twenty-nine

Well, the days are dwindling. I added a super cool countdown to the blog to help all you folks better keep up with our imminent d day. Mike & I went to the Mast General Store on Wednesday to work on that list of gear that we still need. We were partially successful...I came home with my down layer and Mike got [another] next-to-skin layer. We also got a couple more dry bags & new mouth pieces for our Platy bottles. These are the neatest bottles - they weigh 1.3 ounces [I know, this means nothing to you] and can hold up to 2L...which is a lot of [heavy] water! A little over 4 pounds to be exact. While we did walk away with these treasures, we still have a few things that we need: camp shoes for me [I'm going with Wal Mart brand crocs], blister skin, some sort of hiking pants for me, and hiking shoes for Mike. Anyway - I just realized I'm already plaguing you with "gearhead" info - stuff that I'm sure means nothing to you nor do you care about. Forgive me in advance for the next 6 months!


The closer we get to d day, the more I feel...the more I feel--I dunno. I still think this is something that I can't fully prepare for. Sure, I can tell myself that I'll be cold. But I don't really know how cold - or how to prepare my mind for being cold day after day. Yes, I can tell myself that I'll be sick to death of pasta, oatmeal and bars. But, I can't fathom that right now...not until I'm out on the trail with nothing to eat but pasta, oatmeal and bars. We know that this trip is going to be more mental than anything. While the physical aspect is certainly something to keep in mind - you are literally just walking. As long as we can continue to:

• get up day after day, stinking beyond any stinkiness we've ever known
• put on dirty-clumpy-crusty clothes
• know that we'll be sleeping yet again in a sleeping bag, inside a dirty tent with a pillow that isn't big enough for a baby's head
• walk in the rain - soaking wet to the bone [i mean come on...water is going to find every little crevice and creep down into smallest of holes to soak our poor skin]
• eat the same food [for the 100th day in a row]

we'll be fine (: We've also promised to have good attitudes. Easier said than done with you've been endlessly walking for days. But, we realize the opportunity so share Christ while we're on the trail and we want to capitalize on that. Our prayer is that we wouldn't waste a single opportunity while we're away. And that we would use every minute of this trip to dig deeper into the Word, to walk silently with God, and to spend a lot of time praying over our friends, families, and what's next for us.


Y'all [this is totally random] I have found some amazing cupcake recipes! MMmmmmm! I am dying for a chance to make them! It just so happens that Valentines Day is Monday [I know, who doesn't want to bake on Valentines Day?!]. I've already requested that Mike spend the day baking with me. Since we're on a really limited budget these days I'm thinking that we'll just bake the day away instead of spending money on going out [or on flowers]. These Red Velvet & Strawberry Ricotta are going to be first on my list.

[from Joy the Baker]

[from Joy the Baker]

Don't worry, I'll let you know how they are once they're in my belly! (: