We made it to Houston (thank you for your prayers!), the suitcases are packed to near bursting, the flight connections are all lined up, classes have been postponed, our family in Germany is eagerly anticipating our arrival...

This is it.

The moment we've been waiting for over nine months (yes, nine!) is nearly here. All the days of hardly containable excitement, of dancing around like a crazed small dog, of counting down the days (and, okay, hours and minutes too), of blogging relentlessly...it's all led up to this moment.

This is it.

Soon we'll be driving to the airport. Soon we'll go through the familiar routine of checking our bags, waiting for our flight, boarding the plane, flying high above the clouds, and finally landing in another country. Soon we'll be greeting our family, who we haven't seen in over two years.

This schedule – because we've gone through it many, many times before on previous trips to Germany – may not be new, but it's not any less exciting.

This is it. We're going to Germany today. There's no turning back now!

If you would, please pray for a safe flight...and also that I don't get sick. I've been known to have some air sickness issues...hehe. :)

-carlotta


PS Don't worry, I'll still post everyday while we're in Germany...I couldn't go without blogging for a whole month! I also added another tab if you want to learn more about why we're over there. 

I thought I'd participate in Scavenger Hunt Sunday at Ramblings and Photos this week...today is so crazy, with driving down to Houston and finishing packing (We're going to Germany TOMORROW!), among many other things, that I don't have the energy - or time - to write a "real post". Sorry! :)

1. Red.

Baking soda :)

2. Homespace.

A picture of my desk before I switched around the layout. This was actually taken by my brother, using my camera, but I'm sure he won't mind mine using it in this post :)

3. Fence.

Taken at a stop in Memphis, Tennessee, when traveling with my youth group to a conference.

4. Rock.

It didn't specify what kind of rock in the challenge, so I used a photo I took at a concert...they were playing "old rock" - from the 1960s. That counts, right? :)

5. Sharp.

Okay, so flyscreen isn't super sharp, but it's the best I could come up with. Not to mention the its lying makes it look kind of like a sharp edge.

Have a wonderful Sunday! What are your plans for the day?

-carlotta

Our house has been a whirlwind of activity the past few days, like it always is when we're preparing to go to Germany (the fact that we've done this 10 times before doesn't make it any easier!). There are bags to be packed, a house to be cleaned, homework to do, a harvest to be harvested...okay, the latter isn't true. But still, my to do list is a mile long (though I'm sure my mom's to do list is a mile longer...I shouldn't really be the one complaining ;)).

The weather lately has been absolutely beautiful - yesterday it only got up to 78 degrees and the low was 57. Bliss.

I decided to take advantage of the wonderfulness that is creation, so I grabbed my camera and went outside to escape for a few precious moments. It was amazing. I was in awe. The clouds were stunning, everything was so vivid, there was a hint of fall in the air...it was one of those days that makes you so thankful you're alive. I loved it.

And speaking of things I love...

Black & white photos and bokeh. Lovely. There's something that I love about the simplicity of B&W photos and bokeh...well, bokeh speaks for itself.

On a side note - I finally made a button for my blog! See it on the left sidebar (scroll up a bit)? I was so excited when I finally figured it out I did a happy dance. Literally. I used this tutorial...it was the best one I found - when I tried making one before, the coding got all messed up. Now? The hardest part is honestly coming up with the design!

<center><a href="http://pastors-girl.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Pastors Girls Ponderings" src="http://imgur.com/UJGVM.jpg" /></a></center>

What do you think? Feel free to grab it :)

I just realized it's Labor Day weekend. Didn't see that one coming! Needless to say, we won't be doing much, other than going to Germany. Ha. ;) What will you be doing for your Labor Day?

-carlotta

Our trip to Germany is getting very, very real. We're actually flying out of Houston, so we're driving down there Sunday after church and flying out Monday afternoon. That leaves ONE full day left at home. One! 

(Linking up the above photo to Macro Friday)

Sometimes I get so excited I practically wet my britches (Who even wears "britches"?! Not me. It just sounded right, though. Ha.). Okay, not really. I instead resort to running around in small circles like a crazed chicken. Or a small dog anticipating a treat. But probably more like a crazed chicken. 

I honestly love packing. I don't like unpacking, but I really do love the latter. There's something about the anticipation of the coming trip and placing neatly folded stacks of clothing in a suitcase that I adore. 

I wanted to start packing much earlier, but because we're going for a month, I'm going to have to take a fairly good portion of my clothing. When the time finally came that I could do laundry and pack, I was very excited. 

I adore my suitcase - a vintage light blue hard cased Samsonite silhouette, circa 1960s-70s. (I'm unable to find a link to it, but believe me, I tried!). Sure, it's a bit heavier than most modern day suitcases, but I love it anyway. And it's great for picture taking. ;)

Unfortunately, there's a forty five pound weight limit on luggage allowed per passenger. I'm trying to stay around thirty five pounds, since I know I'm going to buy things in Germany, but gosh, it's hard! 

Meet my new best friend, who also happens to be vintage...

For being quite old, it's super accurate! I don't need to pay a fine for exceeding the weight limit. And I don't need to *dun dun dunnn* be hauled off by airport security for a random spot check. Or something. That's the kind of thing that would happen to me. So, I've been weighing and weighing and weighing some more.

What do you love about traveling?

-carlotta

PS Thank you for all your input regarding my question whether my photos showed up or not yesterday!