Priorities upon returning home:

1. Oklahoma Joe's
2. Longest shower ever (oh the glory!)
3. Sleep
4. Stare at the adorable photos of kids you just met that are so cute you still can't get over it
5. Wonder what's next
 

Slideshow.

As you can imagine, we took a ton of photos during our stay in India. We decided to post them as a slideshow. A loooooong slideshow. Fair warning.

Take a look if you are interested!

Transition.

First, we are back from India!!! It was a wonderful, challenging, stretching, beautiful, whirlwind of a trip. Thank you for all your prayers and encouraging words!

I am writing this after my first day back to work and "real life."

I'm still operating on London time. We don't have any groceries. I'm catching up--on email, on snail mail, on life.

I'm processing. We saw a lot of things. A lot of hopeful things. Some hard things. A lot of unknown things that just don't quite translate and don't fit into any of my preconceived boxes. I'm not even totally sure how to think or much less talk about the trip yet.

I'm trying to take this time and let myself just slowly enter into life as I know it. And yet, I do this while knowing that I am the same...but different. I still want to write a million lists on post its each day. I still want to eat healthier, follow up on work projects, rethink our finances, clean out our bedroom.

And yet...

I just saw the world from such a different perspective.

So as I'm making coffee at home in the morning, I giggle as I remember sweet Akash's adorable silly faces that he made when we played Red Rover.

And as I share a bit about our India experience with my friend Amy, I feel suddenly really emotional. Not teary or anything. Just full of feeling. 

It's a delicate time and I want to share it with you. But I also ask for some grace and some space to figure things out in my time.

It's good to be home.

Some things:

For some reason, it hit me yesterday that we are going to India. In 9 days.

We.

Are.

GOING TO INDIA.

Me.

In INDIA.

In LESS THAN TWO WEEKS.

Obviously this has totally hindered ANY AND ALL ABILITY FOR ME TO WRITE COMPLETE SENTENCES AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT ME LOSING THE ALL CAPS!


Poor husband.

(It's okay though because he is on pain killers which means I can say things like "Oh! I totally forgot I already had dessert tonight!" as I scoop ice cream...to smother my amazingly delicious homemade oatmeal cream pie... but instead of being embarrassed, I just thought, "Ehh. I'll just deny this later and say you were ((legally)) hallucinating." Marriage rocks.)

Also? I decided this was a really good time to join Twitter. Obviously.

ALSO? Adam said last weekend that we are allowed one carry-on each. For a two week trip. ACROSS THE WORLD. I was all "LOL! Good one!" until he said, "Sara. I'm serious." And then I was like "ohhhhh craaaaap!" 

...so how are you?

Lately I've Been Loving:

• This for online list-making and instant Post-It access. It has changed my life. CHANGED MY LIFE, PEOPLE. If you are a Type-A planner and don't mind having "one more thing"...this is for you.
• Discovering healthy food that actually tastes delicious! And doesn't take hours to make! And doesn't make me buy a bunch of healthy ingredients that I don't even know how to pronounce! (Okay confession: I actually didn't know how to pronounce "quinoa" until about 4 weeks ago. KEEN-WA my friends. KEEN-WA.)
• Finding excuses to make really, really, really extremely delicious sweet treats that are NOT healthy but ARE totally freaking amazing and will jolt you awake the next morning when you calculate just how many cookies you consumed the night before. Ohhhhh myyyyyy gooooodnesssss. Please don't make me confess that number publicly.
• This book. Go read it. You will not be sorry. (Unless you are the non-fiction type like my husband and are all "I just don't really get into fiction" to which I say, *HUGE EYEROLL*. Also I love you.)
• Planning, thinking, dreaming about our upcoming adventure in India. The other day Adam said, "I think this will be a growing experience for us." I think he's right. To all those who are making this experience possible, thank you.

Resurfacing.

O.
M.
G!

YOU GUYS. We have had such a crazy whirlwind life lately! I mean that in a "we are currently getting vaccinated for rabies" kind of way. Soooo yeah. The whole bat thing? Worst nightmare.

