first of all i wanted to say thank you to all of you that have left comments for me here on my blog, they are so wonderful and so encouraging. its such a blessing to be missed and thought of. so thank you.

now for the update...
the welcome and goodbye conference was really great. it was a good time to meet and connect with other staff that are doing my same job in other parts of europe. with each day of the conference i felt more and more comfortable with in that group. i am told that they will become my extended family while i'm here in europe and i can easily see that being true. there were lots of highlights at the conference including a sweet hike, a fun bbq, and digging for m&ms with my face in whip cream; but the moment where i really felt Gods care and just at peace with the fact that this is home was while playing a game of settlers. that was something that i had missed from home (i'm not so dorky that i missed the game, i more missed the atmosphere) but it was cool that God provided something similar here.

in other news, getting settled is a lot of work. now that i am back in community i have to begin looking for a house, studying for a drivers license, figuring out banking, learning the military, learning acronyms and learning how to fill out paper work (and there is a lot of it). i will also be trying to figure out things like what chapel service best fits my needs, and how i'm going to make some friends my own age. on top of all that i decided at the last minute to enroll in another masters level counseling class, i now have about a month to complete a semesters worth of reading/work, so please pray for discipline.

today i will have my first club (thats our weekly outreach event) where i will be meeting kids for the first time and sharing my testimony with them. i am both excited and nervous for that.

and finally, i received my last bag of luggage, the bottom half of the things in it were wet and some mold had begun to grow in it (including in my camera...it still works, but it needs a good professional cleaning) but the majority of things we were able to clean and salvage (what we were unable to save had a value of less than $100). so praise the Lord for getting everything back to me, it is such a blessing to have all of my stuff finally here with me.

yesterday was a big day for me in terms of getting settled in.
i got a military id and a post office box...quite exciting.
things have been going well here, i've just been trying to get used to life here.
i havent had too much culture shock, just a few things that are different that will take some getting used to (for example it gets light here at like 5am and yesterday at 10pm it was still light.
i leave early tomorrow morning for the welcome/goodbye conference. i'm both excited and nervous for that.
i think thats about it for today.

ok so i left off at the hotel...
since i was stranded in london i decided to try to make the most of the situation so after getting cleaned up i went down and had dinner and then went for a walk (there was nothing cool around so the walk was a bit uneventful but it was just nice not to be indoors), after that i went back to my room, read some letters and then went to bed at like 1030. at 1130 my phone started ringing, i answered it but there was no one there so i hung up. it rang again. and this time when i answered it there was a very demanding voice on the other end asking me what room i was in. kind of freaked out i told the man that i think he had the wrong number. he told me it was abdul from the airport (creepy baggage man), and demanded again that i tell him my room number. not wanting him anywhere in or near my room i told him i would come down (at least this way there would be lots of people around if he tried to do anything weird). i went down to see that he had dressed up and was wanting to take me out. i lied and told him i was not feeling well. he told me that i would feel better if i went out with him. i told him i was very tired and he woke me up (this was true). he told me we could just leave for a little bit and then he would bring me back. i again said no, he told me he was very frustrated. i told him i appreciated him getting me a flight and a room but that i did not want to leave the hotel. he had no intentions of leaving so i asked him for his address and told him i would like to send him a card. this seemed to satisfy him and after him asking me one last time to leave with him, and me firmly telling him again that i would not go, he finally left. after faking a pretty intense cough, so he would really believe i was sick, i went back upstairs. the next morning i woke up had breakfast and arrived three hours early for my flight. when i got there i waited in an hour long line and finally was given a ticket that would allow me to get my boarding pass. when i went to get my boarding pass they told me that my flight had been cancelled (the flight they put me on just ten minutes before). i was sent to wait in a series of lines. finally when they sent me back to where i started in the first place i just started to cry. they were telling me that i wouldnt be able to leave london for another day and every line they were sending me to was two to three hours long. i went up to one of the line guys crying asking him what line i should stand in to get it all fixed. he told me to stop crying (which only made me cry more) feeling bad he let me cut in line. i was then placed on a flight to frankfurt that left that afternoon (one that i was previously told was full). four hours later i was finally on a flight to frankfurt. i sat next to this great canadian couple who explained to me that the loud bang/flash of light/warmth on my window that happened on our way into frankfurt was our plane getting hit with lightening.... go figure. i got off the plane and went to see the british airways representative to ask about my baggage, she told me that one had been found but had been sent to the opposite side of germany (i still do not have either bag) but she told me that they would send it to me.
from here on the story gets better...
john, shannon and baby grace picked me up from the airport wearing hick teeth and holding a wel-kome sign (read that in a red neck accent), they also brought me flowers and some club beyond paraphernalia. it was all very nice. the drive back was good the scenery was beautiful. we had french toast for dinner which i thought was cool because that was my last meal in america. this morning i went to church where i got to meet some people. after that we did some errands and then went to someones going away party. most of the people i have been meeting arent really my age (and most have kids) but they are still all very nice. however, i am still hoping to make some friends my age. God has been so good since i've been here, He has just been bringing me comfort in the small things i was worried about.
the part of Germany that i live in is absolutely gorgeous, its beautiful country with scattered small towns. i cant believe i live here. the room where we have club beyond is such a cool space (i even get my own office) and John and shannon have been so accommodating (i'm not just saying that because y'all read my blog now). so things are better.
sorry this was such a long blog post but i just figured y'all would want to hear about the creepy baggage man and my london adventure and i had to close with something good, so its a bit long, but you'll be alright.
for those of you that would like to pray, continue to pray for friends and also for my luggage (both bags) to somehow make its way to me. thanks.

