Classroom Chaos

Hello my dear sisters!!

I hope life is treating all of you well. I miss each and every one of you so much and would give anything to have a weekend together back in the Swamp. I have a few seconds to breathe, so I figured I would update y'all.

This summer was incredible. I interned for the second year in a row for Disney Summer Project. It is hard to describe this summer in anything short of a novel, or a five hour conversation. The community I experienced on my staff team was incredible- there were 11 interns! We formed a tight-knit family within the first two days and the goodbyes were incredibly painful six weeks later. The leadership side was incredibly hard this year though. All four of the girls I discipled had significant things in their testimony (rape, abuse, loss, etc) and it was so heartbreaking and intense trying to speak into that and point them to Jesus. The highs this summer were really high but the lows were really low. I felt like I was on the most insane roller coaster ride of my life, probably even more so than when I was a student on the project back in 2010. I had a lot more leadership than some of the other interns since this was my second summer, which was really incredible. I got to give a few talks to the whole project and multiple talks to the women. After the first Women's Time talk I gave, a girl named Ashley came up to me and asked if we could talk some time. That conversation turned into a summer-long (and probably life-long) relationship where she revealed a lot of incredibly heavy stuff that she had never told anyone before and that was deeply impacting her life and her walk with God. I spent a few hours with her at a time several days a week really breaking down the Gospel and what it means to experience redemption and sanctification. It was the most challenging, heartbreaking thing I have ever done, but it has made the Gospel and the Bible relevant in ways I have never really known before, so it was incredible at the same time. It brought out a bunch of my own skeletons that have been hanging out in my closet a loooong time, and that's never fun, but it allowed me to experience a lot of freedom in my own life too. I am so so thankful I got the chance to go back again, and as hard as it was, I would do it all over again if I had to.

My discipleship group- Naomi, Megan, Kendra, and Liz

Our intern team- ten of the greatest friends I could as for

Ashley- the girl who rocked my world

I was home for about three weeks before heading back to St. Louis. I just love this city. It feels like home. I am so happy to be back at my church here especially. My church is awesome, and I am part of an incredible community group that is really all about missional living. We work really hard to serve each other in any way we can, and it is so easy to see God moving because of it.

School is super challenging this year though. This semester I student teach 20 hours a week (8-12 every day), then I drive back across town to school where I take class from 1-4 every day (except Friday). I am also starting to work on my Independent Study, which is basically my program's version of a thesis (by May I will have basically written a 50+ page research paper and presented my findings in front of 200 people). The pace is exhausting, and I am only two weeks in. I ADORE my first student teaching placement, preschool, but I am at basically the toughest site. It is the nicest school for the deaf in the whole midwest (arguably the country) but the expectations are super high. The learning curve is veryyyy steep, and I am exhausted when I leave at noon every day. Today was day 8 of student teaching, and while most of my classmates are still getting settled in I have already turned in two assignments and gotten both back and had to redo them. I feel like I will never catch up, but I am learning so much I wouldn't trade it for anything. I think the hardest part to get used to is the "no free time" part. Last year, I was taking 18 credits and working three jobs, but our classes went from 10-2 every day so I could stay up late doing homework or hanging out with people. This year I am up at 6 every day, and by the time I get home at 4:30 I barely have enough time to get all my homework and lesson plans done before it's bedtime. For an extrovert, its very draining. And considering my love language is words of affirmation, it kinda sucks to be told you suck all the time.

I will get used to it though. I absolutely love being in the classroom, and I love teaching pre-k so much more than I thought I would. I feel like a sponge soaking it all in, and I am so confident I am following the career path God designed for me.

Me, Landon, and LJ- two of the little stinkers who stole my heart last year (I was their lunch/recess/afterschool aide)

Anyways, I miss you guys. I want to hear updates on your lives too! And, you should watch this video. It will make you want to come live here with me and Melissa. It shows a ton of my favorite places in this city. Love you guys and praying for you always.


Kel

A New Adventure

A New Adventure

Hey Girlies! I have been thinking recently about how much I am missing out on your lives and what a better job I could have done to stay in touch and thought maybe I could update u guys about my life and hopefully get to hear about all of yours. I was so blessed by your friendships in college and realize how much I’ve wasted by not keeping up with you all. So here’s my life up to date. I hope you all are having great summers!

