Apparently, I blog now.

In a few days, Victoria and I will be headed to Europe for 24 days! I have been wanting to go on a trip like this for several years now and I am so excited that it is finally happening. My to-do list is longer than a CVS receipt but I know it will all come together and be the trip of a lifetime.

The tentative agenda for this week is to clean, finish laundry, pack, have family goodbye dinners, get in extra snuggles with my sweet Elliott (that’s my dog, for you new readers), and finish 100 other little tasks… all of which have to happen between the hours of 4pm-midnight because I somehow have managed to not get fired from my full-time job for taking a month off of work (a million ‘thank yous’ to my awesome bosses and co-workers for putting up with this). Here’s hoping I get everything finished before Friday and that this week stays as stress-free as possible.

A few years ago my brother had brain surgery and we learned very quickly that it was beyond exhausting to repeat the same story to every person we ran into. To remedy that, we started a Facebook page and casually coerced every person we know to “like” it to stay updated about his progress. It turned out to be the best idea of all time* so I decided to take the same approach with this trip and just blog as-I-go. Plus, I respect your Facebook walls and Instagram feeds and do not want to spam you with trip updates (but let’s be honest… I will obviously still post some things there).

My brother’s Facebook page now serves as a mini diary of events we can look back on and I think this will be a great way to diary this trip. I’ve had carpal tunnel AND cubital tunnel surgery so writing the old-fashioned pen and paper way is not my most favorite and definitely not the most comfortable. I’m 27 and can type like nobody’s business (just ask my freshman year roommate who always complained about my “loud” typing) so let’s give this thing a try.

I’ll update as often as I can without interfering with the activities we have planned. Check back later!

Jillian

*okay, not of ALL TIME. Cooler, more important ideas have occurred.