Shot Day, Part 2

Well, today I finished up the shots. Hepatitis A booster and TDAP (aka tetanus). Not much really happened. My left arm was a little sore, but nowhere near the typhoid level of soreness.

Just wanted to let you know that if you were planning on trying to infect me with one of these diseases, don't waste your time, I'm covered. I could point you in the direction of some people who aren't, though. ;)

2 weeks to go!!!!!!!!

Suitcase Woes

"My luggage, tired and true, given to American, now broken in two." -Adam Bosworth

Last night I decided it was time to get out my luggage and start packing for Malawi. Mostly to see if I'll have room for all the stuff I need to take, but also to alleviate some pressure I'm feeling as the date gets closer.

Sounds easy, right? Nope.

Now, I live in a precious little house in Winter Park that my roommates and I have affectionately termed our "cottage." It's small. So when Aubrey and I moved my room around last fall, the only storage space to speak of was under my bed. The suitcases went in the very corner. I was NOT going anywhere (so I had planned) so they'd be safe there for at least the next year. Riiiiiiiiiight

So last night after various failed attempts to extract aforementioned suitcases, I realized that the only thing to do would be to remove the mattress and box spring entirely. Remember, my house is small. I managed to lean the mattress up against my dresser; it was heavy, but no worries to speak of. Then I was able to lift up the box spring, but there was nowhere left to put it! So I tried holding it up as I scooted under to swiftly scoop out the luggage. Forgot it was heavy, though. So I ended up stuck under the box spring and straining a leg muscle stretching to reach the thing. For some reason, though, I didn't consider calling for help. Luckily Cindy walked by, but she wasn't much help initially since she was giggling too hard. Ended up with Cindy and I under the box spring, successfully getting the luggage, and Aubrey and Ben in the doorway looking puzzled.

Bad news part 2? As I grabbed the big suitcase (you know, the one containing all the others), the handle came off in my hand. Awesome. My sweet co-worker Crista has offered to loan me hers, and not even be concerned that it will get damaged on one of the 8 flights I'll be on.

Ann's Law of Luggage: The number of items you need to bring on your trip increases directly with the size of your luggage. Thus you can never bring with you what you need and you can never buy luggage big enough to adjust for your needs.

Hope it's a big one, Miss Crista!!!

Shot Day, Part 1

Well, today was day 1 of 2 that involved being shot up with various exotic diseases in preparation for my trip to Malawi. I went down to the Seminole County Health Department in Casselberry to get the cheap shots. Yeah, cheap entailed $153 for 2.

I dragged my sweet friend Theresa with me because I had no idea what to expect and was not at all prepared to undertake that on my own. She and I laughed the whole time, and the place was much nicer than I had pictured (I had visions of scenes from the 90s 'hood movie "Gangsta's Paradise." Do gangstas use proper grammar? Hmmm). Jessie had gone the night before, and requested that I tell the shot lady hi, as they had, of course, become friends. So I did tell her hello, and proceeded to make friends with the sweet woman giving me Yellow Fever and Typhoid.

What did I gain? A rather disturbing albeit reluctantly hilarious story about a doctor's visit (just for girls), and a Cotton Candy flavored Dum-Dum lollipop that is still awaiting me in my purse!



I also gained the knowledge that I am a mild hypochondriac. I went to work and started reading the information sheets on the 2 diseases and vaccines, and became convinced that I was having the mentioned side effects, including dizziness and fever which will last 5-10 days!!!! Really?! Anyway, I made my assistant Cari take my temperature, fully convinced I would need to leave work immediately. Turns out I was at 97.0. I was good to go after that. Except that I couldn't lift my left arm past a 45 degree angle. Who needs a left arm anyway? And telling the kids that I had had shots kept them from jumping on me. Bonus!

Joy, did I feel this crazy before we left for Kazakhstan?


Theresa is so good to me =)

I'm going to Africa! Want to go with me?

Children of the Nations: Raising Children Who Transform Nations.


COTN is an organization who establishes children's homes and village projects to support, raise, teach, and minister to some of Africa's most needy: children. In villages of Malawi there are thousands of children without homes, parents, food, and most importantly Love. COTN has set up local support staff and homes for these children. They also send out Venture Teams over to Africa and other countries to help support their ministry. The goal of COTN is to provide the resources needed so that the children develop socially, mentally, physically and spiritually. From March 13th-20th I will be going with about 6 other people from our church to assist in furthering COTN's vision. Several of the people going will be working with the caregivers of these children to assist them in counseling techniques to help the children cope with many of the issues they face due to abandonment, rejection and instability. The others of us who are not counselors or counselors in training, will be assisting in helping the kids through their daily activities, doing projects around the village, and supporting the caregivers with their daily chores. We have a fantastic support system here in Orlando at our church, City Church. City Church will be supporting us in prayer and also assisting with a portion of the finances. This is the first missions opportunity that City Church has taken part in since the church began one year ago and they are surrounding us with their support.


So how can you be involved? Beginning as soon as you read this, pray pray pray. Pray for our vision, our health and safety, raising support, our team as a whole, and most importantly pray for our time that is spent in Africa to be focused on serving those in need. We are also asking for people to be involved with helping us raise the financial support still needed. For me to be able to go I need to raise approximately $2,500.00 Any donation would be greatly appreciated! We will be sending out support letters as well as holding local fundraising activities. But if you are one of our friends or family members who will not be able to be a part of those activities there is still a way for you to be involved! Its super easy: visit www.COTNI.org to submit your donation.Just click on “Make A Donation” under “Get Involved Online.” Then scroll down to “Support A Venture Team” (to donate to the entire team) or “Support A Venture Team Member” under “Support An Individual.” Please use the team code: MA_TNS409 when submitting your donation. All donations are tax deductible. Thank you all so much for your prayers and financial support!


I cannot wait to share with you our experiences and how your contribution helped so many people in Malawi! I'll be updating my blog with info leading up to the trip, and my experiences after. Thank you for being a part of my life!