Father's Day And A Birthday

This weekend was full of celebrations that I was not home for... For instance, Saturday was my sister, Olivia's, birthday. And today is Father's Day. Things like this are always the hardest parts of exchange, I'm finding... Because as much as you love that person and as much as you want to be with them to celebrate with them, you can't always be there because there are 4000 miles of ocean between you.

To my sister:

Olivia, you drive me insane. You make me want to bash my head against a wall. Consistently. But if there is one thing I've learned this year, it's an appreciation for my family. And I love you, sister. And I'm positive that I love you the way I do because you are the way you are. And yes, I would like very much for us to get along. And I hope that we can find a way to make our relationship better once I get back to the States and we have to live together once again. I guess what I'm trying to say is simply that I love you and I hope you had a wonderful birthday. Judging from Facebook, you did!

To my dad:

Faja, I love you more than I can express. I miss you so much. I miss your daddy hugs, our lunch dates, and the egg sandwiches that you made me in the morning. I miss watching stupid movies with you and laughing at screwed up Burger King signs. I miss going to Home Depot with you and running out through our swamp of a backyard to the shed to tell you that you have a phone call. I miss a lot of things, dad, and I can't wait to see you again. I know that you love me a lot and that you have been missing me this year. And on this Father's Day, I hope that you know that I'm thinking about you and sending all my love home. Here's to my amazing father, and the hope that we will soon be eating Mickey Mouse pancakes together again. I have realized more than ever, this year, that you mean so much to me, both as my dad and as my friend. You have done so much for me over the course of my life, caring for me and raising me to be an independent, strong girl. I wouldn't be here, in Belgium, doing what I'm doing without your love and support. So thank you, Dad. Thank you for everything. I LOVE YOU.

Daddy's Birthday :)

TODAY IS MY DADDY'S BIRTHDAY!!!

Kinda.

You see, my father was born on February 29th, which only comes around once every four years. So this year he doesn't get a real birthday, but I sent him 15 or so ecards anyways because I love him so much! Let me list the reasons why:

*My dad is awesome.

*He is so incredibly loving and has been there for me all my life.

*He cares so much about his children and really does everything he can for us.

*We are the center of his life.

*He is super talented and so good at what he does. He never fails to impress me.

*He is a guy who is so full of love.

*He is really good at letting the little things go instead of getting stressed out.

*He's really understanding.

*He's a great listener.

*I know that I can trust my father.

*He slips me twenties ;)

*I can tell him about all of my weird antics and he appreciates them.

*He has a great sense of humor and is always making us laugh.

*He gives AWESOME hugs.

*We can laugh together over stupid stuff like a Burger King sign that was supposed to say "angus" but was missing the g.

There are so many reasons that I love my dad, I can't even list them all. This blog would never end. Daddy, I love you with all my heart. You have been there since Day 1 and you never let me down. You always make time for your girl and there has never been a doubt in my mind about how much you love me. And I know I say it all the time, but I'll say it again. I love you. You are awesome, and I can't wait to get home and get a great big Daddy hug. I really miss those. And I miss you. You're the best dad I could ever ask for. Thank you for everything you have done for me over the years, especially just for loving me as much as you have. If it wasn't for you in my life, I wouldn't have the bravery and confidence that has brought me to do all the things that I have done in my life, including this exchange. We are all affected by the people in our lives, but I do believe that our parents are the ones who truly mold us. I am so grateful to have you for a dad, who molded me and shaped me into the person that I am. I love you so so so much, and I hope you have an incredible day!!!!

6 Months... And They Flew By

Today is my six month anniversary in Belgium!!! Can you believe it? I've been here for six whole months... I've been blogging for six months. You've been reading and following my journey for six months!! It's crazy in my head. I can't believe I've actually kept up with this blog for this long... I have to say, that alone I am proud of!

So Wednesday we had that big dinner for my host mom for her birthday. The Lebanese food went over great! The spinach pies turned out perfectly, and were probably the best ones I've made in a long time. They were a huge hit and were gone by the next evening. For the main course, we had a sort of lamb stew with a medley of different vegetables and a rice pilaf. The food was excellent, and my host mom was blown away. She absolutely loved it! For dessert, we had a lemon and passionfruit sorbets.

Yesterday, however, I stayed home from school. If you read my blog Wednesday, you know how shaken I was and how stressful the day was for me. And it took it's toll and when I woke up Thursday morning, I couldn't really bring myself to move. After a half hour of attempting to pull myself out of bed, I realized it was a fruitless effort and resigned to the fact that my body needed sleep. So I was awake for a total of 10 hours yesterday, in which I spent time with the host family, ate, and watched movies (Fried Green Tomatoes and Mrs. Doubtfire).

Today, I went to school as usual, to discover that Madame Gallo was absent today. Which meant that I had two hours free before lunch. So what did I do with those two hours? In the spirit of spontaneity, and with the influence of Mikayla, I bit the bullet and got my hair cut. It's short... Like a good six or seven inches than it was before. The bangs are too short and I don't much care for them, but they will grow out quickly and I'm happy with the actual cut. Plus, it wasn't too expensive, so I'm satisfied with that. And the bangs will be fine by next weekend; they grow fast. After lunch, I had a huge math test that I'm not very confident that I did well on... You see, I missed one hour a week with the class with Père Boly, and that really took it's toll on my math. So try as I might, it was very hard to keep up, especially with it being in French and all. Then I went to the gym for the first time this week, ate dinner, and discussed my parents arrival and stay with my host dad, who is being so incredibly helpful with all the planning. It's great to have someone letting me know about all the options that are out there. It's gonna be hard to fit it all in, but I'm confident that we can do it!

I don't know how it's possible, but I'm exhausted. I blame the Belgian weather, i.e. Lack of sunshine.

Bonne nuit !

13 days...

It is quite a gloomy day outside. However! I am not feeling gloomy today like I was yesterday! Everything is looking way up. And the best part about it is that it's for no real reason. After a nap and some blueberry pancakes last night, I was feeling much better. Of course it helped that the boyfriend came and got me and we went to go watch a movie with friends. Then we went back to my house and just watched "The Office" and he stayed til 3am (shh don't tell my parents!) Of course his is now taking a toll on me as I had to get up at 8am for work... And I am now exhausted! But that's ok because it was totally worth it.

Today, I go over to his house for dinner. With his parents. Oh. My. Gosh. I'm a little nervous! I've met his parents before, multiple times, and talked to them but never to the extent of real conversation that isn't your typical chit chat and small talk. So that should be interesting to say the least!!

I really need to finish packing. I need to sort out my shoes and underwear and pajamas and all that. The really hard part is going to be shoes. See, I'm kind of a shoe addict. I have over 70 pairs of shoes. And there is no way I can take nearly as many pairs of them as I want to. So picking and choosing between all of my beloved shoes is going to be one my biggest challenges for packing! And shoes are probably the heaviest of all the stuff I'm going to be taking with me so I need to be extra picky. Figures.

Maybe I shall post an updated packing list later tonight. Hmm we shall see.