I'm going to Ghana! and other random news

It's been forever since I've updated this- graduate school eats all of my free time and then some.
So...
7 Quick Takes:

1. I'm going to Ghana!  In 2 days!  For my practicum for grad school I'll be helping conduct a survey about baseline water and sanitation usage/access in a small fishing village outside of the capital, Accra.  Much more to come on this later.

2. I survived another semester of grad school.  This one seemed to be about 3x as much work as the first one, but it was great and I learned a lot.  And worked a lot.  Maybe I'll post on classes at some point.

3. I got back to Atlanta last night after spending a week and a half at home in MD.  Note to self: driving most of 11 hours on about 3.5 hours of sleep is not the best plan. Made it, but so very tired.

4. I have such good friends in many places.  I managed to drive up to Delaware to see Meghan, hang out with Matt and Babs in Gaithersburg, see a bunch of college friends at Julie's wedding, -be- at Julie's wedding!, and see lots of friends at church in Gaithersburg and Blacksburg.  Also got to see youth Sunday in Blacksburg and hang out with the Hunters over lunch.  Good times!

5. I got to see lots of my family too- Dad's side of the family came over for lunch last Friday, minus Stephanie and Arlene in California.  Kate was right, we should have tried to call or Skype them with everyone there. :)

6. My cousins are a lot of fun.  It was extra special to have Kate in town and we got to hang out a lot driving to and from Arlington and at our parents houses.  I'm an only child, but she's the closest thing I have to a big sister, and although I'm sure I get on her nerves like little sisters do sometimes, she's awesome.  Spending time with Charlie and Allison was also great (more cousins), including gallivanting around the Rio shopping center and making our own puppet show with the stuffed animal golf club covers.  Its the closest I've come to being kicked out of a store since college I think :)

7. It's weird being in Atlanta and not in school, and weird that I'm alone in my condo.  I know in a few days this won't even cross my mind, but the few days between visiting home and leaving for Ghana are this weird limbo of feeling like time is crawling yet having tons of things to do.