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thoughts on cape town























I'm back in New York and exhausted and completely jet lagged, but my heart is full and encouraged. My time there was better than time well spent. It was refreshing, invigorating, eye-opening, sobering and life changing. And now, I'm back in the daily grind and missing my team of 16 that I spent every waking moment with over the past 10 days, the people of South Africa, summer (!), and the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen.

One thing I hadn't completely anticipated was how difficult it would be to tell people about my trip. In so many ways, words won't do it justice. I've decided that since I took over 1,000 pictures, and since apparently a picture is worth a thousand words, that I'm going to post short, small posts over the next several weeks, so bear with me as I slowly get all of my thoughts up. Consider yourself warned, there is more beauty to behold than you can possibly imagine!

back in the us of a

Our team arrived safely back in New York this morning around 7 am, but I'm currently still operating on Cape Town time which means it's about 3:15 in the morning for me. I'm getting ready to call it a night, but I couldn't stand not posting at least one picture before I went to bed. Many more to come!






















[I took this picture from Robben Island looking over to Cape Town and Table Mountain. Paradise!]

i'm coming!

I've been away in South Africa for 10 days....but I'm coming back! I'm hopping on a plane tonight to bring me back to my homeland. Don't worry, I'm coming!































[photo credit & thanks to Brendan]

ghost posts

While I'm gone to Africa, I've scheduled a few surprise "ghost posts" to keep my blog going. Don't worry, though, I won't be spending any of my precious time in Africa looking at a computer screen. But there were a few events I just couldn't miss so I arranged the posting ahead of time!

i love:

the night before a trip! All of my things are perfectly in order and ready to go for the next morning. My clothes are neatly laid out so that I don't have to think about anything except getting out the door. And because I've usually gotten in bed way too late the night before (ahem) and because I'm leaving at 6:45 in the morning, I definitely need this kind of fool proof plan. Ready or not, it's almost here!

in the spirit

Lindy (our fashionista team member!) and a few others from our South African mission team left for Cape Town this past Monday. I saw this picture of Lindy at the airport on Monday morning with the South African flag painted on her nails. She's ready! And it makes me even more excited too...

so far,

...not so good. I set out to get a lot of packing done tonight, and now it's 11:02 PM and this is all I have: my swimsuit (because I only have 1 option to pack) and my pajama shorts (again, only 1 option). I guess it's better than nothing, but I fear I have a long way to go...

here.

I still can't believe I'm going here. And, in less than a week! I'm not completely sure of what awaits me in the next week, but I am getting more excited by the minute.























Cape Town, South Africa

packing party

























My trip to South Africa is so close! On Monday night we had our last team meeting before we all depart. And we spent a couple of hours packing up supplies, toys, goodies, snacks into our 17 bags. We bought a lot of toys, art supplies and gifts to donate to the church and organizations we are going to be working with there. As for food, we'll be enjoying a lot of the local fare; but for the long and tiring days, Elisabeth Hasselbeck generously donated her nogii bars to our entire team! They filled up an entire suitcase as you can see above (and I tried one at our meeting - they are delicious and you should check them out!). I think we will be completely set on snacks, huh?

It's getting so close I can hardly stand it...

weekend 1 update

I am so behind on posting these pictures that I'm not yet sure if it's worth it. But then when I take a look again at how cute they are, how could I not post them? 

At the end of September, I made a quick trip home and it just happened the be the weekend of Monica and Tate's birthdays. Brent, Mayce and McKay organized a surprise party, and I was lucky enough to get to partake in the festivities! I wish you could have seen the look on their faces. Both were shocked, but Tate's response was priceless (no shock there!).



We did a full blown birthday party with pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and all!


































I still can't believe where I ended up on Saturday night! I don't need to say it, the picture says it all. But it was a fun "girls night" with just Monica, Mayce and McKay! No matter where we ended up, I enjoyed the time. And I can always enjoy a good SEC football game, there were just no Roll Tides coming from me. So glad I got to make this quick trip!

[ps - there are a series of very delayed weekend update posts coming soon!]

meet the team


























I mentioned something a couple weeks ago about a fundraiser I was helping to host. What I failed to mention was the reason we are going to Cape Town, and the fact that we are getting ready to leave in a mere 6 weeks! My friend Bethany, and mission teammate, posted a great description of our upcoming trip on her blog (along with these pictures I swiped). Through Redeemer, we are going to serve alongside Point Community Church in Cape Town and love their community in many different ways. Our schedule and itinerary aren't completely solidified yet, but I'm anxious and excited to see where this trip will lead us. For now, it's been a wonderfully fun time getting to know these 17 people with whom I'm about to embark on such a terrific adventure!