Happy Independence Day!

Nothin says summer like July 4th weekend. I am excited because I'm going back to Blacksburg with my friends, Jake and Amanda. We are going to the Floyd wine festival, an event that I have never been to despite my 22 years of residence in Blacksburg. It will certainly be a great time to reconnect with family and friends. If you will be in Blacksburg this weekend, let me know and I can see you.

My house is still working out well, except for the short ceilings in some parts. I bump my head often. My road trip to Rockbridge went really well, as I spent some time with some old friends and was blessed with the oppurtunity to hang out with some new friends. It is always encouraging when others share their lives, both the highs and the struggles, with me.

I almost forgot to mention my trip to Nags Head! I took a few days off to see my family down at the beach in NC. I have been blessed with such an awesome family and I am consistently humbled by their love.

In other great news, I leave for Peru in 2 weeks! I am excited to go to another country and share my life with the people there. I am also filled with uncertainty about how to mentally and spiritually prepare for the trip. I guess a little faith will go a long way. I am going with my good buddy Josh, who is in the June 16th pose picture below. We were originally bound for the medical team, working logistics to the doctors could be freed up to treat patients. We have been moved to the conversational english team, where we will be talking with Peruvians who know "book" english but have little experience speaking with people who primarilly speak english. I can't wait to spend a whole week away from the shipyard and invest in the lives of others.

My time at work has been a little slow as I prepare for my next phase of training. There is too little work for the large number of new hires. Hence my blogging right now. Hopefully around mid-July I will transition to new training. I learned today that there is a guy who works here named "Harry Carey". That's funny. What's also funny is the anti-terrorism training I had to take on the computer this morning. I now feel confident in my ability to ward off terrorists. Haha.

I hope you are doing well and that your July 4th will be filled with hamburgers, relaxing, friends, and rest.