hey ya'll! i'm sorry i havent been too productive w/ the blogs the past month. if you actually thrive on reading these, then i'm sorry i have let you down. my month @ home hasnt been too interesting. it's been really really wonderful being with my family & being able to catch up, i missed them so much! other then spending time with them i havent done too much. christmas was good, new years was ok. just the norm. i've been able to spend time with a few friends & i have really enjoyed that. below are a few things i got to do over break...

 i spent some time in chicago w/ leah, my roommate from college.

 i went ice skating & got to spend time w/ one of my best friends, amanda.

 i spent some time w/ my younger cousin olivia, who i just adore! :)

 i got to hang out w/ my other cousin sarah!

& of course i spent some wonderful time w/ the rest of my family as well... i just dont have pictures for those.

i leave tomorrow night, monday january 14th at 10:30 pm. i fly out of chicago & then i have a fifteen hour layover in frankfurt, germany. i then fly from germany to johannesburg, south africa. then johannesburg, to port elizabeth, south africa. i fly into port elizabeth, my last stop, early evening on wednesday. on my way home, i missed two flights because my first flight was delayed a few hours. please pray that everything works out. i dont know if i can deal with another headache of missing flights again! please also pray for safety because i will be traveling the next three days alone. and lastly, please pray for my health. i havent been feeling too good since friday. i really want to be completely healthy to travel, traveling sick would be miserable.

thank you all for your support & encouragement. im so thankful for the time i got to spend w/ a lot of you while i was home! i'll miss you guys the next 4 months, but i know that god has wonderful things in store for me. please continue praying for myself & my team.

one more thing, i added alot of pictures to my photo album. there is a link called "pictures" to the left. there are pictures from my christmas break, some updated ones from ithemba, & some of me and my teammates. the internet connection here at home is a lot faster for uploading pictures... so i thought i would add some. enjoy!

mom, dad & jake... thanks for a wonderful month @ home. i'll miss you guys so much. i love you.

miss olivia... i want you to know that i made room for that scooby doo shirt in my suitcase, just barely. my bags were completely packed, but its in there. & i put a few pictures of scooby up for you in my picture section to the left. i love you!