Well, Jump 1: done, done, and done. We have tickets! We leave on January 19.
Exciting, yes.
Scary, yes.
We took a big dip in our savings, and we purchased them. With the wonderful help of a travel agent, we’ll also be stopping through England to visit my sister & brother-in-law for ten days! My excitement is bubbling.
There’s so many mixed emotions around us right now. I’m excited for so many things:
- seeing my sister and having such wonderful conversations, for over a week!
- Christmas with our families–complete with fresh trees, peanut M&Ms, the musical stylings of Amy Grant & Dolly Parton, games, movies, conversation
- travelling to Tennessee, seeing our wonderful Karen friends and the wonderful community we knew while we there
- travelling to Illinois & Iowa to see my grandparents and friends from when I was so young
- living near dear friends in Little Rock and enjoying dinners and raw conversation
- being back in our Celebration Gathering for church each Sunday, loving that community and laughing at the collection of people we are!
- finishing packing. Yes, that sounds nice.
And yet, there are also so many things I’m dreading:
- leaving Spero, and really Kim, the best boss/my soul mate. Seriously, we’re scarily similar.
- leaving the entire Karen family we have come to love so deeply. My heart truly aches on this one. I have cried the past three times I’ve left their apartment, because they really have become some of my best friends here. It’s an odd relationship, but the conversation is wonderful.
- saying goodbye to family, knowing that our little nieces and nephews will change so much in the next two years. Some we haven’t even met yet! And all the holidays and family weekends that we won’t be a part of.
- knowing that the time I have with friends is short, even I’m looking forward to it now…
[Not where I was initially headed.]
Anywho, Jump 1: done, done, and done. Jump 2: begins Friday. We officially jump on the 19th, when we’ll leave our jobs behind to pack up for Little Rock, but Stephen puts in his two weeks notice on Friday. Oh my.
And we counted Monday, and Jump 3 is just eleven weekends away.
We decided shortly after that count we wouldn’t count again. Completely overwhelming.