Un Semaine, Uno Settimana, Una Semana

Here we are, seven days away from the greatest adventure of our lives to date. Am I stressed you ask? HHHMM...mildly, but really not that bad. The house is packed for the most part, the backpacks are packed and lined up against the wall just begging to be put on, the money is saved (or as much as we are going to get) and we have the whole season of Modern Family on our phones..I think we are ready.


Words don't translate all the emotion I am feeling, I think Joe would say the same. Sad to leave, excited to travel, anxious that things will go mostly according to plan and that I've researched enough (I don't think I have) but at this point...I'm just going to enjoy the ride. Coulda, shoulda, woulda is really not in my vocabulary. I feel like Lewis and Clark....worlds unknown to explore...foods untried to consume.....languages unspoken that I still can't speak (I'm working on that now).

All in all...let the journey begin. I feel like I should be singing a song from Pocahontas right now..."just around the river bend" to be exact! CW will appreciate the reference.

Tonight we are having some friends over to say goodbye and celebrate the trip...a BBQ on a beautiful SLC day. The house is empty which is sad because it no longer seems our own...just a shell of what once was, but I guess that confirms that the place doesn't define you, you define the place. The end of an era, our first apartment just the two of us, and boy was it fun.

I am excited to share the night with good friends and there are many here in Salt Lake City!!

Oh by the way, new addition to the itinerary. We decided to extend our trip by 5 whole days and take a jaunt down to Morocco! We are so close by being in Spain and we wanted to experience something that will culturally challenge our comfort zone, and we thought...well why not? Within 24 hours we decided to go, changed our plane tickets, I bought the LP Morocco book and read the whole damn thing, thank god for my speed reading abilities. I am slightly nervous but really excited because it will be one heck of an adventure. We will be staying in Marrakech and then flying out of Casablanca with a day trip to another coastal city. On another plus of staying later, we will overlap with Scott and Jess's trip to Paris and will be able to stay longer with Claire in Aix and then head up to Paris and meet them for dinner before we fly out. I'm sure it will be awesome to see familiar faces and what a great way to end the trip. All in all, I feel so lucky that I have the opportunity to take this trip and I truly thank all those who helped us get there from the bottom of my heart!!

I'll write more soon as d-day approaches! Right now....I have a beer to drink and some meat to grill! (Well, Joe will be doing the grilling but you get the idea!)

Love from Grace and Joe!!!

P.S. You should all listen to just around the river bend right now...I bet you will all remember the words and be singing along by the end!