Mom, Mommy, Mother, Mum, Mumsie, Momma, Mama: Bottom Line = She's Mine

I love my mum. I only have one, and I'm quite satisfied with the one I've got. One is quite enough. I know all this because this weekend mine came down to visit, and we had 4 whole days together that we packed full of adventures.

On Friday we had a SeaWorld day, brimming with fish, aquatic mammals, and a variety of other living creatures. We saw Shamu, rode the Manta roller coaster, thoroughly enjoyed the dolphin show, and froze in Antartica.

It's Christmas in the ocean already apparently. It even started snowing - in Florida, I know! - while we were there. OK, it was only a snow machine.

 I made friends with some manatees.

And a colony of penguins. I may have tried to go native there. That plan didn't succeed. Oh well. What can I say? I like birds.

Saturday we drove over to the Cape Canaveral National Seashore. After eating lunch at a special little restaurant named Loyd Have Mercy, where we dined sumptuously on grits, collards, and other southern delectables, we spent the afternoon driving along the Black Point Wildlife Drive observing...you guessed it...the wildlife.

Although it was a gray day, the clouds mostly behaved themselves by not raining on us when we ventured from the car to get a beach picture. After being together at the Pacific Ocean only three weeks earlier, we needed a photo like this to bookend our fall travels.

We went to my church on Sunday and had Tijuana Flats for lunch with my roommates and some friends. In the evening we dined in a restaurant on Park Ave in Winter Park. It's a really fun place to walk and enjoy a Florida evening. And there was a beautiful full moon.

My half birthday was on Monday. I took my mom on a grand tour of Wycliffe. This fulfilled two purposes: 1) My mother had a chance to see where I'm working and learn about what I'm working on and who I'm working with and 2) my coworkers and friends at Wycliffe had a chance to meet my mom. 'Twas a grand success.

No picture for the final event which was five hours of clothes shopping that afternoon. Those of you who have known me for a while know that until about two years ago I was quite content wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie almost continuously. This was my existence for several reasons, but a few major factors involve me being born without certain genes that most other females seem to have in abundance. I hate shopping. And my 'oh, this is SO cute' meter is non-existent. Blessings on my mother for helping me through the transition of trying to expand and mature my wardrobe. I think we are moving in the direction of victory.

My mom's pretty cool. And she's super cute too. My meter isn't that broken.

Good Things

It is now November. Yikes. Well, I didn't post last week about my time in California, so here's a set of snapshots from my life over the last three weeks.

During the mini Stobbe reunion out in California, we had a chance to go walk along Hollywood Boulevard. My adorable mother persistently asked about Mickey's star on the walk of fame. When we found it, this picture happened. I love it. I love her more.

My week with the Nystroms went well. We drove a lot, talked with a lot of people and ate some fun food - including Hawaiian barbecue. I heard their talk so many times I can definitely tell many of their stories myself now. That's totally OK with me because the stories are great.

Hearing stories from people like the Nystroms is a powerful reminder of why the work Wycliffe Bible Translators supports is so important. After one little girl in Papua New Guinea heard a part of the Bible translated into her mother tongue for the first time, she said to her father, one of the translators, "Daddy, this is delicious. Will you bring us some more?"

In the spirit of giving, I invite you to check out the Wycliffe Gift Catalog - you can be a part of helping give this deliciousness to people all over the world.

After my time with the Nystroms, I got to see my lovely little sister AGAIN! She had a crazy week, but by the time she brought me back to her college on Friday evening, she had finished and turned in the first draft of her major term paper. I enjoyed celebrating this accomplishment with her and her friends - all in an honors program together - by dressing up and eating dinner at The Cheesecake Factory on Saturday evening.

Once I arrived back in Orlando, work started up again, but we had a special celebration at Wycliffe on Thursday. At our fall Scripture celebration, we made a big to-do about the new translations that were completed or are going to be completed this year. So cool!

There are now just over 1900 languages that have NONE of the Bible translated. That number is dropping as people keep committing to the job of getting the Bible translated into every language that needs it.

Sadly, I don't have photos of my next two events. On Friday morning I had breakfast with family friends who were in town for the Scripture celebration and some other events. It was lovely to talk with people who have known both me and Wycliffe for a long time and who are excited that I am now working at Wycliffe.

Then on Friday night I had a game night at my house with some of my friends from church. Since it's fall (although it doesn't feel or look like that here in Florida), I made hot spiced apple cider. It made the whole house smell delicious. We played Quiddler, Scattergories, and Taboo - all word games = a happy Bethany.

Saturday morning I went for a 12 mile bike ride. Once again I will say how much I love biking - especially on my wonderful bike.

In the afternoon I picked up a college friend from the airport and then we had a Disney weekend. We spent Saturday evening at Downtown Disney - eating Ghirardelli chocolate ice cream and buying a giant, stuffed Eeyore.

Sunday I finally went to Hollywood Studios, the one Disney World park I hadn't been to yet. It was kind of weird being in a place with all the Hollywood names that I had just seen for real for the first time two weeks ago.

There are so many good rides and shows at Hollywood Studios, but one of my favorite things there is the car stunt show. Go see it. It's intense.

So, I've been busy. And the crazy doesn't stop. My mom flies down on Thursday and I get to show her around Orlando for 4 days. It's going to be good.