Some News

Ok, so I kept it a little hush hush, but I decided-- very last minute-- to go home for two weeks. Many of you know about this already and then you probably know that I went home to be with people, and especially 2 people: Tori and Francois.

I actually got back here last night after flying from Atlanta, to Chicago, to Tokyo, and finally to Ho Chi Minh around 11pm. Right when we landed in Tokyo there was a sudden tremor. It really wasn't a big deal itself-- no damage that I saw at all. But when the woman walking next to me said the word, "earthquake," and I saw people running to stand against the walls, I noticed the building shaking under me. I seriously just thought it was supposed to be shaking as we got off the plane; it felt like a metal walkway with a lot of people getting on a boat; just kind of bouncing.

But no problems, just a story that makes me sound tougher than I am. I was rushed to get on the last leg of my journey so I didn't have too much time to think about how I might not want my next flight to fly through Tokyo. The rest was uneventful. I watched several movies, though no good ones, read a lot, and thought about my trip home that was WONDERFUL and I wish lasted longer much longer than 2 weeks!

My niece Tori (who now says mama and dada and bye bye and can growl and give high fives) had another surgery. This time it was to fix her legs. Here she is a couple of days before her surgery. Here she is after her 3 hour surgery, during which she did superbly. Now she has 2 casts from her toes to her upper thighs. She was upset and looked scared when the nurses wheeled her in, but she was smiling in no time. Such a tough girl! And here she is a few days after. Cute as ever, as if she wasn't wearing heavy casts that majorly restrict movement for the next month. Tori, Trey, and Tara are my heroes. Seriously. Then there's Francois. We started "dating" in July 2010 and since I've been in Vietnam, we've been apart for nearly 8 months. We email, skype, and sometimes talk on the phone. We also write letters and about a month ago, he showed me a shoebox where he keeps all of his letters from me. I thought that was hilarious because I also keep my letters from him in a shoebox. What are the odds? Also, he's South African. Africans like to carry things on their heads. Never fear, there will be many more pictures from this visit!

Below is a video of Tori after surgery. She was upset and even threw up. Then she was fine.