Where In the World Have I Been?

Summer has been a bit hectic and I took a short hiatus from blogging...but I'm back. My written journal has gotten a bit more of my attention lately, but I'm sure you (my devoted readers) are super curious to know what's been going on. Glad you asked...

June: I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the Annual Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) conference in San Diego with some wonderful co-workers. Due to an earlier injury (to which still confuses me) I 'gimped' around San Diego, iced my feet every night and wore the lovely compression socks every day (best thing ever). Marcus Buckingham spoke at the conference, his accent is great. The breakout session I enjoyed the most was on Leadership for Introverts. Not everyone knows it, but I'm an introvert. I was able to share some stuff from the session with my boss and I think we understand each other's work styles a little better...I even presented about the topic at our monthly manager meeting.

July: Jungle bound, in Peru that is. After months of planning, raising support, team meetings, immunizations, prayer and not enough Spanish practice...my team of 14 embarked on a mission trip to Peru. We spent a week in the jungle partnering with a Compassion International implementing church partner. My church here in the Springs happens to sponsor 9 children at this project. I was able to meet my little Jhedyi and her mom. She's the sweetest ever, just this past week I found out that in her 8 years as a sponsored child she has had 3 sponsors before me and only one letter written to her before me. I'm even more enthused to write her and pray for her now. After the mission trip portion of our trip...1/2 of us went on to see Machupicchu. It was an incredible experience! I'll try to post more details about this trip later on.

August: Willow Creek Leadership Summit...by far the most encouraging leadership conference I ever go to. Highlights were Andy Stanley talking about tensions to manage vs. problems to solve and hearing Blake Mycoskie talk about his vision for TOMS shoes. My coworkers think I should email Blake because he has so many qualities I'm hoping for in a husband. NEVER would I be able to do that (hello introvert). I was prompted to buy a pair of TOMS shoes though. I love them.

Also in August we had a sort of kick-off for the high school youth group. Crud Wars. A few organized 'food' games that basically ends up in a large food fight. It was disgusting but the students loved it. We had 29 students show up for the event. We were blown away...I pray that is an indication of how the year will go for Inside Out. I'm really looking forward to getting to know the young ladies in this group and investing in their lives.

September: Looking forward to a vacation to see my family in Iowa and going to the zoo with my nephews.

Well...that gets you updated on a few of my life happenings. Where did the summer go?