Home.

In the past 608 days I have visited 14 new countries, met people who have forever changed my life, and learned so very much about who I am and who I want to be. I’ve had incredible days filled with exploring, wonder and the best food I’ll ever have; I have also had some of my lowest days. This experience has been amazing, and I am extremely grateful to everyone who’s been involved, especially my parents and the Letchers, for their constant unwavering support, love and guidance that not only gave me the confidence to embark on this adventure, but to make the most of it.

Now, it’s time for me to go home. There are many reasons for this, but it can be best explained by saying that after all of my travels, there is no where in the world I’ve found that I’d rather call home than where my family is. Knowing exactly where my home spot is, and that it will be waiting for me with open arms when I return has given me the ability to wander as I have this past year and a half. I will return home and become more grounded than I have been recently, although I will carry with me the adventurous spirit that I have found within myself and I will continue exploring and traveling in a different way.

When I get home I plan to get back into taking classes as soon as I can, maybe even this summer, find a job, and spend as much time with my family as possible, especially sweet Nathaniel who was 6 months old when I left and is now two. If I regret anything about taking this chance and moving to Europe, it is missing his first precious years. I will eat chick fil a daily for at least a month, and I will never again take advantage of the ability to have it whenever I want. I will spend at least a week at the beach with my wonderful grandparents and finally start the biker gang we’ve been planning on creating for years. I will shamelessly live with my mommy and daddy for the first few months of my return simply because I want nothing more than to see them every day as much as possible. I will walk the isles of target on a Sunday because I CAN. I realize my plan is incomplete, and that stresses me out more than you could know, which is why I choose to avoid talking about these changes as much as possible, and why I am writing about it in a blog instead of calling each of you and explaining. I don’t have answers to the questions you will ask. I don’t have a definite plan, and I hate that. However, I know I will figure it all out in time.

I will arrive in Atlanta on Tuesday April 23^rd. In my time left before that, I will be traveling to Belgium, The Netherlands, and a few cities in Germany. Then, the week before my flight, my lovely friend Britny (whom has been absolutely incredible to me these past few months, opening her home to me and offering her care and friendship that I cannot thank her and her husband Michael enough for. I truly would not have been able to get through the past month without them) and I will be going to London. I will be making the most of my last two weeks living in this beautiful country and return home with empty pockets and a full journal. See you soon, Georgia.

Köln, Germany

I had a day left of travel on my interrail pass from Italy so I took myself to Cologne for the day. This cathedral is huge! you can climb to the top, unfortunately, I ran the day before I went and my leg was hurting a bit so I did not attempt the climb. Never the less, it was a lovely day! 

Salerno, Italy.

Skiing in Germany

Skiing with my buddy Michael February, 2013. Skiing in Germany has been on my list of "things to do" since I got here, I'm glad I finally got to it! Such a fun day, Thank you Michael! 

Michelle's homecoming February 2013.

After a 9 month deployment, we welcome Michelle home! 

Christmas 2012

Christmas in Germany is pure magic on it’s own. Combine that with my brother arriving into Germany from Georgia on Christmas morning- and it is just perfect. For weeks, I have been planning and waiting for my brother to arrive and for Christmas. Like it does eventually every year, Christmas finally arrived. Christmas Eve Paul drove me to Frankfurt- about 3.5 hours from where we live- I can almost hear the collective “wow, nice job Paul” from my family reading this. We had a fun drive and arrived in to Weisbaden on Christmas eve so we wouldn’t have to make the 3.5 hour drive to pick Jeremy up from his 7:45AM arrival time flight Christmas morning.

All went smoothly and we picked Jeremy up at the airport and headed back to Graff. Jeremy slept the whole 3.5 hour drive as he got no sleep on the plane. We got back around 2 and I began preparing Christmas dinner. My good friend Britny and I planned Christmas dinner together for Jeremy, Paul, her husband Michael and I. We split up the cooking so neither of us had too much to handle. We made a Christmas dinner that would make any momma proud. It wasn’t a traditional Christmas, but for a Christmas away from family, it was more than perfect. We’ve made a little family of friends here and I am so thankful for that. Jeremy managed to stay awake for dinner and festivities and I enjoyed bringing him into my world here. 

My dad's here! My dad's here! My dad's here!

Through an amazing sequence of random circumstances, my dad was able to make a trip to Germany through an awesome organization called  The Foundation for Hospital Art.  He went a few places in Germany before making his way over to me at my home. We only got a few days with each other but we made the most of it! we got to paint with wounded warriors, go to a soccer game at the Allianz arena in Munich and do some sight seeing there! I loved sharing a bit of Europe with my dad and of course seeing him even for a few days after so long away was wonderful!