Two more weeks stateside...

Hello everyone!

Today marks a mere 13 days until we finally leave for our adventure. It has been a long wait and as the actual date draws close we find ourselves double checking all of our preparations. Move out of apartment: Check. Sell car: Check. Quit jobs: Check. Fly back to Tulsa/Kansas for one last final goodbye: Check. Frantically run around purchasing last minute items: Check... but we'll probably do that again on the evening of the 17th. The most common question asked of us right now is are we getting excited yet... and finally the answer is YES. We've both packed our bags to make sure everything will fit. We've read and re-read our orientation information and can't wait for the next two weeks to pass.

So, here's the update on what we've been up to for the past month since we last blogged. The Currys came to visit. Well, almost all of them. Bob, Sheri, Michelle, PJ, Haley, and Parker came to visit a few weeks ago. Their visit was full of visits to the zoo, fish hatchery, and the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival. The adults also made a trip to Marakesh, a Morrocan restuarant in downtown Portlant. There we sat on cushions on the floor and ate many different Moroccan dishes. Loads of fun!

Nancy and I also made it down to McMinnville for a day to visit some friends from North Carolina that have moved out here. Megan and Jordan worked with us at Wellspring Adventure Camp two years ago. We were their daughter's, Molly's, very first baby sitters. She's so big now and since they've moved out here they've added one more to their family. Welcome Katie! Congratulations Jordan and Megan!

We also had another visitor recently. Jess Thomas, one of the officiates at our wedding (and my college roomate) came out to spend a weekend with us. We spent the weekend snowboarding and skiing, playing board games, and enjoying Sandy, Oregon's happening night life. Oh, and by 'happening night life' I mean the two bars here in Sandy, which are mostly full of older cowboys... We had fun and it was great having him here.

This last weekend we flew back to Tulsa. We drove up to Wichita, KS with Nan's mom to spend some time with the KS sect of our family. We spent the day visiting with Nan's family (Grandma Betty, Kara and Kirby, Linda, and Al and Marilyn). It was really nice sitting and visiting with them for a day. We then headed back to Tulsa where we spent an evening with my family. Nonny and Poppy, Lauri and Ian and my parents all got together for a big family dinner. Later that night, Jeff and Erin (Jeff was in our wedding... Erin, his wife, was in the audience) came over to hang out and catch up. The whole trip was a whirlwind of visits and errands, and goodbyes, as trips home always are.

So now, we're living at the Zorn household, with Karen, Chris, and Baby Olivia. We are driving a rental car (PT Cruiser!) and gearing up for a trip to Victoria, Canada. We'll spend a few days there for one last vacation before we spend two years in service with the Peace Corps. When we get back, Nan's brother, Kevin, will be here for about a week. And after that, we leave. Our time right now is by no means empty, but hopefully we'll find some time to relax before we head out. For now, though, our May 18th leave date is careening toward us.

Thanks for looking in on us! This month marks the 1 year and 2 month aniversary of the creation of this blog and this month we will finally leave. If anyone mentions to you that they are thinking of joining the Peace Corps, give them some good advice. Tell them to go ahead and apply and decide later if they actually want to do it. As of today, it has been 643 days since we turned in our Peace Corps applications. What an adventure!

Chris (and Nan)