And just like that it's over.

I have just returned to Korea (it's becoming a familiar airport...I even found the in-house internet) from my beautiful month in Virginia.

It was at once exciting and, in a way, difficult. Thanks to my sister's wedding, I got to see most of my family. Then I tooled around the Virginia Interstate Highway system visiting various friends from church, work, college and even high school. Amherst, Lynchburg, Virginia Beach, Fredericksburg. Exhausting but worth every moment. And there were moments to remember.

In some ways it felt short, and in others I am amazed I fit so much in. My sister got married, I got baptized in the Tye River, My dear friend got a paper written and another got his walls stripped and painted and his bathroom cleaned (a team effort). Jessa became a licensed registered nurse!!! I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and ate at La Carretta. I visited The Cavalier. Sadly... I missed the Dahlia but there's always something to look forward to next year. I'm sure Hank Jr. will still be on the juke box. =)

I would have gotten some good fishing in had I not read in the paper that 80 percent of the smallmouth bass in both forks of my beloved Shenandoah River are mysteriously dead. That was a low point.

Nonetheless, the trip was mostly full of highs. Virginia is so green and beautiful....I'd forgotten about tall trees. And rivers that make such a soothing sound when their waters run over rocks and form rapids.

I'm thankful for all my friends and family who supported me in my time home and will continue to support me in my final months in Mongolia. It is strange knowing I have less time to go than I've got behind me. I've got to make sure I enjoy it to it's fullest, and don't one day think to myself "where did that go?"

You will all be in my thoughts and prayers. I miss you already.

Much Love,
Carrie