on a side note...

i have had enough of politics. so i am going to write about something else.

branden and i have made friends. and not just any friends, we have made friends with incredible people who can teach us, inspire us, and provide us the same opportunity to help them. after a few weekends of dinner parties, postgraduate events and discussions, i am overwhelmed by gratitude for this experience and the lifelong friendships i have already made.

there is yvonne from uganda, sara from japan, rodgers from zambia, marzia from italy, carin from france, and joanne from uganda. not to mention our LDS friends tom and laura h.- and james and his wife-the newlyweds.

a few days ago, all this thinking about new friends got me to thinking about all of you...my far-away friends! and then i got an idea. B's and my flat is sparsley decorated. due to our limited packing space we were unable to bring much memorabilia to remind us of home or of each of you.

i would like to propose a picture/postcard exchange. if you, my friends, would like, i would love to send you a postcard, picture of england (or europe), or other memorabilia i can fit into an envelope. in exchange, i would love to have you send me a picture (of you and/or your family), postcard, or other small american memorabilia (must fit in envelope...).

this solves my problem of having pictures to decorate our home and the problem of having no reminders of all of you. and you get an exciting memento from me, on the other side of the big ocean!

this is how i have figured it can work. please comment and leave your email address on this post if you are interested. i will then email you to exchange our addresses.

if you aren't comfortable leaving your email address...i might have it anyway, so just comment and we'll work out how to get your address.

sound good? great! i will leave you with some words...

Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship.
-epicurus

much love to all.