Join us for Irish Step classes this Fall!

It's official! My sister and I have finally found a studio to begin teaching Irish step classes in! It's not only affordable and nearby but also has the most amazing space I've seen in a studio!
From the outside it's looks like a small town fifty year old storefront house, with a little shop down below. The blue paint is peeling, the stairs are just a little bit rickety but the studio upstairs is beautiful!

Fall classes here we come!

Making summer memories, left , right and in the water.

The end of August is almost in sight now. Once September starts everything will be more rushed and crazy with the start of school teaching Irish step and teaching Sunday school at church! I'm worried that I won't be able to schedule everything.

But why think about that right now? I think I'll just daydream about the rest of this month and all the last minute parties I can plan! We never really did that beach party I wanted......

But then I guess it's the little things that make summer so special.

Like Going to the Russian evening service with a bunch of friends and then finding out at the last minute it's canceled, so instead, heading to the park to walk along the waterfront, but ending up, kind of on accident but mostly on purpose, jumping into the pacific ocean with all of our clothes on.

Or maybe a special moment could be swimming at Whatcom falls and accidentally going over one of the falls and then watching in wonder as a certain sister decides to do the same, only on purpose. Only then we were stuck and couldn't get out. Boy are we stupid!

Just for the record both of these incidents happened in the past week.

Ever wonder how boring summer would be without water?

August Rain

I wrote this about three years ago,on a very wet and rainy day in march. Spring seemed a long time coming, I was babysitting kids that didn't really need me in really dirty house and I was in a bad mood. And then creativity hit me! or maybe I was so bored I just started to write and ended up with this.

Anyways, it was originally titled Springtime, but after today, I'm thinking of changing the title to August Rain.... or something like that.



Constant is the rain,
sinking my spirits down
into the muddy ground
like a limp leaf.

Looming are the clouds,
colorless and steady,
promising a future of
wetness and cold.

Dark are my thoughts,
ready to murder anyone
who says a sunny word
to me.

Dead is the sibling,
the one that disregarded
his sisters warning.


Don't worry. A run in the rain and a nice cup of tea afterwords cheered me up :)

One of my favorite poems.

Piano, my silent

mother,

I can touch you,

you are cool

and smooth

and willing

to stay with me

stay with me

talk to me.

Uncomplaining

you accept

the cover to your keys

and still

you

make room

for all that I

place

there.

We close our eyes

together

and together find that stillness

like a pond

a pond

when the wind is quiet

and the surface

glazes

gazing unblinking

at the blue sky.

I play songs

that have only the pattern

of my self in them

and you hum along

supporting me.

You are the

companion

to myself.

The mirror

with my mother's eyes.


~(Taken from) Out of the Dust,
by Karen Hesse

These are words.

The shiny black cover of a new notebook, lures me, from its place on the bed.

I sniff its delicious newness with delight while slowly I turn the pages.

Stories flood my head, vivid pictures and tender poems,

mix with color descriptions and lonely poetry until they're all just a bunch of meaningless words.

I sift through it, untangling the jumbo. Then a story leaps out at me,
itching through my fingertips to be told.

I reach for the sharpened pencil, and chew on it's pink eraser.

Then I put the tip to the lined paper and watch with interest as my story unfolds on

to its hungry pages.

A summer night with CEF.

After a long but very good day, it feels good to be home again. My comfort zone has been stretched and bruised almost beyond recognition, my feet are tired and sore and my energy level is basically zilch, gone, evaporated.

But the taste of Earl Gray Ice Cream still lingers on my tongue and I am happy with the knowledge that I CAN go door to door, passing out flier's and not die!

Ok, maybe the dieing part was slightly exaggerated but still.....I have accomplished something I never thought was possible for my timid self to do.

I might have even enjoyed myself part of the time!

Except for the dogs. Oh the dogs........

Good morning!

There was a red Sun rising this morning. with the mist coming in over the fields and the sun coming up from behind the trees, glowing through the mist, for some reason I thought of the Crucible.

It did wake me up though.


I'm making up a challenge for myself. I am going to blog every day for the next two months until school starts. We'll see how this goes!

Better run for now. I actually need to get OFF my bed and go get ready. Time is calling.

Summer Moments

Over this summer I've been volunteering with CEF(Child Evangelism Fellowship) off and on, doing day camps. I'm pretty much a counselor, answering questions and filling in little teaching jobs that need to be done. But mostly my job is just to sit with the children, separating fighting brothers, keeping restless children under check and trying to motivate the kids that think they're to old for this 'boring kid stuff'.

I love every thing about it. The secret smile that little girl, sitting in font of me gives me when she thinks no one is looking. The cheeky but slightly guilty grin the little boy gives after I catch him bugging his neighbor with a loose shoe.
I love hugging the child who is having a bad day as we sit and listen to the story, and the way they pull me into whatever game that is being played with a little smirk on their face.

But I think my favorite part of this job, is hearing all the funny things kids say during the day and watching all the leaders going red in the face with the effort of holding back there laughter at whatever little joey said.

When all the kids have left for the day, then we laugh until our sides hurt and tears are rolling down our faces. These funny story's and quotes are retold all summer long and because of them the summer is sweet.

"Dear lord, Thank you that Kaiti didn't die and thank you for her being so nice."
-Jordan, praying.

Back to the blogger world......

After nearly an hour of setting up, picking font styles and the right colors not to mention picking the right template, my new and updated blog is up and running. Now the question is, will I actually stick with this template? Probably not. It's like when I was little and setting up the dollhouse, why stick with just one choice when there are so many other options to chose from and it's so much fun to set up? Nope. My five year habits haven't changed a bit ;)Well I have to lickity split down to set the table and then go outside and frown at the sky until the sun comes out.