No power?!?!?!

We had a nasty storm roll through yesterday, knocking down one of our neighbor's trees - which, of course, took all the power lines with it. We were without power for a good 13 hours, I think. (We lost power around 4ish, and it all came back on at about 5:00 this morning.)

So just to add to the fun, I decided to upload a photo of what my room looked like before I went to bed last night. Remember, I live in the basement...


Just look at that detail! HAHA! Yeah, you're thinking to yourself, "But I can't see anything!!!" Well, neither could I!

It was literally that dark -- "I can't see my hand in front of my face" kind of dark...

I still find it amusing that I would actually open my eyes while trying to feel my way around my nightstand with the hope of finding my cell phone (wanting to know what time it was upon waking up in the middle of the night...)

This also meant no workout last night, because: NO POWER = NO SHOWER. I really didn't want to try to figure out where the shampoo was in my pitch black basement bathroom.

So that was my excitement for the night...or lack thereof...

triathlon photos, part 1

I promised a few triathlon photos, so here they are! (i've only got 10 minutes left on my lunch break to post these...let's see how many i can get done before i have to head back to work!)


This one is by my friend, Patrick, who was a co-worker of mine. He's a phenomenal photographer, and he was assigned to cover the 2003 Pleasant Prairie Triathlon while I was competing - so he sent me some of his photos! (I think this is the start of one of the mens' olympic distance waves.)


I think this is one of the 2003 mens' olympic distance competitors again...getting his bike out of transition...hey, i have aerobars like that! (Photo by Patrick Pyszka)


IT'S ME!!! Yep, it's my first-ever triathlon finish at the 2003 Pleasant Prairie Race. I had SOOOO much fun! (Photo by Patrick Pyszka)

OK, so i could only get 3 photos up loaded...i gotta head back to work now...MORE TO COME!

M.I.A.

Yes, I know it's been a while since my last post, but I'm a busy girl! (I also don't have many photos to share...funny, since I'm a photographer...) Maybe I'll post something from my past triathlons sometime soon.

Don't worry! I haven't forgotten you all! I'm just SOOOO busy!!!

I'm only happy when it rains...

OK, not really...and if you heard my story about the bike ride, you'd know that I DEFINITELY prefer sun!

It POURED while we were in the church meeting today, flooding most of the intersections in my neighborhood. (It took a while for me to get home because so many of the streets were flooded...and I live less than a mile away from the church building!)

Here are a few photos of one of the flooded intersections near my house:


According to one of the neighbors, the water in this flooded spot was knee deep!


Out for a stroll? Just kidding. This guy was nice enough to try to find the sewer drains and unclog them...to attempt to get the draining process started! Of course, by this point, everyone who saw me shooting these photos thought I worked for a newspaper... I DON'T!!! At least not anymore... I guess that's what happens when you ONLY have SLR cameras and their huge, accompanying bags. I think I need a smaller camera...


Is that a crosswalk, or are those lap lanes?


Once upon a sewer drain...

I'm just glad I wasn't out biking in that rain this time! I decided to stay in for the day. The sky continued to look ominous, so I thought a rest day sounded like a wonderful idea! Back to working out tomorrow...

Guatemala photos (part 2)

I promised more Guatemala photos, so here they are!


This is Alex, one of the boys living in Casa Lamar at Casa Bernabe Orphanage. He's one of the kids who was clearly born again, and he's SO thrilled to be able to live at the orphanage! He spoke almost perfect English, too!


American Gothic, anyone? (KC, that one's for you!) Seriously, we got work done! I promise!!!


See? We're doing real work! You just can't beat trench digging! Due to the elevation, we literally had to take breaks every 10-15 minutes...there's just not enough oxygen up there! (Is Dave dancing or shoveling? I can't tell...)


We got a tour of an old convent from the 1500s in Antigua... This is me with two of the orphanage staff kids, Ashta & Fe. ("Fe
means "Faith" in Spanish.) We were feeling pretty special about our cool braids...


We took an afternoon to tie-dye t-shirts for the ENTIRE orphanage of 150 kids! That's a LOT of tie-dyeing! The kids loved it. (That's Jer in the foreground.)


I think this girl was a little excited about getting her t-shirt dyed. I just love that face!


That's me with some of the girls in Casa Alabanza (House of Praise). The girl in the blue shirt sitting next to me is Amanda...she's thinking of coming to do the School of Worship! I'm so excited for her!


That's Brad teaching at a different orphanage we found in San Pablo on Atitlán. A lot of these kids spoke Tu' tujil, an indigenous language, and barely spoke any Spanish...so teaching was a bit difficult! (We had a translator.)


Fourteen of the kids at the orpahange in San Pablo accepted Jesus! It was so exciting!


These kids loved seeing their photo on the back of the digital camera... Normally, photography is frowned upon by indigenous people in Guatemala, but these kids couldn't get enough!


No, I was never on an episode of "The Amazing Race"... but I did manage to stuff everything I needed for two weeks into that backpack! Don't bother with a suitcase...there's a LOT of walking involved in this trip, and the streets aren't paved!


Idol worship is HUGE in Chichicastenango (and many parts of Guatemala), so we prayed/preached against it. (That's Brad doing some street preaching in the market in Chichicastenango.) We got to pray with a couple people, including a tourist from France! It was really exciting...

Guatemala photos! (part 1)

I promised some Guatemala photos in my previous post, so here are a few scenery shots from my trip in 2005.

This is Antigua, one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen. And yes, that's a volcano in the background. Volcán Agua, I think. The city is surrounded by volcanoes, so I can't be sure!

This is another photo of Antigua in el Parque Central. That's DEFINITELY Volcán Agua in the background.

Yep...another volcano. (They're just so captivating!) I have no idea what this one is called. I shot the photo while in Panajachel on el Lago de Atitlán. The whole Atitlán area is absolutely gorgeous. (And about a mile up in elevation.) This photo doesn't do it justice.

It's the Chichicastenango Sunday market! This city SERIOUSLY is a ghost town from Monday through Saturday, but on Sunday, it's shoulder-to-shoulder people. I've never seen anything like it!

Awwww...it's our team...Brad, me, Dave, and Jer. Yep, I was the only girl. It's hard being a princess...
(This is also in Antigua!)

OK, so I had some problems getting the photos and the text to line up. It will work better next time.

More Guatemala photos to come later on!

Finally!

I finally have a blog! I'll be updating with some photos of my Guatemala trip in 2005, some triathlon photos, and other fun whatnot soon...