January: This entire month was consumed with getting ready for South Africa! Lots of packing, organizing, and good-bye lunches. On the 21st, we arrived in South Africa and spent the first few days in Johannesburg. Then we flew to Pietermaritzburg, where we spent the majority of our time in South Africa. It was such a whirlwind, trying to adjust and learning more about this new home.
February: We all continued to get settled and adjusted to South Africa. We visited different service sites, took a day trip to Durban and celebrated Valentines Day as a group. We also got to hike through the Drakensburg Mountains, which was absolutely beautiful. It was one of my favorite days of the whole semester. My isiZulu class met our pen pals and spent some time with them.
March: March started with my isiZulu class taking an overnight trip to Durban, which was absolutely hilarious. Right after, our whole group did the Battlefields Tour all around the KwaZulu Natal region. Even though it was pretty boring, we had so much fun with our tour guide Tony and just bonding more as a group. This month also holds all my memories of Ethembeni, the service site I worked at for 4 weeks. It’s such an impossible experience to describe, but was absolutely life-changing. I still think about those people all the time and still count our last day there as one of the best days of my life.
April: Wow. Looking back, there was so much packed into this month. It started with our “Zululand” experience, living in mud huts and taking showers under the stars. It was so wonderful…up until 20 of us got sick. We went from there to our 2-day safari, where I got to see so much of God’s creation. We came back to Pietermaritzburg for final goodbyes before doing a week-long road trip down to Cape Town, stopping in East London, Port Elizabeth, and George before reaching our destination. We immediately began our homestays in Oceanview, a community within Cape Town that was actually a reformed township. During this time, we were still taking classes, which included field trips to Robben Island (where they held Nelson Mandela) and climbing to the top of Table Mountain. We finished our homestays and then moved to a Bible Institute in Kalk Bay, and spent the remainder of our time there.
May: I said my final goodbyes to South Africa and flew home on the 6th. The rest of May was pretty much filled with welcome home lunches and coffee dates, and LOTS of processing. I got to spend a lot of sweet time with Lauren Volpei and Katie Hahn, just talking through everything and trying to deal with re-entry. At the end of the month, Katie took me out for my 20th birthday! We went down to LA for the day, walked through the Silver Lake market, did some shopping, and took a break at the Intelligentsia café. It was such a fun way to celebrate with her
June: June was very similar to May. Lots of fun time with friends and still readjusting to life after South Africa. The World Cup was going on during this month, which was so much fun (and also a little hard) to watch. I started doing a little Bible study/prayer group with two wonderful friends, which we continued all summer and it was so challenging and rich for my faith. This summer, I also got a job nannying for a family just down the street from me and it was so much fun. I just fell in love with those kids and had a blast playing with them for a few months. Not a bad summer job :)
July: Things got a little livelier in July. :) My family spent the 4th at VC, which is always a fun place to go and see old friends. I got to spend the next weekend up in Seattle! It was a much needed break, to just get away from normal life for a bit. I got some furniture for my new house and explored the city with the mindset of it being “home” soon, which was awesome. I came home and about a week later, went with my family to Sedona, Arizona! Jordan couldn’t come because he was living in Idaho this summer but the four of us hiked around out there and got to spend a day at the Grand Canyon, which was AMAZING.
August: There were a lot of fun little things in August, like Taylor Greig’s graduation party and Danielle’s baby shower. I got to go out to Colorado with the Hill’s and Megan for a few days, and that was a blast! They have a house on Grand Lake and we all had so much fun jet skiing, laying out, and eating ice cream :) I also got to spend a few days down in Azusa when everyone was moving back in. This was the first time I had been with a large group of South Africa family since we left, and it was wonderful. I had a blast getting to hang out with them all again and just loved every second of my time there.
September: I kicked this month off by taking Lauren Klapp to a surprise birthday concert: Tyrone Wells. We both love him and it was a great last hurrah before I moved. I spent the next week packing and then on the 16th, loaded up the car and headed up to Seattle with my parents! It was fun to road trip with them, and I was giddy once we caught a glimpse of downtown. I moved all my stuff in, got to know roommates, started classes, and adjusted to life in a new city. One day, Katie and I took a day trip out to Mt Rainier and ever since, I’ve had a blast exploring all these new, fun places.
October: It started out pretty good, with my best friend getting engaged!!!! I was a balling mess when we were Skyping with them…so excited! Katie got to come up and visit the very next weekend, where we got to see pictures, hang out, and go shopping for a wedding dress :) It was such a sweet time with her. It was also Katie Hill’s 21st birthday and we had fun celebrating as a house all together.
November: November began with a bang…Courtney Clayton came up to visit! She stayed with us for a few nights and we had a blast. We also got a fun surprise right before Thanksgiving: SNOW! With three days of school cancelled, we had all the time in the world to enjoy it. Thanksgiving came and since none of us were going home for the holiday, we made our own huge dinner and invited a few friends over. It was so wonderful and we had leftovers for days after :)
December: The first part of December was consumed with finals, but we made time in between for fun things, like making Christmas cookies! I flew home after finals ended and couldn’t believe I was entering into 80-degree weather. Oh California :) I made a quick trip down to Azusa for a few days to visit my family down there. It was wonderful, as always. I went to Mark and Gina’s wedding, which was so unreal…I remember when they started dating in 8th grade! Then Christmas rolled around, which included Katie Hahn’s annual party and lots of family celebrations.
Whew! What a year. Now, off to a New Years Eve party to ring in 2011! Here's to another great year, full of the Lord's sweet blessings!
