Well, this is it. I managed to get through my goodbyes in Knoxville without completely losing it. But man, my dad makes it tough. Now in Atltanta, I realized as I was in my tiny little plane flying from Knoxville to here that I am not nearly as excited by flying these days. As a little kid I loved the thrill of flying and the whole experience that went with it. Nothing scared me, and I even got excited by turbulence and sudden losses of altitude. What was I thinking? These days, little things like that get me paranoid and I just try to make it through without anyone else noticing. This must mean I'm growing up...or something like that.

Anyway, I'm not really sure what to write because I'm not really sure how to feel right now. I'm caught somewhere between excitement at the unknown and fear of... well, the unknown. But no regret! I know that God is with me always and I know that He has definitely been involved in the process that got me to this point. So here goes nothing. I'm trusting Him.

On a lighter note, Sarah, you will be pleased to hear that I made it successfully through the airport (so far) without being called a troublemaker by anyone. I did have to increase my baggage from what I was originally planning on bringing. I ended up with two bags, both right at the 50 lb limit. The man at check-in started to give me a hard time because one weighed in at 51.5 lbs. That was due to Clay's jar of peanut butter I threw in after weighing everything at home. But no worries, he let me through. Italy, here I come...with JIF peanut butter!