off we go...

in just a few short hours, we will be boarding a plane to italy...wow. its hard to believe considering that still have SO much to do and i wanted to go to sleep 45 minutes ago. i should know by now that my plans dont typically work out. for some reason (?) the Lord usually sees it differently. hmm...

anyways, we are headed overseas. before i say anything else, let me make one request. please pray for us over the next few weeks. theres a lot in store for our hearts, eyes, and emotions...

we are spending a week in italy- a couple of days in rome, the we are renting a car and driving around tuscany. (should be interesting...) we are going to stop in pisa, lucca, florence, san gimignano, siena, assisi, orvieto, gubio, perugia, cortona, and who knows where else.

then we are leaving rome, stopping in addis ababa, ethiopia to pick up our friends barrett and rachel, then going to nairobi, kenya. i think we will be there a day to go see some of our friends in kibera. then from there we are going with another group (the persecution project) up to sudan for almost a week, i think. dont really know those details...sounds safe, doesnt it? we will be traveling with them to see some of their projects and then they will take us to see mocha club projects. dave raises money for mocha club (a part of african leadership) and they build wells, orphanages, homes for abused women, etc...so, we are excited about getting to see the things we've heard about and prayed for! it will be a pretty amazing experience, but not easy, im assuming.

from sudan, we are flying back through nairobi, then rachel will leave us :( and dave, barrett, and i are going to fly to cairo for a few days. we will spend a couple days there and then travel to alexandria, egypt for a couple days...you know, ride some camels, check out the pyramids, see the ancient tombs, and maybe swim in the nile (can you do that??) then from there we are headed back to nashville just in time for dave to play a show and then celebrate christmas! yay.

speaking of christmas...our thanksgiving was wonderful. we had a combined family thanksgiving and it couldnt have been more fun. we are so blessed to have 2 amazing families and it was just perfect to spend time with both at the same time :) we played a lot of nertz...and for those of you who know nertz, you know that nertz=fun.

so back to this trip. we leave in the morning. i have so many emotions going on right now...im so excited but at the same time, im freaking out. packing always sends me into a frenzy, and this trip is especially hard. 2 opposing seasons, 4 different countries, so many different environments...im going crazy. but we'll make it there. and hopefully ill make it home to tell you all about it :) (of course im kidding about the "hopefully" part...right?)

ok, love you guys!

happy anniversary to us!

we got married 3 years ago today...i feel so blessed to be in such an edifying, encouraging, and challenging marriage. i truly am better because of it. i cant imagine my life without dave. he just makes life so much more fun, more joyous, and definitely more humorous :) im constantly thankful...

just the 2 of us

our good friend skip took some pictures of us this weekend. it was fun. he did a great job...his email address is skip.hopkins@gmail.com if anyone is interested in hiring a photographer :)
here are some pics...the last picture was dave's idea. hmm...

human pincushion

so, dave and i are going back to africa! we are leaving in 2 weeks- we're flying to rome to spend a week in italy, then we are going to kenya, sudan, and egypt. we will pretty much be gone from after thanksgiving to right before christmas. so, please put us on your prayer list until then :) im getting really excited and also a little nervous.

well, being the good pharmacist that i am, i decided that today would be the day for preventative medicine...gross. most of you probably know how much i absolutely HATE shots, so this was quite a monumental occasion for me. we each got 3. and they hurt. i can barely type right now because my arms are so sore...unfortanately for me, i know it will be much worse tomorrow and i will be at work for 12 hours!

here's an after picture. i got hit up with yellow fever, tetanus, the flu and i have to take an oral typhoid vaccine. ugh. dave got meningitis, hep a, hep b, and the flu. it all put quite a dent in our health savings account...vaccines are expensive!
this is the best part...i did a bunch of research and found a place where they only charge you for the vaccine, not the "office visit"...here it is. yes, its called Shots, etc. and its in a strip mall in bellevue. when we pulled up, dave immediately wanted to turn around. i had to assure him that this place is totally legit and recommended by the cdc...just looks a little ghetto...