The Final Week!

Well, in one week I will be in Germany, probably exhausted from my long flight, but wide-awake from adrenaline and excited to be there. I leave here in the afternoon, and land in the morning, so I will have a full day ahead of me when I land. My flight to Germany will be the longest I have yet experienced, and it is a direct flight, 11 hours long. The longest flight I have endured was about 5 hours to New York with my dad while I was in high school. That was an overnight flight, and then Dad and I spent all morning and into the afternoon seeing New York City. It was so much fun, but by 4 o'clock when we got in the car to drive to New Haven (my uncle's house), we nearly fell asleep. It was a struggle to stay awake for the hour drive to New Haven. Based on this experience, I know that once I land and have something to do, I will be distracted from my tiredness, but in the afternoon I will probably fade fast. Hopefully since I have a longer flight this time around, I will get more sleep and be more ready to start the day. I suppose I will know in a week!

I told you in my last entry that I finally got a suitcase and a carry-on (praises!), so I did a "dry run." I packed just about everything that I plan on taking with me, save toiletries and makeup because I was too lazy, and not only did it all fit, my checked bag was only 40 pounds, and my carry-on was only about half-full. I will have plenty of room and weight allowance to get everything I need packed! I'm so glad. I still have never lived out of a suitcase, so I hope that I pack well enough for four months abroad. In spite of this relief of having my luggage situation straightened out, I am still having nightmares about packing. Last night's wasn't that it didn't all fit, but rather that I was leaving and was still discovering things I had forgotten to pack. Not small, fairly unimportant things, but things like my computer charger. It was terrible and frustrating. I don't like that I keep having these dreams. I hope I don't have any more.

Grace and Peace,
Suzannah

Minor Accomplishments

Life is still pretty normal. Yesterday Dad and I drove to LAX to drop of Kevin and his friend Aaron for their flight back to Denver. They were here about 10 days for the funeral of Mychael, Aaron's brother who died in a tragic car accident at the end of December. It was very hard for Kevin and Aaron, obviously, but I'm glad they were here among people who could support them through this.

I have TWO minor accomplishments today that I am quite proud of! The first, I finally have luggage for my trip, a suitcase AND a carry-on! I'm so relieved. So even though I still have 10+ days until I leave, I will probably start packing things I don't need between now and then, and I hope to pack everything up, perhaps this weekend, so I can get an idea of how much stuff I think I'm taking, and how it is all going to fit. My carry-on is a backpacking backpack, which will come quite handy for the various trips that we are going to be taking (academic, I'm sure). The trips will help me figure out how to pack ten days of clothes and supplies in the backpack too, because that is how I will be using it after the end of the semester, as I journey through Europe and see as much as possible in ten days. Needless to say, I am definitely breathing easier now that I have luggage figured out.

Accomplishment number two: I FINALLY finished the baby blanket I have been working on since August. I cannot believe it has taken me so long to finish, but I am so HAPPY to finally have it finished. The baby was born on Thanksgiving, so she is now two months old, but I suppose she won't really know the difference. This a huge project that I was starting to feel a bit anxious about finishing before next weekend, so it is a huge relief to have it finished, and I will feel even better after I get it shipped tomorrow.

Grace and Peace!
Suzannah

Two Weeks!

It's getting down to the wire... My flight is in two weeks from today. Of course I'm excited, but I'm a tad flustered, as I still don't have a suitcase, and I'm still figuring out my carry-on. Since I am such a organizational freak, it would make me happiest if I could pack everything I plan on taking before I actually have to pack everything, so I can make sure everything fits and stays as close to the weight limit as possible. But seeing as I don't even have a suitcase yet, I don't know if that is going to happen. I should probably be more worried about this than I am, but oh well, I'm not.

So besides the packing situation, I haven't been doing much. I'm not at school (why would I need to be), so I have been working at home to try and get some money for the semester. So far, so good. There's not much to talk about in the world of work, or Ridgecrest for that matter, so if something worthy comes up, I'll discuss that. I don't expect there will be anything.

Grace and peace,
Suzannah