For Starters....

Okay, this is my first attempt at my first blog and I have no idea what I'm doing so for those who read this, bear with me until I find my groove.  I anticipate that this will be like a journal more than anything so that I can document my life for the year ahead of me.

If you're just tuning in to me and this journey so far, here is some background on what I'm doing here and why....

I have worked for Heifer International, an organization whose mission is to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth, for almost five years.  Heifer is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas but has offices in over 30 countries all over the world.  One of those offices is in Lima, Peru.  And this is where I will be working for the next year.

Essentially, I'm a guinea pig.  Heifer's CEO, Pierre Ferrari was seeking to create a development program for Heifer emerging leaders and willing staff.  But, Heifer had never relocated anyone before and they've never had a sustained development program.  So I raised my hand (well, actually I sent an email to him) and said "I'll do it."  

So here I am.  I now live in Lima, Peru for the next year working for Heifer Peru.

The last six months of my life have been crazy to say the least.  I had to make some serious decisions about my life before I could make this move: 

For starters, I am the mother of an awesome 8-year old little boy (don't tell him I said 'little') named Davis.  And when I say that he is awesome, I mean amazingly awesome and probably the greatest kid alive.  Let the permanent electronic internet record state that that little man is the pride and joy of my life.  

For seconders, I am a new wife!  All of the above adjectives related to Davis (except for 'little') also apply to my new and wonderful husband and best friend, Bryan.  

More on both of my boys later.

For thirders, I am starting a new job!  For Heifer to send me to Peru, they had to replace me in my previous position.  My job at Heifer was "Manager of Operations and Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer" and while that may sound fancy, it is.  To move to Lima and be part of this pilot, I had to give that position up.  The COO, Steve Denne, was my boss and was a fantastic supervisor, person, and friend.  Having a good boss is a big deal.  Letting that go wasn't easy.

For fourthers, THEY DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH IN PERU.  They speak Spanish.  And I don't speak very good Spanish.  Bigger deal.  More on that later too....

So when I say that I had to make serious decisions with all of the above factors included, I did:

• I had to withdraw Davis from the very good public school he was attending and find him a good school in Lima.
• We had to forgo a summer of baseball for Davis (gasp!) and hope that he could learn to like futbol (soccer).
• I had to give up the lease on my fantastic little home on Brentwood in the Heights area of Little Rock where I'd lived for 5 years.  
• I had to give up my job.
• I had to get married.  Yes, I had to decide to do this.  BUT, that was the easiest decision!  Bryan and I were floating along swimmingly with every intention of marriage one day.... but let's just say that this opportunity expedited the process.  (And Peruvian law doesn't acknowledge unmarried couples.) This is probably one of the best decisions I've ever made.
• And because of my decision to get married, I had to decide that I was ready to merge the lives of Bryan and Davis and create a new, "blended" family. 

I know that people all over the world make bigger, tougher decisions every day with a greater impact on everything so I'm not trying to belabor this.  But these were a big deal to me.  It wasn't easy.  I left friends and family who are my support network; who I will miss greatly and who will miss me and Davis too.  It's a year.  To some, it's a whole year!  To others, it's just a  year!  

To me, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to change mine and my family's perspective on the world.  To learn a new language.  To meet new people.  To share.  To grow.  To build a new family.  To bond.  To love.  To be.

So here goes nothin'. 

Let the journey begin.