It’s official! I’m finally getting a trip out of the country! At the time this post went live, my flight should be taking off! OMG OMG OMG!!!

COSTA RICA!

This is the first time I’ll leave the good old US of A in my 40 years of life (a day trip into Tijuana on our honeymoon does NOT count in my mind) and the process has been a bit daunting. Passport, research, hotels, airline reservations, transportation within the country, activities while we’re there…and on and on and on. Not to mention all the stuff I had to get done for work, the kids, the caregiver, the orgs I volunteer with, etc. I almost need the vacation just from the pre-vacation stress!

I’ve told my friends that I was actually wiggling like a puppy when I finalized the first of the reservations. It’s been a year in the planning and it’s finally going to happen. And I do have to give a shout-out to my company, DEG, for this trip. For my 10-year anniversary with them I received two airline tickets to ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. Yep – anywhere. After some discussion we threw out Europe (my husband isn’t a fan) and New Zealand (nearly a day on a plane for claustrophobia girl? no thanks!). We both like Central America – he actually served in Honduras with the Army – so we picked Costa Rica.

I’m also really excited because in 17+ years of marriage this is the first major trip my husband and I have taken since our honeymoon sans kids. A week in another country without the kids – the peacefulness alone will be wonderful. No sports games or practices, no trombone or saxophone blaring, no fights over computers, no stare-downs over homework and no kids TV shows.

But more than what there won’t be is what there WILL be. I get to reconnect with my spouse and come back to my children rejuvenated and relaxed and ready to be a better mom! I love my children, but parents sometimes just need downtime and a chance to recharge, yes?

So…there will be some pre-scheduled posts showing up here but not a lot of real-time thoughts. I’ll give a recap when we get back, because I know you all just HAVE to know. 🙂

TTFN!

XO – T