Saying good-bye...

This week I have started saying "good-bye." I don't like it much. Though Kansas will never be home - I used to say, "I could live here twenty years and it won't be my home. I won't be a Kansan." - it has been a great place to live. I have made the best friends of my life here. The best! In my nearly nine years in Kansas (I will be short of my anniversary by a couple of weeks), I had many people leave me to greener pastures, but I remained part of a vibrant, close-knit, wonderful community. I've already shed many tears about leaving these friendships, this community. I'm sure these will not be my last.

Last night I was at a going away dinner hosted in my honor and one of my friends said my absence will leave a void that cannot be filled. I feel that way about so many people here. My departing will leave a void in my life that will not be replaced. I'm confident I will make new friends, but the wealth of friendships I made in this community is irreplaceable. I can't conceive of replicating this experience in a new place. So, my leaving is bitter-sweet.

I was asked at a going away lunch, if I viewed this as just a job or as a calling. I view it as a calling. I believe the series of events that brought me to this place was not by chance and was more than coincidence. I would not be leaving my community, uprooting my life, and forgoing my PhD (for now) if I believed otherwise. There is some solace in knowing that, in feeling there is a larger purpose behind it all, but that doesn't mean it's easy to relocate.

Friends, you have impacted my life in more ways than you will ever know. I am so grateful to all of you, and indebted to many of you (debts I can never repay). I am going to miss you - miss just doesn't seem strong enough; I'm going to long to be with you. Thank you for making this place that I came to reluctantly such a beautiful experience. I love you. Know there is always a room waiting for you in North Carolina.

More shots?

It's a really good thing I'm not afraid of needles. Why? Because I have been a human pin cushion for years. All the international travel I do requires immunizations. Well, I was just informed by my new boss that I will be taking my first work trip to Africa. I'll be visiting countries I've never seen - Kenya, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Uganda. I'm really looking forward to this trip. However, it requires more shots. I now need to add yellow fever and meningitis immunizations to my list. I also feel like I'm on a steady diet of malaria pills.

Here's my question, could all of these immunizations and pills actually be good for me? I've reached a point that I wonder if my polio vaccine could have a strange reaction to my typhoid vaccine. Is that possible? It also can't be good to injest that much malaria disease, even if it is in vaccine form. People who live overseas long-term just stop taking the pills because the side effects are worse than the sickness. Things that make you go hmmm...I should be studied.

Beach experience

On our recent visit to India, Keyon had his first ever experience with the beach. I hadn't realized until we got there that my husband has never seen the ocean, nor been to a beach. It didn't take him long to be wet up to his waist. As with every beach experience, we were finding sand in our clothes for days to come!

We had a great trip. I will post more pictures and stories as I have them available.

Right now we are very short on time. We are busy planning our domestic wedding receptions and our move half-way across the country. Now, if only I could overcome jet lag, life would be grand. :)

The BIG 3-0!

Kenyon turned thirty. We celebrated for a week! It started with dinner and a party with the Jones family. I got on an airplane the day of his actual birthday, but I left him some presents, a card and a decorated cookie that said "Happy Birthday." When I got back we celebrated again. I took him to Dave and Buster's - a large arcade. We had lunch, then played games. My favorite was the interactive boxing game. You put on gloves, stand on a pad and fight, the game registers your movements. I played it three times. I also always love the car racing games and skee-ball. We had a lot of fun and ended the date with an ice cream. Kenyon got the biggest waffle cone I'd ever seen - and he ate it all!

We leave to India in a few days. I will write again when we return.

Back from North Carolina

I just returned from my job interview in North Carolina. The scenery was amazing! My friend Angela had visited there the week before I arrived and called it "breathtaking." I'd agree with that. If you like mountains, it doesn't get much prettier. I happen to really like mountains. I could not get over the number of trees. I think Kansas is pretty in the fall, imagine the hills of North Carolina. Wow!

I did as well as I could on the interview and have no regrets. If they offer me the job (which I think they might) I would take it in a heartbeat. Yesterday I did some touring with my newly adopted Uncle John (former Chancellor of ASU and my personal tour guide for the visit - thanks to mom, dad and grandma Jones), then I headed back to Charlotte to fly home. I was overwhelmed with the thought that I leave to India for two weeks in a few days and I may be moving half-way across the United States immediately when I return. Yikes! There are so many details to work out...selling my place, packing up, getting from here to there, wrapping up jobs and school. What a crazy adventure?!

They interview the last candidate for the job August 1. I should hear something after that date (even though I will be out of the country at the time - ahhh, the wonders of email!). I'll keep you posted.