Home, Sweet Home

I am SO ready to get home. I've been gone for six weeks. In those six weeks I have...

• slept in four different beds
• had tons of information crammed into my brain
• been encouraged to see what God is doing in His world
• met gazillions of new people
• become a SIM appointee

I am SO ready to get home. I need some time to process it all.

My Summer Adventures - Toronto

It seems like a couple years since I've gotten to spend a summer in Toronto but I guess it's only been one. I have to say this was one of the most pleasant summers I've spent in Toronto weatherwise. It was beautiful...not really all that hot and definitely not humid. I got to spend lots of quality time with my parents and with my friends. Here are some of the highlights...

• Walking & Shopping with my Mom


• Helping my Dad at Work


• Sharing with a group of Seniors who have been praying faithfully for me


• Having a picnic with several of the SIM retirees including my 2nd grade teacher


• Seeing my friends, the Borodies, from Niger


• Going to church with Michelle & getting to see how happy she is there


• Making buns and pie crusts with Jennifer...she made an awesome pie


• Going to two of Chellaine's football games...she is the athletic therapist for the Hamilton Ti-Cats and she is amazing!

Here's Chellaine helping an injured Ti-Cat Player & observing the action on field with several players.

My Summer Adventures - TCK-PFO

Huh? TCK-PFO??? What in the world? That stands for Third Culture Kids-Pre-Field Orientation. Those who participated fondly referred to it as TICK-FO. Anyway, this was the conference which I attended for two weeks in Houghton, NY. I think that there were just under 200 teachers and future dorm parents who participated in this conference which focused on the specific needs of children who grow up overseas and also delved into the experience of transitioning from one culture to another. Even though I've already been overseas, I thought it was a very valuable experience. I had several moments where things that I had experienced in Niger came into a clearer focus and I was able to understand what was really going on. It was so encouraging to see what God is doing around the world and how He is using Third Culture Kids to reach families from around the world with the gospel. It was also amazing to share the experience with so many others who are dedicated to making an impact in the lives of TCKs!

These were my roomies...Linda, Marcie, Me & Sandra.

Marcie & Rebecca Being Goofy! Rebecca was practically our roomie too! Marcie, Rebecca and Sandra are all headed to Morrison Academy in Taiwan.

Linda and Bonnie are headed to Faith Academy in the Phillipines. We are standing at Letchworth Falls.

Marion & Kris are also headed to Morrison Academy.

(Marion plays a mean guitar and watch out for Kris' Kung Fu Fighting Skills!)

While we were at Letchworth Park we saw a hot air balloon. I think that's the first time I've ever seen a hot air balloon in person so I had to take a picture. At $200 a pop, I wasn't about to take a ride!

Reasons to Love Africa

Someone sent me these pictures in an e-mail. I thought they were pretty funny. Hope they make you laugh too!

This vehicle was seen near Makerere - and its not full. Did you notice where the electiric pole is located? It was seen in Buru Buru, Nairobi - the electricity company was not paid money by the roads dept. to remove the pole, so they left it there. Human ingenuity? Painting the swimming pool! Must be Zimbabwe.

Procrastinating Packer

It's about 24 hours before I'm supposed to be leaving on a month long trip that will take me from Charlotte to Houghton, NY on to Toronto and then back to Charlotte before I finally return home. You might think that I've got everything packed and ready to go especially since I'll be gone for over a month. Now I'm going to share some shocking photos with you my friends. Yes, that's right my suitcase is sitting completely empty behind my door and my carry on suitcase is sitting empty on my floor except for that one shirt that I didn't unpack from my weekend trip two weeks ago. I can honestly tell you that I haven't packed a thing yet!I guess you could call me a procrastinating packer. Since my college days I have always been a last minute packer. The night before I leave I am up until the wee hours of the morning getting it all together. What can I say? I like the pressure plus if I don't pack maybe I won't have to go. :)

So what's your packing style? Are you a prepared packer or a procrastinating packer like me?

What I'm currently reading...

I just got finished reading a great book by Linda Nichols, who is rising fast on my list of authors I love, called In Search of Eden. It's about a young woman who was forced by her mother to give up her child for adoption. After her mother's death, she goes on a search for her child which leads her to the town of Abingdon where she learns more about her mother's past and begins to understand why her mother acted the way she did. I highly recommend this book along with the rest of Linda Nichols books. Check out the link I added on the side.

Now I've moved on to a book called From the Belly of the Dragon. I'm hoping I can finish before I leave tomorrow because I checked it out of the library.

Happy Reading!

Making Cards

What did I do for fun before I was introduced to card making? (Read books...of course!) But back to card making...which just happens to be the perfect hobby for me since I love writing letters.

I think it was really my mom who introduced me to the joy of letters. When I went off to first grade at K.A. my mom would write me amazing letters. Of course, there were letters from my parents but then she would also write letters from my cat, Mischief. She would tell me all about what Mischief had been up to and then she somehow captured that wild thing and stamped its footprints on to the letters. Since I had to be so far away from my parents, these letters really communicated their love to me!

Now my first experiences with writing letters were pretty traumatic. Every week we had one day at school which was set aside to write letters to our parents. I missed my mom and dad so much that each time I would sit down to write my letter I was brought to tears. My first grade teacher didn't really understand what was going on and so it was a bit of a struggle...God knew that I was having such a hard time because my dad came down with Hepatitis and my parents had to come to the rest home so my dad could recuperate. I was able to talk with them and they were able to talk with my teacher and first grade was a thousand times better after that! Anyway, I digress. :)

I think I really began to love writing letters because it was one way that I could communicate with my best friend Karen when I was away at school. Then when I moved back to Canada and she was still in Niger, we continued to write letters.

E-mail has changed a lot of things but an e-mail still does not compare with the joy of going to my mailbox and finding a letter from a friend! Sending letters and cards, has become a way for me to express my love for my friends and family and it's even more fun now that I've been introduced to the art of card making.

My mom's birthday is coming up and since she inspired my love of letters, I decided to make her a few cards to pass on to others. Don't worry! I can post these pictures because my mom is in no danger of finding out since she doesn't use the internet. :)