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Stories from the Amazon - Favorite Rivers

In the jungle there is not much to do as far as recreational activities except going to the rivers. Of course in the Amazon, all rivers eventually lead to the great and mighty Amazon river. Even the smallest creek waters end up there. But I want to tell you about some of my favorite rivers that we swam in. To start with of course, the Amazon itself. I was born in a city right on the banks of the Amazon but never swam in it until my 8th grade year when I was 13 years old. My parents sent me to boarding school for missionary kids in that year. It was a beautiful location and groups of kids lived in a home with a missionary couple. This particular year something went wrong with the well or the pump and they told us that we had to bathe every day in the river. So every day we would get on our swim suits and jump off the dock into the beautiful river, attempting not to lose our slippery bar of soap. If you swam too far out the current would be strong but along the bank it was just like a l
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Stories from the Amazon - End of the Rainbow

Foxy was a very thrilling horse to ride. You never know what to expect from a horseback ride on her. When I first got her she would never let me get on without tying her up to a post and doing a hop on one foot for a while until I could finally throw my leg over and get seated in the saddle. Then I'd have to make sure my feet were securely in the stirrups and a fist full of mane and then reach down with my other hand and untie the lead rope and hold on for dear life. She would take off at a full gallop in whatever direction I managed to get her pointed and usually I wouldn't be able to slow her down or steer her until she got the pent up energy that she was full of spent out a little. The adrenaline rush from that good gallop was intoxicating. One day we went through this silly dance and bolt and were galloping up a long hill near the school where the missionary kids studied. It was a wide open field and a good hill to run up no matter what legs you were using to run. At the
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Stories from the Amazon - Bucking Horse and crazy horse

During the time of this story I was in my early 20ies and living in southern Brazil working with the rodeo ministry. Every weekend we would go to the rodeos and minister to the rodeo competitors. Our mission base was in the city, a huge house that we all shared. The girls had rooms with 3 or 4 bunk beds per room and the guys had the same thing. There were a few couples who had their own rooms and we all shared cleaning, cooking and ministry duties. We were a very close knit group. During the time I lived there the mission base was able to purchase a property outside of town to build a bigger base for more training groups and better opportunities. They sent the rodeo team to live there first so I got to be one of the first group of people to live there. Southern Brazil is more similar to the United States as far as farm land and climate go, although it doesn't snow unless you get farther south then we were. I loved living on the farm property, since I've always preferred countr
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Stories from the Amazon - Grit and Determination

Having a horse when you're the daughter of missionaries and when you live on the mission base requires a lot of creativity and determination. When I got my first horse, it was with the understanding that I would have to care for, feed, pay for feed, etc, all on my own. When I owned my first horse Nathaniel, we still lived on the mission base and I had plenty of areas to tether him to graze and I was able to babysit for all the younger kids that lived on the base since all the ones my age had gone off to boarding school. I was able to make a little extra money doing that to be able to buy him bags of horse feed whenever he needed it. However, when I was about 17 my parents decided to move to a house in town and God provided for us a house and also land. My dad always joked that we got a 10 star hotel because that's what it was before we purchased it, the 10 star meaning thats how many you could see through the roof. That wasn't really the case but it was a pretty simple and
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Stories from the Amazon - Lost Dog

The first year of owning my first horse Nathaniel and getting my Great Dane, Mandy, was a year of learning a lot. Lots about horses, life, adventures and exploration. Mandy was a half grown pup at the time of this story. Every day I'd ride the horse, groom, clean, feed and enjoy the adventures of horse ownership as a teenager. Our mission base was located right by the Madeira River, a tributary of the Amazon. There was a road that went alongside the river which went all the way from the town to another small river community lots of kilometers down river. I had up to that point mostly only been on that road in the direction of town. So now that I had my own transportaion my curiosity about other locations was arroused and I frequently went exploring on roads and trails that few of the adults ever knew about. One fine day I decided to turn right and ride the road down river from the base. Few cars passes us and we were enjoying the scenery. We came upon an interesting trail which b
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Recipe from the farm: Easy Quiche

Living on a farm and having chickens means sometimes we get overrun with fresh eggs. My family really enjoys a good quiche and this recipe is super fast and easy to throw together for a quick dinner. I like to cook in cast iron so I'll start this recipe by pulling out the good cast iron skillet that is well seasoned, 9 or 10 inch pan. You can use bacon, sausage, hamburger, or really whatever kind of meat you enjoy, or no meat at all. I usually saute the meat up in the pan I'm going to use to cook my quiche. Let it sit there while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. If you're making a veggie quiche you can saute onions, peppers, zucchini, mushroom or whatever veggie suits your fancy. Next get 4 to 6 fresh eggs. I use 6 because it makes a heartier quiche with more leftovers or sometimes no leftovers. Whisk them up in a large mixing bowl. Add about a half a teaspoon or so of salt, pepper to taste, garlic powder or chopped garlic, about a half of a finely chopped onion.
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Stories from the Amazon - My first horse Nathaniel

 My whole life I was crazy about horses, dreamed about them, talked about them in every sentence and every 5th word out of my mouth, begged for one, planned how to get one, read every book and magazine about horses that I could get my hands on, plastered my wall with horse pictures..... you get the idea....  When I was about 11 my parents finally got tired of my horse obsession and told me that if I could get permission from the mission base director and if I could earn the money to buy and keep the horse then they would let me have one. Challenge accepted. We came to the States on furlough right before I turned 12 and left right after I turned 13 which was very convenient for my horse savings fund as I only requested money for those birthdays and saved every penny. I also worked as hard as a 12 year old girl could, mowing lawns, babysitting, starting a dog walking business, washing cars. Every dime went into my envelope with the words "Horse Savings" written on the front. By
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