Hampton Inn Suites Ephrata

... whose real name is Carly, I named her Jessica.

Well, imagine it is opening night and all the directors and head honchos are in the audience. I am doing great, and feeling good. I am suppose to use my daughter's full name... so I open my mouth and I say...

"Sarah Jessica Parker"

My eyes get big. I can't pull the words back ...

... and during the hike. A lot of people helped me and, therefore, a lot of cards went out.

- I now have to get all of my trip belongings together and packed, as I’m heading down to Philadelphia tomorrow (Saturday) to run in the half-marathon on Sunday. Then, I’ll be back in Lancaster on Monday and back down to Philadelphia on Tuesday to fly out. It’s going to be a very busy schedule from here on out.

... of the little girls who play Sarah. They have had to cast three more little girls to alternate the role throughout the run. (Child Labor Laws....)

Rehearsals are going well and we open on Friday! YAY!!! The show will continue throughout the holidays and will close Dec. 31st.

Doing a Christmas show like this always makes me in a sentimental mood. Keep in touch - all of you!
Erica

... Trip and went to Guatemala with 34 of my colleagues as a participant. Despite the fact that I worked for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and its predecessor for twenty years, I knew no one. I came back with a new appreciation for Thrivent Financial and the difference it makes for others, a love for my colleagues I worked side by side with for the week, and a new sense of the fact that we, as Christians, are charged with serving the poor ...

... out of Love, by acknowledging the shared emotion, or out of Fear by not reacting at all. Love wins all the time. But this is the dilemma. How do you start sharing your true emotions when past experience has demonstrated that people do not react out of love or in the way you expected or hoped? There's that Expectation word again. How do you start reacting to a shared true emotion when you are not used to doing that ...

... Sunbeam! Yes, these mixers have special pneumatic power supplies that allow for the Amish to use them without an actual outlet. They also use propane to run their fridges and hot water heaters. They use solar power for their rechargeable batteries, and often pay others to drive trucks, tractors, and other things for them. So while they may seem to be skirting around their religious rules, I think its kind of a cop out. I think its all or nothing, and trying to adapt is fair enough, but ...

... Franklin Parkway is simply spectacular. I stayed long enough to take a picture, then descended to the street. Once I got there, I took a deep breath and began running back up the stairs. It actually turned out to be rather anti-climactic. I’m in pretty bad shape, but I made the run and wasn’t even breathing hard by the time it was over. Overall, I’d have to say that it was much more dramatic when Stallone did it. Still, it was nice to ...

... didn’t take long before we started seeing the horse drawn carriages for which the Amish are known. At first, we saw them from a distance. But as we continued along the narrow country roads, we eventually ended up behind one of them. Since there was no room to pass, we just followed until it turned into a farm. We weren’t upset with the slower pace. It turned out to be a great excuse for turning our attention toward the Amish farms. Other than the ...

... Catholic shrines, primarily because that’s the setting with which I’m most familiar. But I’ve always been curious about the ways in which other religions help their followers express their faith. Thus, I was glad to find that the Ephrata Cloister was located very close to where I’d be staying.

Ephrata was once a religious community for a group of men and women that were practicing a fundamental version of Lutheranism. Among the tenants ...