Jamesport Day Trip

Today my mother-in-law Pam, her friend Chris (a lady) and I went on a day trip. I had heard about this town before I moved to Missouri and was interested in seeing what was there. The town is called Jamesport and it has the largest settlement of Amish people in Missouri. According to my reading, there are about 150 Amish families that live in this town.
















I wasn't sure what to expect, but this town was pretty sleepy. I liked this sign reminding English drivers to be careful.















Along the way we saw many deer being raised in fenced areas. I asked an Amish lady about that and she said that they sell them to hunting places so that rich hunters can get their prize deer right then. It sounded a bit contrary to what the Amish are all about I thought. They are beautiful though. We also saw a red fox pup standing out near the road, but it was too quick for me to get a picture of it.






This is where we had lunch. I ordered a turkey sandwich and decided to try a different side... Schnitzel Beans. I was prepared for veal or something in some baked beans, but alas, it was sweet and sour green beans! It wasn't my style of green bean really, but I'm glad I tried it!









This is the center of town. Look at the bustling about town! You know it is a small town when they all give directions from the "4-way", meaning the only 4-way stop sign. I've come a long way baby from Miami... that's for SURE!

I ended up at the end of the day with an Amish cook book, a couple of candles, and a small loaf of banana bread. Life is good.

Strange Welcome

Ben and I are enjoying discovering what Midwestern life is all about. So far, we've noticed weather is a big deal here. Anyway... it seems much cooler than Miami and almost no mosquitoes which is nice.

All neighborhoods have certain quirks right? Well ours is no exception. When you turn onto the street near ours you see lots of signs and barricades so people will not do three point turns in their driveways. Apparently, the city just put up a concrete median thing and so people that go to McDonald's used to could have turned left... well, not any more. So instead, they do turns in the driveways of these people. I think the buckets and boards are my favorite barricade.

This is a fine sampling of the many signs.














Sometimes the signs are even a bit mocking don't you think?

Looking For a Job

Boy, has it been a while since I've looked for a job. I've had one interview with a school for a music teaching position for two times a week. We'll see what happens with that. I've also been looking at some of the big corporations down here. Lots of companies have their corporate headquarters down (or up) here. There is Russell Stover, Applebees, AMC Entertainment, Sprint, and my favorite- Hallmark. I really had no idea about how the Hallmark brand came about, so I did a little research. Oh, and I also applied for a job there... so we'll see. Before I get into that though... apparently Harry S. Truman is from here too. I didn't know much about him either besides he once was a president. I found out he was president during WWI and he is the dude that ordered the A bombs on Japan. He had a wife nicknamed Bess and a daughter that became a mystery novel writer. Anyway... on with the story of Hallmark.

In 1910 Joyce Clyde Hall (were names different then?) stepped off a train in Kansas City, Mo., with nothing but two shoe boxes of postcards under his arm. He had little money – not even enough to take a horse-drawn cab to his lodgings at the YMCA – but he had high hopes.

Hall printed some invoices and started sending packets of a hundred postcards to dealers throughout the Midwest. A few of the dealers kept the cards without paying. Some returned the unsolicited merchandise with an angry note. But about a third sent a check. Within a couple of months, the teenage businessman had cleared $200 and opened a checking account. He was in business.

Now apparently there are around 6.4 billion greeting cards sent each year in the US. Wowser! He claims the idea of wrapping paper and now things like crayola and silly putty are connected with Hallmark. I love silly putty.

Missouri Wildlife

There are so many rabbits in our neighborhood! I probably see about 5 a day. Here's one in our backyard.

This is Ben trying to feed the rabbit carrots. It hopped away. Ben swears he looks like an old lady in this picture.

At Ben's Grandparents house I see wild turkeys all the time. I tried getting a picture of several I saw today, but they run out of sight the moment they see movement. (of course, I was wearing a red t-shirt today....hum) Apparently, turkeys have eyesight like an eagle and can spot you even in a tree. Grandpa told a story today I thought was funny. He said that the other day he heard a bird that makes a sound like "whippoorwill" and the bird did that sound for a long time. Then, Grandpa started making the sound and then he looked over and some turkeys were fussing at him for continuing the noise. They gobbled at him.

