Home at Last

I am finally back in the US of A. 

My flights home went well, I have been busy like a mad person since I got back. 

Thursday I came home to my entire family, Loriann, Sarah, and Cody. It was wonderful. We had the best lasagna I have had in the last 5 months. And....DR. PEPPER! Delicious!

Friday was spent running errands. I was reminded how much I love Texas and about all of the in your face TX stuff that is out there. I picked up Skylar from daycare and she gave me a typical kids say the darndest things... "Hey Cathy-guess what!-There was a brown girl at daycare today ....but she wasn't from Africa."

Texas display at Walmart

Saturday Cody and I went up to T Bar M Camp Travis and saw some of my old campers and our friends. It was SO great and I miss camp so much. But it was a little bit weird to be on the other side of camp (more of the parent side). We got to hang out with some of my friends from SACS at the Goudge's lake house which is like a summer tradition for us. It was a GREAT day. 

Saturday was also a big day in the Bean family because Skylar lost her first tooth!! She was so excited she carried it around with her everywhere.

Skylar's first lost tooth!

Sunday Cody went back to Dallas. My family and I celebrated my dad's birthday and father's day. We had a great afternoon with the family hanging out and eating cake. And we made homemade ice cream!! YUM!

Monday morning mom and I packed up my car (mattress and all) and I went to lunch with Abbey then started my trek up to Dallas. I beat the traffic and made it into Dallas just in time for Cody to come help me unload my car as he got off work. 

My full car including my queen sized mattress

I am living in a town home that is pretty new and absolutely beautiful. I love having a garage I can park my car in every night. It's night and day from where I was staying in Arusha...I have a big, huge couch and a comfy mattress and comforter. I feel so spoiled.

Tuesday was spent running errands, getting groceries, and meeting my new bosses. 

Wednesday was my first day at work at LibertyLinked which is a grassroots site which provides networking tools and a place of community for conservatives to get active and do something about the government. It is a great place for discussion and gives you the opportunity to see all of the political events that will be occurring--all organizations-- all on one page. Check it out and join! --Really, do it.

Thursday and Friday was work, work, work. Friday night Cody, Mitch, and I babysat which was ... let's just say.. full of laughs. 

Saturday Cody and I went garage sale hunting and I found some cool mason jars which are now my drinking glasses. I also found great old books and a cute dresser! I need to repaint and give it new hardware. Cody had a great find and got a $150 racket for 5 bucks. He was on top of the world. 

My new dresser! It was 60 bucks -- i love the old timey look to it

Sunday I got to go to the RANGERS GAME! It was my first Rangers game and one of the things I really wanted to do while I was here. Even though we lost and it was incredibly hot, it was really fun! Thanks Chris and Rachel!

After my first Rangers Game which was a VERY hot and sunny afternoon.

We also drove by the billboard Cody created at The Richards Group for Patron congratulating the Mavs win. For all the Dallas people it on the Tollway at I35. (He came up with the tag line) I'm so excited for him!

"A basketball comeback five years in the making. Perfect." GOOD JOB CODY!!!

Monday was a really cool day at work. I had the opportunity to attend a meeting recapping the 82nd legislature that was held by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. It was a very informative meeting. Then I went along for the ride and ended up at David Barton's personal office. If you don't know who he is, click HERE because you need to learn. He wasn't there but my two bosses, a fellow grassroots activist from FL, another grassroots activist from the DFW area, myself, and one of David Barton's historians got to spend some time with his personal collection of over 100,000 historical artifacts. The room we were in just smelled full of history and age, it was beautiful. The historian, Tim, gave us tons of information and let us have some hands on learning with Bibles, documents, and letters from the late 1700s. We were also able to handle some of the weapons from war that were used in the 1770s. This experience was absolutely amazing to me and I am so thankful for the opportunity.

Today was another busy day at the office. We were able to attend another meeting, this one held by Americans for Prosperity and America's Next Impact about the need for reform in higher education and the problem with tenure. Did you know most college grads graduate with at least $20,000 in debt? Also, the debt accumulated through college loans is $829.785 BILLION. Pretty scary, right? 

I have been trying to learn how to play tennis in my free time with Cody and his roommate, Mitch. I definitely need more practice. 

My adjustment process is still something I am dealing with daily. I have times where Swahili is the first response that comes to mind. Times where I am confused about what side of the road to drive on. Times when I have no idea about the conversation of the new (or old) movies, TV shows, and music that is all the rage right now. I have moments where I just want to cry (or have cried) because I don't know when I will be going back and I miss the simplicity and community of the East African lifestyle. Times when I forget that I can drink water out of the sink or pet a dog I see. Times when I get so excited because of grapes, Icees, mac and cheese, ice cream, couches, comforters, Reeses cups, hot/full pressure showers, salad, LUNCH MEAT, and carrying a sweater with me at all times. I have been finding JOY in a lot of little things lately.

All in all, I have not had time to sit down and dwell on my last few months. It won't be for a couple more weeks till that happens, but I suppose it is better than sitting and moping all the time. 

I cannot thank you enough for all of your prayers, thoughts, and kind words that have given me courage, encouragement, and endurance over the last couple of months. I am going to try to keep blogging... at least for a while. So if you want to keep reading, add me to your RSS feed or keep checking my blog!