The Chicken with it's head cut off and I have much in common...

...in less than 36 hours we will be getting on a plane to go to the middle of the northern Atlantic! In less than 60 hours, we will be living in the Azores! Why is it when somebody changes your perspective from days to hours it seems so much closer? 60 is larger than 3, so why does 60 hours seem so much sooner than 3 days? It's crazy!

Well we have officially said see ya laters to our nearest and dearest with the exception of Matt's parents and aunt who will be taking us to the airport. I have seriously not cried this much in...well, ever. It has always been easy (relatively) to let people float in and out of my life. As a mililtary brat who never lived any place longer than 3 and a half years, you develop coping strategies for the inevitable goodbye and your friendships are typically as long as your time in that place. I have always been good at making friends, but never kept many beyond my move to the next location. It was that way when we left England in 1989, leaving high school in 1993, leaving college roommates (with the exceptions of course with my beloved boys of the TBC Aaron, Kermit, Mike and Eric)...it is just how I learned to adapt to arriving somewhere and knowing that I was going to leave 1 or 2 or 3 years later. Of course that was all before the internet and the glorious reconnecter that is Facebook (which as connected me with many lost friendships from England on...so cool!). But with all those years of leaving people and friendships behind...this time when Matt and I settled in Coppell we developed roots...something that I have never done before. Growing up, home was always where my immediate family was...mainly my mom, so roots never took form until Coppell. Everything we did in Coppell, every friendship made, purchase made, all was done with the idea that we were going to raise our family there...for as long as we could imagine. We have a church family there, a neighborhood family, a mommy support group family, a preschool family, our college buddies, Matt's family...everything we know is centered around our little bubble in the Dallas metroplex. I suspect that is why I cried so much this time. Even though it is a see you in a couple of years more than a goodbye it is hard to imagine my life without all those friends, neighbors, parks, doctors, and surroundings. So, it is with tears in my eyes that I am so glad to say that my roots will stay in Coppell, and that we plan without a doubt to come back from our adventure to raise our family in a small city that we have come to know and love. That's why we rented our house instead of selling it. Coppell is the center of our universe filled with hands down some of the best people that I have ever met in my life! So even though this bird has always had wings to fly and meet new people and experience old things, I plan to return to my nest when the time is right! See you all in a couple of years!