feasting & first flight from the nest

My last day of work was Thursday, last lesson with my primary class on Sunday, and my last day in VA was yesterday. Just a few hours after the tasty new years' breakfast, my friend Audrey & I went for breakfast at ihop. delicioso. An hour or so after some packing, and my family & I go out for lunch at Outback. We love that place.

 

My best friends, Maura & Trianne were so kind to come & help me pack up. After awhile of space bagging, my family & I were headed off to a scrumptious dinner at the copans'. We all thought we couldn't be hungry after our outback outing, but boy were we wrong! They always cook such insanely delectable dinners, her rolls are so buttery & melt right in your mouth! 

My selfless amigas came over again & we tackled the job until 1am. It was a bittersweet parting, I'm going to miss these chicas enormously! I sort of accidentally crashed on the couch & two hours later my dad woke me up. Somehow I scrambled & put together the rest of my things and we left for the airport. 6am flights are the best. When we weighed one of my big suitcases to be checked in, it was 18 lbs. over! We frantically started taking out things & somehow after a few attempts, got it to 50.5! Now thats what I call an effective diet! haha what had happened was that by using space bags for all my clothes, I was able to pack more in my suitcase & didn't realize how heavy everything was getting. After we checked in the two big suitcases, we made our way to the terminal. It was the strangest feeling when we got to the point that you had to have a ticket to go further. All of the sudden it hit me that my parents had to go back home without me. We said our last goodbyes, hugs, and kisses, and I uncomfortably headed to the escalator. My mom & I took turns shouting "I love You" just as they became blurry & out of sight. I almost felt like a kid again, like a first day of preschool & you realize mom's not there for snack time. She was so kind to pack me lots of my favorite snacks for the plane & I called as soon as I made it to the gate, waiting to board. We called each other loads that day, especially between every flight. After 3 connecting flights & only getting on the wrong plane once, I made it to Idaho Falls! There shouldn't be two cities so close in name: Twin Falls & Idaho Falls. Who came up with that? 

One of Hunter's former companions from his mission, Ryan, and his sister were so kind to pick me up from the airport. I couldn't help but chuckle at how tiny IDA is. I met up with them & said all I needed to do was find where baggage claim was. I was given a funny look & realized directly to our left was it, the one baggage carousel. For an entire airport! Needless to say, it was a small task finding my luggage. The Allreds are the most humble, loving, generous, and caring family I've ever met! One of the daughters gave her room to me for the night & I immediately felt their kindness & love. I enjoyed a nice dinner with their family & even came along on a few cookie deliveries, which reminded me of my mom so much. We planned how tomorrow morning would go & a good nights' rest hit the spot.