BUNAAA!

My name is Ali, or Alissa, (Ali(ssa)?) and I am so excited to be a part of this team! This will be my third time going to Romania to work with Open Roads and my fourth time travelling internationally with Blackhawk. I am so excited to go back and continue the relationships that I have built.

I just graduated from Middleton and I will be going to the University of Minnesota just a few weeks after we get back. I am not sure what I will end up majoring in, but I’m excited to see where God takes me (and at least try to continue my Spanish). In my free time I love playing ultimate frisbee, skiing/ski jumping, tennis and just staying active as well as playing my sax.

My biggest fears/prayer requests go along with the other graduated seniors: that I’m able to be present while in the midst of so much change and preparations for the next adventure.

Thanks to all of you for your continued love and support, you are just as much a part of this as we are! Please please please comment often so we can continue this journey with you and feel all your love even while we are so far away!

The beautiful Pollard family!

I’m Noah and I will be a Junior at Middleton and I’m so excited to be going back to Romania for the second time! I loved getting to know all of the campers and Open Roads leaders as well as goofing around with them. Here at home I love playing soccer (which I also get to do in Romania, yay), ski jumping and playing some stringed instruments (viola and cello) when I have time to practice. I am also going to be the president of Middleton’s Global Outreach Club which a group of friends (headed by none other than Ali(ssa) Pollard herself) started a couple of years ago to help engage the school in raising money and awareness about organizations like Open Roads. If any of our fellow readers are Middleton students, you should definitely join.

One thing to know about me, I speak my own language of quotes and references from a variety of music, movies and experiences. In my last blog bio I had 4 quotes hidden throughout. Unfortunately, my sister, Ali, you may know her, she is on the trip, wrote much of this year’s bio for me because I was hard at work (Pizza Brutta anyone?) and Franny keeps harassing us to turn our first blog posts in. I’m sure while we are gone I will get a chance to write and you will finally be able to hear my true voice (and favorite quotes).

A few prayer requests: That my sister doesn’t go too crazy this year, that our mom doesn’t miss us TOO much, and that, like many of the others, I can be be fully present while there.

Thank you all so much for being awesome people and supporting and loving on us. PLEASE COMMENT so we can have some contact with all of you lovely human beings.

P.S. There was some concern as to whether I was a team Jacob or team Edward fan when it comes to the Twilight series. I’m surprised there was any doubt, team Edward all the way!

P.P.S. If you have to ask… don’t! Well, it’s okay to ask about the trip and stuff, but don’t worry about the whole Twilight thing.

-Noah