I’ve started out this entry about 10 different times now and I just can’t seem to find an appropriate sentence to begin:
But just so you know, where we're off to next is at the very end of this post. :)
- To Love God
- To Love and Serve Others
- To be People of Integrity
- To be People of Excellance
That was an incredibly quick summary of our time--we learned SO much. In fact, while Brian and Sandy were visiting last weekend, we were going through some of our notes with them and time after time I saw something and said, "Oh I forgot we did that!" We're bringing our notebook to the ship because I know we will need to refresh!
The most pictures I have are from BST because it’s the most active class--who really wants to see pictures of us sitting taking notes? :)
So now follows a bunch of pictures!
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We had to use SCBAs--very nice ones but I would be fine with not ever putting another one on my face.
On Monday we picked out our fire gear and got it all ready for the next day.
The whole group!
Buck--160 pounds of dead weight that we had to drag out of a smoke-filled container. Also something I don't care to do again.
Getting ready to go rescue Buck!
Practicing working as a team.
First aid day.
Our pool practical! These immersion suits were very strange!
Our fantastic group!! :) Love all these people!
Brian and Sandy came to visit--we went to the Fort Worth Stockyards and wandered around all day. The boots in this store were EXPENSIVE--$2000-$5000!
Rodeo time!
We've also had a great time with my family! I kind of feel like we WERE back in college: class all week and family and home-cooked food on the weekends!
One night we went bowling. :)
Jordan came up with the names. :)
Our yearly family photo. :)
And... goodbye until the other side. :) We are meeting in our dorm lounge at 5:00 tomorrow morning to make sure everyone is ready to go. Then we'll load up in the vans and head out for Dallas at 5:30. We flight to Dulles, then Frankfurt, then Libreville [Gabon], and then Pointe Noire! We'll get picked up and taken to our field service. Every onboarding class does 5 weeks of class and 2 weeks of field service. Field service is working on a project in the country. We will be working around an orphanage--painting, fixing, cleaning, building. We'll be staying in a nearby "hotel", and I put that in quotations because hotels in Africa are rather different. Namely, ours does not have running water. :) I'm really looking forward to the field service. It will be great to be back in Africa and I'm excited to do some hands on work with the people in our class. And I'm sure the kids will be adorable! :) We will not have internet or phone contact while we are doing field service though; our families will be called when we arrive. We'll board the ship November 8!!
Each step in this whole thing has felt so big. Prayer-->Applying-->Acceptance-->Support raising-->Selling-->Packing-->Moving Out-->Traveling-->Class ... and here we are. Thank you--everyone--so much for following our journey! We'll keep you updated. :)