What a week!

We leave in 3 days! (I just had a moment where I told Dan we need to go to housing in Japan on FRIDAY and it just blew my mind...)


Anyways, we got back yesterday from a week with my friends and family! It was a very busy week with lots of traveling, but it was well worth it. We left last Sunday in my car and drove to Huber Heights, OH to be with my sister and her husband for a little while (and Cookie the toy poodle of course). It turned out that my parents were also there for the weekend with my dad running his 14th marathon! We were able to take some really great family photos which I was thankful for. Then, on Tuesday we drove to Effingham and basially spent the rest of the day cleaning out my old room and catching up with Molly, one of my best friends from high school.

Wednesday we drove down to southern Illinois to have lunch with another dear friend, Taryn. She taught Dan how to "slackline" which he quite enjoyed. =) It was a great afternooon with her! Then, we drove another hour to see my Mom's side of the family. We were able to visit my grandparents and a few other family members before we took off and headed back to Effingham that night.


Thursday, Dad drove us up to see his side of the family (which is about 3.5 hours north of us). Dan got a nice little tour of some tractors up there in farmland! hehe he had plenty of country life for the week. We also were able to see some other relatives even though it was a very short visit. Drove back that night and another day was gone already!


Friday was the only day we actually stayed in town all day! We had to figure out what to do with my cell phone service since apparently the contract still had several months to go. Unfortunately, we still have to pay for the base line even while we are out of the country. I wish they had a better policy for that since it is quite the waste of money. But I guess that saved us the termination fee. Friday night, a bunch of old friends came over to our house to hang out. It was great getting to catch up with them and fill them in on our lives!

Chicago

Saturday morning was the train to Chicago. It only took about 4 hours so it wasn't bad at all. It was my first train ride so I wasn't sure what to expect! We had to stop several times along the way, but we made good time. In Chicago, we put all our luggage in a locker and headed out of the train station to tour the windy city. It was a bit rainy and chilly, but I guess that's better than getting burnt to a crisp! We were able to see a few parks, the Field Museum, the bean, and Navy Pier. Altogether, we ended up walking about 10 miles!! We were pretty worn out and sore by the end of the day. The train left around 9:30pm and I was thankful to have a seat to sleep in! The 14 hour train ride went by pretty quick as we dozed off and on. Not a bad way to get back to Syracuse since both of us could relax instead of having to drive!


Since we've been back, we had to finish packing up our things for the movers to come and take everything. They just left after being here for only 3 hours! I wish I could pack that fast.. I have absoulutely no idea where anything is packed at, so what a fun time I will have unpacking alone in Japan...   

The famous Bean

Until next time, Dan and Krista
For more pictures, see Facebook :)