Less than 2 weeks away!

Wow, that's crazy. It's really exciting, yet incredibly daunting at the same time. I have NEVER in my life gone four whole months without seeing my family, or at least not my mother. It's going to be tough, but hopefully there will be enough positive stimulation in my life to keep me from getting too sad while I'm there.

It's an interesting feeling knowing you're going to be gone for such a long (yet short in the greater scheme of things) time. I'm honestly not too concerned about the not speaking the language part, because that's what I'm there to learn, and I really feel like I speak enough to get by without too much difficulty. I'm sure it will be frustrating at times, but that's all part of the learning process. What is weird to me is just the idea of being alone. No, no, I won't really be alone, I mean I'm going with a group of people, but I haven't met any of them before, so basically... I'll be alone. What I've decided is that it's going to be like going away to college for the first time. I'll be leaving what I know as "home" to go to a new place where I have no pre-established friends, and I'll be making new relationships and learning new things. I feel like it's a pretty good comparison. This time, though, I'm determined to not be held back by fears of not being accepted or embarrassing myself, and I won't let anyone else keep me from having the full experience while I'm there. This is a once in a lifetime chance and I intend to make the most of it; I know I would regret it if I failed to do so.

So basically I'm down to getting all the small things rounded up. I don't have luggage tags because I can't find any I like and my visa still isn't here. I also went through my closet and got rid of things I know I'll never wear again as well as separated things I thought I might take with me. The latter was a very difficult task that I know I will never be able to complete without my mother's opinion. I also think I got a little bit "fall/autumn" happy when I went shopping because I didn't buy anything that I'll be able to wear for the first month that I'm there. The forecast said it was going to be in the 90s this week. 0.o Yuck, if I wanted that I could just stay in Texas! So anyway, another thing on my to-do list is find some more weather-appropriate clothing for the early part of my trip.

The next week and a half are booked! I'm spending time here with Matt until Wednesday (22nd), when I will leave for home. I'm going to try to visit as many of my family members as I can in those few days, but I also really want to get to relax at home and savor the moments before I leave. I'll be home until Sunday the 26th, and then mother and Michael come down on the 28th to spend the day with me before my flight leaves on Wednesday the 29th! I'll arrive in Spain at 9:05 AM on August 30th, hooray!

Anyway, tonight was/is date day/night! We got to get up late, which was such a fantastic way to start the day. Then we went to Costco because I've been dying to go, but I was really disappointed. I thought they would have better prices than Sams, but they were actually practically equivalent. We had dinner at P.F. Chang's, which was DELISH. I mean really, I love me some sweet and sour chicken. YUM. We got some cupcakes from Sprinkles (always a delight), and then went looking for Burlington Coat Factory because I really want to check one of those out! Unfortunately when we arrived to the one closest to us I didn't feel like it was safe to get out of the car (haha... but seriously though), so we just came home instead. We're going to now continue date night by watching some GSN and eating some fruit. You're totally jealous, I know. ;)

See you next time! :)