(note-i tried to post a picture of me in london but it was still loading after like a half an hour, so sorry there are no pictures. oh, and i cant figure out how to get pictures from my mac to my shutterfly so that wont be updated for a while. also, i wrote this last night and since then i have recieved one of my bags...)

oh goodness...where do i even begin...
i want to talk about how sad yet perfect saying goodbye to everyone was this morning (i guess it was yesterday morning but the time difference and the fact that i havent slept are really throwing me off).
but instead i am going to tell you of my travels.
i got to the airport in san francisco on time and all was well. that was pretty much the only point in this story when i will be able to say all was well so just brace yourself. what was supposed to be a ten hour flight to london ended up being around twelve. first we were delayed taking off and then the weather was so bad at the london airport that all the planes were in complete grid lock. i cried for a good majority of the plane flight and because of my sadness food just didnt sound that great. finally i realized that i really should eat something because it had been like eight hours since i had food. i went with the chicken and rice, it wasnt bad but it wasnt good either. there was some crazy turbulance on the way into london causing the chicken and rice to hate its home in my stomach, so it decided to leave. after puking several times and dry heaving a little more i decided to go back to my seat. (i told you this story was terrible). after sitting on the runway for like an hour and half they boarded us on to busses and drove us into the airport. once in the airport i was sent to wander all around looking for my flight only to find out that not only had i missed it but it had been cancelled along with every other flight into frankfurt. so i was told to head into baggage claim to get my stuff and then they would help me rebook. after circuling through baggage claim for about two hours (so many flights had been canceled that there was literally just luggage thrown everywhere covering every inch of unwalkable floor space) with out my luggage i just started to cry. i didnt know what to do, here i was in a foreign country with on phone and no pounds (the currency here), i always thought i was pretty independent and ok but i was a mess. after crying for a while a nice baggage guy (mid forties, very hairy and smelling of indian food) took notice and offered to help me out. his first offer was that i could stay at his home for the night, then he offered to have me cry on his shoulder (i didnt take him up on either), when i kept crying he just pulled me in and kissed me on the cheek. needless to say i was a little freaked out. he ended up being very helpful and a lot less scarry when he brougt over a nicer looking female friend who worked for the airline to help me out. she took down my baggage info and told me i should go rebook the flight. scarry baggage man really came through there, they were saying that there are no flights out of london to frankfurt for the next two days but he ended up getting me one for tomorrow morning. so i am in london, at a hotel, by myself (yet baggage man has offered to take me out...and totally knows where i am staying since he booked my hotel), with out my luggage, feeling kind of sick.
please pray that they find my luggage, i know that it is just stuff but i really dont have a whole lot right now and its been such a hard day and just knowing that my luggage will make it to frankfurt would make me feel a lot better.
i'm sorry this story was so terrible, but i'm sure in like a month its going to be such a funny story, just right now its pretty miserable.
i'm going to go shower, and tell baggage man that i think i'm just going to stay in for the night.

i cant believe i leave today. well i can, but it seems so crazy. i've had to say a lot of goodbyes which are hard when its just one person leaving but when youre that person leaving its pretty miserable. i have a few last goodbyes today with some of my closest friends and then i'm off. so crazy. please be praying for safe travels, that my stuff would make it there safely and that i am able to feel at home quickly in Germany (that was weird even to write). thanks y'all. i'll try to post again from Germany as soon as i have internet access.

oh, and i found zebra. my little sister had stolen him.

i know this is silly but i lost zebra. hes my wooden giraffe and is supposed to be my faithful travel companion. i saw him yesterday and today he's gone. i know this sounds so dumb but i cried. i think its partially because i'm so emotionally unstable from packing and stress and goodbyes and the fact that i'm leaving tomorrow, but i cried. i'm actually crying as i write this. so embarassing.

