Unclaimed Rib

This totally made me laugh :)

Lines from an Unclaimed Rib
Oh, unknown man whose rib I am,
Why don't you come for me?
A lonely, homesick rib I am,
That would with others be!
I want to wed—
There now, it's said!
(I won't deny and fib)—
I want my man to come at once and claim
His rib!

Some men have thought that I was theirs,
But only for a bit;
We found out soon it wouldn't do;
We didn't seem to fit.
There's just one place,
The only space
I'll fit—(I will not fib)
I want that man to come at once and claim
His rib!

Oh, don't you sometimes feel a lack,
A new rib needed there?
It's I! Do come and get me soon
Before I have gray hair!
Come get me dear!
I'm homesick here;
I want—(and I'll not fib)—
I want my man to come at once and claim
His rib!
– The Independent, Volume 69

Elliot & Me

Meet my boyfriend. . . .Elliot. :)







I thought I'd give you all the extended version of how Elliot and me met and fell in love. . .

I'm going to start in about 1998, 1999, sometime around then. . . It's all pretty foggy. . I was close to 8 years old. Elliot and I used to go to church together. All that I really remember about him then was what I remember about all boys that age. I love to make fun of him and do recall calling him Alien on more than one occasion and making fun of his ears (btw, Elliot I think now that your ears just great :)) Rumor has it I used to beat Elliot up, but he doesn't remember any of it. .

Enough of that. .

The church split sometime around 2000 and I didn't see anything of Elliot after that and didn't think anything of him either. .

Until. . .

Almost exactly 1 year ago. I "happened" to be browsing on my friend's (Naomi Holter) facebook wall. I don't believe in "happen-stance," but I believe God has a plan. I thought, "why not?" and added him as a friend. . .I was slightly surprised when he added me too and browsed his profile. I thought it was cool that he liked Alaska.

Elliot commented on a few status updates of mine and chatted with me once on facebook. . I still didn't find it strange or didn't waste time thinking about it. .

It all changed the day Elliot posted an extremely cheesy pick up line on one of my facebook status'. I had just gotten a cell phone and posted on my facebook, "let me know if you want my number, and I'll message it to you." Mostly because I did not want my number on facebook for all to see. . . Elliot replied, "I lost my number can I have yours." I was totally confused and kind of concerned that someone could actually their number, but my brothers enlightened me (as they do a lot).

So. . I thought. . why not? and I messaged them all, including Elliot, my number. A couple of weeks went by without hearing anything from Elliot. .


I was casually mentioning it to my friend Aimee one night and we were on Facebook. She was like, "well. . I'll talk to him." I was trying to restrain her from doing such a ridiculous thing and told her that she'd probably scare him off forever. . . Well, she didn't. He was slightly disturbed to be contacted by a random stranger, but he sent me a text that night, "I lost my number. . can I have yours?" and some other texts too, but nothing major.

"So I'm a very blunt individual most of the time and if I want to know something I just ask, sooo, I wanted to ask about us talking with each other and make sure that this is only just as friends and nothing more." . . This was part of his message sent January. . .At this point I honestly can tell you I didn't really care about relationships. . It seemed like they never ended well so what was the point in putting energy and time into them, so I didn't think about it a whole lot.

We continued to text and talk for a few more months and quickly realized that we had a lot in common. Our second phone conversation was 1.5 hours long (now I would consider this short :P).

To make a long story relatively short. . Elliot suggested meeting up in Spokane for "lunch.". . . I must say I was slightly nervous. I brought a couple of friends with me mostly for company along the road trip.
My time with Elliot in Spokane was great!!! We really hit it off and I knew after that that I was definitely interested in being more than just friends.

Elliot called me the next day and told me that his was interested in being more than friends. We both agreed he would need to meet the family first and ask my dad to officially start dating. . .

The next couple of months before his visit went incredibly slow and I couldn't wait to see him again. . . Hours and hours on the phone. . I remember one bill reflecting 1000 hours in 2 weeks.

