"Is this my life now?"

    On Friday I got a text message from Jason that said "Do you want to go for a helicopter ride to the Serengheti this Sunday?" My response, of course, was "Oh hell yes!" I apologize for the language but it is what I said and I was that excited!! I did not realize it was going to be a photo shoot for Jason's company as well as a lodge that was chartering the helicopter but I am really glad it was. I got a call from Jason on Saturday while he was at work telling me that the helicopter ride was a photo shoot and we were leaving in a  couple of hours. Oh, I forgot, he also told me that I had to wear all white! I was pretty freaked out about all that! I am not a person that really enjoys getting their picture taken and especially if it is for a marketing campaign! I am very thankful for the "white" clothing package I had received from my mother last month after turning all my whites into yellows. So I put on all my whites and we were off to the airport.

Pictures from the our "intimate" photo shoot.

    When we got to the airport I was really excited. I had never been on a helicopter before let alone over the Serengheti. We all got in the helicopter and Jan started the engine. As I sat there looking around all I could think was "Is this my life now?". I was sitting in a helicopter surrounded by friends that I know one day will be like family. Jan was flying the helicopter with Jason seated next to him. I was in the back taking pictures of Hannah and laughing with Cecile. We were  all wearing white which made it seem even more surreal.
    We took off with one swift movement upward. I loved it! I loved take off and I loved every second of the flight. I did not think I could be any more excited until Jan tells me to look at him over the radio. I look up at Jan as he is giving me two thumbs up, which means Jason is now flying the helicopter!!! It got even better when Jan took back over for the landing. We were circling this amazingly beautiful crater. When I realized we were about to land on the edge I think my heart skipped a beat then it skipped another beat when Jan decided to have some fun and turn really sharply over it!
  When we found a place to land Jan dropped us off then took back off. We needed pictures of the helicopter so Jan got the chance to show off some by swooping down over us and flying off into the sunset. He also hovered right in front of us for awhile. It was all very amazing! Once Jan landed I informed him that if he did not get all the girls then he should!
   As soon as Jan landed we could see Masai in the distance running over the hills. Within 5 minutes we were surrounded by about 150 Masai. The day just got better!! I happen to love the Masai people and was absolutely thrilled they had shown up. The only problem was that we were supposed to be selling an intimate and romantic moment. We went ahead and took all the pictures and asked them to step back when they were too close. In the end we got some amazing pictures! It was not intimate or romantic at all but it was one of the best experiences of my life!! As a gift to the Masai we gave the elder the bottle of wine we had been sipping on for the shoot.

Video of us taking off

I guess the answer to the question "Is this my life now" is yes. Yes, this is Jason and I's life and we are determined to never take it for granite. Jason and I are living our lives to the fullest. We decided years ago to follow our dreams and move to Africa. We saved our money, we didn't go on a honeymoon, we weren't scared the unknown, we were only scared of not trying. It was good decision! We have been lucky but more than that we have been determined. We have also had unconditional support from our families. Most people thought we were crazy but from the beginning our parents told us to follow our dreams and that has made all the difference.

Jason's Birthday BBQ/Bonfire/Beer Pong Bash!

   If you know Jason very well then you know that three of his favorite things are BBQ, Bonfires and Beer pong (maybe more of a past favorite but he still enjoys it!). We had a great turn out for Jason's 26th birthday party. Jason and I spent Friday afternoon and Saturday morning preparing for it. While we were in town we decided to run by DHL to see if the package from my mom had made it, and it had! Jason was really excited about the velveeta and rotel! We even bought the expensive chips to dip in it.  Now, the dip was not for the party, we were going to eat all that ourselves another night! We bought several crates of good beer, soda and 4 kilos of potatoes! We ended up buying a lot of food for our 25 guests but the landlord supplied most of the meat. We bought all the American BBQ essentials such as hamburgers, hotdogs and steak. Michael, our landlord, bought half a goat! They brought in the goat to be trimmed and marinated. Luckily our friend Daniel had come over 2 hours early to help out. He had the privilege of trimming half a goat. The trimming includes getting rid of 2 legs, a tail, some intestines and kidneys. We then added my marinate and cooked for a couple house on there grill. While Daniel was doing take trimming I was preparing 4 kilos  of potato salad and making the cupcakes. We had tried to bake a carrot cake (Jan's amazing recipe) the night before but ended up with burnt sides and top and completely raw in the middle. It was one in the morning when we finally took it out so I just stuck in the in the fridge and decided to make cupcakes out of it in the morning. I also make chocolate netalla cupcakes with netalla frosting and, thanks to my mom's package, we had yellow cake with chocolate frosting! Jason made some great pasta salad with a little smoky gouda cheese and deviled eggs!

   

   This was going to be the first time I met Jason's bosses (Cecile and Johan) and I was pretty nervous! Luckily (sarcasm) they showed up while I was wearing an apron, kinda sweaty, skewing steak kabobs! I was so embarrassed but they are about the nicest people I have ever met. Jason has always spoken very highly of them and I knew he really like them but I was still surprised at how incredibly nice and fun the were. They also have the cutest little girl! Some of Jason's colleagues, Jan (helicopter pilot) and Eugene (pilot) and Sarah (pilot) also made it to the party. It is very comforting meeting people that I feel we could spend the holidays and special occasions with since we will be so far away from home.  We had a so much fun with everybody. We had the grill and bonfire going most of the night. When the meat would come off it would be passed around. The steak kabobs and goat were fantastic right off the grill! 

    

   After the bonfire had gone out and most of our guests had gone home we decided to teach some of our Tanzanian and English friends how to play beer pong! It was a great way to end the night! I can't wait to have everyone over again!

Lots of love,

Aubree and Jason