Well we are officially out of our apartment in Dallas and are no longer residents of Dallas, TX 75206!!! It's such a sad feeling... There were soooo many great things and events that happened to me over the past two years. Ryan and I moved to Dallas knowing no one and have left so many friends behind. Then there is my sister, my old room-mate. I know many people thought it was weird that my sister lived with us, a marred couple, but we absolutely loved it!! I wouldn't have changed that decision for anything in the world! I love my sister and will miss her terribly, but she is going to come and visit us and I am already looking forward to it, because we plan to go and see the Great Wall together! Oh how fun... I know she is in good hands and will thrive in Dallas, I am just sad not to be there with her. I'm not sure why it was so hard leaving Dallas, but it was. Dallas grew on me and intertwined itself within my life and I will always have a special place for Dallas in my heart even if I never get to live there again.
So now we are in Seguin, staying at Ryan's dad's house in our comfortable bed, oh how I will miss our bed! We have been organizing things and trying to get stuff ready. Tomorrow we are going to the coast with Ryan's family, then next week my family is going to visit ryan's family in Arkansas. Then we have about a week and a half, with our party in between, and then were OUT!!! Its so close! We are excited about spending time with our families, and before we know it we will be here...
Since we got word from the Peace Corps about our invitation, it seems like all we have been doing is packing! It has been a task: trying to figure out what to take with me to the Philippines, what to leave out for the next couple of weeks while we are technically homeless (lol), what to give away or get rid of, and finally what to pack away to put into storage. It has been a challenge. Here are some pics of me packing, my clothes pile to take with me to the Philippines excluding all my toiletries and random items, and then everything packed up ready to go with me on the plane. Enjoy!!!
Man!! These last few days have been a roller coaster of emotions! I mean one minute I'm extremely excited, the next almost in tears. This week I have had to say good-bye to my school where I work the past year. I have truly loved working there! The staff were amazing, so helpful, and understanding! It's so hard to leave that for a world un-known. Then there are the students...oh the students. I will miss them the most. There are so many of them that I will think of and wonder if they are ok, and others I will laugh because I know they are doing something funny or entertaining. I got to know my students so well this past year and it's weird leaving them. It's crazy, leaving somewhere you love to go to a far off place to teach English!!! But it's something that I know I will love doing, it will help me reach my life's goals, and enrich my life in so many ways. My heart longs to go to new, different, and exciting places... so I am ready to go. On the other hand Ryan and I found out today that we will be going to different staging events. This is like a pre-orientation and where we fly out of. It's not really that big of deal, because we will meet up in Manila, but just a little shocker! So I will be leaving out of Philadelphia and Ryan will leave out of Detroit, the reason being our different jobs. Our group this year is the largest going ever, 145 to be exact, and the only way to split us up is by jobs. So my group education, his youth and coastal resource. Let the adventures begin!!!!
Yesterday Ryan and I gave our two weeks notice. It went very well and we both feel like we are leaving on good notes! We were both very nervous to tell our bosses, but it went smoothly. It is a very bittersweet feeling: we are very excited about joining the peace corps and ready for that new adventure, but it's also sad leaving our schools, students, co-workers, etc. We really liked our jobs so it's weird saying good-bye.
Yesterday after informing our work, we (Me, Ryan, Kristy, and Eric) headed off to Six Flags over Texas. We had soo much fun! We walked ALOT and all of us felt like old people when we got home because everything was aching! This was Eric's first time riding a roller-coaster and he loved it! He had so much fun and just wanted to keep riding more and more. There were two rides that he couldn't ride, and was sad he couldn't, but he still had a blast. What I have always thought would be soo cool is to design and implement a theme park that would tailor to dwarfs. It would be so cool for them to be able to ride ALL the rides. I started thinking about it more last night and I think if you just adjusted the seat sizes they should work for them. I'm not an engineer so I don't really know if that would work, but it makes sense doesn't it?? Then I started thinking if all you had to do was adjust the seat sizes, then there should be a way to incorporate regular size seats too. I mean most dwarfs have "normal" sized families, friends, etc. But even if you can't mix the seats it would be amazing to have a dwarf-friendly theme park where they can enjoy all the things we get to enjoy, and who cares if we can't ride. They can't ride when they come with us, so wouldn't it be fair for us not to ride while they do?? Just a thought, sorry I rambled on, but I thought it was a good idea. (And I kinda hope someone reads this and actually puts it into action... that would be sweet!)