Elliot's visit the end of September was absolutely amazing--bear hunting, getting lost in the woods, talking into the wee hours of the morning, fishing. There are no words to describe it. . . all I can come up with is I love you Elliot!!! :)

Grand Canyon 2011

Where do I start to explain this amazing trip we embarked on! For about 2 years. . we've had this goal. The first time I went to the Grand Canyon, my amazing friend I met at school, Elise, told me it was tough hiking. I didn't believe her cauz I told her Montana has to have the hardest hiking ever. Well. . Elise you were right. The Grand Canyon is pretty hard care. We had planned to hike it two years ago and didn't do it because we were not properly prepared. The second year one particular protective brother (who I will not mention by name) stopped us, but at that point and time it was probably smartest to hold off. You must be prepared for a hike like this.
Anyway, we started this adventure on Thursday afternoon at about 3 pm. . . by 6 or 7. . I hadn't planned to drink a mountain dew (knowing what they do to me), but Beatle had stepped on mine and poked a whole in it and we couldn't let it go to waste.

We drove all night. . . or I should say David drove most of the night. I got the wheel for a couple of hours. My car is not comfortable to sleep in. Not sure how much sleep I got that night. . but by the start of the morning, coffee tasted very lovely. We drove through Zion around sunset time. Absolutely gorgeous!!

Friday was pretty chill. . We set up camp and prepared for our hike on Saturday. I will have all of you know. . I was subjected to more hip-hop music than ever before and the only way to handle it was just to sing along with it. LOL. Remind me that Arizona is hot when you don't have AC in your car next time :P

Everytime we go to the Grand Canyon. . we have our own little special spot. It is not an official campground. . but beautiful! The stars were out. . and this is one of the few times I've camped outside and actually felt warm!!

My amazing friend Elise showed up on Friday night, signifying the beginning of the real party! Elise is like a sista to me! Elise brought her friend Kina with her who quickly became pretty stinkin good friends with all of us. You two are super hard core and desert hikers to the core!

My alarm went off way too early on Saturday morning! 4:00 by the time somebody's faint sound of a cell phone alarm woke Ruth up. We were all a little bit excited and rushed because the bus to our trail head was scheduled to leave at 5:15 am. . and you want to beat the heat as much as possible. I was all ready to go, so decided I would help cook breakfast! High-protein eggs were on the menu. I was stirring the dozen eggs when I had my first blonde moment of the day and spilled them all. Rather than attempting to make oatmeal, we decided to just eat burritos with the nastiest cheese you've ever had and hotdogs. It didn't really matter how it tasted. I knew I needed the calories and the protein. I have no idea how many calories you burn on a hike like this, but I've heard shocking numbers!!

We all climbed in the car and made our way to the Grand Canyon pumped by some of Elise's awesome music (no idea what it was). The adrenaline was starting to set in. After parking our car, we quickly made our way to the bus stop. All of us decided that a restroom stop was necessary because there probably would be not a one on the trailhead. We stumbled around in the dark until we found one with only one stall. I was freaking out that we'd never make it to the bus on time. We slid on that bus by 2 minutes. As soon as we sat down we started talking about the excitement of the hike. I don't exactly remember what we said but the man sitting next to us starting laughing. Like he felt bad about laughing at us, but I told him it was alright. He needs someone to laugh at and if that's us, all is well.

To prepare for a trip like this, you have to bring the right kinds of foods (electrolyte drinks, 3 lb slab of meat, kettle chips, and gallons of trailmix). The trail starts off gently dropping down into the canyon and then follows a ridge for a while. The sun was gently rising over the mountains. . glowing against the red dirt. I stopped every opportunity to take a couple of pictures. . . After a few short hours of hiking, we found ourselves at Skeleton point. This is the "point of no return." Rangers do not recommend going any further for a day hike. After this point, the trail really started dropping in elevation fast. I was amazed how much water I was already drinking (1/2 gallon) by the time I reached the bottom.

