well, the cat's out of the bag...the news is out and now I can breathe.

Well, I'm back! This proved to be a great trip. It was good to see old friends and great to make some new ones. I met a really cool couple while I was there. Viktor and Tanya are youth pastors at a church in St. Petersburg. I look forward to spending some more time with them in the future. Tanya was one of our interpretors. I met Oksana and Igor at the discipleship conference we were having in Gatchina. They are youth leaders from the Ukraine and are in St. Petersburg now.

Two days before I leave for Russia and what happens...my camera gets dropped. I was like no big deal, it wasn't dropped hard. It did however jam the lens motor making it inoperable. AAAAHHHH! So I take it to Click to get it repaired. Their response: We have to send it out and Kodak usually takes about 10 weeks for repairs...oh yeah, and it'll cost about $150. I was like what!?

I hate to buy from stores but I'm leaving tomorrow and couldn't stand the thought of going without a camera. So...I broke down and bought a new camera. I looked and looked for one that was comparable to my Z700 at about the same price I paid.


I decided to go with the Kodak Z650. It's actually a better camera than my Z700. I'm just not happy about having to spend the money on another camera. Oh well, I'm digging the extra features that this one has. So I'm off tomorrow with a camera in hand...

I'm off to Russia on Tuesday. I'm stoked about making it back there. I miss my friends. Then I found out that my friend Denis will be here in the states next month...Rock on! The cool thing is that I will be able to make it to Sosnovy Bor for a couple of days. Man, I miss those kids. They're so cool.

This trip will be a little different than the last couple of trips I've taken. I will pretty much be on my own. We are doing a conference in St. Petersburg but I am going to Sosnovy Bor by myself. That's cool by me but it will be a bit different. I'm just glad to make it back again.

I asked my friend Leosha if he needed anything and his reply was: drumsticks...and more hardcore music. I got him hooked on Demon Hunter and Staple the last time I was there.

So yeah, this will be a good trip and I'm really looking forward to it.