Goodbye Mainland, Hello Hawaii

Jess saying goodbye to her car.  We left it in NY to be sold.  

It seems like just a few weeks ago I wrote the post the other way... 

Goodbye Hawaii, Hello Mainland

I'm sitting in Jess' mom's living room in Ohio.  We're about to head to Pittsburgh.  We're going to stay in a hotel so we can catch our early flight tomorrow.  

Everything is packed... and sitting at the door.  I'd like to figure out a way to travel with a lot less.  But it's hard when we're gone for such a long time.  I'm going to figure out a good system though.  

We travelled over 6,000 miles on our road trip.  When I mapped it originally it was only suppose to be 3500.  

It's strange the way we adapt... after 3 months, the road feels like the norm.  Like we're just suppose to head somewhere else in our car and go and spend some time with someone else.  I'm ready however, for some consistency.  

We left our car in NY last week, with a friend that sells used cars.  It's always hard saying goodbye to a car, you spend a lot of time in it, at least we do.  Jess got it at about 29k in 2009 before we got married and when we got rid of it it has somewhere around 109k.  It treated us really well.  We're really hoping we can buy a car in Hawaii this year so we can have a bit more freedom.  Living where you work, is at times difficult, and it would be nice to have an easier way to get away when the need arises.    

I feel like a totally different person than I did when we arrived on the mainland 3 months ago.  I was exhausted, burnt out, tired, and felt pretty beat up.   

My parents even commented on that today when I talked to them on the phone.  They said my whole demeanor is different than when I arrived at their home in February.  They said they watched some of that transition while I was there.  I do feel like that was a real turning point for me.  Time to just, truly relax.  

It's good to get away, get perspective, rest, get loved on by family and friends.  It's good to revision.  It's good to share, face to face, with trusted friends and family.

Not a profound post.  Just trying to kill some time from some of the anxious waiting that happens before we fly half way around the world.  

I'll write more about the 3 month road trip we took soon, and share some stories.  I'll write about the new happenings too.  We get into Hawaii at 230ish Hawaii time tomorrow.  We are renting a car for the weekend so we can run the errands we need to and yes you bet we're going to spend some time on a beach.  

Seriously, thank you to everyone who absolutely loved on us on this trip.  It was refreshing.  We're blessed.  Bless you guys.  

Engage:  If you're the praying type, I'd love it if you left a prayer for us, praying for our upcoming year.