merry christmas

regan and i were just talking about how it´s so strange that there is so much preparation for christmas day and it is over in 24 hours. i hope your 24 hours were wonderful.
since everything was closed here, we hung out in the cabin watching movies, eating food, playing with our new puppy, milagros, having a water fight. it was great, but not like christmas.
we are heading up to the mountains again today. we´ll probably be gone for about 5 days. we are going to los alerces, which is supposed to be one the highlights here. i am excited, except that it is rainy and i just want to lay in bed...
late last night we were cooking for the week . while we were waiting for the water to boil i was finishing off the stuffing that we made for christmas. i was eating out of a huge pot, meanwhile regan was on the kitchen floor doing push-ups. haaa. i thought that was a pretty good description of us, me eating, regan working out.
oh, and our puppy. while we were in el bolson we stopped at a feria. someone had dropped off a box of about5 puppies. regan begged for one and i said it was a bad idea. but we decided the puppy would die in the park, so we took one in hopes to find a home for her. now, regan is up at least once a night taking mila out to pee. she´s sweet and ornery. the ve t sai she was some sort of a german shepherd mut. maybe you all will get to meet her in 5 months!
i finally talked regan into getting a website for our pictures. we are having a hard time getting the pictures from the camera to the computer. it is so slow, but we hae about 30 pictures posted. the website url is: libbyandregan.shutterfly.com
enjoy.
love you all

hielo azul

we just returned to el bolson from 4 days of camping, hiking, laughing. we went with two friends we met here and it was so nice. it was nice to see someone elses face other than regan´s.
it rained the first day, we arrived at the refugio soaking wet. we decided to warm by the fire for another day, but when we left the next day it was snowing. it was actually quite magical...walking in the forest, watching the snow, it reminded me of being a kid.
the next refugio was beautiful. they had a garden and sheep and horses. it was so fun. about 10 minutes from the refugio on the hike there is a huge canyon, with a raging river of the most amazing blue water. i wish i could explain this water to you. oh, it was incredible.
not sure where to next. we are probably going to celebrate christmas with our new friends, somewhere.
hope the holidays are wonderfully celebratory for you.
miss you love you

el bolson

i don´t even remember three days ago when i posted last.
we have been in el bolson for three days and have one more night. we are staying in the woods in a cute little house that holds about 8 people. we are just about full to capacity right now. it is cold and wet, but it is beatiful. it snowed in the mountains last night. what happened to summer? tomorrow we leave for another hike, we will be gone for about 4 days and then back to spend christmas, hopefully by some phones so we can at least talk to the fam.
regan lost his atm card, through that we´ve realized that we have a lot less money than we assumed. so now starts our budget. this means no more ice cream and lots more camping. we are also hoping to find a farm soon...
stop reading my blog entries and come and visit.
love to you all.

laguna ilon

we just got back from national park trenador. we hiked up to (basically) the base of an incredible glacier. it was huge and fell continuously so it sounded like thunder. the hike wasn´t horrible, but we couldn´t tell where the refugio was until we were right up to it. we kept thinking, "how long is this hike?" it was pretty funny when we saw the refugio.
we stayed up there for a night and then hiked down to do another hike to a lake, but we got miserably lost. we ended up on these narrow horse trails, muddy and exhausted. the nest day we tried again and it was well worth it. we hiked up to laguna ilon. it was so beautiful. we camped on the beach, jumped into the freezing water(regan was scared to), made a raft, killed a lot of deer flies.
the hike up to laguna ilon was intense the first part was straight up a mountain. no switchbacks. but halfway through the hike we got to a forest. it was so pretty. and peaceful. the funny thing was in orfer to find the trail we had to follow this group who had a guide(there were no signs marking the trail at all). once the trail was easy to follow, about every 20m there was a sign. ha, thanks.
now we are back in bariloche, staying at a friends house. we are going to eat tacos tonight and have a nintendo competition. sweet.
love to you all.

