Last week in Athens...

Sorry about being MIA this last week.  I took a fun trip for the week to Athens.  Highlights from the trip included lots of time with my little brother, a going away party for CT and reunions with the newest Mrs. Parham, DD, Sara and Mitch among many others.  I stayed with the lovely girls of the "Taj Mahal" and had a blast.  Thanks y'all...I'll be back soon!

CT's party was awesome!

A-group reunion...missing some of our lovelies, though.

I heart CT!

Mrs. Parham...I had so much Katherine time! It was great!

Daira...it's a girl this time!

Sara!

I couldn't be there for the wedding (though I was asterisk-ed in the program).  But, I was there for Mitch's ordination.  Congrats, friend!

Happy Birthday, Akka!

Reba, my partner in crime and roommate in India, is celebrating a birthday today (along with Gandhi-ji!).

Akka = Big sister in Kannada, the language we learned.

Naanu niimanu pritisutiini YAAVAGALU!

Happy Birthday, Eliz!

"Ode to Eliz"

You're the kind of friend

Any girl would like to have.

You make me smile when things get bad.

Your gift is giving.

You are not selfish.

 Those great care packages, I will always cherish.

Atlanta Fun Day!

Barberitos and Related!

We have so much in common.

Our friendship was fated!

You and me, as friends,

We fit like a glove...

because "every good and perfect gift (that's you!)

comes from above."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,  SWEET MIDDLE E!

(Apparently, I am not a poet.)

I love you,

Little B

North Carolina...c'mon and raise up.

After Saturday in Athens, AYo picked me up on Sunday and we road-tripped it to North Carolina, the Wake Forest-Raleigh-Durham area. We have a bunch of college and journeyman friends there who are attending Southeastern Seminary.

It was so great to see all those we know and love and really fun to see how we are all connected to each other in different ways. Love it.

This picture includes Leslie- college friend and journeyman, Lee- India journeyman friend (from same training group as Leslie) and boyfriend to my India roomie Reba, & Patrick- sem student, next door neighbor to Leslie, Auburn alum like Lee and boyfriend of my bestie Eliz

My other bestie Dana (who set Eliz and Patrick up)

Here's the UGA crew eating at Chick-fil-A (AKA best place in the world)...an old pastime of ours: Dana, AYo, MT, Leslie and me

I didn't get pics of the road trip up, but here are a few from the road trip home. We were stylin' in AYo's grandad's '93 S10, listening to music and sermons on my computer and eating chips out of a take-out box.

AYo was a champ because the ole baby blue S10 didn't have cruise control. We had too much fun playing the alphabet game, singing Disney songs, sharing the iPod earphones (until we realized we could just use my computer) and stealing coffee creamer from convenience stores.

One of the best road trips I've ever been on!

It's Saturday in Athens...

and it's time to tee it up between the hedges!

As an alumnae of The University of Georgia, it is always a pleasure to get back to campus. This past weekend I was able to go to see my Dawgs play ball against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Either I am really lucky or people feel sorry for me and my boredom, but friends gave me their tickets to the game for free! So Saturday morning, I got up early and drove to Athens for the game.

I met up with my sweet friend Morgan and headed to the tailgate that our college ministry was hosting (sorry no pictures). I had an extra ticket that I didn't have a buddy for, but I found my good ole friend Collin. He joined me for the game. After the tailgate we went into Sandford Stadium, and I went to find my little brother Blake. I found this:


He and his buddies spelled out "Go Dawgs!" and even made it on tv. I give them props for sacrificial team spirit. I bet that body paint is annoying.


After seeing Blake, I made my way up to my seats in the upper level. This was the first time I sat in the non-student section or in an upper level. It was quite a different experience because the "non-students" don't stand the entire game and cheer like students do. I found myself being told to sit down a lot (not that I was that much in their way really...I'm not that tall). Here are two pics from my view of the pre-game show.



Finally, here come the Dawgs! It was an exciting game that we could have played a bit better. But, a win is a win. And it always feels great to beat Steve Spurrier!

