Hurrah for Israel!

I could spend days on this post. How does one simply recount their adventures to the Holy Land in just one sitting? All I can say is that I had a marvelous time with some wonderful friends and associates. Here is just a glimpse of the things that I saw and did while I was in Israel.

At the Dead Sea. Yes, the mud made my skin so soft and smooth. I'm in the green headband!

While awaiting the official group shot, lets just get a candid one! What up to my homies in DC!

The Dome of the Rock. Wowza! Muslims say this is where Muhammad was lifted into heaven.

Sure I paid 5 bucks to ride a camel by the tour bus but you know what they say...when in Israel, ride a camel...#yolo

Kathy and I in the Lazarus's tomb. What up, Laz!

Masada, the place where Herod built many palaces. Wanted to do a creative picture, so here we are looking like a bunch of crazies. Weird Americans.

Friends from DC at the Jerusalem Center. I love my peeps.

Selfie in front of the Garden Tomb.

Damascus Gate. Don't you love my pigtails?

One more selfie...Jeru in the background.

Bet'Sheian. Roman ruins at its finest.

Happy New Year from Tiberius!

Bethlehem. Spirit was so strong there. I kind of look awkward, whatevs.

Hezekiah's tunnel. A former irrigation system back in the day.

I look so serious here. Or reflective. Or hot. You take your pick. 

Sure we may look like we belong to an Arab polygamous family...but we're not.

Roman toilets. Yowza.

Happy New Year (again) from the Sea of Galilee. I thought this pic was pretty clever.

Another Synagogue.

Getting tough with Syria...pictured in the way way back!

Just call him Captain Boyd!

Greetings from Capernaum! Where Jesus performed miracles and taught the bread of life sermon.

Ok, this is awesome. Pat on the back to me...and instragram for touching it up a bit.

Mediterranean Sea in the background.

The Garden of Gethsemane. No words.

Some more Roman ruins action. Jumping pictures are a must.

The streets of Jerusalem.

The group at the Jordan River.

Cartwheels are also a must.

Scriptures study, singing, laughing, dance parties galore, nativity sets, shalom, wally, Samir, falafel, diet coke, call to prayer, story of my life, traffic jams, spotlights, fun, a trip of a lifetime.

Thank you, Israel. A must see. 

Yay for Melissa!

My awesome roommate, Melissa graduated from nursing school a few weeks back! I am so proud of her. She also was chosen from her peers to give a speech at graduation. She did a wonderful job!

I'm so blessed to live with/know these lovely ladies!

Selfie Swag

Selfie is the word of 2013. Did you know that?

Anyway, it's nice to know that students sometimes want to take selfies with me, their teacher. 

Exhibit A

And exhibit B

Most popular teacher? Probably not. But these selfies convince me to think I may have some type of swag amongst my student population.

The belle of the bell choir?

Back in September I signed up for the stake handbell choir that plays each Christmas at the LDS visitors center in DC in addition to our stake Christmas program. 

Why did I do this? Well it should come as no surprise that I'm not one to back down from a challenge. Also, the bell choir always seemed like the nerdy, yet cool thing to do!

We started practicing in October and every Sunday it was me with the bell choir. Reading music again challenged me but it was fun to do something different and to be musically involved. I played Middle C, B flat and B natural. 

Compared to other choirs, this was a big deal. When I sing in a choir, if I don't come in or get my note right, it doesn't matter so much. With this choir, it matters! I easily felt needed in this 14 person bell choir! And that presented some challenges in addition to some perks.

This experience also allowed me to share the Gospel with others. I invited about 25 coworkers and 4 of them came to my performance. With the others, it led to some discussion about temples and about the LDS faith as a whole. 

Here I am below in action. 

And if you want to see some footage, check out this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5mXYLcEOio

Note: you see me at the very beginning on the right. Not the greatest clip of me but you get the idea.

So was I the belle of the bell choir? No. But it's a nice thought, don't you think?