Wow! It’s been a long time since I last posted! Life has been busy with family visiting, packing, and making plans for our trip overseas. We leave in less than two weeks for a country in Eurasia. Bryan will be doing a language survey internship and surveys of some languages that our organization is interested in, and I will be a stay-at-home mom overseas. I’ll be doing some language learning while we’re there, and I’m somewhat nervous about that. I’ve studied a tiny bit of the language so far, but nowhere near enough to let me get around by myself yet. I’m sure that will come. One of the first things I want to learn in my language learning sessions is how to get around in the market, how to talk about money, and how to barter.
I don’t really have much to say, but I’ve been meaning to post a picture for a while. I decided to leave some of the artichokes on the plant to see what they would do. I was very happy with the results. 
artichoke flower
artichoke flower 2
I wish I had taken pictures a few days earlier when all the purple parts of the flower were sticking up straight like those in the center are in these pictures. It reminds me so much of a thistle! Who knew the “choke” part of the artichoke could be so beautiful!
