"My Bags Are Packed and I'm Ready To Go"

Well, tomorrow the grand adventure begins! I'm headed to Washington D.C. in the morning for a five-day orientation with all the other American and International teachers, then it's off to London on August 7. I'm really looking forward to getting to know Katja better as well as my other new Fulbright friends. I'm continually impressed by how kind and welcoming the people involved in the Fulbright program are--from the administrators to the alumni and especially the new Fulbrighters, everyone is very outgoing and fun.

It's hard to believe how fast the time has gone by. Feels like it was just the other day that I opened that exciting "Congratulations" email and found out I had been matched for an exchange. A lot has happened since then, but I sort of feel like 90 percent of my preparations happened just this week. And what a week it's been! The final push to get everything ready proved a bit more challenging than I anticipated, but I think I'm all set now. This week was full of packing, cleaning, sorting, repacking and more cleaning. I needed to get my house nice and spiffy for Katja, and I also had to clear out some space for her so she can make the house feel like hers when she arrives. I was really lucky to have my mom stay with me this week and work her little Cinderella butt

Saying goodbye to my family and friends who are so dear to me has definitely been the hardest part of all of this Fulbright experience so far. I met up with a few friends throughout the week to say goodbye, and it was so nice to see them all before I left. Then my sister Heather and my mom threw me a lovely going away party Saturday afternoon, and I definitely blubbered my way through it as each guest said goodbye and headed home! :) Heather had the house all decorated with the cutest British decs. We had Union Jack flags everywhere, even flying on the house, and she even made sure Prince William made an appearance! We had British style bangers (sausages) although we ate them in buns like proper Americans, of course.

Look who greeted guests at the door!

My sister bought the cutest paper chains and strung them all over the house.

Flying the Union Jack

This Beefeater kept guard for us

Tasties! And more cute decs!

I know I am going to miss everyone here dearly and letting go of my special people for the year has been super hard. With all these goodbyes this week, I've been feeling overwhelmingly blessed with an amazing family and network of friends and neighbors who feel more like family than anything else. I've definitely been feeling the love this week!

To keep myself from wallowing in goodbyes, I'm trying to remind myself how quickly a year passes and how much I wanted this experience. I worked hard for this, prayed for this, wanted this so badly. And I know it's going to be fabulous!

And here it is...my life packed into two checked bags and two carry ons.