stuff, and lots of it ::

One of the things I really wanted to get done while I am home this time is organizing all of my stuff.

It seems like every time I move somewhere it starts out as temporary and then turns permanent. I intended on staying in Florida six months and that turned into nearly five years. Needless to say, with each move, more and more stuff gets put in my parent’s basement.

Over the last couple of days, I have been going through boxes. A lot of it was from my apartment in Florida, so I’d seen it fairly recently. But, tonight I hit the jackpot.

Notes and my journal from high school.

Enough said. I can’t believe it’s almost been seven years since I graduated.

Oh and I found a bunch of amazing photos. I’ve got to figure out this scanner….

done. //

quote of the day ::

“I hope if you ever have a son, you name him Vern. There should be more Verns in the world. I could teach him my profession-welding. Well, not really the welding part, just the burning part.” — My dad. 

These are things I miss out on while I’m half-way around the world…

I finally stepped foot into my parents house last night, it felt good to be home. I had 15 minutes to shower and get out of the house for Christmas Eve–that part wasn’t so great (especially when the ‘ole baby powder in the hair to hide the grease didn’t work out so well–but that’s another story…).

My dad grew up in a country church that my grandparents still attend when the can (they’re in a nursing home now) and it’s been family tradition for us to go their Christmas program on Christmas Eve for years. It was fun to be back–and as usual, I got the giggles. It’s probably good we walked in late and the rest of the family was on the other side of the church, our laughter was a little less contagious that way.

Today was fun too. I throughly enjoyed the after presents game of Cranium and my mom acting out “low rider”. My brother humming “somewhere over the rainbow” and Grandma Fluff impersonating Bill Clinton were also highlights. There’s more, but I don’t think anyone will find it quite as funny as I do. I will say Grandma Fluff is a force to be reckoned with in wii bowling (pictures to follow…).

I feel really blessed to be home for Christmas this year. It’s been amazing to spend the last week with friends and family. It’s nice knowing that this isn’t the usual quick trip and that today, when we left my grandma’s, it wasn’t goodbye, but see you later.

I’m anxious to get back to Africa, but for now, I’m really excited to be home.

welcome to minnesota ::

my 5 year old cousin, Luke, was taking photos of the lovely landscape on our drive yesterday. 

jealous?

good friends ::

only the best friends show up at the airport with signs…

 

I love it!

It’s been a week since I left South Africa. It’s gone by really fast. Primarily because I still haven’t spent more than a couple of nights in the same place. 

I’ve been in Orlando since Thursday. I’ve eaten at Tijuana Flats three times. Shopped at Ross. Worked a lot. Gone to Status. Worn a tacky Christmas sweater. Sang Christmas carols. Stayed on the correct side of the road driving. Hugged old friends. Gone line dancing. Played ultimate Cranium. 

It’s been good.

oh, the irony ::

This is the ad on the carts the airport at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. 

Ironic? Indeed…especially because you can’t use a card anywhere. 

photos ::

We took a lot of pictures over the last couple of weeks. The links to the albums are below…

Zimbabwe: Victoria Falls, white water rafting, etc.

This one time I tried to learn Afrikaans: around JoBurg/Pretoria with our friend Bianca

Leopard Hills: getting spoiled rotten and seeing animals– it doesn’t get much better than that…

Enjoy! //

Thirty-something hours of travel later I arrived to Minneapolis in the middle of a snowstorm. The other flights from JFK to Minneapolis were cancelled, so I was pretty happy the flight even arrived. Although, I quickly realized flip flops might not have been the best choice in footware. 

I was greeted with signs and hugs. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so happy to get off a plane. 

We were looking at pictures and Gwen saw an African mama holding her baby on her back. We recreated it with her doll Tanara.  

Okay, we’re off to Panara and then maybe I should go buy some appropriate shoes for a foot of snow. 

done.//

so, eh, I might need to go shopping ::

sometimes I don’t think things through all the way. like, when i packed to come back to the States, I packed all summer clothes. It’s summer in South Africa and I am going straight from a holiday with mi amigos to the airport to fly home.

it’s negative 6 degrees in Minneapolis at the moment. Oh, but it just feels like negative 30. I might have to find something other than a sundress to wear…

either way, we’re off to pick up a couple of last minute Christmas presents and then to the airport…next post will be from the US of A. See you on the flip side!!