A Week in the Canyon

Last Friday was the final day of our lease, and therefore the day that we had to be completely out of our apartment. Fortunately, we had been gradually packing and moving our things into storage for awhile by the time that Friday rolled around. We got up early and made a trip to storage, and not long afterward Katie's dad and Mindy arrived to help. Bruce brought his truck, which I'm not sure we could have done without. By about 1:00 we were mostly finished, though we spent until about 5:30 tying up loose ends and cleaning. We were just a little sad to say goodbye to our little apartment, which had served us well for the past 15 months. After leaving our keys at the management office, we headed up to Mom and Dad's house in the canyon with all our luggage (which is stuffed to the gills). We were glad to have the chance just to relax when we arrived, since we were understandably exhausted.

I received my passport back from the consulate, complete with my E-2 visa in the back. I was relieved, not because I was afraid they wouldn't grant it, but because my visa was the last real item to be checked off the list before we leave on Friday. We're really able to relax now, and enjoy spending time with our friends and family. Our good friend Becky is in from Wyoming and has spent the last couple of nights with us at Mom and Dad's. Yesterday we all had a nice time at church and afterward had lunch at Natalie's house (my parents' neighbor and family friend), along with our friend Jessica and her boyfriend. Laura was here, and Gabe came over in the evening. Dad is working out of town, but we're looking forward to him flying in on Tuesday evening. We're also looking forward to spending more time with Bruce, Mindy and Dave this week.

Excitement is building as the beginning of our adventure approaches on Friday, though this week has, and will continue to be, bittersweet. We're really grateful for this opportunity to spend some extra time with the people we love. But it's also difficult to say "goodbye", knowing we won't see many of them for 12 months. We will certainly miss them and look forward to seeing them all again when we get back.