On the map...

I've received text messages from all over the nation. People who had never heard of the city I moved to have heard about it over and over and over again recently. Why? Because our college football team was supposed to lose to Michigan, but instead we won. We made football history with a gigantic upset. This is a college town, signs were everywhere. This is just one of many - "Michi who? Way to go ASU" There were t-shirts made up and all over town the next day advertising the win. People still haven't stopped talking about it. We even made the cover of Sports Illustrated. The game this weekend has a sold out crowd.

Want in on a little known fact? The player who made the final play is soon to be part of the Graham family. He is engaged to Franklin's daughter.

I had a Franklin sighting my first day at lunch. I didn't speak with him, but I did see him in the flesh. I hear that is a rare occurance since he travels so often.

Road Trip

Kenyon and I are taking our first road trip together. We are driving from our home in Kansas to North Carolina. We will drive the entire state of Missouri and when we get to Tennessee we will stop to visit some friends who live just outside of Memphis. The next day we will drive the entire state of Tennessee into North Carolina. Once we pass the Missouri border we will be in parts of the country neither of us have ever seen before. What an adventure! Please be praying we will have safe travels and will be successful in finding a place to live in our new hometown.

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. :)