Holy Packing Skills of Awesomeness Batman!

OK people, we're getting down to the wire here. This will be my last post before I am in France. 

I guess I'll start where I left off...

I finally bought everything I need for the trip, all shoes, and makeup products and such, which I tell you was no small feat! (I have found out that I do not physically own a pair of tennis shoes, other than the ones I use for running, which I doubt will be useful in France, and I also have yet to find a pair of flip flops I have kept, so I'll be in search of those 2moro) 

My sister, Kristina, surprised me by coming home for the weekend to say goodbye one last time, and we had one last Friday Night Coffee session with my girls, who I am going to really miss fyi. 

Which brings me to Saturday...I was sick all of last week and taking ny/dayquil like it was my job, but I still was a little sick(just a bad headcold) on Saturday. Anyway, My mom had invited family and friends over for a "farewell" party of sorts, and even though I do not enjoy being the center of everyone's attention, I did enjoy and appreciate all of the people that came. =) It was a very nice way to send me off and say goodbye to family and friends I won't be seeing for a while. 

Well Sunday I had an unexpected fight with my ipod, and the ipod won. It refused to turn on, charge, or do nething. So it sits on a place on my bookshelf as we speak. On better news, I bit the bullet and finally just bought a new one, it is a 4th generation Ipod Touch, and it has facetime and cameras, and to be honest I'm already in love with it. I bought a cute pink hearts cover for it, and of course have already loaded facebook, gmail, skype, and a few other apps, so I can keep in touch with people (where there is a wifi connection, of course) 

I spent Monday and today packing, and had a wonderful afternoon with Bailey, just talking and eating =) and packing some more. Megan, Kat and I managed to purchase our train tickets, and land in the same car for our train ride from the airport to Angers, and my host parents are all set to pick me up that afternoon!

I spent my evening making lists of everything I need and slowly crossing it off as I put it in my packing pile. I also managed to go through all of my makeup and separate it into a few small things I will be taking on the plane, and the rest will be in my suitcase. I also pulled all of the jewelry I had wanted to take with me but could not figure out a way to pack it without it all getting tangled together. After a few minutes of pouting, I saw a small bag sitting on my vanity. 

So you know the bags they put buttons in when you buy clothes, and they attach it to said clothes? okay, so every time I had one, I threw them in a drawer, so I dug them out, emptied the buttons, and placed necklaces and earings into separate bags, so as to avoid tangling, then they went into another bag to live happily together until I can take them out again. I am only posting this because I was so proud of my cleverness. =)

It's official, I am packed, and other than a few every day items I will be using the morning before my flight, I am all set to go. This is so bittersweet and long awaited, and I can finally say that I am excited. Before all I felt was nerves and thoughts of "is this right?" or "am I making a mistake?", and I have to admit, there have been quite a few obstacles, some more recent than others, that made me second guess myself, but right now I am absolutely certain this is what I want. I am prepared physically to go, and now I just need to get my mind there, and say a few last goodbyes.

They never said that it would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.