NH was coooooooooold...

I didn't think Chicago was warner than any other place, well except for maybe Canada, but I was wrong. It's so cold in New Hampshire!! Granted, I did leave my winter coat and warm shoes in Bosnia. I was so excited to be going to Florida for most of the winter, I packed shorts and sandals - forgetting I was indeed heading to places like NH and IL...

Beyond the coldness, I had a great time in NH. I was visiting my friends Darin and Shari Shaw and their 4 kids Amanda, Katie, Becky, and Emily. I was also visiting the church where Darin is pastor, Christ's Church Amhest, as they have been faithful supporters of mine since before leaving to go to Bosnia. It was fun to give a report to them and meet some new people and reaquaint myself with others. I was also able to spend some time with Kristen. If you remember, she came two summers ago to Zenica and helped out some wth the women's ministry. It was fun for me to tell the church how people still remmebr Kristen and the jewelery she helped them to make. I also told them how in Bosnian, Kristen's last name means "tomato" So, people always ask me how "tomato" is doing. It was quite disconcerting the first few times the Bosnians asked as I had no tomatos on my plate and was quite confused... "How is tomato?" "Um... well, um, my cucumber is good thanks." "Noo, no, leanne, Kreesteen... how is Kreesten?" And people wonder why the language confuses me so much...

I had a great time with Darin and Shari. They have 4 dogs so that was a ton of fun. The one didn't like me, which was quite sad as I can't think of a dog that hasn't liked me. We went to a restaurant one night for live music - it was awesome. It only got better when the drunk people took to the dance floor. And then when we found out one of them was actually sober, oh my. Being a public spectacle is just not something I like to do, and it's fascinating to watch people who don't care. Maybe I just need to lighten up... or have a couple more drinks.

So now I am back up in Elgin visiting all the fine folks here at IT (International Teams) I can't believe I'm here for a week. I actually unpacked my toiletries bag - woohoo! The same bed for a week. I'm so excited. In NH, I didn't have reliable cell or internet, so now that I'm back in civilization, I should be catching up with emails soon.

I hope to put some deeper thoughts and such on my blog one day. In the near furture i'll probaby change blog sites so I can do more fancy things with my blog. Don't worry, I'll let you know.

Have a great day - will update soon!