I am home. I flew in tonight. Jen and Stacie picked me up at the airport...a good story in and of itself...just ask Mark Artrip. But along with that, another great story...

From South Bend, I flew into Cincinnati, to catch a connecting flight to DC. While I was riding one of the shuttles to the other end of the airport, I noticed this guy's Pumas. So I said, "Hey I really like your shoes." In our conversation, he mentioned that he spent $75-80 on them and I said that I only drop that much in J. Crew or Banana Republic...ironically, he smiled and held up shopping bags from both stores. It was pretty cute.

We proceeded to the concourse, and we continued our conversation before we went to our gates. His name was Eric and we started to talk about the usual...where we live, what we do, where we're going...I said I am from Southern Maryland and he said, "Waldorf?" I said, "LaPlata...my parents live there." (For those of you who don't know, Waldorf and LaPlata are essentially the same city--like Warsaw and Winona Lake.) Well, he grew up in Waldorf and his parents live there. He was on his way to their house for Christmas. It was random, and again...it was pretty cute.

I told him I live in Indiana now and he said, "I have a friend, Ashley, who lived in Indiana. She just moved to Chicago." I said, "Ashley...Vass?" He said yes and I proceeded to tell him that we were roommates all last year. It was extremely coincidental and...pretty cute.

We had a great laugh and the cliche, "it's a small world" was definitely quoted! We exchanged numbers since we would both be in good ole' Waldorf and we are going to try to get together. He is tall, dark, and...pretty cute.

Hope you enjoyed the story! I know I did. I'll let you know about Part Two. I am...pretty cute.

PS. Stacie would like me to give credit for her contributions to this post.

It has been exactly two months since I got off the OB bus back here in Winona Lake, IN after BNYC. So much has happened since then...

*reconnecting with people back here after two months away

*experiencing new friendships and enjoying the heck out of them

*moving out of the beloved island house into a new one

*getting a new A-team and missing the old

*housesitting two houses in one weekend

*losing a roommate

*a date or two

*a ladies' retreat without my cell phone (I totally turned it off!!)

*spending time with students whom I love

*spending time with adults whom I love

*opening up my washer and dryer to some dear-to-my-heart college students

*learning more about myself and more importantly, more about God

*being exposed to music that is not Avalon, Faith Hill, or Martina McBride

*feeling overwhelmed, drained, and useless and learning to overcome such feelings

*hugs

*cheering on students who mean the world to me at soccer games, football games, singing competitions, etc.

*seeing students understand and experience the love of their Heavenly Father

*crying when they don't

*many meaningful late night phone calls connecting

*singing a duet with a talented musician...other than my little sister for the first time

*a few great walks around this precious little town

*realizing I haven't seen my family in almost a year, and missing them all the more

*a bike ride on borrowed bikes with a good friend and a distracted dog

*crying when I wasn't there to see my little sister off to college

*learning that there is no other place I would rather be than right here because I know that God has me here...

My family is getting home from summer vacation in New Hampshire today...I missed it and my mom cried. Great daughter, huh?

Great weekend...old friends, new friends, just plain encouraging fellowship, and oh yeah, a whole lot of singing.

Worship through song is quite a connector...thank you for your willingness.

P.S. OB 2005: The song we did as a duet with a guitar was "Shine"--the one that everybody loved, but we could never do. My accompaniment was excellent, so much better than any track would have been...