It's Been a Year!

It's officially been one year since I left for Uganda, which just totally blows my mind.  It already seems like such a whisper of time that I was even there, yet I still catch myself saying, "Oh, I just got back from Uganda."

So, in honor of the one year anniversary of me leaving for Uganda, here's a short list of great ways to support missionaries (other than financially):

1.  Pray for them daily.  And make sure you tell them you're doing so, even sending specific prayers.

2.  Write e-mails.  Lots of them.  They don't even have to be interesting.  I was thrilled by every little detail of life at home.

3.  Send care packages.  Excellent ideas include: Oreos (chocolate or my favorite golden) or non-meltable candy, photos, smelly lotions or candles, books, and CDs.  There are lots of other things I could think of too, but the simple stuff truly is the most exciting.

4.  Stay updated with what's going on "over there."  It was really encouraging for me to get blog comments because that way I knew people were reading my blog and cared about what I was doing.

5.  Call or Skype.  If this is an option, it's fun for all parties involved.  You might have to stay up late or get up early, but it's totally worth it!

So, thanks for all of you who did these things (and supported me in other ways) while I was gone.  I appreciate each one of you!  That's all I got in my five minutes of brainstorming, so hope you enjoyed!

I spent the weekend in Wisconsin, visiting Christine, who I lived with in Uganda.  It was really strange to see her in America (I had never even seen her in jeans!) AND in the snow - quite a difference from the last time we met!

Anway, we had a great time catching up and I was ridiculously excited about the six inches of snow while I was there.  We went sledding, baked cookies (I taught her the recipe for Cowboy cookies), went on a wine tour, and took a hike through some woods.  And we talked, and talked, and talked about Uganda and all the people we love there. 

Here are a few pictures:

 Hiking.

 Sledding. In the dark. Totally awesome!

The snowy woods. So pretty!