6 days later

i cannot believe it is already december! no white christmas for us unfortnately.
we just got home from a 2 day hike-turned to a 5 day hike. it was incredible. we hiked through a beautiful forest with a raging river, that i almost fell into. there were gorgeous waterfalls, pretty little birds, amazing sunrises. it was by far the prettiest and sketchiest hikes i´ve been on. we spent two full days on the beautiful lago negra, i just can´t explain the beauty.
i wish i could recap all of the hilarious things that happened, but that would mean i would have to bring a tape recorder. i do have one funny story, but it is a little gross, so brace yourself.
the last hike we did, we had stopped at the second refugio, jakob. regan had been there about a week earlier, when the bathrooms weren´t in service. this was fine for me, i didn´t even think they would have bathrooms!
we had just finished lunch and i had to go to the bathroom SO bad. it was an emergency. i coulsn´t even wait to clean up! i ran to the nearest rock, i couldn´t even make it far enough to get away from people who would be weird enough to want to see me poo(i don´t think anyone did). i was just about to finish and regan comes running out of the refugio, laughing. he sees me and the amount that i pooed and loses it even more. through his laughs and tears he tells me the bathrooms are working. ha, funny. he had been talking to the man who worked there and the man said the bathrooms were working, all regan said was shoot and ran out of there. everyone was laughing. hahahaha, so funny.
love you all.

off again

we are about bored in town now, so we are off the mountains tomorrow morning.
i am not sure where to, regan takes charge of that, surprised? but, i think we will only be gone for about two days this time.
there aren't any exciting stories yet...we've literally been sitting around.
we went climbing two days ago. it was pretty easy, regan wouldn't let me do any of the hard ones, but i learned alot.
the man who owns the bungalows we are staying at let us use his dirt bike to get around town, that has been so nice...regan loves it.
i promise more stories soon, and pictures!
all of my loves and misses

...and we're engaged

i cannot even remember what i wrote last time, but we are in bariloche right now. it is absolutely beautiful. we've been taking it ridiculously easy because we just got back from an intense 4 day hike. it was fantastic, not only because regan asked me to marry him(i said yes). we hiked up snowy mountains and through raging waters and rocky peaks. it was probably a really good metaphor for marriage.
we have really seen god in the past few weeks. it truly amazes me how god keeps showing up even though i fail to show up.
we are still discussing when we will get married, but i assure you that we will inform everyone as soon as we know.
we love you all and really appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

nuestros viaje

I have to tell everyone this great story:

yesterday when Regan and I arrived in Mendoza we called a the son of my mothers coworker. We asked if we could stay with him, as unopposing as possibly. He works for some oil thing and was leaving town last night, but felt so bad that he could not accomodate us that he paid for three nights in a hostel for us. yay! He picked us up from the bus station and took us to the hostel. It was a great example of hospitality.
Tomorrow we are going climbing with a man from here, Monday we are going on a bicycle tour of the vineyards...then to Bariloche.
loves and misses.
lib

Mendoza

We surrived a freezing, 14 hour bus trip last night to mendoza. Now we are here and trying to find a place to lay our heads.
love you all.

argentina

i am sure you can assume that i made it safely to buenos aires.
as we were descending into the city, i felt a strange calm and peace. it felt like all of a sudden god had really given me a heart for this, more than just excitement to be with regan.
anyway, things are good, not a ton to report yet. it just feels good to be here.

love to you all.
libby

13 days

i am just about at 13 days until i see regan, 12 days until i leave.
i just got back into denver from philly/camden. oh my goodness. it was so nice to be there, with everyone. it really just felt good to be among friends, in the city of brotherly love again. i did so many fun things.
ate lots of yummy food at my old favorite restaurants and some new ones, walked on the beach, had really good girl talk, hung out with cutey-cuter kindergartners. i laughed ALOT, watched a lifetime movie(why i wore lipstick to my mastectomy), went to a wedding, and i laughed some more.
oh, it was so fun. thank you to everyone who made me remember my home in philly/camden. i love you all so, so much.

