This post is dedicated to my parents, Tim and Joy, who graciously allowed us to disrupt their normal lives to live with them for a month. Jon and I moved back into my old childhood bedroom (since remade into a guest room), scattered our things everywhere, ate all their food, and generally wreaked havoc. (I’m only kidding a little bit – I think they’ll be happy to have a few days of quiet and rest once we leave!)We set up a little office area on a card table in the dining room for our “work station”, where I spent time getting our lives organized and planning for our trip. We had a separate area in the basement for all our gear, spread out on top of cardboard boxes and sorted by function (clothes, toiletries, camping gear, etc). All of our electronics were scattered on our bedroom floor, with a mess of cords and chargers tangled together. Through it all, my parents exhibited tolerance and patience for our messes and running around.

Not only did they open their doors to us, they also took care of most meals – with countless trips to Meijer! At the beginning of our stay, we made a list of all the foods that we wanted to eat while we were visiting. Just to name a few: green bean casserole, crepes, Coquilles St Jacques, numerous grilled items (shrimp, fish, pizza, pork, hamburgers), cashew chicken, couscous salad, and more. The cherry on top of the sundae for me? Oreo cookie peanut butter pie! It’s my favorite dessert, which my mom makes for me once a year on my birthday. Since we’ll be halfway around the world for my birthday in February, I convinced her that we needed to bump up the timeline and have it now. As always, it was delicious and rich!

It wasn’t all work while we were home, as we did a number of fun activities together. I spent an afternoon with my mom getting manicures and having lunch at Wanigans (including my favorite turkey pita sandwich!). I spent an afternoon with my dad watching the Tall Ships arrive and having beer and wings at Hooters on the river. We all went to a Great Lakes Loons baseball game, which was a really fun time! We spent countless hours in the pools, relaxing and listening to the new spash-proof stereo purchased just for this summer. We walked along the Tall Ships festival downtown, which was a first for me as well.

As a small display of our gratitude for what they have done for us over the past month, we did a few things for them. Most of this was Jon’s hard work, while I was buried in internet searches for visas and changing bank account information over. He repainted my sister’s old bedroom and rearranged the furniture, and also washed and re-stained the deck in the back of the house. It’s not much, but hopefully shows how thankful we are for the time spent together!

In closing, I want to thank my parents for making this past month special. We enjoyed the time to relax and spend quality time together, along with preparing for our trip. Thank you both for everything you did! We love you very much!!