The Extraordinary Ordinary

Welcome to my blog!

I'm starting this blog to document my trip to Ecuador with the Brigham Young University Nursing Program.  I am leaving today, April 29, 2016 and I will be back in about 1 month.  I guess we'll find out 1. if I am good at blogging and 2. if I will keep this up after my trip.

It's 5:50 AM, and I am on the train to the airport.  I personally think it's too early to be awake, but I think waking up early comes often with traveling.  I am not new to traveling by airplane.  I've been doing it since I was very young, thanks to the fabulous trips planned by my dad.  Below is a picture of a trip we went on when I was 18.  My dad is the tall one in the middle.  With a Rick Steves book in hand, my dad will conquer any part of the world.



Besides my LDS mission to the Dominican Republic, this will be the first time I have traveled out of the country without my dad.  I'm a bit nervous, but I'm sure everything will be alright.

Besides, in the words of my dad, "LIFE IS GOOD."

You may be wondering why I named this blog "The Extraordinary Ordinary."  It's a name that popped into my head a few days ago and has kind of stuck.  I've been thinking a lot about what it means.  Everyone, myself included, has things that seem ordinary in life.  An example might be a cell phone, or mountains near where you live, or brothers and sisters.  These things become commonplace.  However, for someone else, those things are extraordinary.  I'll be going to Ecuador, where many things from the weather to the culture will be different for me, and it will be extraordinary.  But for the Ecuadorians, those things are ordinary.  My goal for this trip as well as a life goal is to recognize that I have plenty of extraordinary things in my life, even if they seem ordinary or commonplace.

Well, that's all I have to say for now.  Wish me luck!

LIFE IS GOOD.