List making, shopping, blessings...and more shopping

It's amazing how much stuff you use each day. Seriously...I've been working on my packing list, and I'm finding just how much I use. Lots of it's little things - stuff like sunglasses, lotion, shampoo, soap, towels, pillow, pens, notebooks...that kind of stuff. But I'm not kidding when I say that all those little things add up quickly!

So my mom and I made a shopping trip. I'm happy to say that we found pretty much everything, and only a few items are left to check off my list. I'm not one who gets super excited about all day shopping trips, so I'm quite glad that it is done :)

It's been so neat to see how God has been providing for this trip. I'm blessed to have so many people who have supported me and are behind me in prayer - I can't even begin to explain how much of an encouragement that is to me!

I'm SO excited about this, and can hardly believe that I'll be leaving in a little over 3 weeks. Oh, how time flies!

(a favorite photo from my time in Mali in 2009)