Married Life

yes it's been a while since ive posted anything and yes a lot has happened. this is my first post as a wife! charlie and i are just getting settled into our house in waco and are really enjoying creating a place we both feel at home and comfortable. neither of us are working as much as we would like yet, so we have plenty of time to piddle around the house every day. its been a huge adjustment for me. i am no longer the independent girl who worked as a wilderness instructor in georgia nor am i a random white girl in kenya working on a ropes course. now i am "charlie's wife" most places we go. its not that im looking for a new identity or that i dont LOVE being called "charlie's wife", it's just a really big adjustment.

i really love the community charlie is a part of here. we attend antioch community church and are a part of the college ministry there. charlie is a "lifegroup" leader and also helps with worship during their weekly college service called "dwelling place." most of the students in the ministry dont believe me when i tell them im 29, so i just go on as if ive just graduated or am just a little older than most of them. charlie and i really look forward to hosting college students in our home for dinners, lifegroups, game nights, etc.

and we still have one more party to go! mom and dad are driving out (and graciously bringing a trailer full of MORE stuff) next week and will be here for our final shower in marble falls. i look forward to meeting even more people from charlie's hometown and getting to spend the weekend with my folks in our new house. give us a call if you are driving through texas! see you all soon...



On our honeymoon in cabo san lucas

The Count Down

Charlie and I are still in the middle of our whirl wind tour of family and friends just before the wedding. this week we surprised mom for christmas. the rest of the family knew we were coming but we kept it a surprise for her. we parked the car down the street and hid in lilly's ginger bread house in the living room. when mom came home lilly kept saying "chawie here, chawie here." and pointing to the house. mom was so confused, but it was SO cute! we have used this week to work on all the last odds and ends for the wedding-programs, decorations, favors, etc. my little piece of advice to whom it may concern-try not to get married around the holidays. well that is if you have been out of the country, your life is spread over three states, and your official engagement was less than 3 months-don't add the stress of doing all that during the holidays. but the good thing is that many of our friends and family will be off from school and work and able to make it to the wedding. we are SO EXCITED about january 3rd and look forward to seeing many of you in georiga. our parents are helping us make this a party to remember. i never would have dreamed or imagined how amazing our wedding is going to be. we are trying to add some kenyan touches to everything to give it an east african feel. charlie and i are both "originals" at heart but really cherish tradition. expect the ceremony and reception to be both predictable and unpredictable. here are a few pics that our good friend brittany collins (brittanycollinsphoto.com) took for our engagement. see you soon!

The Tour

I have had a few people comment to me lately that they miss my blog posts. Who knew?! I figured once I got back to the states no one would be that interested in my measly little life. But for those few and faithful....I Love You! I flew from Nairobi to Dallas, TX (of course with a couple of stops in between) with my wedding dress in a zip lock bag in my backpack. There is a slowness and simplicity I am already missing about Kenya. Today I was thinking "I never could have gotten this many things done in one day in Nairobi." While many things in the states are so much more convenient (like a hot shower ANY time I want it) I do miss taking things slow and the "we will get there when we get there" mentality of Kenyans.

So here is the rundown of life in the past three weeks:
Got picked up by Charlie at the Dallas airport and drove to Waco
I finally got to meet Charlie's family
Charlie put the most beautiful ring on my finger, officially engaged
Flew from Waco to Atlanta
Drove from Georgia to Florida
The Pennington's finally got to meet Charlie
Drove from Florida to Georgia
Flew from Atlanta to San Antonio
Meet Charlie's extended family
Drove to Waco
Four engagement parties
Four Thanksgiving dinners
Signed a lease on a house

So at this point it is hard to figure out which way is up. Oh and did I mention we are getting married in 30 days?! It is only by the grace of God and our amazing parents that things are getting planned and running as smooth as possible. Thank you for loving the future "Boyd Family" we look forward to seeing many of you January 3rd!

Uganda

Last week I had the chance to hang out with my bff Lindsey in Uganda. She was visiting East Africa with a team from our church. We spent a few days hanging out at an orphan school, teaching silly songs, playing games, and in general just loving on some babies. The Helping Hands ministry she was working with organizes orphan sponsorship, enabling individuals to help pay for orphans to attend school and have at least on guaranteed meal a day. Two of our days at the school in Busia were spent giving out gifts to each child, reading the letters from their sponsors, taking updated pictures of them, and allowing them to write letters back to their sponsors. I don't know all the numbers but I would say not even one third of the 700 kids at the school have sponsors. It is beautiful to see the pure unadulterated joy on a kids face when they receive a bag of goodies from someone who is loving them from across the world. Kids got things like pens, pencils, candy, notebooks, socks, toothbrushes, etc. The children who did not receive sponsor gifts were given a small toy (instead of a gallon sized zip lock bag) which they treasured. My heart was full, overflowing, and resting in the goodness of the Lord as I spent hours taking pictures, putting children in line, calling students out of class, explaining for the hundredth time how to write a letter to their sponsor, and filing paperwork. There are a million more things to talk about the trip - visiting churches, praying over land, riding boda bodas, and eating American candy over girl talk late into the night.



I am spending the next couple of days catching up with work and preparing to be gone again. Stu and Lauren (who I am semi filling in for) have returned from some time in the states and we will get all back in the grove of Stu leading Adventures as make my way out of the picture. We have been blessed beyond belief as a friend of ours has invited us to Mombasa (to stay in a house for free) for the weekend. It has been a dream of mine to visit the coast on this trip to Kenya and I am super excited that it is happening for sure! I am looking forward to lounging by the pool, feet in the sand, and sun on my face.