oh and happy halloween.

matter: land

"Many monogamous relationships split up because one or both partners expect the other to meet the intimacy needs that only a love affair with a larger Reality can fulfill. They think something is wrong with the relationship when, in reality, Nature has programmed all relationships to fail whenever we absurdly demand that they provide us with total satisfaction. Experiencing cracks in even the most fulfilling of human relationships appears to be the only way that the universe can get us to open oursleves to the possiblity of a larger love affair. Unfortunately, many in our time never learn this lesson. When problems arise within the primary relationship, we look for another human being as a replacement, rather than seek a deeper relationship with the greater Whole. " -An Erotics if Place by Stephen Hatch

"It's not about stripping down for others to see. It's simply a way to experience a moment within your fullest capabilities. It's about embracing your spirit and your body and taking that acceptance one step further in order to get to where we belong--in the environment, not separated from it...nothing can compare to being outside and being naked. All the senses are heightened, and I mean all of them. Every movement and function and circumstance is raw, and you are aware of each one specifically. " -Exposure by Laura Katers

two excerpts from two essays i read tonight in the Matter Journal.

jebbers

jeb and ellie have been sick the past few days. this means a couple things. one) they both sleep the majority of the day. two) they are both lovey dovey, clingy, huggy, affectionate.

though i get bored, i love both of these things. is that a bad sign? anyway, today at least three times jeb looked at me like his world was ending and put his pudgy little arms up to be held. i scooped him up and held him, rocked him, rubbed his back. we sang. we sang the new weepies song. it was absolutely precious. those hugs were exactly what i needed today.

maybe people need to be scooped up more and loved on? maybe.

the least of these

i looked at jesus the other day and denied him. looked him right in the face; denied him, to his face.
i would like to confess and repent.

blood, sweat, and tears

i had the craziest bloody nose today. ohmygoodness, it just bled and bled. crazy.

then, yesterday i cried and cried. oh so sad, actually the weird thing was i wasn't sad. i am on this birth control for a menstration regulator and it is seriously screwing up my hormones. so, i cried and cried and i called in crying to work.

this is my sweet life. sweet.

another way

i am sitting in my room, reading. i am listening to music, loud, because my housemates are listening to even louder music that i think is awful.
i am reading and i am thinking and i am getting visions and i am getting scared.
do we really ever stop to think about what jesus meant when he said sell your things and join the poor. whatever you do to the least you do to me. love your neighbor as yourself. ?
i don't think i ever stop and think about these things, because if i did i would be alot more scared alot more of the time.
my heart is changing too and i am real scared.

i am excited too.

400 dollars later

yes, you guessed it. all of these preparations have forced me to spend 400 dollars yesterday. whoa, i am still a little anxious.

i wish everything in my life wasn't surrounding my departure, but alas it is.
and, i am getting REALLY excited. and also, this morning, when jebbers awoke, he said to me, "regan?". or maybe he asked to me. in either case. so cute. oh, and sad.

love.

66 days

i have concluded that this blog is really for me and josh(hi josh, how are you?) and that is okay.
i am leaving in 66 days and i am excited. really. and i am terrified. i am overwhelmed at how happy i am to be seeing regan in 9.5 weeks. wow! it makes me feel peaceful. it is weird, but i like it.
i only have 7 more weekends to work at Marczyck's. yay! this is crazy. is this crazy?
there is so much i need to do.
1)get all of my hiking/camping gear
2)purchase ticket(i have one holding that is 874$)
3)get my cell phone stuff in order
4)learn spanish
5)figure out all of my loan stuff
6)make some serious money
7)et cetera

stressed and a little anxious.
hmmm.