The bottom of the canyon came way fast than I'd expected. I think it does for everyone. Very easy to hike down, not so easy to hike out. Right before crossing the bridge to the long-awaited Colorado River, I met an inspirational man. About 50-60 years old sitting on a rock, we struck up small talk. He was coughing as he talked (like he had lung problems or asthma). I wondered to myself, "How on earth is this man ever going to make it back up." And he was taking the steepest route with NO WATER stops! We asked him where he was going. He said, "started at the South Rim, went to North Rim, now going back to the South Rim." I was shocked. He explained further that his goal was to hike a mile for however old he was. I wasn't even going to ask how old he was, but at least over 40 miles judging by the round trip he was taking. He also mentioned that he needed to hike some excess trails to get in extra miles. When I said goodbye, I told him to be safe and he said, "that's no fun."

They don't recommend swimming in the Colorado River, but we were able to find a sandbar that looked pretty safe and the water was shockingly cold. I would have expected it to much warmer. It felt so good!!! This was the inner core. Unbelievable, that we were actually here. The high in the core was 106 degrees definitely enough to prompt us to get out of their fast. Being there at 8 am in the morning though, it wasn't too bad. We filled up our water bottles, passed the emergency telephone, and headed up the trail.

Next stop Indian gardens. . They call this the death march-the 4 mile stretch with no water. This part of the trail was not as bad as I thought it would be compared to the rest of going up and there were multiple streams to go swimming in. Something happened to Beatle's shorts and they were giving her a rash on her legs so we taped them up.

Reaching Indian gardens felt like an accomplishment in and of itself. 4.5 miles up the trail, over 3,000 feet still to go though. This is the point at which they recommend not going any further down the trail. The thermometer read 92 degrees. There were tons of people at Indian Gardens--some in flip flops, some with small children panting their tongues out on the way down, some with no water. From this point on however, there are water stops every 1.5 miles. We cut open our giant slab of Genoa Salami. It tasted gross. In this kind of heat, eating is the last thing on your mind. Altogether we ate half of it and people gave us strange looks. One man even asked us what we were eating. I told him he could have some of it, but he didn't want it. Then there were the violent squirrels and crows that tore open our trail mix bags.

We found a lovely stream to soak in before heading up. High noon. The sun shown so bright. . I was starting to feel it. I could feel a slight headache coming on. Knowing the possibility of heat stroke, I forced myself to eat and drink. Electrolyte drinks were the answer. The next water stop was not too far up the trail. Every step got harder. . every step got hotter.

I have never hiked so slow in my entire life as I hiked that mile. . it took me a full hour. After the next water stop, the adrenaline kicked in again and I was able to continue on.

The top was not far away. . .

The last mile of the hike was the hardest ever, but so good at the same time. The trail played a trick on me. Looking straight up, the building at the top was so close, I swore I could have touched it. . . Looking to the right, I could see the trail winding at least an excess 1/2 mile or mile.

The top came sooner than I realized. . . I knew I had made it when I saw the sign. . The sign telling a person not to do this in one day. I felt as though I had accomplished something large. . .

We all gathered around to celebrate!!!




The drive home was fairly eventful. . The best part being when my brother made me sleep in the Walmart parking lot. . Here's my side of the story (btw, he may give you another).

It was about 12:00 pm Sunday night. David was getting tired driving, but yet he still refused to let me drive. We decided to try to find a hotel or a camping spot. After a long time looking, the predicament we had found ourselves in was just too funny and I was hyper so started laughing. After David threatened to kill me, I didn't say another word. Before I knew it, we were at the Walmart parking lot. Apparently, all five of us were supposed to sleep in the car. Ruth grabbed her sleeping bag and laid it out on the Walmart parking lot. . . Bethany followed. . I felt as though I should probably be with them, so I did the same. I was sure some trouble would happen from this, but there was none besides strangers laughing at us.

Ahh. . so that was the trip. Quite epic! Very thankful to God for keeping all of us safe and for showers (5 days without one will do that to you) :)

Here is a link to picts for those of you who don't have Facebook! :)

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2413679623332.2139658.1291540410&l=bf51d2389c&type=1

GNP

So Lauren and Flipper. . I promised these picts to you. . and I'm ready to deliver. . Sorry, it's been a little bit late. You know how life gets. This was a super fun trip we took to Glacier to just literally chill off one Sunday afternoon. Luv chillin with you two, my peeps!!! :)




Snow!!!!!!
Flipper and Me! :)
"Man, that sun is bright!"


