i am sooooooooooooo bored...

and excited! :) i feel extremely selfish though, being this excited about going home even when justin will be stuck on the ship and here alone. But i am seriously PUMPED! first off, we're totally surprising my grandpa and maybe my Mother in Law! AND maybe my best friend! lol I fly in at about 10am on Nov. 28th and then i have my VanZomeren side Thanksgiving that night, but before that i think i'll drive up and surprise my Mother in Law! :) i HOPE she doesn't already know... but we'll see. Then Sat. night my mom's side of the family is having their Thanksgiving get-together... and thats when i think we'll surprise my grandpa. HE WILL TOTALLY FREAK OUT! :D lol He is so depressed thinking that he won't see us til March, when nathaniel is a year old... and he's so obsessed with his great grandkids... he's even put a swing up in the middle of their living room, hanging it from the ceiling! lol So our plan is to while my grandpa is in his shop or in the basement, i'll come in and put nathaniel in the swing, and then i'll hide... and grandpa will see nathaniel in the swing and i'll come out and be like "SURPRISE!!!!!" HAHAHAHAHA!!!! cannot wait! Then i'm also gonna try to surprise my Mom in Law... just by walking into the house and being like "just wanted to stop by!" :D lol Then as far as my best friend knows i'm flying BACK to VA on Nov. 13th... the same day SHE is flying INTO iowa! LOL so i'm thinking i'm gonna try to go with whoever is picking her up or drive up and surprise HER too!!!! Cuz she's been begging me to extend my stay but i keep telling her it's just too expensive. YAY! i LOOOOOOOOOOVE surprisig people!

and along with all that, i get to go to BOTH of my family's Thanksgiving Get-Togethers, and Oskaloosa's Lighted Christmas Parade, AND my grandpa's birthday! :)

i can't help but feel bad for justin though... i feel so bad for him. He doesn't seem bothered with it though... he says he wants "guilt-free sleep" and time to himself before he's stuck on a ship. And he's never been as close to his family as i am to mine... not NEAR as close. Family is truly #2 to me (#1 is God) and to him... he's dived into the whole independent from family thing... his family is just really different than mine. It seems that once they graduate, they are on their own, free and encouraged to live their own lives apart from "home"... while me, i can never picture a life without my family right down the road... which to some, that seems like we haven't "cut the cord" or that i've been to sheltered in my life... but, i WANT my family in my back pocket... i WANT my family in all my business! My family is my foundation... they are the ones that lead me in my walk with Christ until i could walk on my own... they are the ones who stood by me and prayed for me when i was broken... and they are the ones that still soak in all the joy that is also in my life... my joy is their joy... my pain and frustration is theirs... and i love that. While when i look at justin... it just seems like he's just out there all on his own, except for me at his side... it's SO different from my family. But i desperately want to become more a part of their family... and i kinda hope that i can bring a little of the magic in MY family into theirs... It's gonna be an uphill battle i think... because i am so, SO different... but i think thats one of the reasons God placed me in this particular family, He knew i would at least try...