Three Degrees of Separation

I have finally arrived at the University of Northern Colorado for orientation! Today I went from Greenville to Detroit to Denver. At Denver I waited for hours with other people for our bus, where we then again lugged our weight in luggage (with a broken wheel) to the bus for our hour long trip to Fort Collins.

At the airport, on the bus, and at UNC I made an amazing discovery...there are only three degrees of separation for all team members.

Examples:

• I met Jake who went to language school with Elisa
• I met my future Harbin teammate in Greenville, SC for coffee (neither of us live in Greenville)
• Beth's friend's cousin is here (or something like that)
• Wheaton seems to always be a connecting point in some way

Literally, I feel as if I have a random connection to everyone here...

However, I must say that Moody is not well known out here. I was sitting at dinner and overheard someone say, "I was reading the bios and one said that she was a Moody grad. What's that mean? That she hated every class but graduated anyway?" Much laughter abounded...*Sigh*

Dwight*...sometimes I wish you had had a different last name.

*D. L. Moody was the founder of Moody - hence the name. (in case you didn't already know)

Checklist

I have a verbal rut that drives some people crazy...my over-usage of the word "check!" I love checking things off lists. Saying "check" helps me mentally add or subtract something to one of my hundreds of lists. I have mental, digital, and paper check lists.

One of the many lists I have is entitled, "Things to do before China." I have been checking things off like crazy. Below are some of my checked off items.

• Write Philosophy of Teaching Paper - Check
• Get Ears Irrigated - Check!
• Spend time with friends and family - Still checking
• Write thank you notes - (I would say check, but this one spawned a whole new list)
• Go to Doctor - Finally Check (yeah this took about 9 checks to complete)
• Eat Chickfila - Check (checked that one about 4 times just to be safe)
• Buy Coffee Press - Check!

I still have roughly 35 checks to go, but the good news is that the lists are getting shorter.

If you were leaving the country, what kinds of things would you need to check off your list? Can you think of anything I should add to my lists?

Also, I thought of some checklists for you, my friends.

• Sign up for Skype and find Lizzie
• Read about Harbin, China
• Give Lizzie one last hug 'cause you love her

Feel free to add to the list!

Common Responses

At this point I have told many, many people that I am moving to China. I have received so many different reactions that I thought I would share some of them with you.

My Statement: "I'm moving to China."

Responses:

• "Say What?"
• "Oh that's...nice."
• "Cool!"
• "Why?"
• "Do you know Chinese?"
• "Where in Japan are you going?" (my response, "Uhhhh")
• "You are going with blonde hair?!"
• "Hey, you'll be tall for the first time in your life!"

My Statement: "I'll be living in Harbin, China."

Responses:

• "Where?"
• "Oh, that's cold!"
• "I have a lumberjack song for you."
• "Now where is Siberia again?"

Perhaps I'll post the responses to the statement, "I'm from Indiana" once I get to China.

The Power of One Thousand and One

We've all heard about the Power of One. Now at ExactTarget you hear about the Power of One Thousand.

This week, I learned about the power of One Thousand and One.

My friend Megan is on her way to Kenya. She and her husband will be working to help widows and orphans by providing aide and education. ExactTarget coworkers rallied behind her and hosted a service auction (what's that you say: It's an auction of people's times, talents, and services to help Megan be able to serve those in Kenya)

With the power of one thousand, Megan moved closer to her goal.

At the auction, I had hoped to buy some graphic design time. Doing so would allow me to have some awesome email templates for my newsletters all the while helping Megan - Win Win!

However, I was outbid.

As I resigned myself to the loss, the winner came around and informed me that he had bought the graphic design services to give to me. I literally could not believe it. With one bid, he helped Megan and then turned around and helped me.

With the power of one, I was helped and encouraged.

That is what the power of One Thousand and One is all about. Sometimes it takes a whole group of people working together to accomplish a goal...
but at the same time if each person is looking for ways to help the person laboring beside them amazing things can happen.

Interested in rallying behind Megan? (or just learning more?)
Go to: www.lcms.org/dooms