After 23 years living in Gainesville, I moved to Fort Myers a little over a month ago to start classes at FGCU. As long as I complete my Physics and Anatomy course, I will begin the FGCU Masters of Occupational Therapy Program in August J I feel so blessed to have the opportunity and feeling the confirmation that this is where I am supposed to be. I applied to UF, FGCU, and FIU and got into the latter too, but lets face it… I’m not cut out for Miami. lol. The irony is that I turned down FIU and then a month later, Tanner moved there to start a job. I don’t think its coincidence that Tanner didn’t get the offer before I had to give FIU my decision because I might have gone if I had known. Fort Myers/ FGCU is a better fit for me and while long distance is not really fun, I know it is for a purpose, and that it will be good for us in the long run.

I haven’t found a church here yet, it’s a work in progress lol. I tried the church my roommates go to, ( roommates- God knew what he was doing when I asked a friend if she knew anyone looking for roommates that weren’t crazy lol) but while I love my roommates, and some of the people I’ve met that go there, I just had an ehh feeling about the actual church.

Between being in new city, new school, trying to make new friends, find a new church and my own projects (trying to be healthier, on a budget, and organized) lol, this is DEFINATELY a new adventure lol.

How are all of you all doing???

Love,

Caitlin

Hello!!

Hello my sweet beautiful friends!

Well to start, I miss you all an incredible amount. While God has been really faithful and has provided a lot since I moved to Arkansas, it will never be the same as g

etting to learn and grow with e

ach of you on a daily basis. I'm really glad we are doing this - and sorry it's taken me so long to post.

So it's been eight months since I moved out to the Natural state to start the corporate life I had always dreamed of. And actually, it is everything I thought it would be. The program I am in is nine months long and there are 11 other people in it (6 guys and 6 girls). My group is really close and I thank God all the time that He put us together. We work together, work out together, eat together, run errands together, stress together, and celebrate together. Also, I am in the 7th class of the program, so there is a huge network of people that were once in my shoes and a lot of them have become really good friends. Thankfully, I always have stuff to do and people to do it with!

Work has been really challenging, but equally rewarding. God has definitely been putting me in the right place and the right time and I've been able to work on a ton of projects and do some awesome things! I got to buy our Patriotic program for 4th of July, novelty party favors, and our "Fun Under $1" program that sits in the Celebrations department. I should have mentioned that I work in the Celebrations and Seasonal area - so it's a party all the time. My boss is awesome and I hope I can continue to work with her once the program is over. I am meeting with my Senior Vice President on Thursday to talk about the next steps after the program because I have no idea where they will place me as a planning analyst. Overall, things have been going really well and I am working on not being a slave to my job and making sure I keep my priorities straight.

I've also plugged into a great church called Fellowship. I go to a bible study through there and have met some fun people that also work at Walmart (or for suppliers). Unfortunately, it's nothing like being part of Theta Alpha or CRU. I am still missing some close friendships where we can talk about Jesus and be on the same page - so I am constantly praying for that. I've met a lot of nice people, but getting close to them has felt kinda forced.

The boy department has been a little crazy since I moved down here. To sum it all up - I've met some nice guys who are absolutely crazy. And I probably let their craziness make me a little crazy. So I am working on not being crazy. The end.

Family stuff is good as well. Jordan got engaged in early December!! Him and Andrea are looking to get married in May (I know, I know) in Ocala or Gainesville, so I've been helping her pull that together and get organized. They are on a super tight budget - so yay for DIY weddings! At first I was a little freaked out that they were getting married so quickly, but they are going to counseling and really trying to go about it the right w

ay. Andrea is a great girl and I am excited to have a sister (Maggie is excited too).

The biggest thing right now is making sure that I find a group of people to hold me accountable. I feel like I've been trying to live out all these moments I didn't experience when I was in college and I know that they're not always God honoring. It's been a difficult balance to find, so if you could all pray for that, I would really appreciate it.

Love you girls SO SO SO much! I'll close with some pictures :-)

The Happy Couple

Most of my MLP group (missing 2 guys and 1 girl). The girl next to me (Laura) and the girl behind me (Cherish) have become my Arkansas BFF's. So thankful for them.

A better picture of my Arkansas loves. Dana is the girl not pictured above (blonde).

I'll upload more photos last time. Arkansas is beautiful and you should all come visit!

Two Years?

This is intimidating on so many levels. If Tebow can write a whole book about his life, surely I can handle a few paragraphs, right?? I can’t believe it’s been two years since I left Gainesville, but I’ll do my best to catch you up.