Happy Independence Day everyone!

Country Road, Take Me Home

Well... we made it. It has been long and a little emotionally draining... but we made it. Ben and I moved to Kansas City using my mother's horse trailer. Boy was it interesting seeing a horse trailer in Miami! I can't say I'd recommend it really, but it did save us money. When we opened it when we got to Kansas City John, Ben's brother, said "it looks like you just threw some stuff in there." Here's a picture of us at a rest stop on the way up to Alabama. All I have to say is... Florida is LONG.

We spent some quality time with my mom and dad, sister and my neice and nephew. We went to a water park with them and when I took this photo I was trying to get them to pose for me. Fat chance when they were so excited about going in.

We also visited my brother Preston in his new place in Manchester, TN. He's managing the Cracker Barrel restaurant there.

Finally, we were ready for the rest of our long drive.... to Kansas City.

Here's our new place temporarily in Lee's Summit. It's been raining a lot since we've gotten here. It's pretty overwhelming moving somewhere completely new. The other day we went around the city with a realtor and she said "you could invite all your friends over and BBQ on that deck"... and I was thinking "hum... got to make friends first." We've driven around A LOT and looked at houses. I've also been researching schools in the area and deciding what I'm going to do. Monday I've decided I'm going to hit the pavement and start passing out some resumes. Also Ben starts at his new office on Monday... so say a prayer if you think of us.

Surviving the Slow Life

Just a short note to let you all know that we made it to Alabama just fine and we are enjoying visiting my family. We plan to go to Kansas City on Tuesday. We are taking walks, watching movies, and looking at wildlife. I've already seen a fox, a rabbit, plently of birds and cows. Pictures will come in a later post. My mother's internet is so slow that you'd have to have the patience of Job to load a picture!!

Just for Fun

Whoever made this helmet for the mouse really needs a hobby.









This donkey is thinking "whoa, I shouldn't have eaten those oats this morning".











I'm hungry for some nose.

Gift from Nature

For the past week I've been going by a friend's house to feed her cats. When I came there yesterday, a gardener gave me these. They are tiny bananas. Tropical! My lovely assistant, Benny, is displaying them for you.












I love him! :)

















Monkeying around

Goats

Probably most of you don't know that when I was a kid my family owned dairy goats. We even showed them in goat shows. Some of my earliest pets were goats and as a kid I had goat's milk on my cereal- it was good! These are not your general run of the mill scruffy goats. (in our family we called those "brush" goats) These are really well taken care of goats that people milk and enjoy sort of as pets. Some people even make cheese from the goat's milk. My sister recently contacted a person our family knew through having goats because she found their website. On their website there was a picture of one of their goats. What we didn't plan on seeing is a Morris family photo in the background! ha! Here's the picture.


If you look closely, the guy with the hat with the maroon shirt- that's my dad. To the left of him is my sister, Stephanie, and then my mom to her left. Up above my mom is a much younger me.

This particular breed of goat is called a Nubian. It has floppy ears and bleats VERY loud. My family never owned any of this kind.

Here are the other breeds of dairy goats.





This is the French Alpine. My family mainly had this kind. They are nice animals and very pretty. In fact, our family herd name was "Charity Hill Alpines".












This is called a LaMancha. It has very small ears. My family had several of this kind. People used to ask us if we cut their ears off!!! They are very gentle and my sister's favorite.






This is called a Saanen. This breed is all white in color. My family had several of these as well. They make lots of milk.






















This one is called a Oberhasli. It is always this reddish color and black markings. I think my family had one once, but I can't remember. They are not as popular as the other breeds.












This one is called a Toggenburg. It usually is not this scruffy looking. For shows people clip the hair and all. This one is not very common as well. Notice the small things on its neck? These are called "waddles" and they are not milked. (everyone always asked us that) They are just for decoration I guess. It's like the equivalent of dimples in humans... passed down from parents.

