Friday, May 30, 2008
Last Day at Wellspring
While Chris is back home putting every last thing into our storage unit, I am finishing up an 8 day academic learning expedition just outside Atlanta with 15 students from Wellspring Academy. (Wellspring is the camp and boarding school where Chris and I have spent the last year.) It has been a hectic and fun 7 days filled with a scavenger hunt at the zoo, Memorial Day at Kennesaw Battlefield with a very loud cannon demonstration, and four days of service projects. I'm headed back to Brevard tomorrow to meet up with Chris so we can begin our roadtrip by heading to Baltimore. See you Sunday Charles and Cathy! -Nan
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Med Paperwork Done!
Things are starting to happen!
Our medical paperwork is finally done and turned in. We are now waiting for the Peace Corps medical professionals to go over our paperwork and deem us safe to serve. June 9th is the cut-off date for the program we were approved for in the Pacific Islands, so we are anxiously waiting to here back from them. We have the name and number of a person we can hassle to speed things up, but we're not allowed to call them until May 26th. So that is where we stand with Peace Corps right now and we're feeling very positive about making our June 9th deadline.
What's next, you ask? Well, we are moving! Well, not so much moving as becoming homeless. Nan and I are giving up the confines of the walls in which we live for a life on the road! Our lease is up May 31st and we decided it didn't make much since to move in to a whole new home for the few months before we leave sooooooo.... We're hitting up various family members and friends for their comfortable couch space, or not-so-comfortable floor space on our loopy treck from the mountains of Western North Carolina to the moist atmosphere of Portland, Oregon. We leave June 1st for Baltimore, MD (We're heading NORTH!) to spend a few days with Charles and Cathy. Charles was just awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in Lithuania. Cathy has also applied for one and they are waiting to hear if she got hers. They will be leaving for Lithuania in August. Congratulations, you two! Then we head to Florida (SOUTH!) to see Dustin, Kara, and Delaney (Delaney turns one year old while we're there!) and Michelle, PJ, Haley and Parker. Michelle and PJ are getting their summer camp season started and Nan and I have been awarded the pleasure of watching two of the cutest little girls in the whole world for a couple weeks while their mom and dad are crazy busy. While we're there, I'll be heading on one of the camp's adventure trips back up to Tennessee (Chris heads back NORTH!) for a few days. When our time in Florida comes to a close, we will drive to Tulsa (We're going WEST!) to spend some time. This is where plans and schedules become a little fuzzy. Since we're not sure exactly when we will leave, we may have an awful lot of time to spend on our drive to Portland, or we may have to rush out there. If there is time we'll head to St. Louis (NORTH!) and Chicago (NORTH again!) and then to Oregon (WEST!).
That is the plan as of right now. If June 9th rolls around and we're still not cleared, things will change drastically. Right now, though, we are counting on leaving. Our house is all packed up in boxes. We've had our yard sale. The Goodwill trailer has had many many generous donations. We are now living in our "Peace Corps Clothes" (About 10 shirts a piece, some pants and shorts and swimsuits, a couple pairs of shoes and lots of sandals). And our kitchen contains two glasses, two plates, two bowls, a pot, and a lot of pasta.
Everyone keep in mind that our mailing address will change on May 31st and I don't totally trust the Brevard Post Office to properly forward our mail. If you need the addresses of our parents' houses, please e-mail us. That will be the best way to get mail to us.
But for now, farewell Brevard, NC! Hello open road!
Chris
Our medical paperwork is finally done and turned in. We are now waiting for the Peace Corps medical professionals to go over our paperwork and deem us safe to serve. June 9th is the cut-off date for the program we were approved for in the Pacific Islands, so we are anxiously waiting to here back from them. We have the name and number of a person we can hassle to speed things up, but we're not allowed to call them until May 26th. So that is where we stand with Peace Corps right now and we're feeling very positive about making our June 9th deadline.
