don't know much about history

...but i do now! i recently watched two movies that greatly increased my historical knowledge. the first is charlie wilsons war, which is based on a true story. it is set during the cold war...which i now know is when the soviets invaded afghanistan because they wanted to take over the world [shelly's paraphrase]. it also gives a glimpse of how afghanistan became the kind of country it is today. i had to pause this movie a few times to get some explanations and to look at maps so i could...

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there's no place like home

after a busy couple months of travel and such, i'm glad to be home for a long stretch [well, long for me]. i love getting to visit and spend time with far away friends, but sometimes there's just no place like home. this past saturday it was so great to sleep in and lounge around the house...doesn't that just feel nice? here's a picture of home, and one of my favorite things about being at home [that would be kim] another great thing is having time at home is getting to do...

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california dreamin'

i spent the last week with some of my favorite friends. tara and i met my freshman year at sbu on the croatia mission trip and we've been friends ever since. so naturally when she and matt got hitched, he had to be my friend too! i really can't say enough how much i love this family...tara and i are like twins separated at birth [if you think i'm cheap and overly organized, just imagine me times two] and even though matt is outnumbered when i visit, i think he actually gets more excited than anyone...

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hello tahoe

a little update from the west coast. first off...i love this family. we have such a great time together. lots of fun and silliness, and lots of good convo. and these girls love their aunt shay-shay [that's me!] when i come to visit we always go on an arden family adventure and this time we went up to lake tahoe for the day while sophia stayed with grandma and grandpa in reno. our family photo [tori, shelly, matt and tara] tara and i on our hike to eagle lake sophia playing...

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