another day, another adventure

so i haven't blogged in  a long time. like, all summer. i wasn't sure where to go with the blog, to be perfectly honest. i've always been a writer, but more for myself or for a class of some sort. i wanted everyone to stay updated while i was in haiti, and a great friend suggested that i start this, so there i was. it went pretty well, but when i was home i wasn't sure what to do with it. so i stopped!

this summer, for anyone who wants to know, was a big summer for me. i'm terrible at finishing things that i've started (a genetic trait i'm told!), but this summer i've done or am currently working on three very big, HUGE, life-changing activities and milestones in my life.

first i went to haiti, which you all know. it was last minute and spontaneous; wonderful and terrifying. perhaps because it was such a last minute opportunity, i didn't have the chance to be nervous. i processed everything a little while after the trip, and to some extent still am. one thing i do know: God has given me a compassionate heart for the poor. i knew it before, but i felt it there.

THEN, on july 27, i GRADUATED!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!! 10 years is way too long for anyone to get a bachelor's degree, but i did it and i finished it and i graduated magna cum-laude, which is the second highest:) why it took so long is a very long story, and i won't go into it, but know that it was a HUGE accomplishment!!!

third: i'm training for a half marathon. on october 3, 2010, my sister--in-law ashley and i will be running/jogging/surviving 13.1 miles along the atlantic ocean in ocean city, nj. why you ask? my only answer to you is i have absolutely no idea, but i must be at least a little crazy. until a few weeks ago, three miles was the longest i've ever run (run/walk really). this past sunday: 8! more than halfway there! i do have to take a little time off for accomplishment #4......

TOMORROW I LEAVE FOR SOUTH AFRICA!! twice out of the country this year, twice for things that aren't quite "vacation". they are very different experiences, however. i'm spending 11 days in mokopane, SA (in the northern province) ministering to kiddos and adults who work on a farm/game reserve. there are 11 of us going, most of whom go to the same little home church and know each other probably a little too well:) it's going to be great! we will get to sightsee a little, go to kruger national park on a safari, hike a little in beautiful places, play with adorable little african boys, teach to the adults, and do lots of good old labor during the day. of course, this is a mission trip, so all of that could change in an instant! but we're open to anything.

the best part is: my husband is coming! my sister is coming! my good friend is coming! we'll be working and serving together, experiencing it all together. that's probably the biggest, most refreshing blessing of all. i pray that i learn a lot on this trip, and that God uses it to prepare me for what's next. after all...4 big things in one year can only lead to two things. an unbearably boring 2011, or one filled with so much excitement it's unfathomable!

i'll try to blog while i'm there....i hear internet is sketchy!  see you in 2 weeks!