How 'bout them Dawgs!

Virginia is for Lovers...and reuniting with people you love.

A little over two years ago, I had the privilege to spend two months on "the farm" in Virginia, training for my two years in South Asia. One of the best things about it was sharing the time with some super-cool people that were headed to destinations all over the world. Well, most of us completed our term around the same time and were able to reunite on the farm for one last hurrah as a group.

The Georgia girls- Lindz, me and Ayo - reuniting in the Charlotte airport.

I got to see Christy for the first time since I left. She's at the farm now, training for her term. I heart her and her hugs. She rocks!

More UGA fun: MT and Leslie Jane came over to Virginia from North Carolina to see us!

How cool is this? Rebecca and I met our India roomie's (Kaitlin) sister in Virginia! we heart Blythe.

Most of the group from my days at the farm.

Deb!

Angela, Christy, Lindsay and me

AYo, Lindz, me and Dan...Mike, we missed you!

Paige! Love. this. girl.

Sadness...saying goodbye to Reba

Dukha aiytu.

Atlanta Fun Day

An old tradition...Atlanta Fun Day.

For the past few years (and when I am in the country), Eliz and I have "Atlanta Fun Day." Usually, we eat Mexican food, go to Ikea and just shop it up even if we don't buy anything.

This year, we started by going to the super cool Dekalb Farmers Market.

It's a world market, meaning they have products imported from all over the world. Of course, I love this because in all my travels I have found some pretty awesome food that I am starting to really miss. Here, I can find the right products to make my favorite dishes and even some of the exotic fruits available over there.

However, I did find mine and Rebecca's most hated fruit: jackfruit. It stinks!

I found *my* flag.

Sweet Georgia peaches (just like me!)

We ate in their cafe...yummy!

We took our dessert home and posed for a timed-pic. Aren't we cute?

Then, we went to some of our favorite places: Ikea and Target! We love to shop together at these two places. We finished the day with, of course, Mexican food. I am so glad Eliz shares my love for Mexican food. But, alas, no photo.

To see Eliz's post about our Atlanta Fun Day, click HERE.

I had an excellent time reconnecting with one of my bestest friends ever! She is so sweet to me. She even let me invade her space for three nights, cooked some delicious meals for me and even had a cute "welcome" basket ready for me with my favorite snacks and treats! Boy, do I love this girl! I just hope I'm half the friend to her that she is to me.

Love you, Eliz.

A visit to my old "stompin ground"

at La Parilla (Sam, Collin, Lee, Marie, Clay and Levi)

Athens. What a wonderful place.

For the four years I studied at The University of Georgia, I called Athens my home. I loved living there. Those years were truly awesome. I met my lifelong friends there, I got a degree, I began to grow in my relationship with the Lord, I went to some amazingly fun football games. I thrived.

So, when the opportunity to go back for a visit to help my little brother move into his new house arose, I took it! Though a lot of my closest friends have all moved on to different stages in their lives in different places, I was able to see a lot of the people that truly made my college experience great. Some friends were even conveniently back in town for different reasons.

The best college pastor every- Sky

Daira and little Alex

Mrs. Brannon

my twin, Dana ;-)

buddies at Barberitos! (my favorite in Athens)

Dana, Daira and Tyler

And Blake's room at his super-neat house didn't turn out too shabby either.


Ben and Blake

Stef

This past weekend I helped Blake move to Athens and was able to reunite with many friends (more on that later). On the way to Athens, I stopped in Macon to see Stefanie, a dear college friend and fellow former Journeyman. We have been friends since our freshman year at Georgia, along with two other sweet gals--Heather and Lauren. I hope to reunite with them soon.

Stef was home for the week from New Orleans, where she attends seminary. We had not seen each other since July of 2008 in Thailand. She left South Asia later that year while I still had another year of my term left. It was so great to reunite with Stef and talk about "the big transition" from South Asia to America. She is such a great friend and always an encouragement to me. I love you, Stef!!!