I left the country two weeks after walking across that stage for the most challenging and rewarding adventure of my life... at least up to that point. I moved to South India, where my “job” was to teach music to elementary and middle school students in a small international school. I’m fairly certain I learned a lot more than they did, but the musical at the end of the semester was a hit ☺ I spent the rest of my time building relationships, developing an evangelism curriculum, and helping out with a slum and orphan care ministry. I loved the culture and the friendships and being able to focus entirely on my relationship with Christ and sharing Him with other people. I had no idea what each day would hold, what people I would meet, and what animals I would encounter, but I will save monkey, cobra, and cow stories for another day.





The excitement and sense of adventure made coming back even more difficult though. To go from that to a desk job was not the easiest transition for me, but I was thankful for a great job working with a ministry called New Missions. They work in Haiti, but I was in their stateside office in Orlando. I first worked in donor relations and processed donations, but eventually became the volunteer coordinator.

The best part was being able to be home for a while, and God definitely confirmed that it was where I needed to be and why. My sweet brother-in-law proposed to Lindsey a couple weeks after I got home. The next five months consisted of planning and fittings and tastings, and I could not imagine missing that season of her life. She got married on New Year’s Day 2011. It was a great night, but it’s been even more fun watching them learn and grow since then. I’m glad she’s figuring out the secrets first ☺



Three days after that, doctors confirmed that a lump in my mom’s breast was cancer. Not the best news for Linds and Bryan to receive when they returned home from their honeymoon. My bosses were incredibly gracious and allowed me to join her for every appointment, test, and surgery as we prayed about what would be next. She approached it all with strength and grace that amazed me, and decided to fight it as aggressively as possible. When she went into surgery for a radical mastectomy, I had no doubt that would be the end of that scary journey. Then the doctor came out and shared that he could tell the cancer was in her lymph nodes. This meant a couple of things. Once cancer cells reach that point, they can go anywhere. It also meant that treatment would be much more extensive than we had hoped. Chemo started as soon as she had recovered enough, but again, God was faithful and she was incredible, and our family became closer than ever. She is now healthy and beautiful. And completely rocking the short hair.



Not too long after her diagnosis, a friend from Morristown came to Disney World and invited me to come hang out for a little while. We had gotten back in touch while I was in India and she was serving in China with a ministry called Show Hope. We were both passionate about orphan care and adoption, so we had lots to catch up on. At some point during the day, we joked about how I needed to move the Nashville and work for Show Hope. I didn’t think too much about it until a few weeks later, when I got a text saying the president of the organization wanted my resume. Conversations and interviews started soon after. The timing seemed absolutely insane, but in so many ways, this was my dream job in a city I loved. My family was cautious, but encouraged me to move ahead and see how God led. I had the opportunity to work with people I loved and respected and be a part of orphans coming home to their families. Show Hope runs care centers for special needs orphans and provides grants to help families overcome the financial barriers to adoption. As crazy as it all seemed at the beginning, God graciously worked out the details and I moved south of Nashville the day after my mom’s last chemo treatment.

So that’s where I am now. Franklin, Tennessee, to be more exact. It is a great little town and I have loved settling in and figuring out life on my own. I am living alone for the first time in my life and I’m a huge fan. I’m learning how to use a power drill and I don’t know that I’ve ever felt a greater sense of accomplishment than when I put up a window treatment. Honestly, it will be really tough to live with people ever again! I’ll need some extra grace if God provides a husband. My title at work is “Sponsor Liaison”, which means I communicate with donors if there are any issues and coordinate volunteers when the founder of the ministry has concerts all over the country. I’ll also get to lead occasional mission trips to a couple different places. This move was not something I saw coming, but I feel so blessed to be doing what I am doing.



That doesn’t mean it’s always easy though. I work with some great girls and have good friendships, but I haven’t found community like I had in school and in Orlando. I need accountability, which is something that’s not happening too much at the moment. It's also been tough to be away from family, especially as we process the loss of my grandfather in September. The whole guy/dating/relationship has been a challenge too. There aren’t single guys just hanging out in the adoption world, and I just don’t meet too many that are possibilities. Most of you probably know that I sincerely believed I would marry the guy I dated my last year in school. Clearly that is not what happened, and the thought of being wrong again terrifies me. So I’m hesitant. Trying to trust. And determined to have a great time in this season. I get to experience adventures and an intimacy with my Savior that not everyone does. I want to savor it and learn all I can now. So pray for that when you think about it ☺

This is so much longer than I planned. Sorry, but thanks for reading if you made it through. I love and miss you all dearly. You always have a place to stay when you’re in Nashville, and I am up for hosting a reunion anytime. Praying the new year is a blessed one for each of y'all!

