Leaving on a Jet plane

Well here I am, three days away from flying to Europe. Both Jane and I are beyond excited to get out and do something and get away from all the crazy stuff going on.

I have butterflies! I'm not really sure why. I think I'm just excited. I need to be around friends.

Don't get me wrong, I love every moment I get to spend with Deric, but with everything that has gone on since the wedding, it'll be nice to hang out with the boys & Jane. I'm also excited to meet a billion new people!

We don't really have a lot planned out. It's kinda driving myself and Jane nuts as we're both clearly planners. We have a list of stuff we want to see, but no days selected for when we'll do them. oh well. We'll work it out when we get there I guess. Ort is on vacation this week in southern France. I'm jealous. I'm glad he was able to get away though.

I'm all packed, well mostly. Just minor things left to add in (makeup, straightener ect..). I'm glad I got it out of the way so I don't need to rush and try and get it done. Friday afternoon I need to go pick up my Euros from the bank, and then Saturday in the late morning Deric and I are going for lunch. I need to be at the airport by 1:30 though so that sucks.

A huge hurricane is making it's way up the east coast right now. It's suppose to hit the Boston area on Saturday afternoon, so hopefully my flight doesn't get delayed or anything. It looks though, like flights from Chicago to Belgium go through Ontario so it's a bit higher up.

So I guess my next post will be when I get back. Tons to tell I'm sure, so keep an eye out for that! Until then, fb for photos, as well as twitter.

Goodbye America! See you in a few weeks!

I hate packing :(

Although we have a week and a half (EEEK!) until we leave, I always find myself making lists well a head of time to plan for trips. I hate forgetting things. Usually many weeks out, I make a list of everything that I'm going to need. Every.single.thing. Then two weeks out, I start tossing more and more things in a pile in the dining room. Stuff that I don't wear or use all the time, but that I want to bring with me.

So I've been doing that for about a week now, and it was starting to take over my dining room, so I decided to just put the main things in the bag (and of course, I'll re-pack next week when I have everything ready to go). I can already see it's going to be a struggle to pack. I'm bringing OrT Mountain Dew, since they don't have it in Belgium (or anywhere in Europe for that matter) and I guess he loves it. I have to bring his friend shoes he ordered that I've had forever, and a few gifts.

So all of that alone takes up so much room. Originally, I was going to bring my big main suitcase, a small, rolling carry on and then see if I can get away with my lulu bag being my "personal item". I'm not sure if it's going to work just yet. I think they might say that the lulu bag is too big. I'm hoping that if I don't pack it too full, I might be able to bring it. We'll see I guess once I get everything in my suitcase. I would really love it if I didn't need my other rolling case. It's going to be such a pain in the ass to carry it all by myself.

I've been trying to curl my hair lately. At night, I've been putting them in rollers and blow drying them. It's been turning out great, but it's such a pain in the ass. I wish I could do what Jane does, and wake up like that. Oh well. Hopefully I can train my hair a bit better so that it's easier.

So that's about it really. School is starting soon - I'm so nervous for the next semester. I want to stay on the Dean's list! Oh and my application is pending for my greencard right now. I'm hoping to hear something very soon. I went and did my fingerprints two weeks ago now I think? I would love to hear something before I left.

Both Jane and I are beyond excited for our trip! I feel like this summer flew by. I don't even remember what happened in July at all. I can't believe 2011 is moving into the last few months.

My dad was right - once you hit your late 20's, everything moves super quick!

A little taste of Europe

So in three short weeks, I'll be heading to Belgium for two glorious weeks.

I'm beyond excited that I can do something fun like this, right before a extremely stressful semester of school starts. Although Deric and I plan on going next May, I thought it would be nice to head there this summer to see Bram play at a giant gig in early September. It's something we've both talked about me attending for years, so it'll be great.

When I first started to seriously think about going, I knew it would be great to go alone because obviously I know Bram and Rudolf well, and I speak to a few other of Bram's friends, but I just thought it would be nice to invite a friend along. Of course Jane pops into my head as we had become so close (well, even more so over the last month or so). I'm so glad she accepted, and that I'll have a friend there with me.

It's really a huge deal for me to invite someone actually. I've hidden my relationship with Bram away from a lot of my friends, because I didn't want anything to come between it. I liked that I could talk to Bram, and know that my other friends wouldn't get involved in posts or convos I had him with.

So anyway, lots of fun stuff planned. A festival or two, dinner with Bram's dad and I'm sure dinner with his friends as well. Lots of awesome tourist things to visit, and hopefully a day or two down in paris. It's not too far from Bram's house so hopefully we have time for it. I know it's something that Jane really wants to see if possible. And King Tut!! The King Tut stuff will be in Brussels while we're there, and I've been DYING to see it. Hopefully we get a chance for that too!

I guess that's about really. We're not planning out too much, and will just see where it goes when we get there. I depart here on the 27th at 3pm, and then fly to Chicago and depart there at 6pm for my nice 8.5 hour to Belgium. I arrive the next day at 2:30am my time, but really it'll be 9:30 already. Hopefully I'm not too tired. I usually recover quickly from time changes, but we'll see! It may not hit me for a day or two. The next morning bright and early (8:30am!) we have to head to Brussels to get Jane from the airport. I have no idea what we'll do then, but I'm sure we'll have a fun day.

Three more weeks!