i am sitting in the detroit airport, enjoying some ms fields cookies and an ice cold diet coke. it is good to be home. im exhausted, and have a lot of things ahead of me, but i continue to have a peace about my decision, about this experience.

one more flight! and im pretty sure that the border patrol officer thought i had brought drugs back from kaz. oh wow.

i also got really excited that i get to see the fourth season of the office when it comes out instead of waiting for 2 years! score!:)

change of plans!

okay. so i have some news that might be shocking or surprising or whatever, but here it is...

(no, im not getting married nor am i pregnant).

im coming home tomorrow. back to houston.

the people of kazakhstan are beautiful and gracious and giving. i have no complaints with them. peace corps has also been amazing and supportive, both with my decision to leave, and with everything else. i have no complaints with them.

i just cant be this far away from my family, from my support network. i decided after 2 nights of not sleeping and isolating myself to my room that this might not be the best environment for me. as they keep telling me, peace corps is not for everyone.

this decision took a lot of soul searching, a lot of praying. i kind of planned on this for 2 years, so now there needs to be a new plan...and that is a scary and uncomfortable thing. i dont want people to think that i am flighty or weak-willed. i remembered a quote that impressed me...'we are taught that maturity is equal to self-sufficiency.' so just because im not completely independent doesnt mean that im weak or immature. in other words, think zach braff at the end of garden state.

so, i get back into town 930 tomorrow night, and then i dont know what the plan will be. i need to find a job, a place to live, all those things. and i know that i will.

feel free to email (or maybe call, im not sure what will happen with my phone), or visit me wherever i am. im excited to be headed back home.

peace...

philly...land of the cheese steaks!

So I am in Philadelphia, and staging has been great. It is a wonderful thing to be able to meet 61 other people who don't think you are crazy for entering the Peace Corps:)!

We have just been doing a lot of team building things, and tomorrow we leave for real. It's so exciting that the months of waiting are about to be over. There was a really cool moment today, as we were closing up. We stood in a circle, and just were able to share our thoughts and feelings about the past few days, and about our group. It was one I will remember. 

Tomorrow (really the next 2 days) are going to be tiring, so I need to head to bed. But I am doing well and excited for the next part of this journey! Take care!

holy hannah. its happening!

i am leaving in t-minus 3 wakeups. the sheer amount of things i need to do hit me today, and i really havent slept all week because ive been up late doing things. so, i guess its time to decide what absolutely HAS to be done (pack, for instance) and decide to not do some things that i want to do.

i AM, however, going to get a massage that was a perfect gift from the spoedes. that happens tomorrow. yay for relaxing!

ill have my phone until sunday morning (at 6:30) when my mom drops me off. so, if you want to hear my voice one more time, give me a ring!

take care! talk to you in kazakhstan!:)

I was blessed this weekend to have a going away party at the Stanleys house. It was so great to be able to hang out and enjoy my family and friends. I also got to share my story at Eccelsia today, which was good. There were a lot of connections made, so that is always exciting.

If I had to put a picture on community, these would be it. I found it when I was in Washington DC last spring break, and it is just beautiful to me. These sculptures looked like weebils (the kind that wobble but don't fall down, not the gross bug that gets in cereal). But what I LOVE is that one is falling over, and one is grabbing him from the front (even though it looks like he may be pushing him, I promise he's not), and one is supporting his back. Community. I fall, you fall. THIS is what I will miss.

In one week, I'll be in Philadelphia, enjoying all of my Kaz20 friends. That is crazy.

This MAY be my favorite picture of the day. The jury is still out. This is Reese Stanley, being held by her daddy. We call this her grumpy face. :)

'more blessed in you than i know'

-berry

poor little AC...

i took my car (which i lovingly call AC Slater) to a few places today to see just how much it would take to fix him.

by the third place, i was convinced that he is broken beyond repair. they said it would cost 95% of the value in order to get it fixed. insurance only pays if the cost is 65% or less of the total value of the car. they used the phrase 'total loss.'

but on a serious note, i will miss that car. lots of memories of trips to abilene, proctor, south carolina, all over texas. its been good to me.

if rosetta stone was a physical being, i might kick it in the face. seriously. it is just very particular, and my russian is coming out with a little spanish accent. sounds kind of funny.....

oh and ps...if you are reading this and dont have plans for saturday, come to my party!:)

Jacey and I got to go to the beach for a few days, and it was amazing. I decided I am a big fan of laying in the sand and doing nothing. So relaxing! 

Then, my mom calls with sad news. Eduoard is coming! It actually was (and still is) headed toward Galveston, which is way north of where we were at, but we came home early anyway. It's supposed to bring lots of rain, so plans might change for this week, we shall see. 

Good to be home though. Can't believe I'm 12 days away from Philly!