2 Months and Counting

A lot of people ask me if this time is flying by, but really it isn't. Perhaps if I had a lot going on, like Jay, I would feel that way. There hasn't been a whole lot of progress in terms of preparing to leave. We did find a really cool language program to help us learn some Czech words. It has some games and it associates every word with a picture so it's much easier to learn than just writing out words on flash cards. I do, however, need to seriously kick it into gear if I expect to be able to survive in the next 2 months. I know that they speak a lot of English out there so I'm sure we'd be fine, but with the way my husband likes to talk to people I'm sure we'll need more than a few Czech words.
Lately I've been trying to concentrate on really taking in and being appreciative of each phase of life that I'm going through. For instance, we just celebrated our second year of marriage. It struck me that we would never go through the newness of marriage in the same way as these last two years. We won't ever go back to the first apartment we had together, or figure out how to sleep comfortably in the same bed. We won't plan our first trip out of the country. It makes me feel grateful for this time even when I feel like I'm ready for the next thing. Jay and I both have this sense that this phase in our lives, living in Redlands and working locally, is something that we won't ever come back to. Not that we won't ever live in Redlands again. I think the permanency of this place as "home" will not change. We will gravitate toward this place in waves but we both know we are meant for something different.
We're coming up to our 6th month living at my mom's house and it's been so much easier than I expected. I'm not sure how we would have been able to prepare for this trip without this opportunity. It looks like we will be able to stay here until we leave or very close to the date of departure. Such a relief! It looks like we also have our first two visitors lined up for the end of summer/fall. It's hard to picture what it will be like during that time but I'm so stoked at the possibility of seeing friends in Europe! Na shledanou!