Farewell to the U.S.A.

I don't even know how to explain what I'm feeling right now. On one hand, I feel like I am living in a fog & am super distracted. When I'm hanging out with my family, all I can think about is packing & cleaning our townhouse. When I'm packing & cleaning our townhouse, all I want to do is spend time with my family. The holidays have been a complete blur. For the last few weeks, every day has gone by extremely fast. I'm not sure how it happens. And every night I think that I have too much to do, and too many people to say goodbye to. (And tonight I will be staying up to do random things like read the last 80 pages in my library book...oh how I will miss the Mesa Public Library! I'm praying they have a library in Guadalajara with an English section.)

I'm leaving behind a lot of my favorite things. My daily life will be changing A LOT. No more trips to Target. No more walks with girls I've known for years. No more quick drives to my parents' house to eat my Mom's yummy treats & to let Kylee see her "Pa". 

I've lived within the same 8-mile radius my entire life, minus 5 months in Thatcher, AZ which is 2 hours from here. Let's just say that I will be in for quite the shock when I arrive in Mexico. It will be interesting to see how I handle it. 

I've thought a lot about the fact that people won't know anything about me. Nobody will know that we have a son in heaven, or that I had major health problems for 10 years & have just become healthy again, or that Kylee is adopted. There is something about leaving everyone who went through those things with us, that leaves me feeling a distinct sense of loss. 

On the other hand...

I have an independent spirit. I'm excited to see what that does for me in another country. I have a feeling I will thrive in Mexico. I really do. I've been needing a big change. 

I will be able to see my husband fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor. How amazing is that?!

I will be able to settle into a normal daily routine for the first time since my hysterectomy. I will have many opportunities to realize just how much this new body of mine can really do. 

The weather in Guadalajara is supposed to be very close to PERFECT year-round.

I won't have to fall asleep listening to obscenities shouted through the wall that I share with our neighbor. I won't have to be worried that our other neighbor's pitbull is going to attack us like it almost has 3 times this past week (seriously...Lincoln has to get his knife ready just in case). And we will no longer be living in a small space that barely fits two adults, a toddler & two dogs. Oh and let's not forget...I won't have flashbacks of hitting the pole by my parking space every time I pull in. 

Don't get me wrong...our townhouse has been our only home since we've been married & has been a wonderful place to live. In that house: we found out that I was pregnant, I felt Jackson kicking inside me, we received the phone call about Kylee needing a family, I recovered from many surgeries, & learned so many life lessons from spending all day on the couch in an extreme amount of pain. We were the recipients of SO many acts of service while we lived there. I'll never forget that place or the wonderful people we have had the privilege of knowing. Many miracles happened in that home. I will miss it dearly. 

And now it is time to wrap this post up. In 24 hours we will be saying our final goodbyes & leaving for Mexico. We have a lot of errands to run & hours of packing & cleaning to do. I have a feeling I won't get much sleep tonight...but I would have probably stayed awake thinking about how much our lives are going to change tomorrow anyway. 

So here's my last blog post (for the next 4 years) from the U.S.A. The next time you hear from me, I will be a Mexican. Hopefully you will recognize me. :)