Sunshine!


Lauren and Me! :)
Summertime!! :)

Not going to ask. . I was focusing on my driving!

Life, Love. . and the Pursuit of Happiness

I should let you all know right away. . this post will probably be a little bit random. It has been SO long since I've updated my blog and let you all know what's up in life and I'm quite sleep deprived. . so that should make it more interesting. Since returning home from the Great State of Alaska, I've been working about 40 hours a week, which keeps me out of trouble most of the time :)
I just got back from some pretty amazing trips. . . starting with the Milk River Jamboree. . which has become almost an annual tradition for my family. This year was particularly good. as usual. Most of the groups there have a Country Gospel style (which in my opinion is the best.) Can't get enough of the twang.
I got back on Sunday night from Malta (thankfully my parent's let me drive) and after a long awaited shower (the cabin had no showers), I left Monday morning for Dillon.
I don't even know how to describe Dillon. I've tried to explain to my friends how awesome it is, but in all seriousness, you have to be there to truly understand. We traveled down to Dillon in Aimster's van. Road trips are the bestest. Beatle and Zub drank way to much caffeine so we tied them down to the back seat. The first night under the stars, we convinced Zub and Ruth to join us, but they only lasted one night. The stars were breathtaking ever single night. . . and that's the first time I've went camping and actually felt warm. Every night, looking at the stars I was reminded of how amazing God is!
I learned a lot during the conference, but if there was one thing that I'd say was the most affecting of all was how we must have a personal love for God. It sounds so simple, but all around I look around and I see people who all their lives have lived for God, but all of the sudden something goes wrong. I am so not better than anyone else and am reminded all the time that when you think you stand. . . be careful.
"Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" 1 Corinthians 10:12. How are you going to stay faithful? Many who said they would stand strong are not so strong.
Isaiah 29:13 "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men."
I can't say that I haven't fallen to this. You can have all the desire to do right in the world, but if your heart isn't in it, you will fall! Sooner or later. . So. . what is the answer? It's so simple, but so missed. Every day, falling in love with Jesus. Really, actually, letting him be everything that you need. Not searching for anything but Him. If you love someone, don't you usually want to spend time with them? When's the last time you've spent time with the God you say you love. My heart breaks so see the self-destructive paths that some are stepping on. Don't let the devil lie to you. . . it is not too late to ask for forgiveness and come back to God. It really is simple. He satisfies. You can look for it in a relationship, a bottle, money, whatever. . it won't work.
John 4:14
"But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

Abigail Rose :)

I know I've been terribly slow at posting on this blog. . LOL. Life has been crazy since I've gotten back from Alaska. My Alaska trip was an awesome, adrenaline-smashing, life-changing, God-filled experience.
My new niece Abigail Rose was born on June 2nd. She weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces. . . And she is the cutest baby EVER! Yeah, I might be a little biased, but you tell me!!

What lives in the AK dumps. . . or Dies. .

Sights in Alaska

Alaska Alien. . Saw this at the dump? What on earth? This is what happens to the dumpster divers. I'm actually genuinely disturbed. . . Creepy place. . .

Chena Hot Springs Hike. . .

Hi everyone! I've been having a fantabulous time here in AK. On Saturday, I started my adventure at about 4:30 am. Left the station at 6:00 am (it's about an hour drive from Nenana to Fairbanks). I couldn't believe the sun was rising that early, and I also couldn't believe the fresh 6 inches of snow on the attractive red pickup truck. I managed to dig out a scraper and thankfully most of the highway going up to Fairbanks was clear. There are pretty good drops off the edge and moose like the road too. I arrive at Pippins house about 7:30 am. We got packed. Our plan was to leave about 7:30, but I don't think we got out until much later. We also planned on an 8 miles loop hike. yeah. We got about 2 miles in when the trail forked.

