Fall Break, I think I love you!

This year's fall break has been AWESOME! Maybe because it has actually been a BREAK! I have gotten to rest more over this long weekend than I have in the past month! :) Mikey and I got to go on a long-overdue date, just us for dinner and a movie :) It was so fun!!

And I got to finish an amazing book by Tracy Kidder, the author of Mountains Beyond Mountains (one of my favorite books about Paul Farmer....who is basically my hero). The book is Strength in What Remains, an incredible and true story about a man named Deo who survived and escaped the genocide in Burundi, his home country, and Rwanda. He lived homeless in New York for a while before being taken in by a couple, who helped to house, feed, and clothe him while he attended Columbia University and, later, Dartmouth Medical School. After becoming a US Citizen, he returned to Burundi to start a free medical clinic in his parents' town. Within the first year, the clinic was ministering to patients from other towns, and even other countries, including the Congo. I highly, highly recommend this book to everyone...especially if you are interested in health care and aid to poor countries! There is so much suffering in the world, sometimes it seems insurmountable, but there is also so much that can be done...so much good that can be created...so much life and love that can be shared if we are willing to reach a little farther and try a little harder. What I'm trying to say is...read this book!

AND (beyond reading and going on dates this weekend) I got to experience many new and wonderful "Firsts":

1. I got my first reusable shopping bag! I got it free with a coupon at Publix, my new shopping/saving center haha! I was pleasantly surprised at how BIG those bags are...with just Mikey and I to feed, I could probably fit most, if not all, of our weekly groceries in there!

2. I attended my first baby shower! My friend Michelle is due in November with her second boy Ryker, and I was lucky enough to attend her lovely diapers and wipes shower. (Sorry, I didn't take any pictures at this event)

3. I attended my first official 21st birthday party (although there was no drinking, so I guess it was different than most 21st bday parties :D)! My last post was to say happy birthday to my sister-in-law Melissa, and here's another shout-out for her birthday celebration!

4. My friend Jennifer, who moved to Charleston a few months ago and then got engaged to her boyfriend (now fiance) Eryc, was in town for the first weekend since she moved here, practically, and Mikey and I went on our first double date with them! :) We had some Mexican food, which was delicious, and then watched the Florida game, where Mikey, of course, proceeded to root against Tim Tebow because he is too loved or something haha (no picture of this night either...but here's one with her at Melissa's party :D)

5. (This is not so much a "first" as a revelation...which is technically a first realization, right?!) I realized that it is possible, and sometimes the only option, to get a bookshelf CHEAPER than a single set of bookends at Target! I snapped it up on sale for only $16!! It is so cute, and it holds my books in place even better than those silly bookends would have :)

6. I am preparing for my first wedding as a BRIDESMAID! Sarah and Billy are getting married October 17th, and the wedding festivities begin this Thursday! I am so pumped to get to go to my first wedding rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, bridesmaids luncheon, and bachelorette party as a bridesmaid!! :) Congrats, Sarah and Billy! I can't wait to post the pictures from all of the fun to come with their wedding! Here's one of their engagement pictures, since the bridesmaid-ing is still ahead of me :)

Wow! What a great Fall Break...and such an awesome week ahead, too! :) Looking forward to whatever is in store :) Hope everyone has a great week!!!