( thankful to be with this little lady this holiday weekend)

According to recent events, I would like to think that I have perfectly good reason to be somewhat miserable this holiday. I must admit to having a bout of self pity on my unexpected flight to Arizona (my ipod mix for the flight was titled "Thanksgiving from Hell"). In that ipod mix titling moment I certainly felt I had nothing to be thankful for. However, shortly after landing in the desert I received a comforting text from a good friend; "Family heals everything." So simple, so true. The unconditional love, encouragement, laughter and support of family can really carry us through anything.

I love having a holiday that is entirely dedicated to sitting back and taking into account all that we are truly grateful for.

I'm mostly grateful for the people in my life...

and red eye flights that can quickly get me to those people.

I'm grateful to be a daughter of God, and to know I matter to him. Even though I'm not perfect he sees my efforts, knows the intentions of my heart and hears my prayers. I know this.

I'm grateful for my job, sometimes I can really feel that I make a difference in other peoples lives. I'm grateful for the people it has allowed me to meet. Many of them have really touched and inspired me.

I'm grateful for heartache, the ups and the downs. I'm grateful for the last 5 months. It has been so humbling, and special, and beautiful, and gosh maybe even an answered prayer.

I'm grateful to friends that are always forgiving of my shortfalls and always supportive. As I've gone through life there have been meaningful relationships that quickly come and go; people that were strategically placed in my path to teach me something. In contrast there have been people in my life that are steadfast, constant and to those people, namely family and close friends, I am so grateful for their unconditional love.

Mazetlan

The place I love to be in January....

Learning how to surf

Exploring with Nick and Nate near Playa Bruja

The girls, even Nayvi

We all got Henna tats on the beach

Ireland

While in London we decided to make our best efforts to somehow navigate our way to Ireland. We took cabs that took us to trains that took us to other trains that took us to more trains that FINALLY took us to a ferry. We arrived about 10 min. late to the last ferry of the day. Despite our misfortune we decided to make the best of the situation and toured the small town in Wales of which we were stuck. We ended up sleeping in the station until the next ferry came at 5 in the morning. We were grateful to finally be in Dublin :) Throughout the next couple weeks we saw all of Ireland and got a peak of Scotland.

There were beautiful churches and castles everywhere!

Giants Causeway. Amazing.

These are some friends from Spain, Alberto and Monica. We shared a room at our Hostel in Dublin and decided to see the sites with them.

Hiking

Isn't this magical? I thought so.

I see London...

Link to a video I made about Africa:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLmandnAySQ

I miss

A year ago this time I was gearing up for and adventure. I didn't know what to expect going to Uganda but I didn't know it would be so life changing.
Masaka was home base and it is where I fell in love with these sweet faces.
We were able to travel all over Uganda doing eye testing, AIDS education, woman's health education, natural family planning, nutrition education, we built dormitories, latrines and ponds. We taught classes for village women, supplied mosquito nets, shoes, and sewing machines. wanted
One of my favorite trips was to the refugee camp in Gulu which is right on the boarder of the Sudan, Uganda and the Congo. It was an emotional trip, but the people from Gulu were very inspiring.
Toward the end of the trip we were able to go to a national park where we went on a jeep safari and saw the most stunning animals. we camped in a flimsy tent right in the park. We took a boat tour on the Nile and got feet away from hippos and crocodiles. The next day we were rafting in the same river.
This was an amazing adventure, I remember coming home and feeling way over privileged. All of a sudden I had WAY too many shoes, getting my hair done was very unnecessary, ridiculous even. I flew into Vegas to meet my family and was very annoyed at the lush lifestyle I had left a few months ago. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and missing the mosquito net over my face and the loud noises of the discos in Kampala. I remember missing ice cold showers with a bucket. Alas, all these feelings slowly fade, so it is completely necessary for me to remember back to my summer in Africa with amazing people who have showed me what really matters in life.

Coming Soon----

...AFRICA!!!