So now that you are are all thoroughly disturbed by my knowledge of goats... this ends the lecture on dairy goats.

Ben's Poetry

We've been going through a bunch of things as we pack and I ran into these poems Ben wrote. I think they are very good and wanted to share them. My talented husband! He says it was just a phase. :)

This one is my favorite

My Grandma Taught Me How to Lie

My Grandma taught me how to lie,
But I blame it on the Alzheimers.
“Where’s my car?” she chanted.
She never believed us anyway,
When we told her she couldn’t drive anymore,
That the last time she drove that old Crown Vic
She knocked down a tree
And tore up the neighbor’s yard.
Sounds funny now in retrospect.

“Where’s my car?” she asked again.
“It’s being serviced, Grandma.”
“It’s in the parking lot, Grandma”
“Why, I drove it here for you Grandma!”
It was sold.
But I told her what she wanted to hear,
So that she wouldn’t get angry,
And try to hit someone.

My Grandma taught me how to lie,
But I blame it on the Alzheimers:
Stupid disease crippled my poor Grandma’s mind,
But it broke my heart when she asked
“Who are you?”

By Benjamin Barreth

Here's another one:

Some Blustery Time

I never presumed the wind to be warm

tugging at my hair

nagging child.

it seems friendly today

I thought.

Walking on the beach

pieces punching at my feet

and water shy toes.

I pondered over the sea

awhile

gaze stuck by

wandering cosines.

My thoughts are like waves

I suppose

sometimes my emotions are carried

like a boat

up and down with the

minutes of time.

Each curve is stuck to another

you know

a giant jumble

doesn’t make any sense

on its own.

My very serious thoughts

are trawlers

bobbing slow

and stupid.

Happy thoughts are little canoes though

so out of place

on this

big bump.

But sailboats are my feelings

going quite fast

triangles cutting the sky of

my heart

hiring a cheap chauffeur

the wind.

The wind, ah yes

today it is my friend.

it makes my boat go.

I don’t mind.

Wolfman

The other night I turned on the TV and just happened to catch a show about this guy- Shaun Ellis. I thought it was very interesting and amazing. The article below is from National Geographic. Basically, this man is living as a wolf. What he does when they eat is that he takes the animal, cuts it open and gets the liver out. He cooks it and wraps it in plastic and then puts it all back inside the animal so the other wolves think he's eating right along with them!

Shaun Ellis is a wolf behavior expert who conducts research in a unique and sometimes controversial way: by living with the wolves and becoming part of their world. Throughout his life, he has dedicated much of his time to studying and researching the behavior of wild wolves by living among them, which has given him one-of-a-kind insight into the complex society of the wolf. By being closer to wolves than nearly anyone else in the world, he has learned a language unlike any other.

Believing that living alongside wolves is the best way to understand them, Ellis immerses himself in wolf society. He lives and behaves like them—howling, licking and snarling—even eating and playing like the wolves. He has lived among captive wolf packs in England and spent seven years on the Nez Perce reservation in Idaho studying wolves. It was on the Nez Perce reservation that he first was able to get inside a pack of wolves and live among them.

His studies evolved as he began recording wild wolf howls in the woods, using recording equipment at night in freezing temperatures and snow, and then playing them back again and again the next day. With patient listening, he learned how to pick out individual pack members through their distinctive sounds.

He recently spent 18 months living in captivity with a trio of wolf pups that had been abandoned by their mother at birth, educating them as wild wolves in the hope that they could survive in the wild.

Through this direct study, he has learned how to communicate with the wolves and defend himself through scent and sounds. He understands scent markings as well as the different howls to defend and call. He believes that wolves are highly intelligent, highly instinctive animals brought up with trust and balance, characteristics that are often misunderstood by humans.