Real Life

Hello Dear Friends,

I miss you. College friendships are so unique and wonderful. Going in we know that at most we'll get to spend about four years together, and eventually drift to different parts of the country (or in our case, the ends of the earth) because of more school, jobs, family. Even still, the magic of college life somehow allows for friendships to grow and develop into relationships with all of the dimensions and flavorings of a wine that has aged well beyond its years.

Now that I'm in the "real world," I almost envy that phenomena.

Last summer I graduated, went to Haiti on a mission trip, and married my best friend all in a span of about two weeks. After a wonderful honeymoon in Jackson Hole we moved to Cary, NC (just outside of Raleigh). Trung had a great job lined up with a traffic engineering consulting firm, and I was certain I would find something soon after we moved in. After a slow and hard job search, I interviewed for an AmeriCorps position with Habitat for Humanity in Chapel Hill. Even though I knew it would only be a temporary job, the position seemed like a good match for my skill set and background. What do I do at Habitat? That depends on the day, no--the hour, you ask me!

By title I am the Youth Programs & Faith Relations Coordinator. The type of work I do could be called program development, fundraising, and event planning. There are two different Youth programs I work with. One program works with the school district in the northern part of the county. Classrooms across grade levels incorporate issues like affordable housing, poverty, etc. into the curriculum. I help facilitate lesson plans, sometimes make presentations to schools about Habitat, and serve as a liason between teachers and Habitat. The schools also fundraise, and one of the high schools has a construction program through which the students build a Habitat home every year. This program is in its third year, and it's my job to sustain it. The other youth program is geared toward the school district in the southern part of the county, church youth groups, civic groups like girl scouts and YMCA, and local youth sports teams. I am helping to create this program, and also secured a $10,000 matching grant for the program to start well. I work with a lot of high schoolers, and sometimes they manage to stress me out. Who would have thought? ;)

As for the faith relations part of my job, I get to work with a lot of churches. It's quite awesome! Churches sponsor homes as well as rehab projects we do through funding and volunteer support. I help maintain relationships with several churches, as well as scout and start new relationships with churches in the community. I love working for a faith-based organization, and being a part of nonprofit that is making a very tangible difference in the community that I live in. The Habitat office I work for, does some incredible things. We work with UNC Chapel Hill often. Below is the link to a video of a campus wide project we did.

http://vimeo.com/16180607

I have had the opportunity to grow and learn so much in the short time that I've been there. I am working under a supervisor who has so much wisdom and insight, and it has been a great experience to work under her. After much prayer and thinking, I've decided to commit to another year in the program (you can only serve 2 years). I think another year will not only allow me to see more of my goals come to fruition, but it will give me the chance to continue to grow and develop professionally.

Hmm, this post is getting long, so perhaps I should share a little about marriage. First off, it's wonderful! Secondly, it's real life. What I mean is that when you're dating, and even when you're engaged, you're most likely not living life together. When you get married, suddenly all of your decisions include and affect another person. Yes, even the seemingly small ones. You face areas of life together that are hard enough for one person, like running a home, finances, etc. Needless to say it has been a huge growing process. But I can see God's hand at work in my heart any time conflict or hardship arises. I started reading a book called "Sacred Marriage" by Gary Thomas recently. The theme centers around this question: What if God's purpose for marriage is to make you holy, more than to make you happy? Even though married life is great and I love Trung more than words can say, I am quickly finding that it's not made to satisfy me the way Hollywood paints it. Perhaps that would taint the idea of marriage for some. But I think I like the idea of a heavenly Bridegroom that is so jealous for my heart, he would let nothing on earth fill it. I think deep down my heart rejoices over the fact that even something as beautiful and intimate as a relationship with a spouse could leave me feeling like there's still something bigger and greater and more fulfilling than what I know now. It makes me eager and hopeful for the day I see Him face to face.

As I said earlier, I miss you dearly. It's great to hear where God has all of you! I was a little hesitant about how a blog like this could work, but I'm excited to see how Christ uses this to encourage us. For those of you who haven't posted yet, I know the first entry seems daunting. We have a lot to catch up on. But I urge you for the benefit of your sisters to set aside some time to at least start. If you can't cover every area of your life, start with just one :) Just like those papers in college, sometimes the hardest part is just committing to writing the first sentence.

