Yikes! Just saw that my last post was on December 1. Do I dare start blogging again? Is anyone still reading? Well, for my own sake and in order to preserve memories for the future...I will blog on!

A lot has happened since December 1. We traveled to the US to celebrate Christmas and New Year's with our families. We had an amazing time. Some highlights include...

Justin and I's mad dash through our favorite stores rounding up Christmas gifts; a Pappasitos feast for Christmas Eve; Christmas morning with fishing Grandpa, Grandma Sandie, Uncle Brett and Aunt Brittney; spending time with my extended family on Christmas Day; 7am day-after-Christmas sales at Target with Candace and Justin (Justin even brought us a Gingerbread Latte while we were shopping! You know how Justin feels about Starbucks. He was in the spirit of things - and Candace gave him a gift card to use!); ski trip to Squaw Valley, Tahoe with Justin's fam!; watching the kids' faces light up as they threw their first snowballs; hangin' with Nana and Papa in Galveston discussing our summer Disney plans

I really could go on and on. It was one of the best holidays ever!

Once returning to Jakarta, I set my sights on planning our Spring Break trip in March. (Which has become like a full time job!) With only a couple of months before the break, I had to get a move on. We debated back and forth between Egypt and New Zealand and finally settled on Egypt as Justin really wanted to go and we had some friends who were going to come along and share the adventure with us. So once we had our destination picked out, I started researching to figure out the details and logistics of the trip. After a week or so had passed, word got out about our trip and I found myself planning for a group of 18 people! So fun! In all of this, I think I found my second calling as a travel agent. Things were progressing and the details were starting to come together. We were all really looking forward to the trip. Until...

the unrest. If you have been watching the news in past few weeks, you have seen the protesting and, at times, choas that has broken out in Cairo. The first couple of days went by and we thought surely things would settle down and our trip could continue as planned. I became glued to FoxNews and cnn.com. I have learned a lot about Egypt and the Middle East through it all. Well a couple of days turned into a couple of weeks and the situation still continues. So, needless to say, Egypt was nixed. I have filed away all the research I did and know that it might come in handy in the future but for now I was back to square one.

So since our decision about a week ago to cancel Cairo, I have been spending my days (thanks to slow internet) putting together another trip to New Zealand. Our group is a little smaller for this one, only 11 now and maybe 13. Things are really coming together and it promises to be an adventure of a different kind. I am so looking forward to seeing all the natural beauty that New Zealand has to offer. Now just need to brush up on my photography skills so that I can capture some of it and share it with you all.