Day One

First of all, I am glad you made your way to my new blog!! As I logged on to update my old one I couldn't gain access so I just created a new one. I am going to try to update as much as I am able so check back often!!

So, today (or yesterday by now) was the first day of my journey!! I have been waiting for this day for a long time now. I have had my bags packed for a couple of days now, but I did have some last minute things to take care of. So the kids and I loaded up early and headed to run some errands. They were happy to helping me get ready for my trip. We got everything done and were able to spend a few hours together before heading out to the airport. I am just going to share a few bullet points about our day. It is 1:30 am and I'm not feeling all that creative.

-- So far I have met 12 of the 25 ( or so ) members of our team. I am looking forward to meeting the rest later today and getting ton know all of them better over the next 9 days.

-- Between the 13 of us who are together this far we have approximately 1300 lbs of luggage...all of which are donations for the orphanages. We also have 2 carryon bags a piece. That is A LOT of luggage!!

--Not that I travel a lot, but the little plane we flew on to Washington was...well, little!!

--That much luggage does not fit well on planes that size!

--Once we got on that little plane and got ourselves all situated and started backing away from the gate, the pilot came on to tell us that due to bad weather between Nashville and Washington we would be returning to the terminal and deplaning. So we got ourselves and our luggage off that plane and headed back to the terminal. No sooner had we sat ourselves down they announced that "they had changed their minds" and we would be boarding immediately. And so we did.

--We were not able to check our bags " all the way through" to Addis as we had all hoped, which meant that we had to get that 1300 lbs of luggage to the shuttle and to our hotel. Let's just say that the shuttle driver was not impressed to see us....especially since it was quitting time for him and he would have to make multiple trips.

--One lesson I learned today... Eat before your flight, even if you aren't hungry! Otherwise you may be left buying a tiny, overpriced can of tuna with crackers at the hotel at midnight.

Our flight to Ethiopia leaves at noon today (Thursday) and we will arrive in Addis at 8 am Friday and hit the ground running. My prayer is that we will all be able to get some sleep on the flight. I can't wait to share my trip with all of you!!