Countdown continues

Ten days and I'll be boarding a ginormous airplane bound for London! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.

Instructions to avoid spontaneous combustion

Breathe in. Breathe out. Unknot entanglement in stomach. Breathe more. Close eyes.

England countdown and checklist

T minus 16 days until I go to England. I seriously could not be more excited. I find myself in a constant state of planning/fretting. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to make checklists, organize, schedule, etc. So really, even though I'm living in a constant state of panic right now, like folks eating their Quarter Pounder with cheese from McDonald's, I'm lovin' it. I knew going into this it was going to be a daunting, time-consuming experience. I keep worrying that I'm going to get to the airport and realize I've left something essential behind: the good ol' passport, my money, my sanity. Oh well.

I've already begun packing (go figure). Checklist so far:
-One suitcase large enough to hide away a small village.
-Gifts for my host families.
-Rotary banners and other Rotary paraphernalia, (I love that word.)
-My team uniforms. (Yes, we have to wear a uniform. Isn't that cute?)
-Essentials like razors and deoderant (Shoot, a girl wants to look and smell good, ok??)
-A little back dress.
-Enough Cherry flavored chap stick to last me until the end of time. Or at least for the month I'll be gone.

Some words of wisdom

Nevermind. I don't have any.

Recap of my weekend in Raleigh

-Two whole days in the big red house with the fam in Raleigh = much needed.
-Purchased everything I could possibly need for my trip to England, cleaning out Target and Old Navy. I hope their restockers come quickly.
-Still love mom's French toast.
-My sister kicks butt.
-Lessons learned from going to a free concert downtown with my sister: Remember where you park the car. That info will come in extremely handy later. And yes, even Raleigh has rednecks. Squeezed into Morris Square with about 9,472 of them. I had the dirty flip flop feet to prove it.
-I love Krispy Kreme almost more than life itself. So wish we had one here.
-Visiting my sister's dorm makes me wish I was in college again. Sort of.

Under pressure

Do this, do that. Go here, go there. Say the right things. Play the part. No pressure. Everyone's watching, and everyone's waiting. For you to succeed or for you to fail. For you to excel or blow it. So much riding on every single move. So much, so much, so much...

Woke up with a song in my head

I literally woke up humming a song this morning -- a powerful one we sing once in a while at church called "Come to Jesus." It's amazing and inspiring, and it was a wonderful song to have in my head first thing this morning.

I think it was the Lord's way of telling me it was time to get back to my morning runs. I hadn't run in two or three weeks for a variety of reasons: numerous morning and night commitments, crazy weekends, a cold. But this morning I woke up at just the time I like to wake up in order to go for a run before work. And that song was in my head. So I listened. And I ran.

And by the end of my run, the sun was coming up, a brillant shade of pink in the sky, and I could so easily see the Lord's beauty all around me.