Sigh of Relief

Today, Friday August 21,2009, I mailed my medical packet off to the Peace Corps medical review office! I know I said I was hoping to do this almost a month ago, but those pesky immunization records were harder to track down than I had anticipated. None of that matters now because it is off, the ball is in their court. I can't really describe this feeling but it is great! The excitement of the Peace Corps and the process is beginning to return now. Now all I can do is pray that my body is in as good working order as I believe and think it is.

Processing Towards Progression!

Well well well, this Peace Corps thing is actually starting to turn into something now.... Actually that is a complete lie. See when I joined the Peace Corps, I worked hard getting my application ready, writing my essays, dreaming of the places I would go, people I would meet, stressing and prepping for the interview and praying for a nomination. I did all of that, got my nomination and now....Now I wait! I got my medical packet last month after my nomination and I am still trying to track down some of my old records. With any luck I will have it shipped off before the end of the week! I am hoping to be among the 15% of people that actually send it off the first time with everything filled out and all the information collected (yes it really is only 15%). What happens after I send the medical packet? I wait... I was warned this would be a waiting game and I understand that. I guess I thought I was good at waiting. But when you make a commitment and decide to change your life, you want to actually change it, not wait a year to change it! That is by far the hardest part of committing to it. I am almost hoping nothing changes in my life for a year, because depending on what does change that could influence my decision to depart. I have been trying to explain that to people, I am excited to go, but life has a way of happening! I am afraid it is coming across that I am not excited, when I am actually just trying not to get ahead of myself.

On the positive side I am almost done with my medical packet and that will get reviewed soon. Then hopefully I will be cleared and be one HUGE step closer on my wait to an invitation. Some other good news is that my Legal Clearance is currently being reviewed! That's progress baby!

Bean & I

Re-Building Bridges

Sometimes friendships end for a reason, maybe there is a big falling out, maybe there is just a mutual separation of ways. Whatever the cause or reason, after some time has passed, depending on the friendship, it just isn't important any more and it is worth it to re-build that bridge. I have recently reconnected with two people that had been great friends of mine at one time or another, and it feels awesome!

1)The past couple months I have slowly been rebuilding a friendship that ended or maybe went on hiatus about 11 years ago. This girl and I had a bit of a falling out as often can happen with friends, especially in high school. It was nothing major we just went our separate ways. She ended up contacting me while I was in college and we emailed back and forth for awhile only to lose contact again. Fast forward to present times and we have reconnected via Facebook and recently we made the big step into exchanging phone numbers. She called me last night and we chatted and it felt really good to talk to her, but to also know that we are different people now, and the past is right where it belongs, in the past!

2) So in college I had a very close friend, Teri. She and I did everything together, we were both incredibly active in our school and community and did so much of that as a team. We were inseparable until about half way through our junior year, when we had a pretty bad falling out. Truth is we lived together, and friends should never live together! We have not spoken in years and for a long time I had NO interest of attempting contact. Of course my cold heart began to thaw, I grew up and wondered what happened to my one time great friend. Fast Forward to a couple weeks ago I am in a bar talking with a couple cute guys, when this girl comes over (boobs pouring out of her shirt, and committed the female equation of cock blocking for guys!) So we all start chatting and she mentions she is from New York. Teri was from up-state New York and whenever she said she was from New York everyone automatically thought NYC, until she clarified. So being aware that New York actually has more land mass than the city I casually ask her where in NY. Come to find out she is from the same town Teri is from! I just chalked that up to a weird twist of fate, and maybe I should reach out and email her after all. Less than one week after that happened Teri sent me an email and stated that she was back in our old college town for a grad. class and saw a Subaru (my old car) with Oregon license plates! Isn't that CRAZY! (I went to college in a very small town in Colorado in case you don't know why that is crazy.) I haven't told her my story yet, but I am sure she will think that is the worlds way of saying we should be reconnecting at this juncture in our lives. I cannot tell you how much it lifts my spirit to finally have things in a good place with her. After so many years I really didn't think it had any effect on me, but it did. Even if nothing more comes of it, I have positive resolution.

It isn't always easy to reach out to an old friend especially when the separation was rocky. I have been rejected before (to be honest I expected it) but I have also had people tell me how excited they were to hear from me. The truth is both of these friends reached out to me and wanted to pursue that friendship with me again and it feels good! Is there someone your missing or wish you could see how someone is doing? I encourage you to reach out, you never know what you will get good or bad but I believe the reward does out way the risk!

Vitamin D-eficient

Just got a call from my Nurse Practitioner. She wanted to go over some of my lab results and she found that I am really low in my Vitamin D levels. She said I was somewhere around 13 and she wanted me up around 50! So I have some work to do, and some supplements to take. I did a little research on Vitamin D and found a ton of information, and just how incredibly useful Vitamin D can be for our cancer fighting abilities and bone strength!

I heard Dr. Oz talk about this on Oprah one time, and my LPN echoed his sentiments that we should be outside with no sunscreen for about 10-15 min a day in the sun. Granted that doesn't happen a lot in Oregon, but it is time to make it my job!

How are your Vitamin D levels?

Music & PC News

Music is the story of my life! Whenever I am going through something all I have to do is turn on the radio, put in a CD and there it is, someone singing to me about my exact situation, and reminding that people survive and even come out unscathed! This morning it was The Rolling Stones "You can't always get what you want." .

That song hit me so hard this morning because some very big news came in yesterday! I know I have only eluded to my desire to join the Peace Corps in previous posts but in mid-April I turned in my application and started myself on the process of changing my life. I had an interview about two weeks after I submitted my application, and just last night I got my nomination!!! I was nominated for a program starting June 2010 in Eastern Europe working in Organizational Development particularly with Non-Profits and Non-Government Organizations (NGO). It is a dream job in the last place I wanted to go.. I struggled with that, and I cried alot (like a baby) then with the help of some great friends and family I got over it and decided I am open to Eastern Europe and that I have my own story to write and to tell! I am committed to this adventure. I am very excited about this oppurtunity, I am really interested in my potential work assignment, and I am even getting excited about possible countries in E.E.
I do not know where I am going or the exact date which I am leaving. I won't find that out until 3 months to 6 weeks before I actually leave. The application process into P.C. is a 6 step process: Submit app, Interview, Nomination, Medical & Legal Clearances, Invitation, Staging (or departure). The overall P.C. process is also broken up into 6 stages: Applicant, Nominee, Invitee, Trainee, Volunteer (PCV), and Returned Volunteer (RPCV). However one very important step is left off both of those lists.....Waiting!!! Things are done on the PC timeline and no one elses which is totally fine with me, but good to know before you join!

Catch up!

Just some random stuff!

This is a double rainbow that was out the other day, but the bottom rainbow was SOOOO bright!!

This is my beautiful niece, who is posing as a diva in this picture!

The kick a$$ kickball team I have been playing with for 3 seasons now!! We are starting our 4th season together in June for summer kickball!!! (when the beer really starts flowing)

These are photos from my birthday party! I had a fantastic time hanging with the girls and drank a whole-lotta Vodka which is evident in the photo below which actually captures me the instant I am spilling my drink all over myself!!! Good news, my jeans caught all of the spill, I didn't even get any on my white shirt!!!