Well, I deserve to have lost any reader loyalty that the 3 of you may have given me.  And ideally I would have been documenting the mind of one who returns to their home country after a year away… but for the most part it was a pretty depressing mindset.  No one wants to read the depressing stuff.
There have been positives though. I got to see Catrina and Joel, old high school friends, get hitched and boy was it a gorgeous wedding!  But even more than their wedding, I’m glad I’ve been around to spend a bit of time with them and remember the WONDERFUL people that I left here in the States.

Mrs. and Mr. Miiller 🙂

I’ve had a wonderful time being “home” with my parents and having that soothing feeling of knowing that I’m taken care of and loved.  I have marveled once again at the United States through the eyes of a “foreigner.”  Free refills still amaze and confuse me.  I mean, it’s so cheap (amazing) but do we really need that much drink (confusing).  Why can I not find decent mangoes in the stores?  There are so many types of foods to choose from.  And strangest of all… why am I satisfied after only 1 Little Debbie?!  It took me about 2 weeks to finish a box and that was even after sharing.  It still surprises me when people I don’t know come up to me and ask me something in English.  My first thought is “How do they know I speak English?!”  Could possibly be because I’m in the US and look rather American to boot.

The highlight of my “furlough” was by far a trip given to me by my mom who sent me to Australia to visit my brother, sister-in-law, nephew and niece.  Not only has it been years since I saw them, but I had yet to meet my overly adorable niece, Tasiana (you may remember her from my beautifully hand-drawn photo after she was born).  It was amazing to experience Australia, catch up with family (who also happen to be friends) and feel that rush of traveling again.  And what a caring and fun family they are.  At some point I’ll put up my own pictures, but until then… To completely plagiarize my sister-in-law’s blog…

Browns

Sydneying with Jules

And now I find myself in Texas with my sister and her clan.  Crazy, but they’ve grown up in the last year.  Not sure how that happened.  Well, maybe Fawn hasn’t grown up.  The more obvious ones would be her three kids.  There’s something so nice about being with family, both Don and Fawn specifically because I am so much like either of them, in completely different ways.  It’s like a glimpse to remind me a bit of who I am and even those aspects of me I may have forgotten.  I learn a lot from seeing my siblings grow up.  I hope to be even half the person they are and find parts of their lives for myself.  Maybe not all of it, I sure couldn’t live either of their lives, but I’m so proud that they are who they are, what they do and the families they have built for themselves.

So that’s a bit of my recent past and present.  Next time we’ll explore a little bit of what my future adventures will be.