exciting times

I really need to get better at keeping up with blogging! I apologize to my 2 followers who haven't gotten any new posts from me in a couple of weeks.. haha.

Life has been intense but good. Lots of figuring things out, lots of growth, lots of opportunity, lots of work, lots of moving around. I've been pretty much carrying my life around in my car and living at work or at my friend's place and have hardly been home for more than a couple hours at a time. I can't wait to get out of here! I'm getting super stoked about moving out. The time is coming quickly and I just know it's going to be amazing.

I've been staying connected to the Uganda Project which has been extremely positive for me. Attended a fundraiser last week for next years students who are going to Uganda and had the chance to speak for a few minutes about my experience. In front of some of my former instructors, the VP and the Dean which went really well. I feel so lucky to have had the chance to share for the benefit of the project. I also got to talk to the students who will be going next year which was really fun. They are all so eager to ask questions and get more information and it's another way for me to talk about my experience and share some insight with them. I remember what it felt like in the time leading up to my trip and how anxious I was and how many questions I had.

I registered for school last week.. Sociology, Psychology and Criminology. Woohoo! I'm really excited to continue learning. I feel like I'm not progressing in life when I'm not in school. Now I'm just waiting for all of these things to happen in January and for the changes to begin.

ready for some fun!

Sitting in Starbucks drinking tea before my overnight shift. I was so desperate to get out of my house that I left for work like an hour early..

I am having a girls night out tomorrow night and I feel like I reallyyyyy need it! I'm excited to spend some time drinking and dancing and doing nothing but having fun with some of my favourite girlies! I feel like the last couple weeks have been really intense and serious and lacking in the fun department. Well, still fun but not in the letting loose kind of way. So much caffiene, a lot of time spent at the hospital, a lot of wine and a lot of serious conversation. My life feels busy but it's only going to get busier come January when I go back to school so I want to make the most of the time I have now to enjoy the freedom. The thing about school is that the work is never ending so even if I get a break from work I'm gonna have to think about tests, assignments, etc. All that good stuff. I am nuts to go back haha.. I remember how tortured I felt a lot of the time. But being away from it has been a different kind of torture. My brain needs stimulation and new information to thrive on. I start to seriously miss learning. Especially when I'm working two jobs that are not exactly stimulating because I am doing what I already know how to do. When I'm in school I feel like I have some sort of purpose. I can't believe there was a time when I thought I would never go back to school. It's crazy to think about where I would be now had I not.. not writing this blog called "How Africa Changed Me" - that is for sure!

little bro!

 

 

 

My brother and his "darth vadar" mask lol. You can't tell in the photo but steam blows out of it.

 

Being in the hospital sucks. I feel so bad for my bro. He's taking the pain like a champ. Today is his third day here, my second. I only stayed for a couple hours yesterday but I'll probably be here til around 4 today because my parents aren't coming til dinner time and the guy needs the company. We've been watching Jersey Shore and the Big Bang Theory. He's actually doing a lot better today. He got one of his tubes taken out and I think that helped with the pain. And he's on a lot of drugs so hopefully those are doing something too. I will be happy when he is out of here.

the fundraiser

Sooo I am currently in the hospital with my little brother who just had surgery on Tuesday morning. He had a section of one of his ribs cut out and he has to be here for a week, so I'm doing my best to keep him company. I may write more about the hospital experience later.

What I was going to write about that actually happened a week ago was the Abetavu Children's Home fundraiser. I posted about it last month because I was super nervous about speaking at the event.

The whole day was a crazy roller coaster of emotions. It was such a good experience, I felt like I was on a high of different feelings all day. Nervous, happy, excited, stressed, sad, anxious, loved. Me and Kat were the first ones to show up early in the day to help set up. Everyone that was there to volunteer was sooo nice. Some were a little crazy but I couldn't help but fall in love with all of them. It was so nice to be around other people who just wanted to help and be involved. Everything came together so beautifully. By the end of the day we were getting pretty restless though. I could only handle being locked up in a church being bossed around for so long, haha. So we took a break and left for a bit before it started and headed back for the evening to begin. I wasn't going to enjoy myself until my speech was over with though. I was so happy and blessed to have a few of my friends show up to be there for me while showing support for something I feel so passionately about. Sooo I pretty much felt like I was going to throw up leading up to my speech... there was apparently around 140 people there and everyone was looking at me up on this stage..with a microphone. I felt super shaky but as soon as I started talking it got easier. It went really well and I got a lot of positive feedback on what I said which was nice. It was so amazing to be part of it and to really feel like I made an impact on the success of the evening. I was emotional all night. Carli made a video that they showed of her just saying thank you to everyone for coming and just seeing her face and hearing her voice made me break down and cry. Joan had pictures and videos and told stories about all of the kids for her piece and I cried during that too. It felt very comforting but at the same time really sad to revisit those memories. As painful as it can be I hope to be connected to all of them for the rest of my life in any way I can.