To New Friends and Old Ones

It's been a while since I posted so this may be long. Brian and I arrived at staging this week. Tomorrow we leave for Africa and I can't believe the day is just around the corner. We have met some absolutely amazing people the last couple of days. I love our training group! I could not ask to leave with a more like-minded set of people. It's great to know that in everything we've been going through the last few months, we weren't alone in our frustrations, excitement, anxiety, you name it.

I flew in from Denver instead of Ohio because last week I was visiting my sister in Colorado. That was a great time! I was in a small mountain town that's about 8200 ft and a population of about 1400. After the last month or so of constant running around (which I'll get to later) this was a much needed rest. I didn't have to do anything or be anywhere by any certain timetable. It was the most therapeutic thing I could have possible done for myself. Normally, when I go on vacation I have itineraries of things I want to see or do or places I want to go but not this time. One of the many highlights was when my sister and I and a couple of her friends went on a small hike in a place called Hessie (?) that's at about 9000 ft with a beautiful small waterfall. There is nothing that brings a sense of calm like being out in nature. The five days I spent there were so restful!

The weeks before Brian and I left Ohio were crazy. We thought we had until the middle of June to get out of our apartment but it turns out we had to be out by May 31st to avoid yet another months rent (on top of the 2 to break the lease). Fortunately, I had quit my job the week before to get things in order for Africa so the entire last week of May was dedicated to packing, cleaning and moving. Once that was done we had mountains of other things to put into order before leaving. We barely had time to say our goodbyes.

There are so many people that I'm going to miss while away! To all of my friends and family, I hope you all stay in touch, you all mean the world to me!

PS: Send us stuff, it would be great! :-)