One thing I never thought I would say:

I love Arkansas.

Training is over, and all is well. I get to work with a few groups next week, and my family is going to visit this wonderful place next weekend.

I had a bought of homesickness in the middle of the week, and thought that things were going to get rough. My birthday is this weekend, and it's my first birthday away from home, so I was having a hard time handling that. But I think it's one of those things where I just had to cry once, and then it's done. Today was a happy day, and tonight was a happy night.

All of the volunteers had a camp fire tonight. We sing, we share stories, we play bonding games... it's a lot of fun. We did this cool thing where we went around the circle and described one scar we had, and how we got it. It sounds silly, but you really learn a lot about people's backgrounds from it. I really do enjoy the people here. Sometimes I feel like the black sheep, but then we get to talking about music or video games and everybody comes together, and it's wonderful. Unlike that last sentence. Horrible grammar, but that doesn't matter in the blogosphere. Lolz.

Tonight is beautiful, though. There isn't a cloud in the sky, the stars are shining brightly, and the moon is a golden yellow. You can hear the peepers in the bottoms by the Fourche river (which runs through the property) singing their little symphony. It's a perfect night.

The ranch also had its first kidding of the season today. Two twins were born, and they are just adorable. I had never seen a baby goat before, and their tails are just to die for. It is so hard to not pet them or hold them, but they are cute enough that I could watch them for hours. We will have several kids born in the next month or two, and after that the lambing begins. It should be an exciting and amazing time! :)

One more thing before I head off to bed. I've found that I love getting mail the past few weeks, and would highly encourage any of you to send me a line. I will gladly write a few back, and maybe even send a heifer ranch care package (which my friend Ruben received this week.) So, in order to do that... here is my address.

Erika Lewis
Heifer Ranch
55 Heifer Road
Perryville, Arkansas 72126

Good night, y'all. I'm volunteering in the kitchen tomorrow morning in order to fanangle some free breakfast, so I need to turn in. Love and good thoughts-

Erika