What makes you come alive?

"Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive" - Howard Thurman

New England leaf peeping with the padres!

Montreal with Eben!

For Labor Day Weekend, Eben and I took a little road trip to Montreal!  Its only about 6 hours from New Haven.  In addition to it being just a very cool place to go, it was also my very first time in the foreign land of Canada.

Every morning, we would take a walk to a cafe for breakfast and fancy coffees. 

Clearly showing I how one should drink coffee when in Montreal.

We rented bicycles ($5/day! And you can find them on almost every corner - you use them and put them back as you like... amazing program), and rode around the old quarters.

Cobblestones and toes.

It was so lovely to just wander around and explore.

My first time in Canada!

Fortunately, Eben speaks French.  It inspired me though - I'm still deciding whether I want to learn French or Portuguese next, until now Portuguese has been way ahead, but this trip nudged French forward a little in the race to my bucket list.

Lovely architecture everywhere.

Labor day was being celebrated in Canada as well, so there were street festivals everywhere.  This also meant there were NO hotel or hostels available.  Thanks to some good 'meet the stranger' skills, we found a place... but it was more than a little sketchy.  However, it was also only $20/night.  No complaints here!

We had quite the scavenger hunt trying to find a Beaver Tail, per the recommendation of my Canadian friend Kelly.  It was delicious - fried dough with 1/2 nutella, 1/2 cinnamon, sugar and lemon.

And we had to have a famous smoked meat (pastrami) sandwich - yummmmm.

Eben looking either emotional about finally finding the smoked meat (it took about an hour trek in the rain) or petrified.

Lovely trip, lovely company, lovely city.

My Grandma

From as early as I can remember, I’ve always thought of Grandma has always been one of my best friends.  Some of the very earliest memories in my life are with her – staying with her when my little brother was born, stubbing my toe and having her put a piece of ice in a paper towel to make it better, all of our visits on the ranch – marking each year of our lives by those visits and waiting for them all year long.  Then of course her and Da’s visits to Idaho – waiting for them , coming home from school and seeing the car in the driveway and running in to them sitting there… and then taking the pillows that she slept on after she left and keeping them because they smelled like her perfume.

Growing up, she was always the first one to call on our birthdays, and I was often woken up by my mom saying that Grandma was on the phone.  The sound of her voice is one of the things I associate most with being loved. 

But my very favorite memory with Grandma was actually one of my most recent.  After Da passed away, I spent two weeks with Grandma, just the two of us.  It was both a hard and a beautiful time.  We cried a lot and laughed a lot, packed a lot and napped a lot.  We reminisced and told stories - I heard many I had never heard before, and got to tell her about my work and life.  We left the ranch together, found her new house in Idaho together, and imagined what the next chapter of life would be like.  It was one of the most special times I can ever remember.  I was so honored to spend that time with my grandma.

In general, Grandma has been a living testament of unconditional love in my life.  She and I don’t always agree on things, and have had our fair share of decent debates through the years.  But one thing I have always, always known, through every single stage of my life and every decision I have made, is that my Grandma loves me more than I will ever know.  That is a source of strength and stability in my life that has allowed me to have the courage to be who I am and do what I do.  I wouldn’t be the same person without her.

Our Willis Family

All of Da's children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, by blood and marriage.

Wow - talk about a legacy.

Da

In loving memory of my Grandpa.

November 30, 1927 - July 23, 2011

Ira Lamar Willis, 83, passed through the veil, July 23, 2011 with his family at his side. He was at home on the ranch where he had lived for 64 years. He was born on the Willis homestead in Snowflake to Vern and Pearl Willis on November 30, 1927. He has been a rancher and farmer all of his life. He and his dad farmed the homestead and acquired the T-Bar Ranch when Ira was 10 years old and Concho Flat Ranch when he was 19 years old. Ira was involved with the Arizona Cattle Growers’ Association, the Navajo County Farm Bureau and spent countless hours on the Snowflake Irrigation District Governing Board. In March of 2011 he was inducted into the Arizona Rancher-Farmer Hall of Fame. Ira loved good horses, good cattle and most of all he loved his family.

Ira is survived by his wife Rita Fletcher Willis; daughters, Roma Lee (Phil) Hiatt, Lea (late Greg) Egnor, Melanee (Ben) Rearden, Jackie (Lloyd) Parker and a son Lamar (Robin) Willis; Kent (Kim) Fletcher, Richard (Donna) Fletcher, Janet (Kyle) Duren; 27 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Swanee; son, Reaves and a great-grandson, Jackson.

Funeral services will be held at the Snowflake Main Street Chapel, Saturday, July 30, 2011 at 10:00 AM with a visitation beginning at 9:00 AM. There will also be time to visit with the Willis family at the Owens Livingston Mortuary, Snowflake Heritage Chapel on Friday, July 29, 2011 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. The interment will be in the R.V. Mike Ramsey Cemetery in Snowflake, Arizona following the funeral services.

Donations may be made in lieu of flowers to the Arizona Cattle Growers’ Association Litigation Fund at 1401 N. 24th Street Suite 4, Phoenix, Arizona 85008.

Owens Livingston Mortuary of Snowflake handled the arrangements.

Houston Reunions and Celebrations

Congratulations to my ito Parul & Peter!!!

Branding at the Ranch

From Hanoi to the Ranch

Today I am leaving this behind:

And heading to this:

Perhaps a little bit of culture shock is in store :)

I have loved my month in Hanoi (and surrounding area) - my work here was not only professionally an amazing experience, but also highly personally rewarding.  I love the glimpse I got into life here, I love eating out of a little bowl and sitting on little stools and becoming a pro at shoveling food into my mouth with chopsticks.  I love the gentleness of the people here, their deep care and concern about myself and my collegues... I love that I am leaving this place with lifelong friends.

But I also love that when I get off the plane on the other side, I will be back at my roots - I'll get to have my arms around my grandparents in just hours - and stop and breath on the ranch for several days.  I can't wait to rise and set with the sun and help with projects around the house and corrals, catch up with cousins, and more than anything, soak in every second I get with my grandma and grandpa.

I am both leaving and landing with a full heart. :)