the beginnings

It's always awkward, starting out a blog.  I've tried many times and perhaps this time it will stick!

The reason I'm starting again is because this year will signify new beginnings.  In February, I will be departing to Zhongshan, China, to volunteer at the Kaiyin school in Guangdong province - even better, a province that my ancestry hails from!  I'm beyond excited, a little nervous, with a healthy dose of idealism.

It seems to me that everything I could have ever wanted in life is happening.  I am blessed with great friends, with friends that have brought me into the world of falconry - something that has been my dream since I was 8.  I am blessed with this opportunity to travel to China and serve as a volunteer for 4-5 months, teaching English to children to better open up their futures.  I am blessed with the chance to get a world-class education at Brigham Young University.  I am further blessed with the opportunity to learn ballroom, Latin, and country dance at BYU - something I've wanted to do since I was 14.  I am blessed with a wonderful support system in place in the form of my friends, family, and Gospel.  I am blessed infinitely and I cannot want to give back to this world and to God when I am in China.