So I didn't blog again before I left. And I've been back for about three weeks, now. 'Bout time I wandered back over here, eh?

TANZANIA
First off, it's in eastern Africa, just south of Kenya. It's also where Mount Kilimanjaro is, the tallest mountain in Africa.
I went to see my friend Tim. His main gig is building self-sustaining orphanages in Ivory Coast (east Africa), but is helping some missionary friends manage a camp facility they run in Tanzania to give them a chance to be in the States for a year. I spent two weeks in the Morogoro region of TZ, nestled at the foot of a northern bit of the Uluguru mountain range. June is their winter, so the temperature was in the 70's and 80's Fahrenheit any given day while I was there. One of the rainy seasons had just passed by the time I got there so most everything was pretty green. It was lovely.
We did drive around Mikumi National Park one day, saw several giraffes, elephants, zebras, wildebeests, some hippos, and a few crocodiles. We even got to see a giraffe come to a watering hole and take a drink. :)

After a couple weeks in TZ, Tim and I visited his parents who pastor a church in Belgium. We even went with them when they took their youth group kids to a camp in Grindelwald, Switzerland. The Swiss Alps are GORGEOUS. My only regret this whole trip is, while I didn't take very many pictures anywhere, I didn't take ANY pictures in Switzerland. In Grindelwald, we hiked about here and there, saw the Trümmelbach Falls, walked by a gorge, and took a train to the Top of Europe. The whole thing was fantastic and beautiful.

In Belgium, we went to De Halve Maan brewery in Bruge, and walked around downtown. One day we went to Zeebrugge and I saw the North Sea. We drove into a small town just inside the Netherlands border for lunch one afternoon. It was all quite quaint. And the beer was really good.

So now I'm back from all that, searching for a place to live. For now I'm at my parents' place, but am itching to get back to the city. It's been three weeks, now, and still haven't really found a place yet. And I'm tired of looking. :/ I've looked at and applied for a couple places, but they've both been leased to another before I could barely get my foot in the door. Classes start in just under three weeks: I just hope to be moved and settled by then.
Wish me luck! Looks like I need it.

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Since my update a year ago this April, I have

• quit my job & neighborhood
• found a new job in my new neighborhood
• began attending University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC) majoring in English Literature
• quit my new job and new neighborhood
• moved back my parents' house
• and now I count down the days until I leave for Tanzania in June (9!).

I've been meaning to post this for about a month: I would log on, type up a bit of an entry, not be happy with it, do something else, then come back to it again in about 10 days. This entry was going to be horribly long before I decided not to dive into all the details right away.

While I'm here at my parents' house, I've been helping my mom clean everywhere. Today we cleaned up the garage some and started tackling the back yard - it's horribly overgrown. We made only a small dent in the work that still needs to be done, but at least it's been started.

I've also had way more time to read!! So that's been nice. Skimming books, reading books, looking at books, searching for books, smelling books, touching books: I love it. Right now I'm in the middle of reading Little Bee by Chris Cleave, and The Happy Herbivore Guide To Plant-Based Living by Lindsay S. Nixon. (Let's be friends on Goodreads!)

I'll update more about my Tanzania trip before I leave next week. Until then, Hello! :)

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Holy crap. Has it really been a whole YEAR since I last posted? Even my sister has posted more than I have this calendar year.

As finals are approaching, naturally I am procrastinating writing English papers and visiting corners of the internet I haven't seen in ages. So here I am.

I can't seriously let myself go through catching everyone up. Maybe in a couple weeks when I'm actually done with this semester I will update more extensively. Until then I'm just nosing around, seeing how the ol' 'Tang is goin'.

(SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED.............)

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It actually has rained just about every week this month. We've had some 80°F days as well as some 38°F days, too. But that's not uncommon around here, especially since the last few years. Heck, last year it SNOWED on May 1st.

All of this month I've had my head in the clouds thinking about the future. My lease is up at the end of July so I've been thinking about where I'd like to live. I won't let myself actually look up stuff until the semester is over in hopes that I will get some actual homework done instead of working on something with a farther off due date.

I have also been creating a list of what I want to do this summer, once I'm "free". So far this list includes crafty projects, cataloging my vinyl collection, and get my first tattoo. It feels longer than that, but that's it, really. The fantasy future in my mind sees me having more time to accomplish more things, walking around in the sun instead of lounging on the comfy couch, seeing friends more often, making more friends, and having more disposable income to have fun in the summer. Which of course probably won't ever happen as I like to picture it. Some of those things might happen sometime, but not as much as I think I'd like. And I'll still have the same bills then as I do now. I'll just be more available to work and make more money. Anyways

I'm going to be a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding this summer. I've been to several friends' weddings, but this time I'm in one. The dress was no fun to pay for, but at least it's done.
I haven't been in a wedding since I was a candle lighter for my eldest brother's wedding. I was 8, I don't really remember much of anything except the dress.
The dress I have is long and strapless. I was sent to David's Bridal with a color swatch (the lightest shade of pink you have ever imagined) and the instruction that I could pick out any dress, as long as it was a floor length skirt. For a wedding in July. (Not my wedding. This is for her. It's not about me and how sweaty my dress may or may not be by the end of the day.) I should probably get it hemmed a little, but I don't want to pay for that. I'll either just carry around my skirt all day (more likely) or wear taller shoes (less likely). Whatever!

This summer should be interesting. Just get here, already!
(Only 2 weeks left of the semester! Then two days of finals and that's IT!)

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