Just because we all need to be reminded...

You are not defined by anything that happened to you or anything you ahve done. You are defined by who you are in Christ. You are God's beloved child. He has seen any wrong done to you, and He will uphold your cause. Beth Moore

You are a child of God.
You are clean.
You are forgiven.
You are redeemed.

You are an arrow in the quiver of the warrior with the most perfect aim. (Psalm 127.3-4)

You are dearly loved.

More Pics from my Trip

The Misadventures of In Sane Kids

Last summer when my folks were getting ready to move to St. Kitts, my 5-year-old sister, Ruthie, ask a lot of questions. The great part about it was that she didn't understand the name of this great place so she'd say things like, "When we're in Sane Kids will we..." So, when my family moved here and purchased a boat the only appropriate name for the vessel was In Sane Kids.

I got here Thursday night. Yesterday, we went out on the boat. We went snorkeling and saw some pretty incredible fish and sea urchins. It was great. I fell off the roof of this:



It's a dive platform in a cove for the scuba divers. My brother and his friends climb onto the roof and jump off...they love it. I climbed up there with my brother. As I was about to jump, I slipped and fell. Fortunately (read: praise God!), I didn't hit anything but the water. I did, however, manage to jack myself in the nose...I think I was trying to hold my nose, but I ended up punching myself. I have a pretty sizable bruise on my leg from hitting the water...and I jacked up my shoulder...not really sure how that happened, but it's a result of the fall.

We went back out in the boat today with some friends of my family. Dale is the mom and she runs the school my brothers go to. Regina and Ashton are her kids. We, pretty much, did the same stuff today just with more people. After the snorkeling and jumping, we went tubing and Daniel rode the wakeboard. This is him on his wakeboard:



Daniel was in the water with Ashton giving him tips on how to ride the wakeboard when the engine started making some weird (read: really not good) noises so we decided just to head back to the marina and call it a day. On the way back to the marina, the engine quit entirely. Well, not entirely...the transmission gave out. We were stuck, literally, on a boat in the Caribbean ocean. The most comical part of the experience was that, from where we were, we could see our house. We were, probably, a mile out from the coast. Oh, did I mention that a couple weeks ago the VHF radio (the communication tool for just such an occasion) was stolen off the boat a couple weeks ago? Yeah, we were stuck. Fortunately (also read: praise God!) my dad has made friends with this Irish guy, Seamus, at the marina. He called Seamus, who was not far from the marina. (At this point, I must say, nothing on this island is far from anything else on the island...it doesn't take more than 10 minutes to get anywhere, from anywhere.) Seamus was not far from the marina so he and his buddy, Bob, went straight there and grabbed Wayne (I have another story about Wayne, ask later) and came straight out on Seamus' boat, the Flying Lady. Wayne works at the marina...he's amazing with boats. They came out and towed us back into the marina.

So, that was our adventure for the day. :) It was fun...I definitely got some sun today.

Tomorrow morning, my mom and I are flying to St. Martin until Tuesday. We plan to eat a lot of French food, buy jewelry and get some more sun. :)

A Few Pics

The view from my family's house.




My brother, Jack. He's 8.



My sister, Ruthie...I think she looks like Mowgli from Jungle Book. And, no, she doesn't have a shirt on. She rarely does. This is going to be a problem in too few years.

Mr. X's Wiggidy Wac, Shiggidy Shack

So, here I am in St. Kitts. It's absolutely, beyond words beautiful here. Tomorrow, I'll look at something other than my sister's face and tell you about the scenery. :) I'm so excited to be here with my family! To be more accurate, I'm so excited to be with my family and I'm so happy to be here! :)

My day today started out at 430 this morning. So early. I flew to Miami on a flight of about a million children, most of whom cried through take-off and landing. Got to Miami with just enough time to walk off my plane, down a hall to the next concourse, and right onto my next plane.

A story about my flight from Miami to St. Kitts: when I got on the plane, there was an older lady in the seat behind me. She was wearing a sleeveless, red sweater-shirt. And by red, I mean, RED. And she was letting everybody know how hot she was going to be sitting by the window (where the sun would come in) on a flight to the Caribbean. During the flight, she hit/kicked/pushed my seat so many times in rapid succession, I actually turned around to see if she was have a seizure. She wasn't. She was just crabby. Anyway, we landed in St. Kitts, I stood up, turned around and watch her put on a sweater that matches the shirt. A sweater. So, it's time to get off the plane and I'm stuck behind this woman going down the steps to the tarmac. She takes about four steps away from the bottom of the stairway, stops, puts down her carryon and takes off the sweater she had been wearing for approximately 3.7 minutes.

I'm not sure why I'm so fascinated with that lady.

So, I got to see my family and we went to dinner at this restaurant called Ciao's. Fantastic. Fantastic. Lobster Thermador. Spiny tailed lobster...lots of cheese...mushrooms. Mmmmmmm...might have to do that again while I'm here. After dinner, my mom and I went to the Marriott for coffee and desert. Again I say: Mmmmmmmm...

Right now, I'm sitting on the couch watching MythBusters with my brother. To my right, the French doors are open to the (gorgeous) deck complete with pool and really great chairs. It's actually raining right now, but it's a great, relaxing rain.

On tap for tomorrow: sleeping in, going out on the boat, eating more seafood. I'm hoping that the going out on the boat part also involves a little tubing and wakeboarding. :)

Oh! After dessert at the Marriott, my mom decided to drive along the beach area. Along the beach area, there are two "must-go" beach bars...even if you don't drink, these are two places you have to visit just because they are "famous," and, I think, they are significantly less bar-ish during the day. One of them is called 'Mr. X's Shiggidy Shack.' I want to go there just because its called the Shiggidy Shack. I'm hoping they have t-shirts.

Heather: I told my mom that when you come down with me, we would have to go there b/c you'd love it just 'cause it has the word 'shiggidy' in the name. :)

Love you, friends!

Seattle...

I went to Seattle last month (hence the name of the last post) and used my new camera for the first time. I still don't really know how to use it, but I love some of the shots I got and I thought I'd share.


A store front at the market...just down the street from the original Starbucks. I have a friend who works at a Starbucks here in Snell-vegas and she says that everyone she knows who goes to Seattle always sends her pics of themselves at the first Starbucks...just for her, I purposefully did NOT take a picture of the first. :)


On the far left: Mt. Ranier...we think.


'Those who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs; You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.' Psalm 65.8


Driving up to the market...I was in the middle row of van seats...I leaned over and took this through the front windshield while we were at a stoplight. Love it!


Along with Starbucks, this is the other obligatory Seattle shot. :)

In other news, the rumors are true, ladies and gentlemen...I did indeed cut my hair. Fourteen inches of it, to be precise. I did it for Jesse...donated it to Locks of Love in his name. If you don't know Jesse or what his story means to my life, ask...it's cool. :)

Love you, friends!