Monday, December 28, 2009

Ringing in the New Year!

Jess writes:

Merry Christmas & Happy New Years to everyone!

If you're new to our blog, we hope our Christmas cards have directed you well! Please check back often as we plan to update regularly (at least during January... ha!) Not quite sure what our internet will look like in South Africa, but we'll try our best to keep everyone as updated as possible.

Speaking of updates... we've received our Staging emails today and we are set to leave for South Africa on January 28th, at 5:40pm!! We are also confirmed for staging in Washington D.C. on January 27th, at 12:30pm, and will be setting up our flight planes for that arrival tomorrow.

In January we will provide some more in-depth details concerning staging, training, contact info, blog specifics, etc. So stay tuned!

In the meantime, have a great New Years and we'll see you in 2010!!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Ribbons on my Fingers

Jess writes:

Needless to say, I miss good ol' clam chowder (Cape Cod style, of course). The funny thing is, I didn't realize how much I missed good ol' clam chowder until our recent trip back to Massachusetts in October. I can honestly say that growing up, the smell of that creamy concoction wouldn't have made me blink an eye, and yet, our first afternoon in Concord, the mere whiff of that cup-o-wonderfulness made me swoon. Quite seriously.

I guess its got me thinking about what we miss in our day-to-day lives... and more importantly, what we forget to miss. (How could I have ever forgotten about the everyday beauty of Cape Cod clam chowder?) So I realize now, with our days to departure drawing nearer, that I am far more conscious of such things than in the past. That is, when I have gone someplace for an extended time before, I have been very aware of what I might miss, but never very aware of what I might forget to miss. It's a funny concept...

On my first trip to France - at a precarious age of 16 - I was very aware that I would miss talking to my friends for two to three hours every night and I would become quickly aware that my hair dryer was not compatible. And yet, even after that short trip, it was the feel of my dog's fur that made me feel most at home when I returned.

When I left for college - at a horribly more precarious age of 18 - I was certain that the lack of my own washer/dryer (and mom's help!) and a full fridge would be the greatest possible misery of life away. But after three months away, it was the way my body sank perfectly into the couch cushions to watch a family movie that reminded most of home.

Perhaps the most obvious examples are those that are most foreign - a year abroad, a trip to the other side of the world - these were months and years when it seemed like such a long, long time to be so far, far away. And at times, I missed everything about home. But still, I was always astonished at how much I had forgotten to miss when I returned... the smell of BBQ's, the ease of talking, the chill of air conditioning, driving a car (ha!)!!

And while Paris and Asia may seem the most exotic, the period of time spent "away" from some "home" that has struck me the most has been my time here, in Illinois. It is the first time, in my life, that I have felt the full effect of those things that I had forgotten to miss. And it wasn't until that trip back to Massachusetts that I found myself saying aloud, "Oh, I hadn't thought about ____(fill_in_the_memory)_____ in ____(fill_in_the_number)____ years!" It turns out, those statements kinda throw you off a bit...

So what's the point?

Well, I've come to realize that those super, uber important icons of home that we forget to miss aren't lost because of a lack of past memories, but quite the opposite, because of the creation of new ones. The last few years have helped me to realize that we spend a lot of our lives creating new "homes" wherever we go, and the great deal of time and effort that goes into that process leaves little room in our limited space that we call a memory for all the nuances of our previous "homes".

Thus, and most importantly, these last few years have taught me that because those super, uber important icons of home fade, we must be diligent about returning home, or to our many homes, in order to remember. So that the creation of a new home doesn't entirely replace the very special place of our homes before... So that the smell of stewing clam chowder doesn't fall so far to the past that we can't recognize its unique place in our life...

It reminds me: Before one departure, my mom bought me a placard that read, "Go out and see the world, but come home for love." I realize now how very important that sentiment is. We go out to college, to travel, to serve... but we come home for family, for friends, for memories... We come home for "home".

I look forward to our new home in South Africa... but I also look forward to those return trips home - to revisiting, in their various locations, the small pieces of ourselves that remain a part of those places and that remind us to miss them so carefully. Simply put, I look forward to remembering what I have forgotten to miss, so that I can miss it lovingly again.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Tech Saavy? Not Always?

Jess Writes:

So we know the whole two-people-one-blog-lots-to-say thing is a little confusing for family and friends. So we are trying a new system for our blog:

First things first, we're just going to start adding "Jess Writes:" or "Adam Writes:" to the top of every blog - that should alleviate basic confusion - ha! Also, we now have two connected eBlogger accounts, which means that the "authorship" of the blog (found at the very bottom of any post) will differentiate between myself and Adam. For example, all the old posts (including this one) will says "Posted by Jess at such-and-such-time". From now on, posts from Adam will says "Posted by Adam at such-and-such-time" at the bottom. We are also working on figuring out how to add our eBlogger profile picture to the beginning of each post, but no promises there.

Hope this helps to alleviate the guessing game!!!