Hey there everybody, long time no update.  Lots of changes since my last post and exciting things on the horizon.  As you can probably tell by the title of this post things have been solidified, as in plane tickets are purchased and our move is in progress.   It’s official we are moving to Japan May 1st, holy crap!  It’s a little weird and strange to wrap my head around how there is now a one way plane ticket in my name to Japan.  It’s not like this was any less official before, but I guess knowing that we officially have a move date kind of shocked me! Also, the cat is really out of the bag at work since now my unit knows that I am moving.  Feelings like sadness are starting to surface.  However, this blog is not meant to be a diary of my “sad” feelings, but a place to share this journey.  So lets focus on what is to come!

First, our home visit is scheduled for March 6th and I’m super excited to ACTUALLY see where we will be moving and find a place to live.  It’s crazy to think that I agreed to this move without actually have been to Japan before (I guess I have a history of that…aka my transfer to Loyola and move to Chicago way back when).  I’m excited to find a place that I can call my temporary home and also start this crazy adventure that we are about to embark on…seriously what do Japanese apartments even look like?! TBD guys and pictures to come!

In other news, I started my Japanese lessons yesterday.  What a freaking challenge that will be…um I can’t even begin to try and understand how I’m going to get a “survival” point.  Really?!? I was terrible at high school Spanish, odds are not in my favor with this one.  “Konichiwa”? That’s all I got…ok maybe I should just give myself some credit and err on the side of optimism.  HA!

 Here are my books…it’s like college all over again, really 😉 Also, it appears that I’m a busy person.

Finally, I wanted to share some photos of my recent travels, as I will be getting more opportunities to travel once we move.  It’s the one thing that I most excited about, travel.  Recently, John and I got back from a wonderful family vacation and time in Florida for the holidays.  What a way to spend Christmas and New Years, in Florida and on a boat.  It also honestly made me self reflect on how important spending time with my family is.  This change is big and sadly I won’t get to see my family as much as I do now (thank God for Skype).  Any-who, enough of this here are some photos:

Until next time my friends! Stay classy and stay tuned.  Peace!