less than 24 hours til departure

So despite my personal issues with writing a blog, (I chose to major in geology and later med school for goodness sakes so I wouldn't have to write!!),  friend Katie M reminded me that this is truly for the cataloging of our story/adventures to share with those we love!  Phew!  Now that that is settled, and I can put my ego to rest,  I can tell you that I shed a few tears this AM: some of sadness in leaving those we love, some of fear (Oh my goodness, what am I doing and with three kids in tow??!!), and few of pure excitement!  "I'm living my dream" I have to remind myself in my momentary flashes of doubt.
Had a lovely open house yesterday as a means of saying a brief goodbye to friends and family, and it was so nice to see everyone!  Thanks for stopping in to all!  And a few last stops today to finish the list and off we go tomorrow morning.

Here is a bit of the "luggage" we will check.  All in all there will be 5 bike boxes and 8 large duffel bags (each weighing 50 lbs!) between the 5 of us!  Not too bad for the year.  And yes, Mike, Alaska Airlines will allow it all on, as long as I pay the fees :)

So surreal that we are actually on our way....lots of deep breaths and gratitudes for all we have and all we leave behind for now!!