ok, i gotta come clean with you guys…my lack of blogging has left me with a bit of a complex. what i want to do is recount everything that’s happened in heather-detail so you can experience it along with me. but that sooooo isn’t possible. lesson learned: don’t get behind in blogging.
on the other hand, i get to summarize these past 20 days in a fun way…and the fact that you’ll get snippets of what has truly been a whirlwind of days is actually very true to the experience because even i look back and feel like i haven’t truly soaked it all in yet. so in effect, i’ll probably be unpacking most of these things over the next year…and that is probably just what God intended J
so here we go…here’s a “top 20” (a “top 10” just wouldn’t suffice) in videos, pictures and words…one thing from each day – in chronological order from oldest to most recent. hopefully the pictures will fill in where words just don’t do justice. **i know this is long – but mostly cuz of pics…so hopefully it’s worth it!**
19. welcome to AIM: there are no words to even begin to describe camp. it’s awesome and crazy and just has to be experienced to be understood. so…for a glimpse into “the trip that is AIM camp,” you HAVE to check out my teammate’s blog for videos. his name is brandon, and in two minutes, you’ll feel like you were right there at camp with us. click on these links to see where we were: day 1, day 3, day 7.
18. tooth brushing trough: just as glamorous as it sounds…but it’s so much more fun to experience in the dark of the morning or night…with a headlamp…i suggest you erect one in your backyard. make it a family thing.
17. for those who know me well, you know i very strongly dislike cold water. so when i found out about our shower situation upon arrival, i was less than thrilled. you’d all be SO proud of me tho…i mastered the whole process…learning that the combo of hot-lanta heat and freezing cold hose water is divine. at about 3:00 after an afternoon of meetings in rooms with no a/c and team builders under the hot sun…all you want is a cold shower.
16. the squirrel’s nest: * 45 minute drive + unicoi state park + 16 rugged “nests” = super fun camp out * i’m thinking the pictures say it all in this one. looking at the picture on the left, to the left of the “cabin” area was a beautiful lake and lots of trails. down near the lower right corner of the picture was a huge bonfire pit where we made a bonfire out of tree trunks, limbs and anything else.
15. quiet time by the lake: sunday, we all were required to spend 4 hours in solitude. for many the thought of 4 hours alone and silence was daunting. i am lucky that for me it was a gift. i walked until the path i was on ended. well before the path ended, i was well beyond the lake…walking along a babbling brook (brook, stream…you know what i mean. i just like the concept of a babbling brook J)…and i found the perfect rock in the middle of the brook to walk out to. i watched the sun rise behind the trees along the mountain, journaled, prayed and soaked up my amazing nature-y surroundings.
14. trip to REI: by labor day i had pretty much confirmed that my pack was gone…so laura and cory lovingly gave up their day off to hike me into REI so i could take advantage of the last day of their sale. i even got a total bonus trip to target out of the adventure, which was so helpful!
13. team arrives! the one, the only all girl team!
front
jenn
caitlin
back
becky
moi
kari
renee
12. team dinner at gary & nancy’s house…finally we were all together. gary and nancy are our gift from God. they are our team coaches – basically our encouragers, challengers, supporters and prayer warriors for the year…and beyond – during the trip. they have been in missions for – well, pretty much forever – and i think it’s safe to say we’d be lost without them. they pour into us and just love on us in ways we’d never even know we need. anyway…back to that night at their house. we were able to do laundry, take showers and had a wonderful night sharing, laughing and bonding together.
**ode to gary: gary…altho he won’t readily admit it, really does like hanging out with us. you can see it in his eyes. we had special bonding time today at the coffee shop as i typed this monster blog up, and he sipped on beverages: first coconut juice, then an iced coffee, then a delectable strawberry smoothie. as you can see, he’s trying to fake that he’s not drinking the smoothie, but there is no one else at his table. and the cup in his hand…yep, that’s the afore mentioned iced coffee he finished earlier. gary – this one’s for you:
11. and then there was rest…sort of. saturday the 8th we headed out to lake lanier to kick back and relax. or so we thought. before we could rest, tho, we were put to a challenge…which, like the good little world racers we are, we took head on: choose a king or queen (from the AIM staff in attendance), get him/her, your team, a kayak and oars to the lake, get king/queen around ben’s kayak and back to shore, get king/queen back to starting point, then down a half a watermelon. needless to say…we earned the r & r time once we were done…and some people are still avoiding watermelon 11 days later…
10. late night entertainment, brought to you by burrowmeister, crimini and page:
burrowmeister
demonstrating the whistle that was pointed out to her on her day pack (note – i found that i have the same whistle on my beloved new day pack about 2 days later…a very fun discovery).
