Heading H-O-M-E

Well friends, I can hardly believe it, but Daniel and I will be U.S.-bound very very SOON. The past few weeks have been a blur. All of a sudden I went from counting down the days to "ohmygosh! I better pack!!!". Those who know me well know how much I despise packing...

So while I procrastinate beginning that task I thought I'd write a list of 10 things Daniel & I are looking forward to during our trip:

1. Drinking water from the facet! No purification or filtration required. Also, being able to eat fruits and vegetables without sanitizing them or worrying about crazy parasites. 
2. Seeing all of our wonderful family members and friends of course. Especially celebrating two weddings and a retirement! :-) 
3. Food, food, and more food. We have a mental list of foods we miss including: Greek yogurt, nuts, certain fruits & veggies (brussel sprouts!!!), salads, and almost all forms of ethnic food. Luckily I am sure we will be blessed with many delicious meals. 
4. Being able to flush toliet paper! (rather than put it in a trash can) and HOT SHOWERS! Yes, we have hot showers here, but they are just not the same. 
5. Shopping at some of our favorite stores like TARGET and The Body Shop (ok this is probably more me than Dan).
6. Comfy-ness- couches, carpet, a REAL pillow... all in all cushy-ness that we don't often get here. (ps- my worst packing mistake was to not bring a pillow here. I plan to rectify that this trip.)
7. Good beverages- guess who added this one? ;-)
8. Going to a park or two or three. We don't really have those here. Just plazas and "beaches" and they are full of stray dogs, drunk men, and beggars. Can't wait to visit some of our favorite places in Philly like Kelly Dr.
9. Less bugs!- With the rainy season starting this month there have been all sorts of strange insects floating around. 
10. Modern technology like dishwashers and washing machines. 

Hope this list made you smile! One thing we will be sad to leave behind is our babygirl, Lucia. Luckily, she will be at a friend's house playing with other doggies and getting a lot of love. 

"Yeah I'm a dog model in my spare time."

All joking aside please say a prayer for safe travels. We leave Pana tomorrow and fly out Thursday very early (around 6 am. eek!). We are very excited, but also expect to experience some reverse culture shock. Hoping for good health (for me) and fun times for all. For those that don't know, I went to see a natural doctor recently. I will be happy to fill you in in person if you want to hear more about it (kind of a long story). One of my biggest prayer requests at the moment is that my stomach would be ok throughout this trip and that it wouldn't interfere with our time with loved ones.

Thanks for reading & see you sooooooooooooon! (If you want to get in touch with us please feel free to call. I will have my old phone and number.)