A Life Update :)

So much has happened... and I haven't kept you all updated! I'm really not sure where to start...

Let's just start with now... It's COLD here! It snowed for about 3 days and now my alley is about 2 inches of ice. Many of the roads were closed for several days (which caused me some very difficult travel), but now things seems to be back to normal (with the exception of the windy wonderland weather). It kind of hurts to walk around outside... Today I wore 7 layers!


Back in October, my parents visited! They were here for almost the whole month. It was fantastic. It was their first trip out of the U.S. and they were amazing! I was so impressed with how they took everything in stride, even though some pretty crazy stuff happened and Morocco isn't the easiest country for travel. We traveled all over Morocco (renting a car was definitely worth it) and took the ferry over to Spain. I made a map to show you our journeys! For the specifics, you should definitely ask them about their experiences here! I also posted a bunch of our pictures on facebook, but I took over 400... so... visit and I'll show you :)



I had a surprisingly doleful week two weeks ago... I found out a lot of pretty crazy news all at once... I lost 2/3 of the money that I possessed in stocks... My camera and IPOD were stolen... and I found out that I've been exposed to Tuberculosis! What a week, right? Sounds dramatic... and really, I think it is, but through it all... my spirits haven't fallen (hardly at all!) For me this is evidence that perhaps I've arrived at the positive attitude I've been seeking to have throughout all of life's beauty and obstacles. I really can't help but feel blessed. From my perspective, money isn't important - sure it would have been nice to have, but I didn't have exact plans for the money and I can just act like I never had it in the first place. The camera and IPOD are covered by my property insurance :) And the exposure to TB has a very high chance of being eradicated with treatment. So, life is still beautiful and I'm loving living it. I also am constantly putting my circumstances into a grander perspective. The suffering that a huge percentage of the world endures everyday is a reminder of my many blessings.

In the time that I've managed to be home (not so much lately) work has been busy! Before my parents came, the CBT (community based training) group arrived and I was able to work with them on project ideas with the Association. They were a really great and hardworking group! While I was gone with my parents, they tackled almost all of the projects I had suggested and had some pretty impressive results... they developed brochures and flyers for Trekking weekends (also posting this online in a few places), developed a small mailing list of places that might be interested in hearing about and posting the information, did some studies and documentation of carpet motifs, started an ordering process for the carpets, helped Mohamed the artist document his work, worked with one of the weavers to improve a handbag design, and developed a website! It's so amazing what can be done with a focused group of people committed to working! Great work team!!! Here's the website: www.afcmaroc.org (we are still working on some improvements but it's a really nice base). After that, I've been working on carrying out some of these projects and helping prepare for more exhibitions. We just came back from a small exhibition at the Rabat American School, which went well (with the exception of all the rain and snow).

Thanksgiving was great! It's so nice to be around wonderful people with great food and to reflect on life's wonder and God's grace. I am constantly overwhelmed by the incredible blessings showering my life!