Here are some glimpses of my life over the past year:

Our Wedding Day

Our snowy honeymoon in Jackson Hole (It was the end of May!!)

The whole family at the gardens at Duke University

Rock climbing on Pilot Mountain (this is a new hobby for Trung and I)

The wonderful team of ladies I work with at Habitat

Some of the high school students I work with (this is out on the Habitat work site)

I need to get creative for this...

Greetings from Gainesville..lol yep, still here.

First off, I am sorry that I stink at keeping in touch(I’ve always been bad at it, but I hope this blog will change that). I really do miss all of you and the community we had in Theta Alpha. I have to agree with Ellie, it feels like a million years ago.

My life…. Well, it certainly has not gone to my plan, but maybe that’s for the best. I know God has a purpose for me being here and working in a preschool but I def. still struggle with it. I still want to be an OT, and over the past year and a half, I have learned a lot of lessons about the real world, responsibility, what I do and don’t want in life and how important community truly is. So here it is... The good, the bad, the ugly…

Family…Good. It’s been a really hard struggle to be in the same house, esp after being on my own. Having almost a curfew and trying to balance time between everyone in my life. I do love my family, and have gotten closer to them but boy its hard sometimes to stay sane

Friends…Not like my Theta Alpha Loves, but I am building a community of close friends that helps me keep sane at times and to remember how faithful God is and that he has a purpose for all of this. Specifically my friend Lindsey J I am also looking at possibly joining a different church and finding a community outside of grace (where I’ve been since 7th grade) where I am challenged more, and can give more and am possibly checking out Anthem church.

So, I guess that leads to God. It’s definitely been a rollercoaster ride full of ups and downs and twist. I pulled away when I graduated, feeling like a failure for not going to grad school, moving back home, working at a preschool and still occasionally wrestle with that feeling. And I think it contributed to how I pulled away from some of you. I didn’t want to hang around Theta Alpha as the alumni that wouldn’t leave and wasn’t in grad school and I didn’t want you guys to see me like that. And that was my loss. I also should have pulling God closer rather than pushing him away and putting up the front that everything was ok and I was still confident. But I am realizing there is a purpose. I have gotten to spend time with family (even if they drive me crazy sometimes) , gotten to develop a relationship with my middle school youth girls, build a stronger relationship with Tanner, and meet some new friends and learn that while it may not be my plan, God has the better one anyway. So if I am called away to another city for grad school or anything else, this time wasn’t wasted.

Work… I still want to be an OT, even if my boss doesn’t lol. She has promoted me to a lead teacher and hopes i will stay. I have my own class of 2 year olds, wow, its actually kinda cool and def a challenge because now I have lesson plans, and standards to meet and to provide a fun but successful learning environment. I still want OT. I am being open to the possibility that God could call me to teach, but will keep pushing forward to OT until he slams the door in my face lol. I want to help people. I want to make a difference and OT and Teaching both accomplish that. Side note, I miss me time. (I’ve been working 7:30-5:30 every day this past week and 8:30-5:30 before that. Add that to being at home or using the last few hrs before bed to hang with tanner or friends or youth or family. Luckily with the position change, my schedule is changing soon.

Last but not least…Tanner. A year and a half and going strong. He knows me better than

anyone, can make me smile or seriously drive me crazy or keep me sane. Calls me out when I need it, comforts and listens and sees right through me even when I don’t want him to. We have our share of fights (some of them knock out drag out ,not literally but we are both stubborn)but we always apologize or stay to work it out. He brings out the kid in me and while most people think im the more mature one, sometimes I think they are wrong. Because the side he doesn’t show most people is more mature than I am. So I can’t complain lol. He wasn’t what I expected God to give me either (hmmm, a pattern maybe?)

Anyways if you didn’t know this about me, I’m stubborn but I’m glad God is more stubborn that I am.

Prayer Request:

~Mom. Her mother passed away a couple weeks ago

~My youth girls.

~Me. That I would build a stronger community and make a difference. To stay positive and grow closer to God and be open to and excited for his direction. It took him pulling me off my own course to stop and realize I need to follow him not the other way around and yet I still try and grab the wheel lol. I’m stubborn but luckily HE is more stubborn than I am

In closing…. Merry Christmas!!! And Post please, if I can do it, u can :P

Coming To America...

