Whew!  What a whirlwind the holidays are especially when you are traveling.  I just returned from 3 weeks of visiting family and friends in the US and it flew by!  It was great to be back home (though it is getting increasingly difficult to tell which place is “home” for me) and to enjoy all that America has to offer (a.k.a. Starbucks, Target, and washing machines).

While the 4-inch thick stack of paperwork that I so optimistically took with me remained relatively untouched, it was still a very productive trip for Full Circle.  First of all, we received 7 cameras from supporters to use for Full Circle activities!  Thank you SO much to those generous people who contributed!  You won’t have to wait very long to see the fruits of your donation!  These cameras will give the kids the opportunity to learn how to express themselves and share what they learn in Full Circle with the rest of the world, be artistic and creative, and become movie stars!  I can’t wait!

Additionally, my time in the US gave me the opportunity to obtain some great teaching tools and curriculum.  I owe a huge thank you to Tulsa County 4-H for letting me raid their curriculum shelves to provide so many books to Full Circle!  One of my greatest resources for teaching tools was actually my own home.  As my siblings and I were home schooled, we had shelves of books on any subject imaginable, so as many books as would fit in my suitcase now belong to Full Circle too.

More exciting things are happening with Full Circle.  When I arrived back at the office for the first time this year, I was met by our volunteer, Phillip and a short-term volunteer, Abbi who are both going to be working with me on Full Circle activities.  Phillip is from Minnesota and graduated with a degree in Music ….  We are so excited to have him with us for 6 months! Abbi just completed a Mt. Kilimanjaro climb and is a nutritionalist and yoga instructor, which will come in very handy with this terms theme on health, nutrition, exercise, etc. (don’t you just love it when everything works together?)! We will do a proper introduction of Phillip and Abbi in a couple of days.

So, long story short, it is going to be a GREAT term for Full Circle…just as soon as I get over my jetlag.

Happy 2013 to everyone!  My holiday was filled with great family and friends and holidays and food!  I cooked, ate pizza, watched jeopardy, played the piano, and had a thoroughly relaxing time.  The highlight of my visit was probably watching the Fightin’ Texas Aggies win the Cotton Bowl.  Time to make 2013 even better than 2012!  Oh…and Gig’em Aggies.