A Dream Come True

I have been blogging for about 5.5 years already -- whoa baby! One of the very first friends I made through blogging was the fabulous Petra of Lincolnshire in the UK. Our friendship has only been enhanced with time. Even though we are half a world apart, we talk several times per week via email, audio message, Facebook, Twitter, and even Skype from time to time. For people who have never actually met face to face, we are very tight!

Back in August around the time of Chasen's birthday, he asked me what I wanted for my upcoming birthday (in November). In typical fashion I said "nothing," which is never quite good enough for him. Ha! He really surprised me when he said "Why don't you use some of my frequent flier miles and go somewhere?" Um... yes, please! After a bit of contemplation over the options, the unanimous winner was: the English countryside! I was going to get to actually hang out with Petra face to face!

So I flew out of Memphis on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and my *gulp* 37th birthday. I even got to fly first class all the way to Amsterdam! After one more hour in a smaller plane I was within thirty minutes of Petra's home. I saw her in the airport and it was as if I had just seen her the week prior. Just awesome!

Without going into my full itinerary, let me just say that it really was like a dream come true in many, many ways. First, the obvious: I got to spend nearly four days with my sweet friend! Second, I had never been away from Isaac for more than two nights. This trip was six (one night flying, four nights with Petra, another night on a layover in Detroit). That was a long, yet awesome length of time to be away from home. Third, I got to experience something new and gain perspective. That was priceless.

I drank tea every day (how British!) and sampled a few of the M&M's I brought from the USA.

See - I really was there - Lincolnshire!

There I am about to go do 3 miles with one of my running heroes!

This is sampling of our running path. We also did a five miler. Dream come true!

I even taught Petra how to make my signature chocolate cheesecake.

It was so nice to finally be able to talk in person. Trust me, we left no stone unturned! It was fabulous. So what's next? Well, she'll just have to come visit me. :) Or, better yet, I can go back to visit her. That kinda makes turning 38 next year, or 39 the year after, not seem so bad...