Ellis is also the founder and head of Wolf Pack Management, a self-funding organization located at the Combe Martin Wildlife Park in North Devon, England. He works with 13 captive wolves at the park. His work is devoted to furthering the welfare of wild and captive wolves, promoting knowledge and awareness of the plight of the wolf and advancing knowledge of wolf behavior through research and education.

He is involved in a number of research projects both in Poland and at Yellowstone National Park with the goal of developing humane methods to discourage wild wolves from entering areas of potential conflict with humans.

Ellis is the author of “The Wolf Talk” (Rainbow Publishing, 2003), and “Spirit of the Wolf” (Parragon Publishing, 2006). He frequently speaks about his work on television and at public events. He also advises other wildlife centers that maintain wolf packs.

Ellis is determined to keep living with wolves. It has cost him his family and home—his partner and four children left him because of his total dedication to wolves. But he truly believes he can make a difference.

One of those days

Have you ever had one of those days? Today has been one for me.

This morning I got to school early because I had the kindergarten graduation happening today. When I got out of the car I heard a loud "meow" coming from under my hood. I immediately thought... "oh no... somehow a cat has gotten inside my car". I was scared to lift the hood, and I started wigging out a bit. So I started to cry and went inside and one of the third grade teachers came out with me to lift my hood. When I lifted the hood... nothing wasa there. So I guess I just transported a cat from South Miami to Coconut Grove.

Then it started to rain really heavily close to lunch time. I decided that today would be a good day to go and get a nice coffee and sandwich. When I got the shop, I got out a 20 dollar bill and when I got out of the car my umbrella did one of those things where it turns inside out. Meanwhile, I lose my 20 dollars somewhere and can't find it. So there I am looking in the pouring rain for my 20 dollars. I never found it, but decided to go get my food. When I got back to school I was carrying my coffee and lunch inside and tripped on a brink in the walkway. I fell flat on my face and thus crushing all my lunch underneath my chest. My coffee went flying and spilled all over the sidewalk. May I mention that I have on a white linen skirt? Anyway... I started to cry again and I was feeling like an absolute fool. After some kind teachers gave me another shirt and a shawl, I felt a little better.

So, if someone is having "one of those days" around you, be merciful. We all have them from time to time.

Crazy Times

These past few weeks have been very busy. Spring programs at school, packing our things, dog and cat sitting (my side job), and all other kinds of things. I will admit that I have gotten a little crazy with the packing. Last night I made dinner and realized that I had packed all of my spices except salt and pepper. Oh well...


I wanted to share something that I thought was odd. If you know Ben, you know he likes to be frugal and he also likes to sign up for free samples of things. I particularly enjoy this because I get to try all sorts of things. The last thing we got was a sample of deodorant. It's called Dove pro-age. I think it's called that because they designed this whole line of products for older folks. What I thought was weird was what it said on the front of it. It says, "all day protection with the extra care your underarm skin needs right now." I was thinking... who cares about the skin in your armpit? I mean... unless it's itching like crazy or something who really pays attention? Just my pointless observation of the day....

Things to do in Alabama when you're 11 years old and bored

1. Find mythical giant pig in wooded area
2. Chase with pistol shooting repeatedly
3. Pose for picture and weigh in of the 1000+ lb hog
4. Get famous on the internet with the story on Foxnews.com


Hope you like sausage son...

Religion Humor

Please know that I mean no offense with these... I just think they are so funny I couldn't resist.


How to tell if a Catholic is driving too fast

Looking for a home

Looking for your first home is pretty exciting, but it can also be overwhelming. Here are a few samples of houses we like... and comments!


I call this the "spooky house" for obvious reasons. Ben and I both like it and believe we could make it nice. Also...the name of the street that it is on is called "Heol Pk"... and in the UK growing up the street right across from his was called "Heol Cefn on". Coincidence? We shall see.









This next one we nicknamed "Shipley". I think it looks like a ship and Ben used to live in a town called Shipley. Do you see a pattern emerging here? Anyway... too bad it's in the ghetto. We still like it!











I call this one "Mansion on the Hilltop" cause I used to sing a song with my brother and sister called that. It's a beaut!


