HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Every year, at New Years, I write a synopsis of the year before. I just re-read mine from 2002, a very tumultuous year for me, and the year that I met and started dating Ruco. I loved the things that I wrote about Ruco, I was (and still am) so enamored by his stories and the things he would tell me about living in Africa. I quoted him saying, “I could live in a shack and ride my bike every where and be the happiest person on Earth there.” These things I write seem so funny now that five years later, it seems that is exactly what we will be doing in 2007!!
The past year has been a very exciting year full of good change. Ruco and I rang in the New Year at the foot of the Eiffel tower with his parents, excited about our marriage and the thought we might move to France after our wedding (which did not happen, but we hope to be there so soon!) We then went on our first trip, just the two of us, to Barcelona, Spain. This trip still rivals our honeymoon, and I think about it often. The cobblestone streets and amazing architecture were exactly what I needed at this stressful time of wedding planning! Planning a wedding is entirely stressful as it seems you have never finished the to-do list that is always hanging over your head! It was also hard throughout the wedding planning that Ruco and I remained in a long-distance relationship until his graduation in April, at which time he moved to Pensacola for the first time. It was all worth it come May, when everything turned out perfectly and we became husband and wife! Wow, Tara told me I would kind of float that day, and I really did. It felt like it was all a dream!! We immediately left for Hawaii the next morning! Hawaii was breathtaking, and the way of life there is what I anticipate Africa being like. Ruco tells me of “Africa time,” which is everyone doing what they plan on doing, at the exact pace they feel like doing it. Overall, it was just a slower way of life. People began recognizing us in the little town where we stayed at a bed and breakfast on the North Shore. I would love to live there someday, and am so jealous my friend Allison who worked with me at Rebuild now lives there with her husband, Merrill. Last summer was amazing, as I had not had the opportunity ever to spend so much time with my family, and I am grateful that Ruco and I have had this time, so that my family would grow to know Ruco as well. As the fall came, Ruco got a new job working for ARC gateway with Heather, and he absolutely loves it. It was definitely the perfect job for him at the time in our journey. Ruco also applied and was accepted for his US citizenship! Woohoo! We immediately applied for Peace Corps, which had been a dream of ours since dating (and one of the pre-reqs is you must be a US citizen!) We were so excited when we found out we were accepted to work as HIV/AIDS health educators in Southern Africa (although we will not know the exact country we will live in for a few more months.) This is the exact thing that I felt called to do since I was still in school at FSU! As the Christmas holidays approached, we went on our Mexican cruise, which was a blast just because we now have so much fun together within my family. We are just all getting older and learning to appreciate one another more and more, and we laugh so very much. Overall, this year was one that I will look back on all my life in it being the year I was married to Ruco and we began our lives and dreams together!Right now, Ruco and I are sitting in Barnes and Nobles. I have been reading a book called, “Nine Hills to Nambonkaha: Two years in the heart of an African Village” by Sarah Erdman. It really is so amazing as it captures exactly what this young American girl went through in her attempts to be a health educator with the Peace Corps. She worked in HIV/AIDS education, but also started worked in maternal and child health. She started a program, called “Healthy Baby” in which each month mothers would bring their small babies to be weighed, in order to monitor mal-nutrition. She actually sets up her baby weighing station in the middle of the town market, and writes about how excited the mothers are to come every month and see how their tiny babies were doing. She also attempted to make a stance against the female genital mutilation (unsuccessfully) and writes about her passion and disappointments dealing with this issue! This book is amazing, and this girl was so passionate about so many of the same things as I am. I would love to work dealing with all the issues, and especially feel interested in maternal and child health! I am most excited that once Ruco and I arrive in Africa, we then can write to Peace Corps to request additional funding for a secondary project dealing with whatever we choose. I definately want my secondary project to be dealing somehow with the local orphanages and HIV orphans. I have such a peace about this decision in our lives, because I think through this organization, we will be able to better pin point our passions and in exactly what area of ministry we would like to work in when we grow up! =)

Have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone, I am so excited for what 2007 holds!!