Friday, August 5, 2011

Anxiety, Goodbyes, and "Garrick, can I PLEASE bring this?"

It's Friday morning, August 5th, 2011, exactly 29 days until we board an Icelandic Airline flight and fly to our next adventure. I have 4 days of work left, Garrick has about a week.  We know it will be windy, breathtakingly beautiful, older than anything we've seen, and green, green, green. Garrick knows he is trading sleep for late nights, MLB 2K11 for textbooks, and baseball for cricket. I know I am trading comfort for new experiences, one bedroom for my own flat, and my Honda Accord for a bicycle. It's accurate to assume then, that we know little of what we are about to embark on. One thing is certain: we're excited!

About two years ago, Garrick applied to the University of St Andrews for the first time and got accepted our senior year of college. We weren't ready financially or mentally, so he deferred his acceptance until 2011. For the last year we have saved, planned, fought, cycled, laughed, sold all our belongings, and finally are prepared to move across the world. In order to move to the UK, all funding for the next year needs accounted for, we need visas, and we need a place to live. All three of these requirements are now complete. It's funny, actually that after spending hours on our visa applications, they simply placed a little sticker onto one of the pages in our passports. I was actually disappointed. On a happy note, a perk of moving to a place where the pound is worth almost double the American dollar is that I've convinced my thrifty husband that all shopping must be done before we leave. That said, I have expanded my wardrobe little by little over that past few months, all with Garrick's approval. :)

In closing, the next 4 weeks will be spent hugging our nephews, conversing with our families, and taking in all the people that we love. I sat and listened to my Grandpa play "The Old Rugged Cross" on the piano last night and felt thankful. Thankful for such wonderful gift he and my grandma are to me. The cliche saying becomes more and more true, "You don't know what you have until you lose it." Garrick and I are grateful for the relationships that we've had over the past few years with those at Life Community Church, Bruner Orthodontics, and Bellevue Baseball Club. To our friends and families, thank you for your initial surprise and now support of our move. Anyone and everyone has a free place to stay in St Andrews, Scotland, just remember your jacket!

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