My favorite is "Spooky House", but we will have to see all these in person and I'm sure shop around for a while before making our final decision. Please, do tell us your opinions!

ONLY JOKING

Everyone... this is just a joke... no one actually does this.

Most of America's populace think it improper to spank children, so I have tried other methods to control my kids when they have one of "those moments."

One that I found effective is for me to just take the child for a car ride and talk.

They usually calm down and stop misbehaving after our car ride together.

I've included a photo below of one of my sessions with my son, in case you would like to use the technique.

Tattoo Gone Wrong

I know it's not very nice... but I laughed so hard when I saw this. This is another reason not to get a tattoo.

Kansas City

For those who haven't heard yet, Ben and I will be moving to Kansas City on June 17th. We are getting excited and looking forward to making a new life there. I never would have guessed in a million years that I would be moving to Kansas City. Also... for those of you that don't know, there are two halves to Kansas City- the Kansas side, and the Missouri side. We will be staying on the Missouri side until we find a place of our own. We are looking forward to getting our first home there. We're not sure which side we will end up on. When you think of Kansas what do you think of? Well... this is what I've always thought of:



Tumbleweeds
















Tornadoes...purely myth right?

















Auntie Em?















But my friends, this is the reality of life in Kansas City...prepare yourselves.



The Plaza in downtown Kansas City. Beautiful at Christmas all lit up!






















Exciting city market!




















Exciting city of fountains!













Kansas- exciting sunflower state!
















Thankfully there are no meth users, crime, or any sort of problems in this area! We'll keep you posted on our journey.

My Mom's New Resident

My mom and dad live on a farm in Holly Pond, Alabama. They recently discovered that a fox and her four pups are living in a corner of one of their barns. It is a gray fox even though it has a little bit of red on it. This is a picture of the mama fox. We are all amazed that first of all they are there, and second of all, how beautiful they are.

Exotic Fruit

I really love fruit. At my school there are many fruit trees- jackfruit, mango, orange just to name a few. The mango trees are very old and have many mangos on them. This time of year the teachers and students all clamor for them to take home and eat. Basically, it's an all out war of who gets to them first. Yesterday I was standing in the playground and I heard a big thump and I look over and see the most perfect mango sitting there saying, "eat me". So... I took it home and Ben and I ate it. I told Ben that I was bummed because I couldn't find any mangos 'cause other teachers claim them before I get there and blam... there it was delivered to me. Here's a picture of the one yesterday. (I know... taking pictures of fruit is a little scary, but hang in there)











Then, today I was hugely blessed! This was today's bounty.

I had never tasted a mango until I came to Miami. They are like a peach with an added zing. Incredible! Thank you Lord for mangos!







Two weeks ago a man at church gave me some passion fruit. I'd never tasted it in my life. He told me to take them home and dig out all the seeds, crush them up a bit, add some water and sugar, and then drink it. You can eat the seeds and everything. It is tart and like no other fruit I've ever tasted. It was SO GOOD! Apparently, the passion fruit takes its name from the flower symbolic of Christ's Passion. I personally thought it was for another reason. They grow on vines. Thank you Lord for passion fruit!


This week at church another man in our church gave me some lychee fruit. Again, I'd never tasted this fruit until I came to Miami. Usually you can buy it on the side of the road in the summer months, but this past summer I didn't see any for sale. Boy, was I sad. Lychee fruit is delicious. It tastes sort of like turkish delight except juicy. Thank you Lord for lychee fruit!

Life Is Lived All Backwards

This is something that I find interesting.... very thought provoking. See if you agree.

I think that the life cycle is all backwards.
You should die first, get it out of the way,
the live twenty years in an old age home.
You get kicked out when you're too young,
you get a gold watch, you go to work.
You work forty years until you're young
enough to enjoy your retirement.

You go to college...until you're ready for high school.
You go to grade school, you become a little kid, you play,
you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby,
you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating,
and you finish off as a gleam in someone's eye.