Is this really happening?!?

T-minus 4 days and I will be on my way!  It's hard to believe that I am leaving so soon! We received our itinerary our time in Norway and I couldn't be more excited.  We will:

• Attend a sail race
• Visit a Viking museum [an appeal to my Minnesota roots perhaps?]
• Learn about our various professions & how they work in Norway
• Celebrate syttende mai, the Norwegian Constitution day [how cool is that?]
• Visit the sea pilot station at Hvasser
• Present to several Rotary clubs
• Possible venture over to Sweden
• AND SO MUCH MORE!

I will be taking pictures & sharing stories along the way.  For now I will leave you with a couple of links to the area that we will be traveling to:

The Kristiansand Region

The "World's End" [Sea Pilot Station at Hvasser]

Syttende mai

Allow me to introduce...

My GSE teammates!!  In 12 short days I will be leaving for Norway with four wonderful ladies.  We come from different backgrounds and professions which will make for a great learning experience!  Traveling with me will be: Mary Kay [our GSE team leader], Carsolina, Christy, and Jennifer

[Right to Left: Carsolina, myself, Mary Kay, Christy, Jennifer]

Carsolina works as an Internal Auditor.

Mary Kay works at the VA with volunteers and customer service.

Christy works for United Blood Services as a Donor Recruitment Specialist. [Representing Mississippi!]

Jennifer is the founder of Olivia Massey Public Relations. [Our native Memphian :) ]

I have loved getting to know these women and I am sure we are going to have an AMAZING time together in Norway! We will be spending a ton of time together so I am sure these will soon become familiar faces.

I'm giving this a shot!

I don't consider myself a "writer" per-se.  However I will do my best to keep you informed and entertained by my posts.  Let me start by explaining why I have chosen to start blogging.  This past February I was selected to participate as a representative of Rotary District 6800 in the Group Study Exchange [GSE] program.  What this means is that I get to spend the ENTIRE month of May in Norway!!!  Now you might be asking yourself - doesn't this girl have a job?!?  Well yes, yes I do.  I also have a supportive boss & co-workers that allows me to be a part of this [what I imagine will be] life-changing opportunity.

In the upcoming weeks [well 2 1/2 to be exact] I will share with you a bit more about myself, my GSE teammates, my preparations, and any other random fun facts I deem to be important.

16 days, 17 hours, 58 minutes until takeoff [not that I'm counting :) ]