And overwhelmed, and thankful are just a few words to describe some of what I felt yesterday at my going-away party.  My head is still swimming!  I can't say thank you enough to everyone who made it, you have no idea how much that meant to me.  It was so great to see everyone!  I love you all so much and just being able to think back on your support yesterday will probably help me through some rough patches of home sickness.

Thanks to Mom, Chris, and Jess especially!  They did a wonderful job of keeping me in the dark about everything.  Wow, I am officially one week away from leaving.  Everyone kept asking if I am ready - I am, but I honestly can't describe exactly what all I'm feeling right now.  I've pretty much been numb for about the last week.  Maybe because I've been waiting so long, I've already read all of the books I could find, I've said most of my good-byes, and I'm getting pretty nervous.  But yesterday was a nice way to shake some of that off and get really excited again.  I appreciate all of the interest and support.  You guys are amazing! 

So once again, THANK YOU!! to everyone who organized, attended, and cleaned up yesterday.  It was amazing! 

Well, I finished this new website and now I am left with only two weeks until I leave for Africa!...for two years!!  It just hits me every now and then where I'm going and for how long.  This is going to be a big change, but it's going to be amazing!

I hope you enjoy the website and can get a better feel of what I'll be doing, what my life will be like, and the country in which I'll be working.  Feel free to let me know if there is anything else you'd like to to see added to the site.  I should have internet access fairly regularly throughout the first few months, so I'll try to update this journal as often as I can.  I also intend to take a ton of pictures once I'm there and post them to the Photos section as well.

These last two weeks are going to fly!  Packing and good-byes are hard enough for me, but then there are all of the little things that I've managed to put off until now.  You should see my room right now- trying to figure out how and what to pack for two years has become just slightly chaotic.  But I'm getting there! 

I fly out on Jan 22 from South Bend and meet up with self-described "Amazon" women in Detroit for the connecting flight to Philly.  How in the world did I get in the group with at least four other girls who have all said they'll be easy to spot since they're 6' tall???  As if feeling short normally wasn't enough!  I'll have to post that picture for sure!