7 days....

Today is Tuesday. My plane leaves exactly one week from today. It's unbelievable. We were looking at the weather last night and the 10-day forecast included days in which I'll be in Paris!

The past weeks have been crazy!! They have been filled with finishing finals, finishing work, shopping for Christmas, spending time with friends and family, errands, errands and more errands, being elated about leaving, crying about leaving, a few more errands, and the list goes on. It is overwhelming. God willing, I will finish everything and be set and ready to go next Tuesday.

Christmas was a great time!! I love Christmas. It was fun to spend time with my family and with Eric. We spent lots of time with his family, too. The greatest moments were these: giving my gift to Eric, recieving his gift, watching Amanda open her gifts (she's absolutely hilarious!!! she's what makes Chrstmas so much fun in our house), and breakfast with the family Christmas morning. Eric's gift was a beautiful promise ring!! His love amazes me. Most days I can hardly believe it.

This week, I am looking forward to spending quality time with my family, Eric, and close friends. I sure am going to miss you all!!

24 days and counting....

This is my new blog to help keep everyone updated on my upcoming adventure to France! I will be posting thoughts, experiences, and pictures from my semester abroad. If too much time lapses between posts, shoot me an email and make me post! I'm not always the most consistant with journaling or posting but I want to stay in touch with people (and I kind of need a journal of my experience for class credit! :~) Hey, why not kill two birds with one stone!).

As I prepare to leave and cherish the last few weeks that I have at home, I am a mess of emotion. In one moment I am elated at the thought of speaking French, seeing the Alps, experiencing Europe, and meeting new people. The next moment I am incredibly anxious about the unkown and torn about leaving those that I love so dearly for so long. All in all, however, I know that this is a dream that God placed in my heart a long time ago. He is faithful to carry me through and has already provided so much for me. He is a good God.

Everyone, feel free to leave thoughts and comments. I would love to hear from you all, either through here, email, or any other form of communication that you can acquire!