Travel

This past summer, I helped run a singer-songwriter contest at work. This was one of the entries. Is that guy Minnesota or what? Gabriel Douglas wound up being one of the winners of the contest, and I met him in San Diego when he opened for Gregory Alan Isakov. His personality is bigger than life…

A few months ago, Fair Trade USA invited a few brands that source Fair Trade Certified ingredients, LÄRABAR being one of them, to tour some participating cocoa farms in the Dominican Republic. Naturally, I volunteered myself to go. Not being an incredibly experienced international traveler (prior to this trip, I’d been to Canada, Mexico, England,…

So many things were old hat: the quick note of my parking row, the toiletries in Ziplocs, the train to concourse C, the weight of my book-laden purse. After all, this was my third trip in so many weeks; I am no stranger to Southwest Airlines and Denver International Airport. But as I boarded the…

These days, life is like a runaway train.  It’s like that movie “Unstoppable,” except – spoiler alert! – that train actually stopped.  It’s not still barreling out of control through Pennsylvania.  Not that I’m barreling out of control through Pennsylvania, either, but… Okay.  Analogy over. All I’m saying is that life has been busy and full,…

So there I was at the Denver airport, heaving my bulging black suitcase onto the conveyor belt for the x-ray machine. This was just my carry-on – my REAL bag (a behemoth red Samsonite) had already been found 6 lbs. overweight at the ticket counter, leading me to put on my boots and jacket, stuff…

A week ago Saturday, Annie opened the front door.  I ran through it.  She had my leash out, so I knew we were going somewhere – but instead of walking around the block one time (as far as I can walk), she lifted me into her car. I like to ride in the car.  I…

Since our last rendezvous, some things have happened. 1) BOOKS When it comes to books these days, I am insatiable. I absolutely devoured “The Hunger Games.”  This series is all the rage, and I know that a lot of you have read them.  No spoilers here, except to say that I have not enjoyed a…

As my co-worker Kelli just informed me, I am being a horrible blogger. But hopefully, I’m being an awesome liver… as in “liver of life,” and not “organ that detoxifies.” I’ve been all over the place – Boston, where I watched the Boston Marathon, Portland, Maine, where I ate my first lobster, Kansas City, where…

If you were to look at the “Most Played” playlist in my iTunes*, right there at the very top of the list would be “Boston” by Augustana.  Number one. This strikes me as very strange, since I don’t really love this song so much I want to marry it.  I mean, sure, it’s catchy –…

Mission of Hope recently acquired 55 acres of land from the government in Bercy, which is about 30 minutes north of their main campus.  On this land, they are planning to build a school, a medical clinic, a church, an orphanage, and a conference center – a planned community.  Just like Florida! In the meantime,…