Tomorrow's the Big Day!

Sorry to leave you guys hanging. The last couple of days have been quite a doozie. Our evening at my sister's was wonderful. I was excited to FINALLY taste my Fattori wine, and I actually really enjoyed it! Which was surprising only because Pinot Grigio usually isn't a favorite of mine, or even a choice of mine. This one (I'm about to describe my wine, I won't be offended if you're not a wino and want to browse over this part) was really light in color but surprisingly pretty heavy in body for a Pinot Grigio. It had a beautiful nose on it of a fruit that I can't remember right now but i know I wrote it down so I'll have to fill that in after I find that piece of paper! It tasted fruity at first then hit a minerality then finished with almost a rich buttery taste, kind of like a Chard but without the oakiness. Anywho, it was delish and didn't last long. I'm glad I got to share my special wine with family and friends (what little of it I did actually share that is, I'm pretty selfish with my wine). Sunday morning I got to go to my last church service (in the states) with my family on base. It was great to have that time to really focus on being grateful for being given an opportunity like this. I really struggled to feel happy and fulfilled in my career until I found Fattori, so I know the Big Guy had a hand in it and I'm very thankful. It was also a great opportunity to really get my mind focused on my trip.

Anyone who has traveled overseas may be able to understand the process of mentally preparing yourself for everything that is going to just...change, with just a simple change in location. What you see, what you hear, how you feel and how you react to those feelings are all different in a new country. It could be something as little as you can't depend on having your Special K cereal every morning for breakfast to something as big as seeing homelessness and starvation. Either way, you have to let yourself know that things will not be how they always are...and that can be frightening. Most of the time my biggest challenge is getting used to just going with the flow. I'm a BIG fan of always having a plan and knowing how my day will play out when I wake up in the morning. It's different when I travel though. You have to be open to trying new things at random times or you're bound to miss something amazing. I'm looking forward to throwing my daily schedule out the window but I've already had issues with kinks in my plans (aka my clothes don't necessarily fit into my bag like they should) not going as I thought they would. I know I'll figure it out, but it irks me that it didn't work out how I wanted it to. I'm gonna need an attitude adjustment before this time tomorrow. :)

Sunday afternoon Kyle and I left my sister's at 1pm for a 4.5ish hour drive back to Springfield. We got home at 9pm. Something doesn't add up, you say? That's because we got a flat, the flattest flat. We also go served up a perfectly slanted hubcap so that the spare couldn't be put on, a supposedly cheap but in the end expensive tow truck, not so smart or customer service oriented staff at Wal-mart, someone to help at PepBoys, two large bills, and a 5:00 lunch at Taco Bell. Luckily we got the flat right in the middle of Tulsa so at least we weren't on the turnpike.

Today I spent doing last minute shopping. Then last minute correspondence. Then I went to view my pictures that my cousin shot. Then Kyle and I left Springfield once again to come to Columbia to stay at his Mom and Step-dad's for the night. So I have not had a lot of time to do the things that I really should have been doing all day, like pack. As I sit here typing my backpack is STILL not properly packed. It's sitting hopelessly on the floor with clothes scattered all around it because I HAD to get my contacts out of my eyes and my glasses were on the veeeeeeeery bottom of everything. I'm about to go attack that pile before it gets horribly, well, early in the morning.

Tomorrow we'll leave for the airport at 8:30am. My flight leaves at 12:51pm. I should be in Rome by 9:30am on August 18th their time, so if you're in central time here in the States that would be about 2:00am our time. From the airport I'll take a train from to the main train terminal in Rome. There I'll wait about 3 hours until my train leaves for San Bonifacio where my family will pick me up at 8:00pm. It's gonna be a loooong day.

I better get started on that packing thing. Ew. Wish me luck. I can't believe tomorrow is the big day. So many emotions; happy, excited, sad, scared, nervous...it's like a glass case of emotions (if you've seen Anchorman you know what I'm talking about). Anywho, I'm signing off until...I'm not sure when. Hopefully by Sunday you'll hear how wonderful it is and how lovely it is and how my family is amazing. How's that for projecting? ;)