The Angels Rocks trail was very well packed down and the sky was clear and quite warm. I was down to a t-shirt.

Someone told me 5 weeks would be enough. "Enough, for what?," I asked. "For you to be hooked." Well I don't think it's going to take five weeks. We had a good map and knew where we needed to go, but the trail must have blown over with snow.

We decided to try to make it through this open ridge and see if we could find it on top by the rocks. The snow just kept getting deeper and deeper. I decided to put on snowpants at about waste deep. Then we tried crawling. That worked a lot better. I'm glad I was hiking with a mountain woman.

We made the wise choice and turned around at the top of the ridge when we determined that there was no trail.

After hiking back down, we had to hitch-hike back to our car. I figured if we put on our packs and looked kind of miserable, someone would take pity and it worked!! The hot springs felt pretty good after that! Smelled like sulfur. . Super cool to swim outside with snow on the ground in warm water!

Sat night we stopped at every place trying to find cheap pizza. No such luck. We settled for Pizza Hut and Alaska Troopers movie. Alaska Troopers is a super good reality show. You should check it out on Youtube.

That was just one day. . I have much more to say. . but should be responsible and get some sleep.

Wyoming :)

So about a month ago Lauren, Flynn, and I took a trip to Wyoming! It was a blast! I tried to steal their pictures off of their website, but I'm not sure if it's this computer that won't let me do it or the internet access here in Nenana, AK.. . :) Anyway, I had a blast!! You guys are super fun to hang out with! Getting lost and. . yeah everything else too. . and I still have that song stuck in my head. . the little things that you have done, the sacrifices made, I thank God for you, I thank God for you. Anyway, here's the link for the picts. http://bhartley.blogspot.com/ We will definitly have to do a road trip like that again!!!!

First Week

Wow! I can't believe I've been here for almost one week and still haven't even gotten around to communicating with the outside world and letting them know what's up. . . :) Things have been crazy busy to say the least. I arrived here very late on Saturday night because of the computer crashes the Alaska Airlines was experiencing. I was slightly dissapointed that I would not be able to fly into AK in the daylight, but I believe if all goes as planned I will be leaving in the daytime. Upon arrival in Fairbanks at 1 to 2 am, I saw people walking around in boxers, shorts, and flip flops. I believe that this is some of the first warm weather they have experienced all year and it's around zero degrees. I spent the first night at some board members of the station in Fairbanks. They are super nice even giving me a guitar to borrow while I'm here! Yay!! I spent Sunday in Fairbanks going to church, shopping, and at the ice park. The ice park is a worldwide event where people display their pieces of art that they have carved out from the ice. Food up here is priced through the roof. Bananas were "on sale" for 89 cence a pound. It's priced twice as high as back home and in Nenana is probably about 4X. It snowed pretty heavy on Sun night taking us a little longer to get to Nenana than originally planned. The couple who I'm working with at the station have two super cute children (1 and 3 years). The one was singing "Joanna Baer, Joanna Baer" over and over again. I got here about midnight and crashed. The apartment I'm staying in is at the station. It's super nice and cute. I started off right on Monday jumping into things. There is a lot to do! I've been doing weather announcements, psas, helping update the music library, and a live program called Mukluks (people call us with messages for their friends/families in the bush). Monday was great though because I got to drive a snow machine for the first time into the wilderness. Super fun.. . even got it stuck. Tuesday, we went out to Dee's (the founder of the minstry) house. We had moose meat. It was nice to see some Alaska scenery on the drive. I'm particularly looking forward to the drive up to Fairbanks this weekend in this amazing Red Ford F150 I'm borrowing for a couple of weeks. Church on Wednesday night had the pastor and his wife, a couple of kids, and one lady. It felt different. This town is really small. They say the population is around 350 people. Everyone knows everyone and the unemployment rate is really low and the alcohol is quite high. It makes for some interesting situations. It is really neat to be part of a ministry that reaches these people. The impact you can have on someone's life through Christian radio is amplified here. Well. . I digress . .I love you all and miss you! :'( Will try to post more later. These extremely long days are making me stay up way too late. . . :)

You've Got the Power?

