Hogar Dulce Hogar

We're home! The last two weeks have been a whirlwind - 5 States, 1 bus ride, 2,700 miles in the car, 1 wedding, 2 Universities, and lots of friends, family, food, and FUN! 

We seriously had a blast in the states but we are happy to be 'home' and to get back to business. Especially now that we know we will be heading back to Seattle in July(!), our time here is quickly coming to an end. One of the blessing of going back to the States but being able to step back from our work, remember why we are there, and get re-jazzed to work harder. 

We're so thankful that we had the opportunity to make the trip, made possible by the help of friends and family and the unexpected money that showed up in our account from Gregg's Boeing bonus (crazy).  Because of this we were able to see Gregg's friends and family, my Mom (thanks for making the trip down to Austin Mom, it was a blessing to have you there for sure), and attend Chris & Nia's wedding - so beautiful and fun.  We are blessed with a great support system of friends and family and we want to say a specific THANK YOU to:

Joel & Amber Pinkston & the Pinkston parents for giving us a ride to KC, letting us stay in their house and letting Gregg eat all their M&Ms/chewy chips a'hoy :)

Chris & Nia Pycior (yay) for letting Gregg crash their wedding despite the late notice, a really awesome homemade groomsmen gift for Gregg, and a super fun wedding

Our Parents Janice and Billy, Carol and Murray for spending time with us on the trip, helping us feel comfortable about our upcoming decision, lending us a car, and putting us up in awesome hotels

Aunt Jill & Uncle Chad for letting us spend the night at their place

All of You for praying for us and for our decision

As for that decision, man it was a tough one. Honestly we really wanted to go back to Seattle, but I guess God has at least one more adventure for us in the meantime. Before we left we were praying and praying that God would make it obviously clear which school/city we were supposed to choose. Unfortunately that didn't exactly happen as we really liked both. Yikes! Once we got home it was spreadsheet time (Gregg's specialty), where we determined every category that is important to us and ranked which city was better. Of course, they were practically even. In terms of the school, Chicago definitely is a better fit, has more opportunities and resources, and had a better feel overall. As far as a city however, we really liked them both but like Austin more than Chicago. It has a feel like Seattle, tons of great outdoorsy stuff, and the weather - don't even get me started on how much better than Chicago that is. So now we really had a dilemma on our hands. Fortunately we talked to a few very wise friends, prayed some more, and decided...

on CHICAGO! 

Whew! Thank goodness that is over! Although we are bummed we won't be living in Austin we decided on Chicago because the school was better and really, that is the reason we are moving in the first place. Plus, Chicago is awesome as well and we are excited to experience life in the big city! It's also a great place for visitors...hint hint. So thats that. Now we just have to figure out how to plan a cross-country move from another country...geesh