yesterday was really great. after church i went to lunch with some friends then hung out with mandie, alyssa and ashley for a while. and then i got to spend some time with the senior girls. i know it doesnt sound that thrilling written down but it was just really good quality time. i love that; and God is good, even when i'm mad at Him He is still good.

today i went to the aquarium with the fam. a day with the fam is always an interesting one, but i love that the older my brother and sister get the more we are becoming friends.

i just havent really been in the blogging mood but these last few days have been a bit of a roller coaster, and i'm sure they will continue to be...
since my last post some things worth noting:
*i sent two packages of my stuff to germany
*tony and i giraffed krissas fridge
*lisa had a little surprise party for me at the english rose with some of the senior girls
*i went back to the eco park with justin
*i started watching the office season three
*i said some hard goodbyes
*i cleaned out my car
*i cried a lot and had some people cry with me

so yesterday my friends (tony, kirssa and spiz) threw me a surprise going away party. it was crazy, i honestly had no idea. pati and mandie convinced me to hang out under the pretense that we were going to do a photo shoot at the park that i used to hang out at (the exact location where i had told my friends that i think would be a fun place to have a going away party). we parked on the opposite end of the park and walked over to the side where we were supposedly going to take pictures at, i was mildly annoyed that pati didnt want to drive because my bag that had all of my camera stuff in it was super heavy. as we approached the hill where we were going to be taking pictures pati ran ahead and the next thing i knew a literal wave of people came running over the side of the hill, it was crazy. i think i just stood there in a bit of shock as people came running (or walking) towards me to give me a hug. the next thing i knew a german flag had been hung, music was going and food was being eaten (there was even an entire cosco pack of mac and cheese that was cooked, as well as funfetti cookies and some rockin german cake). it was really cool to have so many people there from so many of my different groups of friends, it was really fun and i felt really loved. i also love that i literally had no idea.

after the party we decided to have crepe fest 2007 since crepe fest 2006 was so great. we went to the bowens, mandie made some rockin crepes, we played outburst and just hung out. id say crepe fest 2007 was just as much of a hit as 2006.











such a good day.

they say that a small town is like a big family, and although san ramon isnt the smallest of towns you can still get that big family feel at the san ramon farmers market. the farmers market has been a recent addition to san ramon (i think it opened in may) and since my recent move back to the good ol san ramon ive been wanting to check it out. so yesterday laura picked me up and we drove over. it was a delight; we ate crepes, bought some fresh fruit, learned about pumps and tractors from some cute old men and just enjoyed some time at the forest home farm. i would highly reccomend it to anyone looking for a saturday morning activity.

if i keep bragging about how great things are going i feel like people are going to be jealous.

so i'll start with a bit of news before i continue to brag...
i bought a ticket to germany. i know its soon but i leave july 19th at 4:50pm which will allow me to get there in time for the welcome/goodbye conference. i'm not fully funded yet (i still need about 200 a month) so if i dont get the rest of that by the time my ticket comes up they wont let me use it, however, i am confident that the Lord will provide. so all of this is feeling kind of crazy.

now to the bragging:
the pines ranch was super great. we went jeeping, swam in an above ground pool, had a bbq by the lake, watched fireworks, shot guns, tubed down the cashe creek river, learned how to square dance, and had some great fellowship. it was such a good two days. i almost didnt go but i'm so glad i did.

i had such an amazing weekend i'm going to recap it day by day...
saturday:
pati, christina and i went out to sharffenberger chocolates in berkeley for the factory tour. we got there early so we decided to go explore. we ended up finding this field littered with box cars and old cars that look like they would be used for exploring wetlands, walking into it felt like walking into the sandlot. we took some really fun pictures but
it was about time for our tour so we headed back. the tour was surprisingly interesting, i would recommend it. after we decided we wanted to explore/take more pictures so we headed back to the sandlot. while exploring we saw what looked like a junk yard so we headed for it and ended up finding an eco park. it was awesome. we hung out there for a bit but then we were pretty hungry so we headed into the city for some thai food, then over to the yogurt shack and back to my place for some quality hang out time. such a good day, i know y'all are jealous.

sunday:
spiz came with me to church and after we headed into the city, we got lunch and then took a boat out to alcatraz. i had never been and it was something id been wanting to do and was glad to be able to fit it in before i leave. after we hung out in san francisco for a bit and then came home. some people came over and we walked to the park and lit off fireworks, which are always a good time.

that was my weekend, pretty rockin. today wasnt quite as great, i moved back in with my parents, which isnt so bad, it was more just annoying having to move all my stuff.