Continuing on one step at a time..

Do not complain about the lack of community that you may experience after leaving this one that you have been so engrossed in... instead, take what you have learned, become the leader, and start that community somewhere else.  

Pondering..

We just returned from our retreat in the mountains this weekend.  It was definitely a fun time, but also a time of processing.  Looking back on the past 3 months, I have learned so much in such a short amount of time.  I am still trying to process exactly what I have learned and exactly how I have changed.  I think that I will continue to learn in the months to come.

I leave for Africa a week from today.  My travels are coming up soon, and I am definitely getting excited!  I will be gone until June 2nd, and will have no communication (or very very limited) until I return.  No news is good news.  I am excited for the experience to come, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.  

More to come later this week before I leave..

San Diego!

We made it back to San Diego yesterday and have started to reunite with the other teams!  So good to be back!  So good.  The rest of the teams will get in tonight and tomorrow morning.  Only bad thing is.. we all have to leave each other in a week and a half.  Fun times lie ahead of story-telling from tour!  

pure beauty.

The beauty of a sunset...

California here we are!

Wow... three months has passed and tour is now complete.  We have travelled many states and are now back where we started in California.  We finished our last screenings in New Mexico.. then made the journey back through NM, Arizona, and finally reached California last night.  Our first stop in this state was, of course, In-N-Out.  Mmmm!  We stopped in LA to see the SoCal team as well!  So fun getting to reunite with friends after a few months have gone by.  We are not allowed to go back to San Diego until Wed night, so until then, we have the rough life of a vacation in Newport Beach, CA.  Honestly, this has been a blessing of relaxation for us so far.  We met up with some contacts here and are literally staying on a house next to the ocean.  Today we got to enjoy the 90 degree weather outside all day, and then we just got back from a bike ride down the Boardwalk.  We are going to go watch the sunset, eat some dinner, and do a little more relaxing.  Rough life.  

It is crazy that tour is over.. definitely have mixed emotions about it.  I am stoked to see the rest of the roadies when we return later this week!  And not so stoked to be going separate ways 10 days later.  But in that time, we will be having 10 days of debriefing... a pretty packed schedule, but it should be good.  I will continue to keep you updated...

<3

Long drives

Soo... we made the day journey from eastern texas to western texas.  Let me fill you in on this secret incase you have never been to this great state.  Eastern Texas=fun, cities, etc.  Western Texas=open land of nothingness, tumbleweeds, etc.  So I drove the 9 hours across the state and didn't find much along the way.  But we made it to El Paso!  It is a border city with Mexico and you literally drive on the interstate here and Mexico is directly on one side, while America is on the other.  In the US, you see large buildings, nice cars, the university, etc.  On the Mexico side you see small shack houses, dirt roads, etc.  It breaks my heart that this one little border separates two completely different worlds of living.  

Today we are leaving Texas and making the short hour drive to New Mexico where we will be staying the next 3 days.  We have our 2 IC screenings there and will be finished with tour later this week.  It is astonishing that tour is almost over!  I look back and wonder where the last three months have gone.  So fast, but so fun.  At the end of the week we will begin our venture back to California...

<3