There's been so much going on lately, I don't really know where to start. Jessica already covered the final presentation, so that's one thing I don't need to talk about. But that still leaves a lot of stuff to write about:

• the Red Roof Mall presentation
• end of AIM session
• lots of changes academically
• researching big position paper on flag burning
• I get my SAT scores tomorrow
• Saturday is Andrew's birthday
• Oh yeah, and Monday was mine
• you won't believe what my dad gave me
• my aunt is coming on Friday to spend a week with us
• and we're going to a Cardinals game with her!

That's a lot of stuff to write about, and I certainly can't cover it all in one post! So I'll have to choose one. I think I'll tell you about my aunt.

My aunt Kristy (that's her on the left), who's coming to visit us later this week, is my dad's sister. She's a lot like him in a lot of ways (can't you tell from the picture? She's his spittin' image!) - and I'm a lot like her. Ever since I was really little, everyone's always said that I look like her, and Mom says that as I get older I look more and more like her. We're pretty close, too. Our initials are the same - AKR - so we've got this thing going where we call each other AK. Actually, she's AK the First and I'm AK the Second, but we rarely use our full names. We have our differences too - you wouldn't believe how many conversations we've had about music. She likes BarlowGirl, I like Mark Schultz. We're... different.

Anyway, what's really cool about my aunt is not just that she teases me about my musical tastes, but that she's a missionary in Africa! She lives in this little country in West Africa called Niger. She lives in the sticks - the absolute boonies. Out in a village, in a hut, without another white person for miles. She speaks a couple of the native languages and is working on translating the Bible into one of them, as well as holding Bible studies and doing evangelism work among the people.

What makes my aunt even cooler is that when she was in Bible school, she was climbing a tree, fell out, and was paralyzed from the waist down. She's a missionary by herself in the absolute sticks... in a wheelchair! Of course, she's never let that slow her down. You know, I don't think ANYTHING could slow her down! She's like my dad that way.

So anyway, Aunt Kristy is coming to the US on furlough this month, and she's spending the first week of her furlough with us, while she gets a car with hand controls so she can drive. She'll be flying in to St. Louis on Friday afternoon, and Dad and I will go pick her up. Then, we'll go to a St. Louis Cardinals game that night! It's going to be so much fun! It's kind of a late birthday present for me, since my birthday was Monday. Aunt Kristy and Cardinals... what more could I ask?

While she's here with us, there's no telling what crazy things we'll do! Her and Dad are both totally wild and crazy! Last time we went to Silver Dollar City. It was really fun. Because she was in a wheelchair, we got bumped up to the front of all the lines!

So anyway, I just wanted to introduce you to this way-cool lady! Hope you think she's cool too!