since i've been gone, i've...
- started and finished year three in Egypt
- had three different roommates and old faithful, Jen
- stayed in a five-star resort in Sharm el Sheikh for free
- fallen in love
- spent 10 days exploring rock-hewn churches, monasteries, Blue Nile falls, and ancient stelae in Ethiopia
- been home for the holidays TWICE :)
- been home when my dad had a heart attack
- gotten my first Kindle and sewn a patchwork case for "my precious"
- lived through the Egyptian "revolution"
- stayed (ie: evacuated) in Shark el Sheikh for two weeks, again, for FREE
- had my house robbed of $1200 cash
- visited the Colosseum, admired David, and hiked Cinque Terre
- run a marathon (my 3rd) in Copenhagen
- celebrated my 30th birthday on a yacht
- camped for a month in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
- gone skydiving here
- witnessed a pack of lions decimate two water buffalo...from just 20 feet away
- been awed by Victoria Falls from both sides of the border
- successfully cage-dived with great white sharks off the coast of South Africa
- traveled to South Dakota to "meet the parents"
- returned to Egypt to find my house robbed of thousands of dollars worth of possessions and my passport photos...CREEPY
- commenced year four in Egypt and vowed it would be my last
- started using an envelope system for my finances and saved quite a bit of money
- crossed "driving in Cairo traffic" off of my bucket list
- been utterly frustrated with Egyptians
- visited the motherland (Lebanon) and marveled at the culture and sheer natural beauty that I experienced
- had Thanksgiving Day off for the 1st time while in Egypt and helped make a from scratch, mostly can-less Thanksgiving dinner
- had several days off due to various Egyptian elections
- experienced a drive-by groping as an Egyptian man grabbed me from his car
- resurrected my piano skills and accompanied a middle school choir
- struggled with hatred toward the culture and predominant religion in Egypt
- celebrated my brother's engagement
- gotten engaged
- been offered a job in Quito, Ecuador
- celebrated our last Christmas as a family of five
- been asked to be a best woman in my brother's wedding :) yeahhhhhh!!
- found my wedding dress and started planning a wedding
- ordered an engagement ring for my tiny 3.25-size ring finger
- flown across 13 times zones to Bangkok for a job fair
- been offered a job in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
- imbibed Guiness and consumed my fair share of pad thai in Bangkok
- accepted the job in Quito, Ecuador; turned down the job in Tanzania
- found out that my dad has myelodysplastic syndrome and needs a stem cell transplant :( Go here to join the National Marrow Donor Program...it's so easy!
- been miserable living in Egypt
- burned out on teaching
- started looking for another career
- cried numerous times over my dad's health and the uncertainty of it all
- prayed more than ever
- yearned for the school year to end early and I could leave Egypt
- found out my dad may not be able to be at my wedding
- read One Thousand Gifts (well, most of it) and am working on being thankful in small ways every day
- experienced overwhelming excitement, sadness, joy, and anxiety
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1 comment:
Love it, love you. Glad you're back. :)
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