Thank you all for love, prayers, and support. Of course I am still counting down: days until the states-29, days until wedding 75!

Rest

Today is my first Saturday off in I don't know how long, and tomorrow will be my first time to go to church in about a month. I have been busy at the ropes course every weekend for a while and I am truly grateful for a day off. I've been trying to settle into a "Sabbath" every week. I know we are supposed to have those but they are usually filled with some sort of work to one extent or another. So one day a week I try to do nothing I would consider work. It is truly refreshing for the soul to have no agenda, no hurry, and no worries. And today is that day for me. A morning at Java House (yummy coffee and pancakes) followed by sweet fellowship with the Lord and now some afternoon of internet time (and probably another cup of coffee). About this time in the afternoon, if I am on the internet, I think about America and the rising sun. Soon my friends and family across the Atlantic will be crawling out of bed and I look forward to whoever feels the desire to get online. From Blogger to Facebook to Yahoo, Gmail, and Adventures emails not to mention texting and Skype, it's nearly impossible to get away from communication. Speaking of - Mom is up at 6am and ready to chat! Wedding plans are demanding so I will leave you now and talk about bands, registries, and invitations for the rest of the afternoon. I love you all soooo much, looking forward to another update soon.



Tusker - I can't wait to get home to my baby :)

Training and Training

Mwita and I on belay


Fridah and Debbie


As I think about what has been going on lately the word “training” comes to mind for more than one reason. Amanda and I have decided to participate in two 10k races in October. I’ve never run a 10k before so I’m excited about the experience. One race is in Lukenya Hills, and you know if the name of the location has the word “hills” in it then you are in for a treat. Lukenya is also known for having a much warmer climate than we are used to in Nairobi. Needless to say, it is bound to make for good memories. The other race is part of the Nairobi Marathon – we’re not quite ready for a marathon yet so we are participating in the 10k. To train for the races Amanda and I have started a bit of a running routine in the mornings. We don’t make it out every morning, we don’t have an official training schedule, we haven’t actually run 10k all at once yet, but we are giving it our best shot. Since competitive sports ended a few years ago for me its nice to have something to shoot for. I really enjoy getting up early and getting my day started (but not having a guaranteed shower when you return home can be a deterrent). So far our adventures have included taking Sham (one of the dogs) on the run, he’s not the best running partner but it makes me feel one step safer when people on the street may see him as a guard dog. We already stick out like sore thumbs as it is; it’s pretty rare (and ridiculous) to see white girls running on the side of the road. Sometimes people on the side of the road will just start running, we think they are making fun of us, but it’s hard to tell. We get encouraging words too, but again, we are pretty sure they think we are silly. There are some roads we run that I’ve never driven in a car, so it’s helping me see all the sights of our side of town. Some roads are paved and busy on which we nearly get run off the road at times. Other roads are more quiet, many of them paved with brick and include generous sidewalks. Some stretches of roads aren’t paved at all and make for sort of an “agility” course. I am praying our runs renew us daily and move us toward health of mind, body, and spirit.

The other reason the word “training” comes to my mind is because of work. This weekend I put 6 of our new staff through our high ropes course training. Five of them are college students and the other is a recent graduate. They are beautiful additions to the BlueSky Adventures team. As I drove home from the training the first night I thought back to my own high ropes course training. It was about six years ago at Camp Chattooga when Lindsey and I took a shot at being the Adventure Program counselors. It was the first time we had spent any time with Shane and Stephanie, who are now our very good friends. I remember running a group on my own for the first time and asking Steph “what should I do?” and her writing down on a sticky note the low initiatives I should start with. I was so intimidated. It is so fun to see how far the Lord has brought me. He has ordered all my steps thus far into the role He has placed before me. I love teaching these new staff, answering their questions, and ushering them into deeper levels of facilitation. I hope I can instill in them half of what my mentors have put in me.




Ngatho and Beatrice


Showin the kids how it's done


Kefa and Fridah on Pipe Dream

So that is what my recent time has looked like – training myself and training others. I am fully invested in my time here and praying the Lord uses me in ways I don’t think are possible. He has been so amazing to me and I want nothing less than to be that for Him. Thank you for sharing this journey with me. See you all soon.

Days Until:
America 58
Wedding 105


I found this guy on my drive home from work

BlueSky Adventures

Here is a little update about my job these days. I am the acting director of programs for BlueSky Adventures. I love this job, I love being outside, I love meeting new people from all over the world, I love providing a place for people to have fun, play safe, and experience changes. Those are our three rules and goals for every program. Last weekend we had over 200 kids from around the world over a three day period. This weekend we have about 70 more students, plus about 30 corporate professionals from Nairobi. This role is really growing me and stretching me. I don't like being in the office at all. Paying bills, calculating payroll, and being "in charge" are things I'm learning to do with confidence. While I am only in this role for a short time I know the Lord has brought me through years of different experiences to help prepare me for filling the shoes I am in now. Please pray for BlueSky Adventures as we strive to create relational opportunities for ministry in Kenya.




Not that I am counting, but I will see many of you in less than 70 days! I am not entirely sure it feels like an official count down at this point, there is still a lot for me to do while I am here. Life is going well, we don't have power and water on a regular basis so showers are few and far between. Life is becoming routine and even locals say things like "you are a Kenyan now!" I love you all, see you soon.

Grace and Peace