Raleigh "in the frame"..

I just got back from visiting my friends in Raleigh & Charlotte for the week and it was so good spending some quality time with my friends who have become family. All the support and love I have towards following my dream to being in the Peace Corps and living in another country is amazing. I really don't think I would feel so good about leaving if I didn't have all this support and love from my friends and family.

Catching up with friends this week made me realize that no matter where we end up in life there are always those certain people you can pick up with no matter how much time has passed.


In two weeks my life will change forever. I can't wait to see what the future brings.

Let the countdown begin

For many today is a day they share with the special Valentine.. for me it's the day I received my flight information and staging papers for the Peace Corps. I depart for Washington, DC exactly one month from today then leave for Albania March 15th. We fly DC to Munich, Munich to Tirana. I have a lot of mixed feelings about leaving, probably because I feel like I still have so much to do. Staging it looks like will be a brief overview of exactly what the Peace Corps is and what is expected of the PCV's. Tomorrow, I'm taking my final road-trip to Raleigh to visit with all my friends that still live there! I'm going to be able to catch the Peace/Meredith game, the Senior Game and two of my friends birthdays, I think it will be a great last trip before I leave..

(Dad, Coach Johnson, Me, Momma on Senior Day)

I can't believe my Senior Day was a year ago, time has flown by.. It seems like just yesterday I was playing my last basketball game.. I just booked my flight with SATO travel from Raleigh, NC to Washington DC for March 14th.. My flight leaves out at 8:20am and I arrive in DC at 9:30.. Staging starts at 12:00.. hopefully I have all of the paper work and things I need to be prepared for staging. Everything finally feels real and not like it's never going to happen. Finally having my flights scheduled and a determined date on when I'm leaving is finally making it sink in that I only have 4 more weeks left in the states. Looks like its about time to say goodbye to sweet Ol' North Carolina and hello to Eastern Europe..

Well, a little to the left..

The clock is running out on my time in America so I'm trying to see everyone and anyone I can before I leave for Eastern Europe for two years. Not being exactly sure on what type of communication I will have with people back in the states makes me realize the importance of seeing everyone before I leave. It really sinks in that I'm going to be gone when people are talking about planning beach trips this summer or what they're going to do on their birthdays in a few months. I haven't even began to pack yet, although I have been on a few shopping trips to try and knock out one of 100's of to-do-lists. I'm just going to get what I think is essential and hopefully will be able to get most of my necessities over there.

I'm being aloud 2 checked suitcases that equal 80 lbs. With a sleeping bag, winter boots, a winter coat, the kitchen sink, my two cats, and all of my friends and family, I can imagine this being like a jig-saw puzzle trying to fit everything in. I haven't gotten my official staging papers yet, but an email confirmed we're still on for March 14th as of right now. We just got paperwork asking us questions about our host-families while we're in staging and if we opposed to any "types of family." "Young active family" "single woman home" "elderly couple" "smoking family" were some of the types, I didn't check any expect "no english in the home" but I'm sure I could adapt if need be. When I stayed with my Japan host family, there was very little English on their part and almost zero Japanese on my part and we communicated better than I do with some people that speak English. The closer the date comes the more and more real it becomes.. My going away party that my aunt is so generously throwing me should be a good closure point for me to say my final goodbyes.