Greetings my friends from the Windy City - that today saw a 20 degree drop in temps over yesterday's highs - winter is all but here!

Like Kelly, I have what could amount to pages and pages of life updates to share with y'all (especially since I haven't seen some of you in way more months than I would like to admit by counting) but we'll get there little by little. For now...a taste of how I came to be in Chicago.

I got back to the States in the wee hours of August 11th after, what for now, I'll just say was a ridiculously amazing year in South Africa that was closely followed by three weeks of backpacking through Zambia and Malawi with some friends. I chilled at home for a few days just trying to catch up on everything - sleep, time with family, meals that included multiple food groups, etc. I was then begged back to Edison State College to work a bit on the 16th and 17th - those were really hard days for me. They stuck me at the Advising counter the week before classes started which meant TONS of people and TONS of people who thought they were the most important people on the planet. Talk about culture shock. I was much happier when they told me I could go make copies or work in the smaller advising center that was just helping students to register for their classes. Y'all know me - I usually thrive under pressure and with lots of things coming at me from multiple directions but that front desk was not my cup of tea and other than airports it was the largest number of people I had been around since I had been back.

One of the girls who was part of my volunteer crew (she was in Johannesburg for her placement) was in Orlando for a large assembly for the Lutheran church that finished up on the 19th. She had known long before we left for SA that she was going to be there, so for an entire year we had been planning to meet up and go play at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - since neither of us had ever been. I went up on the 18th and hung out with Stacy and James and then met Amanda at the Marriott World Center - talk about a massive hotel - more culture shock. We stayed with the Efstathious and got to play at IOA which was just as awesome as I remember. Then I dropped Amanda at the airport on Monday and headed to Cocoa Beach to visit with Caroline for a couple of days.

At this point, I should back track a bit to a random day in Nkhata Bay, Malawi when I stopeed into an internet cafe and had an email from a friend and former colleague of mine from my internship days at the ELCA in Chicago. She had just been hired for a new position and was told to hire someone as an assistant to the Constituent Engagement side of World Hunger. She was soliciting my stuff and I was still in Africa. So I shot my mom a message real quick (the internet connections were terrible) so she could look at the position and potentially submit a resume on my behalf. From there I had no idea what had happened as we were without internet fro the rest of our travels. I found out when I got home that mom had indeed submitted a resume but then we heard nothing so I just went about my merry way trekking across the Sunshine State. I got a phone call when I was at Stacy's that first night to make an appointment for a phone interview on Monday. Monday I was at Caroline's and we were catching up when the call came and I took myself out next to her pool and tried to stay focused on answering questions while the dolphins were playing in the canal out back. Pretty much what Mikka and Dan said was that the position I had "applied" for had been given to someone else. BUT they had a 6 month contract position that they wanted to give me. They weren't talking to anyone else, but they needed me ASAP and pretty much needed an answer by the next day. I said "thanks", hung up, called my mom, talked to Caroline about it, prayed a lot as we sat on the beach, and eventually called them on Tuesday to say "why the heck not, but I can't be there before Labor Day." I was now employed with a salary and full benefits - wow, Big Girl time!

Since everything was on crunch time, I went on up to Gainesville (Stew was pretty much the only person who knew I was coming) from Cocoa Beach and dropped in on a pre-Rush event, and saw some old faces for a few days then headed home to finish unpacking and start repacking and trying to find a place to live. When I was an intern, I was fortunate enough to be able to find a host family to take me in for the summer - for FREE! During my prep time this go 'round, I sent them an email just to say we should ahve dinner, etc. Cindy, bless her soul, responded and said they had converted part of their basement and I was welcome to it for as long as I wanted - and the only cost was to help with the heating bill. :) HOORAY! I said goodbye to my family, AGAIN, and drove up to Chicago over Labor Day weekend. My travels allowed me to have birthday lunch with Melissa and APrats and Stephen in Gville, stay with my sister & family for a night in Atlanta, hang out with Ellie and Joel and watch my first Gator game in forever in Memphis, and crash at Kelly's awesome apartment for an evening in St. Louis before finally arriving to Chi-town on Labor Day Monday. On Tuesday, September 6th, less than a month after coming to America...I was at work.

Speaking of work...I should probably get back to it. More on that and Africa things later. Love you all more than you know!

P.S. I'll try to liven it up with pictures in the future but those would be at home and not in my cubicle...:(