how to have fun in kansas city

last weekend, kirk and i had a mini-getaway to kansas city (ok, not really a getaway, considering i work in the metro area every day and it's really only 40 minutes from home, but still "away") for our anniversary. we stayed downtown and tried to participate in as many local fun activities as we possibly could in less than 24 hours. here's some shots to tell the story...

on friday we went to the west bottoms to check out the antique shops and flea market area that occupy the first floors of several old warehouse buildings. not only is this a perfect use of old buildings and a fun area to explore, but the shops had a lot of great finds and they seemed to be reasonably priced. we bought an old pull-down map of kansas that we plan to hang in our living room. i'll post pictures of it once i have it up.

friday night we went out to the "K" to watch the Royals. here's alex gordon running the bases after his home run. it was also "fireworks friday." good times.

so, after the game we were hungry and the only places open near our hotel were QUITE expensive...not exactly in our plan for the weekend, but what were we to do?? so, we splurged on a very tasty dinner of mahi tuna, potato gnocci, and fried zucchini. as fate would have it, we also managed to get a hotel room with a view of a brick wall, located directly below the massively loud air conditioning unit for the entire hotel, and directly between the rooms reserved for a wedding party (bachelor party on the left and bachelorette party on the right). after being awoken several times in the night and early morning with the plethora of sounds, we decided we would not be paying full price for this room. at check out, we politely mentioned the variety of issues and the very nice lady at the desk sympathetically discounted our room and took off the parking charge. she wondered why we were not given a better room considering we had made our reservations over a month before...i wondered the same, but appreciated that the discounted hotel room helped me to feel better about the very expensive mahi tuna.

after this, we walked down to the city market for breakfast. we enjoyed the scents of the spice market, the pastries from Bloom Bakery, the view of the city, and coffee before we headed for home.

please don't forget...

...the deadline to submit photos for the 2010 River To Well Photography Competition is September 1!! The funds from the submissions and sales of any photographs will help build a well in South Africa. You don't have to be a professional...student, amateur, and professional entries are accepted. See the website for more information and to submit your photos!

I finally narrowed it down to these three photos of my own:

goodbye to summer/favorite things

i don't think school should start until it is at MOST 99 degrees, as a general rule. mainly that is because i don't think anyone should be required to do ANYTHING when it is 106 degrees outside. however, no one asked for my opinion and school has resumed regardless. i've decided that you probably want to know about my favorite things of summer, so here you go:

*world cup 2010 - the usa team created many exciting moments (there was much screaming, near-pants-peeing, and elevation of heart rates!) and the event was hosted in south africa (who provided a great opening celebration, awesome music, noisy bubuzelas, and a dancing desmond tutu). what more could a person ask for?? favorite player, you might ask? dempsey. he was always bleeding or falling or crashing into something or someone. scrappy.

*daily lap swimming at the outdoor aquatic center in lawrence...ahhhh. first of all, humans feel weightless in water...all together enjoyable feeling. secondly, it's cool in the water and it's not so cool in the not-water. thirdly, i discovered i can still actually get a tan! i thought i had lost my childhood talent for getting really brown and freckly, but not so. fourthly, i just miss swimming. i lived at the pool as a kid. we lived a block away from the city park pool in manhattan. we spent the mornings there for swim lessons, came home for lunch, and rushed back after lunch for the afternoon. it was like an extension of our backyard.

*planting a garden and watching it not die. by far my greatest accomplishment so far in life. i have not tackled anything of consequence yet, like vegetables, but i've managed to keep marigolds, roses, russian sage, lambs ear, hibiscus, and thyme alive for the summer, even despite the drought. i also have a peppermint and avocado plant that are not-quite-dead, but aren't looking great so i'm not holding my breath there.

*reading. my great summer pastime. I managed to read 4 novels, a memoir, a gardening book, 3 or four textbooks, and start a few others. i especially enjoyed finishing the girl with the dragon tattoo series (although i'm hesitant to recommend it because i never know what other people will like, or dislike, and how sensitive people may be to things that i'm not as affected by, so it's awkward...so that's my disclaimer for recommending books, and movies for that matter) and reading brideshead revisited by evelyn waugh. as always, i bought and stockpiled more books than i was able to read in one summer, but i'm holding out great hope that i will accomplish more reading during this school year now that i'm a seasoned veteran and not enduring the stress of a first year teacher. haha.

