It's a Schmahl World

Mom & Kathryn Visit Liberia!

It’s been quite a busy summer and one of the many highlights was my mom and sister’s visit to Liberia! It was awesome having them here! It was obviously great to see them after many months apart but even better was being able to share my life here in Liberia with them. Try as I…

San Antonio’s Fiesta Week: Taste of New Orleans, El Mercado and the Texas Cavaliers River Parade

During my short time in San Antonio visiting family, I was excited to participate in a few Fiesta Week activities! The tradition began in 1891 as a one day event as a salute to those in the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto. The celebration has evolved into 10 day festival held each spring…

Cathedral Rock Trail: Sedona, Arizona

During our half day in Sedona, we knew we wanted to do at least one hike. After some internet searching climbing Cathedral Rock seemed like the best hike we could fit into our afternoon. Arriving at the trail head, we looked up at the beautiful red rock and the 608 ft rise in elevation we…

Biking on A Mission: Visiting Four Missions in San Antonio Texas

While visiting family in San Antonio, Texas, we decided to rent bikes and ride the trails to visit four different Missions along the San Antonio River. When missionaries came over to the Americas they attempted to convert the indigenous people to Catholicism. The Missions are the communities and churches built surrounding the missionaries efforts and…

5 Things to Know about Visiting the Grand Canyon in the Winter

The Grand Canyon is a breathtaking natural wonder any time of year, but visiting in the winter months can be very different from the peak summer season. When we visited last winter here are the five things we wish we would have known before visiting the Grand Canyon in December: The North Rim is closed…

Welcoming New Volunteers to Liberia!

I kicked off June with a week of welcoming a new group of volunteers to Liberia: Peace Corps brought LR-8, the newest cohort of education volunteers! I got the opportunity to to help out with the first week of their pre-service training (PST) in Kakata. The staff and resource volunteers (current Peace Corps Volunteers helping…

Spending Half a Day in Sedona, AZ

On our week long Arizona road trip, we spent our last day in Sedona. That morning we drove three hours from Page, Arizona, leaving us with only half the day left to explore. While this is in no way enough time to experience all that Sedona has to offer, here is what we were able…

The Season for Plums… and Workshops!

In the last couple of months, in between teaching, celebrating my birthday and enjoying plum (mango) season, I’ve also had the chance to attend a few different trainings that I wanted to share! Workshop #1: Literacy and Phonics Training At the end of March, I had the chance to attend a workshop put on by…

5 Things to Do in Page, Arizona

This past winter during our Arizona road trip we were fortunate to be able to visit Page, Arizona for two days. During our time there we experienced some amazing natural and man made wonders. Here are our favorite activities from our time there: 1. Visit the Lower Antelope Canyon The Lower Antelope Canyon lies on…

Viewing the Sunrise at the Grand Canyon National Park

When we visited the Grand Canyon this past December we were very happy that the Grand Canyon National Park is open 24 hours a day so we could watch the sunrise. For two mornings in a row we dragged ourselves out of our comfy warm bed, to spend time in the freezing morning air to…