crimini
discussion surrounding the big shave started days earlier and spanned all possible style options but resulted in the fu man chu. the next day he lost the fu and the long hair for a fresh start for the race.
page
our beloved AIM chef extraordinaire. why she took the dare from kyle to wear a tape mustache of his shavings still eludes me. but it did make for great late-night entertainment. .
9. 
kisses
from
God:
i’ve
never
never
seen
a
butterfly
this
beautiful
before…
8. MY NEW GLASSES!! another love trip from laura…she took me to get new glasses (my old ones were in the afore-mentioned missing pack). and what a trip it was! we spent way too long trying to be patient with the people at the first spectacle shop…because God had a special place for us to end up at. and let me tell you – was it ever worth the initial frustration! my friend rita at Advanced Eye Center in gainesville, ga is fabulous (go see her if you live there! or drive there if you don’t – she’s THAT amazing!)! we literally walked in 10 minutes before they were closing, and she didn’t bat an eye lash. before i could even start looking for frames myself she had two pairs in hand for me to try on – both of which i loved. until i noticed that one was brown on the outside, blue on the inside…and had DRAGONFLIES on either side. you can ask laura for confirmation…but i immediately broke out into one of my more lavish happy dances. those who know me well know i am a dragonfly fanatic…stay tuned for a dragonfly-specific blog coming soon.
7. commissioning: our official send-off from AIM to the nations. it was a beautiful night, so we were able to do it outside on the back patio. started off with a little worship-action…a message from seth…prayer over the leadership team (me, mark, molly, kyle)…team prayer…then communion.
6. sleepover under the “big top”…on our last night, it was raining. so in an attempt to avoid sleeping in all-too-literal waterbeds, christie, colleen, burrowmeister and i had the bright idea of sleeping on the tables under the “big top”…aka the tent under which we had been having meals and meetings all week. it was the best night sleep i had all week.
5. itinerary update – the day before we left mind you…but as world racers, we would have it no other way J the conversation was very simple and went something like this:
jerry: “so, what do you guys think about the phillipines?”
sept racers: “we think it’s pretty sweet.”
jerry: “how about we add that to your trip in place of that first china month?”
sept racers: “YEEESSSSSSS! PLEEEEAAASSE!!”
so, in conclusion…be sure to click here for an updated map of our destinations.
4. ministry assignment: tree of life orphanage in buriram, thailand. we could not have gotten hooked up better for our team. we’re talking orphans, painting, gardening, teaching English, children’s ministry at the local church and the possibility of doing some outreach that i’ll tell you more about later if we do it. please click here for more info about tree of life!
3. travel-o-rama: left AIM on friday at 1:30pm…quick stop at walmart for some last minute essentials…2 hour trek to ATL…spent the night at a hotel 5 minutes from the airport…all-nighter for some of us (to get ourselves on thailand time – they are 12 hours ahead of central time…as in when it’s 7am in mpls, it’s 7pm here on the same night)…3:45am met in the lobby to load luggage.
then our 30 hour day-o-travel began: first flight at 7am saturday, 9/15…quick layover in san francisco…10 hour flight to tokyo…4 hours of fun in the floating airport…6 hour flight to bangkok…arrived at YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base in bangkok at 1ish monday, 9/17.
2. first race day! we ventured out for a little high-speed tour of bangkok. it was amazing…and i took over 100 pictures. in lieu of posting all of them here, i’ll refer you to my pictures link under my name and post one here…the bangkok city skyline.
1. today: temple tour day! so fun…amazing…beautiful. we took a canal boat, tuk tuks (little moped-taxi things), taxis…a little bit of everything as we toured 3 Buddhist temples!
…and with this…i am caught up…for now. tomorrow (thursday) we leave for our Tree of Life at 6:30 pm (6:30 am on wednesday in MN). please be praying for safe travels for all 4 teams, for smooth transitions with our host ministries and for continued health.
