The great thing about traveling is eventually you go home. This time I get to go all the way to my first home to my my family in America. I can not wait to see them. I understand that I have been a terrible blogger, but at least you got something. :)

I am finishing up my time here. While actually I finished my time a little while back, I took some time to travel a bit before coming home. It gave me a chance to rest, to think about these last too years, debrief my thoughts, and just time to myself before transitioning back. I will hopefully do some updates to finish what I started, but right now... this is most important thing I want to blog about first.

Thanks everyone.

This week is the BIG kick-off for.... drumroll please...

ACTS!!!

One of the biggest project I have spent time organizing this year is our summer program for college students. It is a 7 week program to come and immerse yourself if culture, live, people, and language. They will get to meet people and share life with them!

April- aka my Birthday month!

I have been very busy lately. So I thought a very simple short story with picutures would be adequate to catch you up!

One day, my mom and dad came to visit me overseas.

They saw all of the city.

Literally...

and..

They got to see my favorite spot in the city!

We had a great time!

Flat Stanley came too.

They had dinner with a dear family I know.

I sang in an Easter Music Program. Buddy directed, and his beautiful wife Nancy played the piano. It was a majestic.

We all had Easter Lunch with my co-workers and friends.

and even took an Easter Family Picture.

We also skipped on over to Dubai. We saw the Burj Al Arab, a six star hotel, and the Arabian Sea.

We chilled in the desert.

Flat Stanley did too.

Mom and I got Henna.

We all rode camels for the first time ever. It was great.

A group from Louisiana came while my parents were visiting. They all saw our friend who does caligraphy. He did a great job on all their names!

My parents left after this. We all had a great time! I loved them very much!

Later, I went to Cairo in Egypt.

Coty and Sarah came with me. We made funny faces in front of the pyramids...

and I rode a camel again.

Coty and Sarah have the same birthday - Happy 25th!

So we when cruising on the Nile.

on one of these sailboats. It was very relaxing.

When we got back from Egypt, my friend Katie was passing through. So we all went out to dinner.

She was going on to other countries so we decided to switch her over to a real-life Backpacker Backpack. I was proud.

The End.

Thanks for coming everyone! I loved spending time and traveling with you!

Sun between the skyscrapers

This is what I get to see on clear beautiful... AAALLLMMMOOOSSSTTT spring crisp cold weather mornings!!!!

And this is my friend who I spend time with in the morning while the sun is rising!

Have a great day yall!

*Warning* This contains some things that may burst your "I thought Catie was ...."

You should know some things about me(well maybe not, but I am sharing so you will probably read)... Some may be "oh I totally knew that!" and others may be slightly disappointing to find out about me. I tend to hide things fairly well... but really how am I ever going to fix them if I am never held accountable for them. So here are my top ten(some we can fix ... but probably not the first number 4- sorry yall):

1. I am horrible at blogging. I love to think that I could be really great at this one day... and I could. For those of you who are even left reading this... thanks for checking in! Could you find a fairy who could just write about my life?

2. This connects with the first. I want things to be perfect. Whoa... I know. Who would of thought? Catie B... she wants things to be perfect? So how does that connect with a cute little blog... I want to tell yall soooo many things, but I can seem to gather it all together into this what I like to think 'perfect little blog post' (when really I just need to do it!).

3. I think I am ADD. Seriously... my attention span is like 10 seconds. And within that 10 seconds I have probably thought about 5 differents things. Then I try to proceed to work on all of them at the same time. Which means this blog post has taken me over 40 minutes(correction** I am going on about 2 hours) to write.

4. This isn't one you can probably change... but just so you know. I really don't like chocolate and raspberry stuff together. (See this is what happens... thank you number 3)

EDIT* Number 4. People find me intimidating. Working on this one. Suggestions people? If you think that about me... you should meet my mom. We are both huge stinkin' teddy bears who only want to protect and care for those around us, but it definitely does not come off in a sweet teddy bear sorta way. Sorry yall, working on it.

5. I have a problem of being a really awesome starter... and a really poor finisher... IF I finish it at all. If I don't have a end date, goals, timelime... you better believe it probably won't get done. This greatly effects my hobbies and projects list... lots of half finished works. This is one thing I have been working on recently.

6. I am great at doing lots of things, but not the ones that really need to get done. Therefore, I leave what has to get done until to extreme last minute. I think I just heard a GASP! My mom is totally not surprise by this one. But seriously, I read somewhere that most of events If I spent even half the time thinking about and preparing for all possibilities then I wouldn't have to do things 3 or 4 times.

7. I really do work better on a team with a huge cheerleading squad cheering me on. Oh, don't we all. Sometimes it helps me to have 5 people working on the same project. It is great to have a group start and finish something. The reward to me seems that much greater!

8. I am a 'I want to do everything' type of person! You probably just thought. Duh, Catie, we knew that one! But what you don't know is that it means I don't do any one thing well. Yep, that's right. I said it- whoa!

9. Even though I tested as a J (for some of you who know the Myers Briggs Test), I think sometimes that I am on fat P. I make huge list of things to do, and either lose them... or take 50 years to get them done. There is a chapter in this book I am reading that I will probably write on later.

10. I am really quite emotional... really I am. Most people never see it. I can cry over a commercial or if I meet my old science teacher from 7th and 8th grade that I absolutely adored again(this is truth... it just happened in November)

Sometimes, or a lot of the times, Number 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 makes me the " I meant to ..." person which is so not cool. I had a yankee friend tell me once in all kindness of their heart, "I am sure like most things you do with good intentions, you really meant to do that..." Now you might think this was a little harsh, but it really was not. And I am kind of taking this to an extreme contexts. However, they were right actually, and I had just never thought of it that way(or didn't really want to admit it to myself). That pretty little wall of mine that looks all together was not working so well was it?

So whoever thought I was a focus, self-disciplined, wonder of a person which is probably not a lot of yall anyways! but still... sorry. But thankfully by the grace of my Father who loves me, I am striving to become better. How? I will write some more in another post.

26.Jan.2010

Some days my life is just sitting down and making myself do emails. Also helps to have coffee, hot chocolate, and tea throughout the day.

Let me introduce you to my Team

So I don't know if you have every met my co-workers but... here they are!

I have been blessed beyond words to have a great team and supervising family!

Please remember us !