And So The Culture Shock Begins...

Joe and I have been enjoying our self-debriefing, vacation, anniversary/Christmas gifts to each other, and babymoon in London for the last 10 days.
It has been so wonderful to spend some time beginning to process our emotions and prepare our hearts for what's to come.... more unknowns.

We've laughed a lot too!
Why?
Because we are culture shocking like crazy. And we aren't even in the states yet!

So here is the beginning to our culture shock list with random London pics thrown in...

1. ability to eavesdrop effortlessly.
    -everyone pretty much is speaking English

2. a dryer.
    -it's been so long since we've seen one that Joe referred to it as a "drying machine"

3. the options at the grocery store.
    -specifically cereal

4. an expiration date on the milk sooner than six months.
    -we've had boxed milk-not-from-a-cow with a shelf life of way too long.

5. saying goodbye to the water tanks.
    -no longer having to worry about pumping water to the roof to last the whole day.

6. mexican food
    -we haven't had La Huerta's yet, but I think it's good that we are easing our tummy's into it.

7. meat
   -we are still huge chicken lovers, but having other options has been fun too

8. large masses of people and no pushing
   -we celebrated New Year's with over a quarter of a million people at the London Eye and it didn't feel like a crowd at all.

9. heated homes (and bathtubs)
   -in Delhi we have to layer and layer for inside the house, and go outside to warm up.

10. clean air
    -no black boogers.

More Sweet Goodbyes

Goodbyes are sweeter and easier when they are backed with promises to visit the states next year!

Christmas and Goodbyes

Last year we pulled off the biggest surprise ever for our families and made it home for the holidays. So this year made our first Christmas in India. We had a wonderful time celebrating our Saviors birth with dear friends and fellowship.

We were able to go to a Christmas Eve service. There were no duck sweaters involved, but we did enjoy the service filled with carols and the true Christmas story!

And even though we kept things super simple this year we realized that Santa keeps very good records.... He even found us in a different country and living with friends!

We had a wonderful Christmas lunch with our sweet friends, who have all become like family to us. Together we prepared a feast! I think we might have had more sweets than anything else... that's when you know it's good :) It totally redeemed the fish with eyeballs and noodles we had for Thanksgiving.

It was a perfect way to spend our last full day in India.

I vividly remember a day when I thought two years could never go by quick enough, and now it seems like they've just flown by! It was hard to say goodbye two years ago to family and friends in the states, and now it's hard to say goodbye to our friends we are leaving behind in India. We love our Indian family, and already miss them like crazy!

This is the sweet family that adopted us. We've been living with them the last 6 weeks :)