Reflections.

So you would think that after 25 whole years of life that I would have some wonderful insight on life. Unfortunately, I don't think that's the case. Twenty-five seems like such a milestone, but honestly, it just makes me feel behind. : ) Surely I should know more and should have done more and should be dreaming more. But I have learned some stuff and to prove it here is my top seven.

7. Mom and Dad were right - I would never have taken care of a puppy - they are time consuming.

6. Learning is fun - I love school (maybe I should go back).

5. Even though I have "grown up" I don't think I will ever know what I want to be.

4. All that really matters is the people you relate with.

3. Hair days (good or bad) don't really matter - no one else notices.

2. My husband is cool - he does nice things for me.

1. God has an amazing way of working things out - Its called grace.

Ahh....a wonderful fall day.

I just love fall, October, and everything that goes with it - Halloween, Thanksgiving, leaves, cold weather, sweaters, scarves, coats, boots, hot cocoa, cider, soup, everything!

Yesterday was a wonderful day. I went to work wearing a sweater and a scarf. I went to babysit some of my favorite kiddos! Amy and Anna - next week I will see the rest - Ashleigh and Austin. We had fun inside projects - cupcakes, naps, and make-believe. The cupcakes were Funfetti with chocolate Funfetti frosting! The best. We made a pretty big mess, but boy, the cupcakes were yummy.

During nap time - I encountered a deranged cardinal. He ran himself in to various windows and doors over and over. He was nuts. For a little while, I thought the girls weren't napping and were jumping around upstairs!

Then we spent the chilly evening eating soup and hot apple crisp with fellow youth sponsors. What a great fall day!

The rest of the story.

So, the shower was amazing. Seriously, I would have considered it the best shower of the trip for sure and possibly ever...not kidding. The water had a pressure knob and a thermostat (great even if it was in Celsius - which I still don't understand). Glorious!

After my last post, we were on our way to Drakensburg and what a beautiful place it was. (Now that I am home, I can share pictures.)


In Drakensburg, we went for what the guide called a "hike". We called it mountain climbing. It took about 6 hours to climb to the summit of the Drakensburg mountains - 3,210 meters. (For those of you who are in touch with the metric conversions...that's about 9,600 feet.) We did so much mental math trying to figure everything out! One part of the climb was nearly straight up, it took an hour to scale all the rocks. Then to get out the mountains, we climbed down chain ladders. It was so scary and incredible. (That's Tiffany climbing down.)

The next day we were off to Lesotho, the world's highest country, or so they claimed. I just confirmed according to About. com, Lesotho (pronounced Le-sue-too) has the highest minimum elevation just over 4,530 feet. Lesotho was one of my favorite places. We were able to see the African culture at its most un-westernized state. So cool. We even went to a local party and tasted without enjoyment local brew (some sort of icky beer) and food (corn and beans).

We ended up in Mokopane, the city near Kristen's township and went to the school for the disabled called the Center for Hope. To be honest, it seemed about as hopeless as it could be. I would like to think; however, that when we left, those kids felt uplifted and cared for. It was such a hard thing to experience. But the kids were so wonderful, and we all really enjoyed spending some time with them. Honestly, the part that was the hardest, was that we had to show them how to play with most of the stuff we took. Chalk, paints, play-doh, recorders and so many other things were things they had never seen. Here are some kiddos using the chalk to decorate my "thanks" to everyone. Once they got the hang of it, the entire porch and part of the walls were covered with chalk.

Thanks so much to everyone who helped out.

Africa so far

Well so far - wow. What an experience! I am experiencing so many new things at once. I am so glad that I am keeping a journal of things we are doing, otherwise I would never remember.

We have ridden horses in the mountains of Swaziland with zebra and wildabeasts. We have walked on the beach of the Indian Ocean (twice - once in St. Lucia and once in Durban). The waves are huge and the sand is so fine and glorious to walk in. We have hunted for lion in the Hluhluwe Game reserve. (We didn't find any - but we did see elephants, baboons, white and black rhino, water buffalo and so much more.) We have ridden a mini-bus (kumbi) smashed in with 15 other people in a van made for 12. Everyone travels like that. We have cruised for hippo and crocodiles. We have visited a city of 3 million people and seen American movies in the theater.

The extremes here are crazy! You can walk drive through this city and see what makes me think of any city in America and then see poverty so extreme you would think you have traveled back in time a hundred years. I hope to have caught this in my photos - which take too long to load.

Tomorrow we leave the city (thank goodness - its expensive). We are headed to Drakensburg. An area north of here and into Lesotho. I am exctied to get back to the country. Tonight we are enjoying the "good life" at the Hilton (courtesy of Tiffany's membership points)! So, I am off to enjoy a really hot shower!

We're here!

Hello everyone - we made it to Africa! Hooray...18 hours after leaving Atlanta. Tiffany and I are so tired. We are ordering pizza and going to bed. More in a couple days.

Catch you...

on the flip side. Check back for updates from South Africa.