So, we've now officially been back in the States for one month. Not a whole lot of blogs during this time, because, really, we are clearly not very exciting people when we're not traveling around the world. This may quite possibly be the most exciting thing we've encountered in the last 30 days.
Living overseas without a car for 6 months was so much easier :-).
Not that we haven't done some fun stuff in the last 3 weeks - we had some great times with our friends and family.......
The whole gang! (Ochocki's and Thomson's)
Our first nephew (Keaton) getting dedicated!
My parents' fourth child, Dillon :-). Our fabulous running mate!
We went to Maine and had an awesome week with the wonderful folks of EPI, Eagle Projects International (www.eagleprojects.com). For those that don't know, they are the super awesome organization that decided it would be a good idea to take Justin and I under their name and send us out to visit some of their partners in Africa and Nepal (I know, pretty daring right). Anyway, their headquarters is in Maine and we were able to go visit them, do some presentations on our last 6 months (we'll try to get a video of one of the presentations up on this soon), meet their board, discuss some future options, and also get some time to rest and play on Maine's amazing coast......
The awesome cabin that EPI let us use for the week. We got some much needed rest here.
Exploring the coast around Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park
Biking around Acadia National Park
The wonderful carriage roads we biked on throughout all of Acadia National Park (so much better than the mountain biking trails that cause high levels of anxiety for me :-)).
But, ahhh, most recently, as we've been bumming at my parents house in Colorado Springs, we have spent our days immersed in maps, guidebooks, and even apps, trying to plan the next 3 1/2 months of our travels all over Europe. Yes, I realize that we can't complain about this task because many would scowl at us for it, but let me tell you, it is a job. Europe is a big place with lots to see (profound, I know), and in order to save money and time, it really is best to try to have a plan of some sort, and even reservations, etc. I never used to be the major planner, always a strong "P" on the Meyers Briggs, but Justin is infiltrating my system with his "J" ways! We have this ridiculously large spread sheet (if you know Justin, this doesn't surprise you) with information on where we'll be when, what will take place, and how much it'll cost, on every day of our currently 116 day adventure (I got that stat from Justin)! It might be a little much, but hey, you know you'll want it if you ever decide to do some traveling in Europe and if you do, we'll let you see it.....for a charge......all the proceeds will go to our future work in Nepal!
So, yeah, that's a quick snap shot of our super exciting month back in the States. We head to Durango at the end of this week to go and stay with Justin's parents, and then it's back up to Colorado Springs for Memorial Day weekend and then we fly out on June 1st for Europe!
Now, amidst this time of hanging out with family and friends, visiting Maine, and planning Europe, there has definitely been some re-entry culture shock, but we'll just save that emotional roller coaster for another, more sentimental blog. :-). We just saw Iron Man 2 on Imax (awesome by the way), and I can't seem to bring myself to talking about my feelings right now. I'm still processing them (good excuse huh?).
Till they're processed . . .
