Going away..... PARTY!

Hello:

Well I am still recovering from the epic night that concluded my time in America. Wow! Thank you to everyone who made the trip to come and celebrate my last few days in St.Louis, I sincerely appreciate it.

Here are some hi-light pictures from the party.

















During the party I learned that I have some AMAZING friends and family who are here to support me through my crazy dreams, people like McCarther's strawberry filled cake, my mom is a great cook (I already knew this though) and it is not that difficult for ex-college kids to consume massive amounts of alcohol as if they are still in college.

A big thank you to all who attended.

I got a lot of useful and thoughtful gifts and a scrapbook with pages made by each of my closest friends, needless to say I cried, and I think it may be the best thing I take with me to Morocco.

The last week isnt going so bad and I know the good things will only continue. To my family and friends, I love you. Period.

Its going to be a rough 2 year without guys but really, whats 2 years in comparison to the rest of my life!!!!

Love you all.

The beginning of my last days

Today started the long, slow process of "last days". I am the first to admit that I am terrible at saying goodbye and even worse at reacting to other people's emotions regarding goodbyes. All people who know me can attest to this inability to deal well with emotions of others, especially sadness and anger. This is the reason I dread these "last days" so much but I guess they are inevitable.

Today was my last day at the Saint Louis Zoo. Seven months and a lot of new friends ended my second round of employment at this Zagat rated number one zoo (The first being my food service stint during High School). Here are some pictures of my last day.


Myself and Pat McCaffery, my fellow cashier. Hopefully she will be a Supervisor by the time I get back.


My going away cupcakes. Thanks Pat.


"Safety Phil". Hes quite a trip.

All-in-all it wasn't as terrible as I expected and I will sincerely miss my fellow colleagues and my time in Guest Services. I learned a lot, had some fun and made some new friends. Thanks for a great experience friends, and I look forward to hearing from you about the latest Zoo adventures.

A new gadget and a new friend.

Well today was quite an eventful day, as far as my last days in America go. Today I went to lunch will a fellow Mizzou Alumni, TJ Graven who is also leaving for the Peace Corps.

First off, we went and got Indian food and we enough naan to hold me over for a little while at least. Then we took a trip to all future PCV's favorite store, REI, where we found lots of nifty gadgets and plenty of backpacks with enough straps to make any true outdoorsey person go crazy. From there we headed to the world famous (or at least Mid-West famous) Ted Drewes frozen custard for a Cardinal Sin. All-in-all the lunch meeting was quite successful and it was nice to talk to someone who is in the same boat and is going through the same things I am.

TJ is leaving for Madagascar a week from today. While Madagascar sounds like a great place to visit, especially if King Julian and the Penguins are there to greet you, the harsh reality is that Madagascar the movie is not the same as Madagascar the country! I wish TJ the best of luck and I know he's going to love it there! The diversity of plants and animals alone is enough to make any scientist drool, and the prospect of adopting a lemur as a house pet could make the lack of electricity easier to overlook.

If you want to follow his Peace Corps adventures. http://www.tjargon.com/index.html

After I got home and took a much needed nap, I woke up to my Kindle on the kitchen island :) Yes, I broke down and bought the second generation Amazon Kindle. This way I am not using my very limited weight limits to bring books, instead I can bring hundreds of books in my purse.

I just started downloading books, but so far so good. I can keep you posted on my first impressions of the Kindle if you are also interested in getting one.

All-in-all it was a great day and I look forward to the going-away party this weekend :)

Fighting the good fight.

I just wanted to use this opportunity to promote a great cause some great women are fighting for.

In September of 2009, our amazing friend Sarah Jo lost her life to leukemia. Sarah Jo was a person you wanted to be around and spend time with. In addition to being awesome, she was also extremely intelligent and we miss her sincerely.

To honor her memory, two Kappa Delta women have decided to run a MARATHON, to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I just wanted to use this time to thank them so much for all they have done to honor Sarah Jo's memory and to help find a cure to these terrible cancers. I am very very proud to call both of them friends and sisters.

Here are their pages if you want more information!

Thank you Ali and Keira. AOT.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/mid/rnr10/kstory

http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/cmc10/agabel



Sarah Christopher, myself and Sarah Jo early in the morning at the 2007 Homecoming Parade.




Our retro themed sorority party!

18 days.

Just 18 days left in America, wow. I cannot believe it.

I just got back from one final south Florida trip and overall, was one of the better flying/ vacation experiences I have ever had. I am hoping my good fortune continues for my upcoming overseas adventure. First of all, Atlanta's airport was seemingly more organized and less chaotic, which seemed to help the overall trip experience. Perhaps the 2 feet of snow on the East Coast helped calm things down, but in general AirTran worked out well, despite its past record of numerous failures.

There is quite a lot to do in the coming weeks. I went and saw my Grandparents in Sebring, Florida one last time before my journey, and all in all, I enjoyed getting a small glimpse into their lives. Now I have Mardi Gras this weekend, my cousin Nick's birthday party, some shopping, quite a few dinners out, my going away party and hopefully a final trip to CoMo (Columbia, Missouri) to visit my BELOVED Alma Mater and my siblings.

RIght now I am watching every episode of The Big Bang Theory and trying to get all my loose ends tied up and make a final packing list. The last big decision is one bag or two. I guess we will have to wait and see....

Stay tuned :)