262,974 Minutes

At the risk of sounding like a line from a song in one of my favorite Broadway musicals, Rent, how do you measure 6 months? 262,974 minutes. That's exactly how many minutes I'll be away.

The buildup to my trip has meant saying my goodbyes to friends this past weekend. I traveled to my hometown of Bay City, Michigan to spend time with three of my closest friends and their families. Here's a look at the weekend in numbers:

Number of nights spent in my childhood bedroom: 2
Number of kid's birthday parties attended: 2
Number of pieces of cake consumed: at least 2, possibly 3
Number of godchildren I got to see: 2
Number of drinks I had in honor of St. Patrick's Day: 1 very stiff Dirty Leprechaun (see below)

I'm so thankful to have such amazing friends and family in my life, so while I can't wait to start this journey, I'm going to miss them a lot. I can't help but think about the birthday parties, book club meetings, weddings, and births that I'm going to miss in the next six months (can't wait to meet baby Evelyn!)

Feeling like I'm missing out on things will be hard, but I'm also looking forward to meeting new people, exploring, and spending time with my cousins that live in England. Bashar and Nicole, get ready because there are going to be some fun times ahead!