wonderful blessing. I am hoping I will have the same opportunity during the 3 weeks I am excavating but even it I don't, I will have the internet while I am staying in Amman.

So I am very, very grateful today.  Grateful for my family, grateful for some amazing opportunities that I am having, and most of all grateful to my Heavenly Father for His blessings, guidance and protection.  I definitely feel it most during times like this.

Quick Update

Everything lately seems really quick.

Quick updates, quick papers, quick errands, quick nap, quick breakfast...the list goes on...for quite some time.

My life is just cruising at 100 mph.

Which is ok, I like the speed.

I just wished it involved more sleep.

So, as far as quick updates go.

Remember how we got a puppy?

And she was supposed to be a Maltese/Chihuahua mix?

Meaning she would be little.

So I took her to the vet a bit ago for her shots.

(It was a quick trip)

And the vet didn't think she was a Maltese/Chihuahua mix but a Chihuahua/Border Collie mix.

So she would be a little bigger...relatively.

She still is a very small dog, just not a "toy" dog.

Which is fantastic.

For example: here is her first bath vs. the one I gave her last week.

(She grew a little)

And is so much more fun.

In fact everyone there was amazed at the poor Chihuahua mother but congratulated us on our infinitely more awesome dog.

They were absolutely right.

It's funny that we ever thought her to be part Maltese because she looks and acts very Border Collie.

Let me explain:

Her Chihuahua side gives her that little dog attitude.

She cries sometimes, shakes a lot when she is scared or sad (apparently a very Chihuahua trait), and loves, loves, loves to cuddle.

She also has a very Chihuahua face.

Her Border Collie side gives her the desire to go on the little Juan's crazy long runs...and her little legs make him have to sprint for miles.  

She really is an amazing runner.

She also loves to do tricks, jump, play and basically be awesome.

She also has the most awesome eyes.

Originally they were very, very dark blue.  

Now they are a dark, sapphire blue on the outside and around the pupil and chocolate brown in between.

She is absolutely perfect for our family and we all love her so very much.

So there is the quick dog update.

In other news,

I am finishing my first year of grad school in the next few weeks.

They are some very stressful weeks.

Still planning the trip for Jordan and Europe,

but the way things are going in Jordan right now (click here) things might be a little different for that leg of the journey.

We'll see.

I am really praying for my friends in the area.

Crazy times.

Other than that there isn't to much going on.

I need to put my laundry away,

and do my dishes,

and clean my apartment.

I am really beginning to understand how I prioritize things...cleanliness (of my home and self) don't seem to be to high up on that list.

Quick story on that front.

I went to talk to the bishop for my Ecclesiastical Endorsement (so I can continue my schooling at BYU).

We talked for a bit after the interview and he asked me how things were going and if I was making time for a social life...specifically dating.

I told him I was lucky if I got in a shower everyday, dating isn't even on the list right now.

He laughed pretty hard.

It is sad how true it is.

So there you go.

Busy, sometimes clean, but very, very happy.

Till next time!

♥ ♥ ♥