*colorado/buchheister reunion: family, hiking, mountains, biking, swimming, settlers of catan, visiting Carrie, my oldest (as in longest time known) dear friend, and no humidity. enough said.

*grilling. i just like it. i like grilling peaches and eating them with vanilla ice cream. i like grilling corn on the cob. plus, instead of me getting sweaty over a hot stove or boiling water in the kitchen, kirk gets the pleasure of roasting out in the great outdoors while he "mans" the grill.

well, there are a few of my favorite things of summer. i bet you can't guess what my absolute favorite thing of fall is! props to whomever leaves a comment with the correct answer!

summer reading list and boulder pics

so, i realize that summer is almost over (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) but i still haven't posted about my summer reading.

intriguing quote from the book i'm currently reading (Brideshead Revisted - Evelyn Waugh):

"'Sometimes,' said Julia, 'I feel the past and the future pressing so hard on either side that there's no room for the present at all.'"

that really stuck out to me. i think i can identify with that. but that could be entire post on its own.

ok, here's the stack of summer reading:

the first stack are the books i've already read or am in the process of reading. the other two stacks are the books that i still have to read before school starts on august 9! don't think i'm going to make it!

also, here's some pics from our lovely trip to boulder, co for the buchheister family reunion. we have these every 5 years and there are descendants from my grandfather (dale buchheister) and all of his siblings(there were 12 siblings total!!!), so it's kind of a big deal. there were 110 people at the reunion this year, which is fewer than have been at previous reunions, if that gives you an idea. pretty amazing.

1. the ernie buchheisters playing on pearl street

2. hiking with kirk, my sis and bro, and some of the "cousins" (2nd cousins, a few times removed or something)

3. overlooking boulder from the not-quite-but-close-enough-to-the-top

4. theresa, me, and liz (my 1st cousin). theresa cannot be trusted with a gravy boat.

5 and 6. some of the dale buchheisters (not my brother dale, my grandfather dale) including my grandmother mary ruth, dad's brothers john and mike and their families and my family. dad's sister dalene and her family had already left by this point. confusing yet??

i'm really glad for these reunions and love my big family. it makes me sad that we can only all gather every five years but there are just so many of us and it's hard to get together in one place.

calling all photographers! or friends of photographers! or i'm-not-a-pro-but-i-think-i-take-good-photos photographers!

i'm back from boulder, co and trying to catch up with my classwork (pics to come later this week...of boulder, not of my classwork). but, i'm taking a break from that to announce that it's time for the 2nd annual river to well photography competition! my buddy, ken, started this competition after we ventured to south africa in 2008. the competition is a blend of his passion for photography and his passion for africa. the proceeds go toward building wells in south african villages. check out the website to see last year's winners (including my honorable mention shot seen here ), find out more about the village where this year's well will be built, and to submit your own pics for the competition.

here are some of the shots i'm thinking of submitting this year, but can't decide. if you do read my blog, weigh in as to which shots you like best. first, there's this lovely graffiti shot from my trip to nyc last year on the right side of my blog here...i like it, but it seems kind of...already done, i guess. i feel like it's the cool thing to do, maybe. i don't want to be too cool, you know.

here are a few shots from a trip to chicago; this is the chicago tribune building (beautiful!). the color shot is the original + a little bit of editing to clean it up. the b & w is also cool, though...you decide.

here's a shot of my friend, ashley, laying out some sparkly lights. also have it in b & w. not sure if others get my point of view when i take shadow-y shots. i like them. but some people are like, "what?? i can't see what's going on here! why didn't you use flash!?" so, maybe it's just my personal taste.

here's another shot from south africa, the mother sitting in the doorway to escape the heat of the sun. i felt so lucky to get this shot, these are usually the types that i notice and try to capture but i'm too late!

