little garden fairies

The last week I've had the chance to spend my days with the Laubscher fairies, Kayla and Josslyn.

Spending the week with them I've now realized, I should probably learn Afrikaans. The oldest daughter, she is almost three mind you. She yells at me in Afrikaans and I usually have no idea what I did. Although, if the phrase entails the word, "Nie" which means "No" in Afrikaans, it's safe to assume I've done something that is not to her liking. I'm having a blast though and it's nice to slow down for a minute and find perspective.  

I call the girls fairies mainly because Kayla is obsessed with Tinker Bell and the Tinker bell movies and knows the characters like they're her long lost friends. It's rather fun to watch because it brings me back to the idea of imagination. The thought of creating something out nothing, really. I had a great imagination growing up even up until I was in middle school. When I was 6 or 7, I would only be referred to as Jasmine or Ariel and I'm fairly certain that I brought dolls to play with at recess in 6th grade. 
I M A G I N A T I O N now is  honestly a foreign concept that I wish never disappeared. I imagine things all the time but it's always about real life stuff. I imagine the reality of what could be or what is.. But nothing out of thin air. I don't pick up a leaf and come up with a million metamorphoses where they all work in one setting. A leaf is a leaf and creatively, maybe a decoration or something I would draw in a painting. 

Today was a special day. Lucia, Kayla, Josslyn and I all went and saw the movie tangled.  A super cute movie but it was special because Kayla wore a pretty long dress and Lucia made her a glitter crown. Josslyn had on her dress. Kayla made me wear one of my dresses. It was great. These small props lead to a day full of imagination. Kayla was playing in the backyard and she was the role of a garden fairy. She wasn't Kayla, the almost three year old daughter of Edgar and Lucia. She was something different. She was picking flowers and spreading them all over the lawn and prancing along. It was really very intriguing. I sat in the grass with Milla, the dog, and started thinking about the role she was playing. I could see that she was in a bigger place than just the backyard. I could see the dimensions to this place she was imagining. 

I really admire people with imagination. It takes a special person to actually look outside the box. We need more people like that in the world.

Here are a few pictures 

worst/best luck on airplanes

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and Courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go-." 

                Joshua 1:9

Aside from the fact, that I rarely ever get a good seat on airplanes, there is always a perspective.

Perspective one: 

The lady sitting next to me-- I believe of Arabic culture. Well, she stood up and walked around, she then grabbed ear plugs and a sleep mask. She instantly starts snoring. I'm talking about all of these things happened in about a 2 minute, maybe less, time frame. Not even 5 minutes later, someone walks by her, she looks to see who it is. Then she puts her mask back on and starts snoring, again.

How do you fall asleep/wake up that quickly? 

Perspective two:

The lady sitting next to me is Iranian/Persian. And not Arabic-- an assumption I had made earlier during the flight. I'm really quite glad I didn't say anything because I probably would have deeply offended her. She's from Iran but has been living in the US for 25 years. Her daughter got married and had a kid and she just couldn't leave. She visits Iran for 1-2 months a time to visit her brothers and sisters-- she hates it. 

She asked me where I was going, I told her "South Africa." She instantly said/asked, "For human rights?"

"Essentially," I said.

"Help Persians," she said. 

Tears in her eyes she explains to me of the crazy president, the violence and the guillotine of young people. One person is hanged every 8 hours. She then tells me that Iran is a men's country and women have no voice. My initial thought, I'm a girl traveling alone. What the heck could I even do?

 dedicated to the muller mountain men :)
Frankfurt, Germany

On a plane, I shall go

Oh goodness gracious.

What the heck am I doing?

I'm leaving on a jet plane.

or a Boeing 747.

at the top of my head

I hate boxes.
I should take my vitamins.
Walk to the kitchen.
I see an open box.
I see books.
Walk away from the kitchen.
Pick up books.
Put books in the box.
Walk to my room.
I see another box.
Put some stuff in it.
I should take my vitamins.
Walk to the kitchen, again.
I see a full box.
Walk to it.
Pick it up and set it aside.
Walk to my room.
I should take my vitamins.
Walk to the kitchen, yet again.
As I stand at the counter, "I need to turn in my grad school application.
I look down at my vitamins.
I need to go to target and buy more.
I should make a list.camera store. target. paper source. meet jessi to go to michael's.
"darn it, I still need to book my flight."
Take my vitamins.
finally.

I look at the open boxes,
I hate boxes.