What's next, you ask? Well, we are moving! Well, not so much moving as becoming homeless. Nan and I are giving up the confines of the walls in which we live for a life on the road! Our lease is up May 31st and we decided it didn't make much since to move in to a whole new home for the few months before we leave sooooooo.... We're hitting up various family members and friends for their comfortable couch space, or not-so-comfortable floor space on our loopy treck from the mountains of Western North Carolina to the moist atmosphere of Portland, Oregon. We leave June 1st for Baltimore, MD (We're heading NORTH!) to spend a few days with Charles and Cathy. Charles was just awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in Lithuania. Cathy has also applied for one and they are waiting to hear if she got hers. They will be leaving for Lithuania in August. Congratulations, you two! Then we head to Florida (SOUTH!) to see Dustin, Kara, and Delaney (Delaney turns one year old while we're there!) and Michelle, PJ, Haley and Parker. Michelle and PJ are getting their summer camp season started and Nan and I have been awarded the pleasure of watching two of the cutest little girls in the whole world for a couple weeks while their mom and dad are crazy busy. While we're there, I'll be heading on one of the camp's adventure trips back up to Tennessee (Chris heads back NORTH!) for a few days. When our time in Florida comes to a close, we will drive to Tulsa (We're going WEST!) to spend some time. This is where plans and schedules become a little fuzzy. Since we're not sure exactly when we will leave, we may have an awful lot of time to spend on our drive to Portland, or we may have to rush out there. If there is time we'll head to St. Louis (NORTH!) and Chicago (NORTH again!) and then to Oregon (WEST!).
That is the plan as of right now. If June 9th rolls around and we're still not cleared, things will change drastically. Right now, though, we are counting on leaving. Our house is all packed up in boxes. We've had our yard sale. The Goodwill trailer has had many many generous donations. We are now living in our "Peace Corps Clothes" (About 10 shirts a piece, some pants and shorts and swimsuits, a couple pairs of shoes and lots of sandals). And our kitchen contains two glasses, two plates, two bowls, a pot, and a lot of pasta.
Everyone keep in mind that our mailing address will change on May 31st and I don't totally trust the Brevard Post Office to properly forward our mail. If you need the addresses of our parents' houses, please e-mail us. That will be the best way to get mail to us.
But for now, farewell Brevard, NC! Hello open road!
Chris
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Quest for Medical Clearance
As you have probably noticed we haven't been doing such a good job of posting lately. We continue to wade through the Peace Corps medical clearance process. Chris and I both had doctor's appointments and dentist appointments over a month ago. At that time we discovered our dental hygiene is fantastic (all that flossing finally paid off) and that my white blood cell level was low. After several trips to the doctor's office, a month of blood work every other day and a bone marrow biopsy, we have discovered that I have cycling white cells (cyclic neutropenia) that seem to increase and decrease at will, which I have most likely had all my life. On Thursday I was able to get doctor's signatures on all of the forms! So, we're almost set to turn in our medical records and cross our fingers. Our one last task is for Chris to prove that he does not have rheumatoid arthritis. (That's a complicated story.) Red tape has certainly been keeping us busy.
Meanwhile we are in our last month in Brevard, and we're soaking up every minute with our North Carolina friends. We've started packing up some things, and we're having a yard sale next Saturday in hopes of downsizing a bit- feel free to stop by between 8am and 1pm if you're in the area. :) On June 1 we will begin a couple months of traveling around the country until we (hopefully) receive our highly coveted medical clearance and head to the Pacific Islands.
We'll do our best to post more often! Thanks for checking in to see what's new.
-Nan
Meanwhile we are in our last month in Brevard, and we're soaking up every minute with our North Carolina friends. We've started packing up some things, and we're having a yard sale next Saturday in hopes of downsizing a bit- feel free to stop by between 8am and 1pm if you're in the area. :) On June 1 we will begin a couple months of traveling around the country until we (hopefully) receive our highly coveted medical clearance and head to the Pacific Islands.
We'll do our best to post more often! Thanks for checking in to see what's new.
-Nan
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