Society today seems obsessed with power. It's in the movies, cartoons, advertisements. . . People want power to make themselves feel good about themselves. . . They want to feel macho, egotistical, strong, capable all in and of themselves.
Some Christians try to get power on their own. Some misuse the power they have.
But do we really have power? Is it like a tool that we use whenever we feel like it?
I believe that God is only limited by how much we let Him work. Do we have that power? The power to limit God because of our own lack of faith?
Sometimes I wonder what would happen if we had faith like Abraham. . . "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith giving glory to God. And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was a able also to perform."
I believe there are two different kind of powers. Well, probably only one. Stay with me on this. There's our own power. If you're like me, you've tried to do something on your own and watched it miserably fail. Our own power really isn't power at all, but fleshly strength that always lets you down.
Psalm 20:7
Some [trust] in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
Then. . . There's God's power that comes from having faith in Him. . . His power never fails. You can be a channel for his strength and power. I've seen it happen again and again. It's like you're just sitting back and watching God work through you.
Isaiah 10:19
And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace [be] unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.
Psalm 138:3
In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, [and] strengthenedst me [with] strength in my soul.
That's real power!!!
Ephesians 3:20 Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

Prayer Requests for My Trip

One of my lovely co-workers suggested that I post a list of different things you all could pray about in regards to my trip to Alaska. Here it is. .
God's Blessing and Involvement: Pray that God would be in and through this entire trip, He'd put people in my path that need Him, and that my work with this ministry would be fruitful. Pray for people to be open to the Gospel and that even now God would be working.
Safety
Holes that I've left here to be successfully filled: Pray that God would provide the necessary people to fill in at the Deaf ministry at my church. Also, that everything would run smoothly at KALS.
Good Health: So far I've been able to dodge most of the sicknesses around here. Pray I don't get anything on my trip.
Final Preparations: This last week is a little bit crazy. Pray I'd be able to focus and get everything done that I need to.

That pretty much sums it up. I appreciate everyone's support and prayers for me during this trip.
I can't believe I'm leaving in less than a week! These last few months have flown by. I'm not exactly sure where they've went, but it's been good!
I'm ecstatic about this trip but I will miss all of you terribly. :'( You'll be in my prayers and thoughts.
I'm going to try to update periodically to let you all know how things are going.

Alaska Bound

Well as most of you have probably already heard, I am going to Alaska. . . this spring!! I cannot wait. I've had a special obsession with Alaska for quite a while. When I was about 12, my fascination with Alaska began. . I love the cold. . and the sled dogs. . and the pure wild. . .and I love radio. . so the opportunity to work in the bush at a Christian radio station just makes me ecstatic.

I had originally planned to go to Alaska for 2 months. That was before a lot of things came up: my church started a Deaf ministry(I am one of two interpreters there), and I started working a lot at KALS. With much prayer and consideration I decided to shorten my time to five weeks. I have been challenged concerning my decision to go; but I have complete, 100% peace that God wants me to go on this trip.
The village I'm going to--Nenana, AK--has a population of 450 people, 1/2 of which is Athabascan.
The people of Alaska are desperate for the hope of the Gospel, especially natives. A lot of young Alaskans leave their native villages for larger cities where there are more opportunities. This leaves villages in a kind of hopeless state. The suicide rate in Alaska in 2x the national average. I'm really looking forward to how God is going to use this trip!!!
I will be working at KIAM radio with Voice for Christ Ministries. Here's a link to their website.
http://www.vfcm.org/
This ministry is rock solid. A testament to their heart for missions is the fact that at the top of their About Us page is Jesus Christ.
Anyway, I really appreciate your prayers for my upcoming trip. Pray specifically for safety, God's blessing, and wisdom.
Just for the record. . . I won't be living in an igloo.

2011 Polar Plunge

It was 11 degrees outside. . . I thought about backing out, but man it was super fun!