year in review...

last week was a year...
me and the 4 people i headed over here with celebrated this past weekend.
by going to get bacon cheddar cheeseburgers..yum, yum...
bacon is a rarity here in a 99% muslim place. .
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looking back, it seems crazy to think that a year ago, i got to VA to train & prepare to live here for 2 yrs. I have lived herealmost 10 months. Here are some highlights of my year, to catch you up (or refresh your memory)...

AUTUMN:
After 2 months of training, i headed home for a very quick 2 week interval to wrap things up and say final goodbyes... i arrived in my city in mid-october, greeted by very joyful teammates and lots of fresh fruit/veggies.. the first night, i had a moment of panic, wondering what i had gotten myself into..... but G is sovereign & i knew He had called me here... i started language class, painting, and making myself at home in this strange place... :) In November, I started to get involved with English Tea Time and made my first friend, Natalie, who is very much a seeker and is my closest friend here.It took me a month to really make one friend, and she is a great one... I celebrated thanksgiving with my new friends here..Most of my time was spent hanging out with friends I had made at ETT, studdying the language, and trying to get out and use it when I could...

WINTER:
winter here means a LOT of rain.. at christmas I had rain boots sent to me from the states, which I wore every single day, and which now have holes in them...it was dark and rainy a lot of the time, which meant a lot of being inside and catching up on the Office and AI...
There were a lot of Christmas parties, and I had my FIRST visitor--Lindsay!! we had a fun christmas, followed by a trip to ski/snowboard...my first trip out of the city at all.. we had our first vol group (as a univ. team) come, an awesome high school group... I also started going once or twice a month to help watch/homeschool a family near the city I live in...Winter was challenging because of all the rain, but a lot of fun, too...

SPRING:
by the time spring rolled around, i was more than ready for some sunshine.the first sunny day, i remember sitting on rocks near the water in tears.i needed the sunshine. i also discovered the beautiful tulips that surround the city in early April..breath-taking.
In early March, University of Memphis (my univ). sent a group for spring break, much to my excitement..which also came with a suitcase of goodies from home (bacon bits, brownie mixes, mousse, dove chocolate, etc).i went to ephesus, cappadocia, london,& antalya.
my twin sis had a beuatiful baby boy on april 23, who i will meet in a few weeks.
we had an ISP team come for 3 weeks followed by the arrival of the 5 week long ACTS students.
Spring time meant a great change of pace in my schedule and the ending of my lang. classes.& the arrival of a new couple on our team!

SUMMER:
the month of june was pretty much spent with the ACTS team and our awesome summer intern.that kept me busy every day. i also went to the island twice--to help set up and teach english! i got a new roomie for a couple of months, turned 24, and experienced my first mass exodus of both city residents (for the summer) & team members (for good)... i also had more visitors: joseph and the weavers, and several other people i know from my time in VA training... i had more opportunities to share Truth, more conversations, and new friendships...