here's a cool shot of the pier at coney island...lots of fun angles that i think make the picture interesting.

ok, so you guys weigh in...i'm too indecisive and biased because these are some of my "favorites." i'll probably submit three photos, so i need to narrow it down!

nyc

i just got back from visiting my brother and sister in new york! my mom and i left last friday and stayed until yesterday and we packed A LOT of action into one weekend. if you've been to new york you know how it seems like you don't accomplish very much but you stay REALLY busy because half of the time and energy is spent on walking, subway, walking, pushing through crowds, sweaty subway stations, packed trains, walking, crashing into more people, standing in lines, walking, sweating....

hears a rundown of activities and some pics: short plays, sushi, shopping at the Strand bookshop, Mary Poppins on Broadway, Harry Potter, Indian food, Coney Island, Brooklyn, Times Square, 72nd and Amsterdam, Italian food, clothes shopping, massages in Chinatown (I conversed in Chinese with the masseuses! I still remember a little bit from the 2 weeks I was there!), great restaurants, etc.

river to well photo competition

so, after we got back from South Africa last december, our buddy, Ken, decided to create a photo competition to raise money to build a well in one of the villages we visited in the Limpopo (Northern) region. This is a region that was hit by the cholera outbreak that struck southern Zimbabwe last year and spread down into northern SA. We had the chance to visit several villages and churches/schools in the region during our trip. Below are some photos from the region and the village where the well will be built:

So, check out this website: www.rivertowell.com to see about the competition. I have LOTS of friends that are great photographers, so I hope you guys submit some photos! There's different levels and different categories, so everyone can contribute a photo!

finally...the third and final leg of our SA trip...the Transkei

Thanks to my new computer (remember the "blue screen of death?" It proved to be the catalyst for buying a new mac!), I am finally able to tell you about the final leg of our trip to SA. After our time in Jo-burg, we flew down to East London, where we were met by Daniel and Kristi on Thanksgiving day. They are from the KC/Wichita area and have been serving in the coastal region of SA with an organization called Oceans of Mercy. Their purpose is to feed children, but that job can have many different faces. Kristi keeps a wonderful blog that you should check out from time to time as she describes their experiences. http://kristiapplesauce.typepad.com/kristi/

The region that we visited is called the Transkei. It was one of the 10 tribal homelands that SA was divided into during Apartheid. It was a "dumping ground" for Xhosa people that the white people did not want in the cities. It still is one of the most uneducated, impoverished areas of SA.

We were able to see a few types of ministries dedicated to feeding children up close from the "other side." We observed the benefits and challenges that Daniel and Kristi face in trying to feed kids in the most reliable, consistent way possible without giving handouts and stripping the people of their dignity. They constantly ask themselves how they can help people to learn to feed themselves and become self-sustaining without trying to "americanize" them.

One of the villages we visited, called Bukwini, has a child sponsorship partnership with a church in the States. The council maintains a list of needy children and families and prioritizes the "most" needy when a new sponsor becomes available. The money provides a monthly food parcel with basic like milk, mealie, oil, sugar, etc. as well as clothing for school. We visited on a day when the food was being delivered, sorted into parcels, and distributed to the guardian of the child that is being sponsored. There are challenges, though, like having to say "no" to giving away food on a whim (food depends on the number of sponsors) and knowing that once the food is distributed there is not a guarantee that it will go where it is supposed to go. It was good for us to see these challenges up close.

We also visited a village where Daniel and Kristi have helped a woman to run a daycare. At this daycare, Mama Christina is able to feed kids two healthy meals a day, store their school clothes and shoes in cubbies to keep them in good shape for longer, and teach the children. Mama Christina was recently trained on how to keep a garden and now she is teaching her daycare kids to do the same so that they will have this skill as adults. Also, she is a rocking soccer coach! She has a team that competes with other area villages and these boys are awesome! We played around with them for a few hours and they were clearly superior!

We learned a ton from our time with Daniel and Kristi. They are also doing a lot of work to train people in basic first aid and nutrition to help lessen the effects of HIV/AIDS. Read Kristi's blog for more on that!