Pictures and the Passage of Time

Isn't is amazing how a child changes over the years! I've been busy scanning childhood photos of John and I in order to make a slideshow that we will show during our wedding. It's fun to look back at the pictures and see expressions that you still have. I also tend to look at the photos and wonder how that could possibly be me. I don't remember many of the events we have pictures of although I do remember my dolls and stuffed animals! Looking at the pictures also reminds me of how quickly kids will grow up. Time really does pass quickly.

I've been up here in Ohio for over a month and am just over a week away from driving back down to Alabama. Then John will fly down here a week later and just a couple days later we'll be married! I can't wait!

We've had fun up here in Ohio. I've been cooking and organizing and just goofing off during the days and enjoying time with John in the evenings.

Rhonda, the lady I'm staying with, wants to start running so we've started the couch-to-5k plan again and ran the schedule for the 5th time this morning. It's been fun to run and walk with Rhonda and Taylyn. Spending the first part of the day outside with friends makes me think of all the good mornings spent with Pam and Scot walking around the block. I've been teaching her daugher many of the games I enjoy and she's shared some games, movies and shows that she likes. It's been a lot of fun - what a blessing to be able to live with such a nice family. They are planning to come down for the wedding so many of you will be able to meet them then!

Well, I'm going to get back to the pictures. I'm just about to begin the slideshow!

More Peru Pictures!

John took a lot of great Peru pictures and has posted them on his picasa site - take a look right here!

You can see the rest of the Peru Pictures I took by clicking here (or just look and the embedded slideshow below).

Thank You and Emotions

I'm one of "those people" who don't like to display my emotions for the world to see. "Why," you may ask "are you then talking about this on a forum such as a blog?" I don't know. It's something that I thought about a lot yesterday as the emotions were present, so it's all I can think of to write today!
Saying goodbye or writing a thank you note can stir up a lot of emotions. If I'm saying goodbye to you, I will probably strive to keep my sadness from showing. I understand that saying goodbye is a part of life. If I'm the one leaving such as when I left Alabama, I have a good understanding that I have already considered my decision and have chosen myself that I will leave. I think I'm doing what is best. I've already decided that I'm not going to change my choice even if I'm sad. In this particular case, I am both happy to go since I get to be near John, and sad to leave since I moved away from so many friends as well as my parents and siblings.

If you're the one moving away, I will also try to keep the goodbye from being sad. I don't want to make it harder for you to keep your emotions in check so I will keep things lighthearted. If I start to get emotional, I will tell myself to think about this sadness another time - preferably when I'm by myself and unlikely to be disturbed.

Writing a thank-you note can be even more emotionally draining for me than saying goodbye. That is one of my excuses for taking six weeks to write thank you notes for my showers, but procrastination plays a big role as well. Amazingly enough, I am finished! I've been writing these thank you notes on and off for several weeks now. Finally, after focusing on them totally for more than four hours yesterday, they are done and in the mailbox! I guess it's funny that I waited until they were all done to mail any of them, but somehow I didn't want to mail any of them unless I mailed them all. So, that means that some of you will get thank-you notes dated several weeks ago.

Just know that as I wrote your thank you note, my brain thought through many of the precious memories I've shared with you and how awesome each one of you has been in my life. I certainly don't deserve the wonderful friendships I've had in Alabama. I could never have imagined that I would even know fifty people, much less that so many would become such dear friends. I have enjoyed thinking back through all the memories with these people and loved to finally take the time to write a special thank you for each one.

Most of the thank you notes were for friends from work or church or camping circles, but some of the thank-you notes went to several of John's friends who mailed gifts to us. We have had a lot of fun receiving so many awesome things in the mail that are perfect for our home.

Now that I've finished the thank you notes, my next task will be to start going through pictures - both for Peru stuff and for myself!

Our First Ohio Visitors

My sister Lydia surprised me last week by calling to let me know she was thinking of taking a road trip to Ohio with some of her camp friends. Lydia was supposed to have made it home from Georgia to Alabama by then, but due to car problems was stuck in Georgia. Her friends were coming to Ohio just for two nights and would then head back home. To make a spontaneous decision is not very Lydia-like as she does a very good job at thinking things through (I'm often very much the same way). But due to the encouragement of everyone around her - me included! - she decided to be crazy and take an extended route from Alabama to Georgia by going through Ohio first!
It was great to see Lydia again and to meet her friends. I got to make dinner for our first guests here in Ohio. John got to show off his Peru pictures as we told stories. And all us girls were able to enjoy tickling Lydia! The family I'm staying with up here was awesome and let Lydia and her friends stay there that night. So, I was able to learn a lot more about the camp Lydia was at as just catch up on sister talk and stay up late together! We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast that Rhonda made for all of us and then had to say goodbye once again. I'm so thankful to have a sister crazy enough to be willing to sit in a car for 20 hours in order to visit! I hope that visit will be the first of many to occur. If any of you reading this blog are driving through Ohio, give me a call!