so sorry for missing my "friday posting." i had a bit of a rough end to my week: 3 tests in 3 days and family day at psu. i took another test this morning...little iffy on that one, but oh well. looking forward to a week of intense homework for sure. hope all is well with you. enjoy - b 8 August 2009 Not to leave you hanging on the missing “Idea Box” from the last blog, but I had to get off my tangent. And things did sort of keep down sliding from there, but redemption after a massive landslide [View Full Entry]

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here's another blog. this week flew by for me; have a fun weekend planned at a big cc meet in joplin. that's what my saturday will be. hope you have a great one and weekend. - b 25 July 2009 Today was Saturday. We had big plans; namely three buckets full of wash. We’re both getting over the flu (actually, the whole island is), so, the sheets, towels, the whole works needed a good soap and bleach treatment. But, no rush. This weekend all of the students at the secondary school, who usually sleep in dorms at the school and wake [View Full Entry]

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so i posted these out of order...blonde moment? anyways, here's another blog from sher. should have been the first you read. however if you have been dutifully reading the blogs, you shouldn't have any trouble fitting in the august 7 post where it rightfully belongs. later- b 20 July 2009 A first: Blogging from Maewo has upgraded from snail mail letters sent to my sister for typing: tedious for her, plus I'm running out of ideas for decorating the borders of the pages to keep her entertained, PLUS photo-less. This new era has me typing and burning CD's from our laptop, [View Full Entry]

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hey gang. it's been awhile huh? we got a box from sherbear tonight, pretty convenient as it's my first weekend home from pitt. loving it, if you were wondering. sher is now burning blogs to a cd so all i have to do is copy and paste. oh ya, definitely liking that system a little better. enjoy... - b 7 August 2009 This is a little bit of a rant about a recent attempt at being too productive on an island. I really should know better. After our little vacation with family, I was feeling a bit guilty about running away [View Full Entry]

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Ahh roosters. Nothin' like a 5 a.m. wake up call. A quick oatmeal breakfast, and we were off to hike to the garden. The trail wound up steep, muddy inclines, a coconut grove, and more inclines. We took a couple "GORP" breaks before the final 10-minute climb to the gardens. Total, it took us about an hour and a half to get there. As Lily, Rean, and Justin squished around picking various veggies, the rest of us sat and talked. After, we climbed back down to a resting place and ate lunch. Lily cut square leaf plates out of taro leaves, [View Full Entry]

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Hello readers. Here I sit: in A/C, living room couch, cutoff t-shirt, athletic shorts, hair in a knot, with a bag of pretzels and a glass of chocolate milk. A very typical "Brecken" siting, but a far different scene from where I was a mere three-ish weeks ago. It's funny how easily I can enjoy simple pleasures; namely chocolate and milk, two things that Sheridan has to travel at least a boat ride to maybe consume. Our trip was highly enlightening. Countless new experiences and just a ton of information. The first week or so was spent, as most of you [View Full Entry]

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as i typed this blog, my heart seemed to be beating hard. i kept reading about sher's experiences and feeling like i was right there along with her. what a difference it makes to go and see and experience just what sher and justin are seeing and doing everyday. i could practically taste the food, feel the rush of the ocean, and hear the feminine bislama chatter through her words. a blog from me soon, promise. - b 12 june 2009 i am reluctant to write this blog as i am still feeling puny and jaded from the experiences i am [View Full Entry]

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(Note: The two previous blogs I have published have not sent alert e-mails. If your a regular reader, check to see if you've missed the last two publications.) It's official: we're off the beaten track! Our adventures outside of Auckland are under way and we're enjoying breathing the fresh air of the New Zealand countryside. We met Mom, Breck, and Travis and the airport and were then off to pick up our rental car. A first hand experience at driving and navigating from the opposite side of the road was just what we all needed after 15 plus hours of airplane [View Full Entry]

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We're spending a few days in Auckland trying to re-normalize ourselves again for when family gets here. Some of our difficulties: Toning down our wardrobe. Apparently black is very IN in Auckland where as in Vanuatu bright bright colors are the norm. I have to hide my lime green re-usable shopping bag. Warming up our wardrobe. A trip to some used clothing stores solved that one. Remembering we don't have to smile and greet everyone on the street. Remembering we can't just cross the road wherever and that we have to push buttons for things like the crosswalk light and the [View Full Entry]

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sher gave me the go ahead to publish this one, that she wrote about a month ago. while we were away, i received a couple more in the mail :). also, watch for a guest blog soon, written by none other than: me. oh yes, a firsthand account of our maewo experience. enjoy-b Disclaimer - This is a long one! We recently attended the all night dance on the eve of the 100th day of the dead who I have written of before. We walked to the site in the dark around 7:30 at night and were not surprised that we [View Full Entry]

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