Truth Be Told.

Tim taught me how to drive stick a few weekends ago. For the record, I do not recommend this experience in a pair of heels. Me, the driver in training, not Tim. He would have been fine teaching in heels. Me, not so much. I mean driving not teaching. Nevermind.

We spun circles around his elementary school parking lot, first slowly and then with speedy confidence, confusing the parents coming to collect their children from weekend practices with our choreographed turns, stops and starts. I suppose it was like watching ice dancing, a figure painstakingly tracing the same pattern over and over and over again. I can safely say I have memorized all inclines in that parking lot. I embraced the roll. I felt safe in that maze of asphalt. Then, we hit the open road…and the lesson stayed in the lot.

“You people are crazy for driving this way!” I exclaimed. “Why would you buy a car like this?” I accused, I questioned, and I stalled. I restarted, I popped the clutch. I panicked. People honked.

Though embarrassing - both during, for my lack of manual driving acuity, and after, for my behavior during the lesson – I learned a few significant things: one, people can build false confidence on flat expanses of road and in contained lots; two, panic does absolutely nothing for success in executing a task, neither do hazard lights; and, finally, three…well, three is not so much a learning as it is a realization.

There are two ways to conduct our relationship with you, dear reader, during this trip. In one scenario, we present you an idealized version of the journey, complete with clean lines and void of awkward silences. In the alternative, we give you the gritty details, admit to our mistakes, and share with you our goofs. And we propose to do that latter, present you with unparalleled realism and only a light amount of frosting (what fun is it for us if we can’t embellish occasionally?). So, if every once in a while, a profanity slips out (EGAD!), or a complete random story creeps in, please forgive us and keep bearing with us, remembering all the while that it is all part of the journey.

So, here is our pledge to you (how appropriate in this very chilly new year), simple as it may be – to be honest, to share everything we can until our fingers become numb from tap-tap-tapping away on the computer keys.

In turn, we ask for input from you. Tell us your stories from your volunteer projects. Email us, or comment on our facebook, blog, twitter account. Heck, email us your phone number and we will call you to hear all about your services experiences (we, theoretically, have some down time while driving). Help us to make this a dynamic relationship, where we not only talk/type/tweet/send smoke signals to you, but you respond in or out of turn. We would love to hear from you!