outdoors club

recently we started an outdoors club.
it has been epic.
i really enjoy red rocks, sunny days, large canyons, off roading, moths(not), diet coke, starbursts, and friends.

errry where.

traveling is fantastic.
hatch(panguitch), st. george, grand canyon,
las vegas, lake anna, and now (in six days) kyrgyzstan.
i love flying with only a backpack.

sweet life.

Today is a brilliant day.

Dr pepper, blankets, zombie glasses, and general petraeus.

Oh, and I really like this person aka sister. She is so great to talk to me everytime that i walk anywhere and then hang up once I get there. Thank you for allowing me to interrupt your day at least five times a day.

Peace and blessings

xo s

serenity

serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amid the storm.

i think life is like a storm, but a brilliant storm.
i really like storms, and serenity.
mountains give me the most serenity.
i find myself on endless drives through the canyon, experiencing serenity.
thank you for existing, mountains.

nkwagula

i love uganda. it is a great place filled with amazing people. it is probably my favorite country. uganda taught me more than i ever thought i needed to learn. it taught me to love more freely and to trust more openly. it taught me to work as a team with others in order to accomplish a larger goal. it taught me the simplicty of life, how often we cause stress in our own lives. everything about uganda made me a better person and i hope i never forget the lessons i learned.
i am now in south africa! my parents came last week and we went around uganda, on a safari in kenya, and now sightseeing in cape town. it has been a joyous time and south africa has been especially great because they have dr pepper and mcdonalds!
i will miss everything about uganda and i hope that i have the opportunity to do similar experiences in the future. im sorry my blogging hasn't exactly been frequent. i'll try to post some pictures! thanks for all of your support and love. peace love uganda

i am obsessed with africa

happy fourth of july! i am sorry that i am the worst blog updater ever. well a lot has happened since i last posted. since it's been a little over a month we've celebrated martyr's day, went on a safari and traveled to northern uganda, went to rwanda, and did so much work on projects i cant even begin! i have learned so much from my experience in uganda. it really is the best place on earth. after traveling to northern uganda and rwanda i have definitely developed an appreciated for our little village. northern uganda and rwanda were both great. we were able to learn more from those who were affected by the LRA in northern uganda and by the genocide in rwanda. we were able to hear first hand about the experiences that they were forced to undergo and it definitely made us all realize how lucky we are. my parents come in two and a half weeks and i am so excited! at the same time, its hard to think that in two and a half weeks everything will change. i have fallen in love with lugazi and everything it contains. its definitely going to be hard to leave! thank you all for your support and keep emailing!

i bless the rains down in africa

hello from africa! so we've been experiencing quite a bit of rain in africa! yesterday there was a crazy storm AND a large chunk of the wall surrounding our house just collapsed! so we currently our exposed to everyone! it's a little scary because anyone could jsut come in and steal our stuff but so far we've been safe!
the work is going well in africa! last week we built the frame for three adobe stoves, filled two, worked at the hospital, and helped out a bakery! last week was definitely our hardest working week and it was very fulfilling! this past weekend we went up to sipi falls which is about four hours north to this amazing lodge! seriuosly we all stayed in this little cottage with nice beds, HOT showers, amazing food, and beautiful scenery! if anyone has seen the tv show LOST, we basically were on the set, it looked exactly like it. we did some really really really intense hikes on saturday and got up close and personal with the three different waterfalls. coming back from sipi was quite an adventure with a flat tire, messed up brake pads, and a about five police checks. we were all very squished and cozy but we made the most of it!
we've gotten to know our way around our little village really well! we know where all our favorite food places are and the people who rip us off and the ones that are actually our friends. we had one unfortunate event where someone we put a lot of trust in stole sveral high price items from the different volunteers. the ugandan police were involved, the man was taken to jail then released and is now just free around town so nothing really was solved! luckily we've all been safe so far and we have a night and day guard so we should be fine! the sickness that attacked the house has now passed for the most part! plus the one volunteer who had malaria is free of it now so we're really on an uphill!
this morning aly, liz, and i went to a group home about thirty minutes away. we drove there on boda's so the drive was GORGEOUS and we loved it! we're hopefully going to do a lot of projects there and are so excited to work with the people!
the sun is hot, the food is different, but we all love africa:) i'm so happy to be here for the summer and do as much as i can with as little time i can! peace love, happiness to all!