laugh laugh laugh

sad day

i have been real down lately, why? i am realizing how long regan is going to be gone and it hurts a lot.
i started my second, second job yesterday. it was alright. work is work, yes? i am trying so hard to keep a positive attitude about it. it will be so nice to send that money to my loans and not have to worry about it while i am gone. i just don't really like working in a setting where i need to be attentive to customers. is that bad?
you know that feeling where your eyelids feel heavy and burn a little? the tears are right around the corner, literally. that is how i feel.
thankfully, i have counseling next week, after a long maternity leave. i think i may just cry the whole time, that might not be bad.
love.

cumpleaños felices

IT IS MY HALF BIRTHDAY TODAY.
i was trying to say "it's your half birthday" in spanish today and kristy said, 'isn't your half birthday coming up?' why yes, in fact it is today. how weird and fun!
happy birthday to me.

bees and sore bodies

well, just one body and one bee, maybe even a wasp! i worked at my parents house today doing their landscaping(i use the term landscaping loosely). my body hurts so bad now AND i got stung by a bee! on my face! ohmygosh.
does anybody know how to find an ACCURATE map of the world on the internet? or does any know about time zones?
send me get well presents.
love.

did you know?

The distance between Denver, CO and Buenos Aires, Argentina is 5938.0 miles(9556.0 km).

whoa, talk about long distance. so sad.

who have i become?

i sent my first text message today. it felt weird and somewhat liberating. i got home from a normal dinner at my parents(for the record, normal for us is not normal for most people) and looked at my phone. it said i had two messages. this was weird because my friend, alicia, had sent me a message earlier. the messages were both from this strange long number, so without even looking at the message i deleted it. then i realized it was a number from argentina. ha. i got the second one: short, but sweet and decided, why not. i am going to send my first ever text message. how much do you think that costs to send one to argentina? anyway, it was well worth it. oddly enough, afterward i had an urge to call regan(he got a cell phone, so i can call when ever i want). i asked what the other message was and it was to call him. coincidence. probably. anyway, our conversation was short. he is on a bus ride, as i type, to the iguazu falls, one of the wonders of the worlds. how many are there?
what is the criteria to be a wonder of the world?
do you think less of me?

most of the time, the best things hurt the worst

this is a picture of the lovely regan and me at the des moines airport. i miss him A LOT.

last time i checked i was as unstable as a chair with three legs

it is funny to me that the minute you feel god move in some way is the very minute you become unstable. the minute you feel peace is the very minute you begin to doubt. and then the minute you need professional help is the very minute your counselor goes on maternity leave. huh.
my sister spent the day in the emergency room. i hate that in general, of course, but moreso because i cannot be there for her. i cannot cook her soup and read her stories. i cannot go with her to the doctor tomorrow. it may be the worst feeling ever.
that is all i have.

6 months

does anyone read this? i do, i guess.
it has been an amazing 6 months, that may be why i have been so quiet. just no time. that and no computer. this is what has happened:
i moved to denver, into a beautiful house. i am still nannying and liking it somewhat.
i have met some wonderful people since moving to denver. surprisingly enough. one of whom, the most notable, is regan foster. we met in mid january and have inseparable ever since. well, until now. he just moved to argentina for a year. so sad. but don't worry. i am moving down there too! most likely in december, if all goes according to plan. i am really excited to experience a new culture by living in it. and i am really excited to see regan.
i get accepted to the best vet tech school in the country.
i am sure there are other things, but i need to clean my living quarters.
love.

city of brotherly love

i am here and it is my last day. i feel excited and terrified. i feel a little ready and a little not. it has been a good trip, though. i feel loved and missed and that if i do decide to come back i will have a home.
my heart feels happy.
it is blistery outside and i love it. the trees are bare, but lively. hopeful. i will drive from this city this very night. and i will lose a little of myself when i do. but i must leave in order to come back.

feel the warmth of you and yours this season. while the cold air may seem relentless find somebody who needs love and love them fully.