I promised my mom I wouldn't write anything really stupid on the Internet so unfortunately friends, I will have to leave the story there. (Hi Mom! See? I do listen!) Suffice it to say that it has been an incredibly frustrating past two weeks. But, we have survived. And in the midst of icky circumstances, we have seen the light of kindness shining through. To those of you out there who have been those light-bearers, thank you.

In other news, I finished a final last week and promptly realized um, APRIL!? Where did you go?! And how is it May?! And how is it that we are leaving for India in a few weeks?!

And who has been squatting in our apartment, throwing things here and there and forgetting to wash dishes and leaving expired milk in our fridge?!

?!?!?!!?


In the midst of all the craziness, I have been growing more and more excited about our upcoming adventure. If you'd like to learn more about our India trip, jump on over!

I hope spring is being good to you friends.

...OH! I almost forgot! I made these apple crisp muffins a few weeks ago and they are SO INCREDIBLE! Please go make them immediately! I had to make a few tweaks to the recipe since I didn't have everything on hand and they still turned out great! (I used regular flour, regular sugar, and honey instead of maple syrup.) Enjoy!

Namaste.

So there I was doing a yoga video on Sunday night. Adam was gone, and I had big plans that included really productive things such as painting my toenails, watching a chick flick and sipping some tea on the couch.


A cool evening breeze blew in and I was soaking the moment up, congratulating myself on really taking an evening to relax.

In the middle of my downward dog, I heard a little something. Hmm that's weird I thought. That sounded kind of screechy. Like a bat! I shuddered. Ugh. I don't know what I would do if I saw a ---

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" I screamed as a flitty furry thing flew INTO MY LIVING ROOM.

AND LANDED ON MY FLOOR.

I stared. Terrified.

This is not happening. This is not happening. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap.

It didn't move.

I dashed onto the porch, propping the screen door wide open.

Please oh please oh please leave. I prayed, knees shaking.

Nothing. Still lying ON MY FLOOR.

Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap.


I banged the door a bit. And then a bit more.

Surely this noise will scare you just a bit so that you'll LEAVE ME ALONE. GO BACK OUTSIDE! YOU BELONG OUT HERE YOU IDIOT!

Nothing.

Trapped on the porch, I weighed my options. Things were looking bleak. My purse and keys were on the opposite end of the apartment. No way was I walking by THAT THING.

But my phone...

I glanced warily at the unmoving furball.

If it would just stay there and let me get a bit closer I could reach my phone on the coffee table just a few feet away.

I can do this. No I can't. I have to. I'm going to get rabies. What if it touches my hair? OH MY GOSH what if it flies at my face and I see it's eyes and...

Stop it. You need your phone. It is your only hope.

I took a deep breath.

I dashed.

Just as I grabbed my phone, IT MOVED.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! I screamed as IT FLEW BY THE LAMP AND BEHIND OUR COUCH.

I darted into the hallway and slammed the door shut.


"There is a bat in our apt!" I texted Adam, trying to be all cool and nonchalant.

(HA, HA. I know.)

I waited approximately 8 seconds before calling him.

He answered and heard a tearful, "THERE IS A BAT IN OUR APARTMENT AND I'M IN OUR HALLWAY AND IT IS MOVING AND I AM NOT WEARING ANY SHOOOOOOOOES!"

I sniffed.

"What!? Are you okay?"

"Yes. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! IT JUST CAME INSIDE! And it WON'T LEAAAAAAVE. And they CARRY RABIES!"

"I'm coming home."

"Okay," I cried.

"I think you should just grab a book and hang out and I"ll be there soon," he said reassuringly.

"I don't HAAAAAVE a book," I sobbed. "The books are all INSIDE. With the BAT IN OUR APARTMENT and I won't--hicuup--go--hicuup--back in there."

"It's going to be okay. Why don't you just play Tetris on your phone until I get there?"

"Um, okay." I said.

Fifteen minutes later, he pulled up.

"What's your plan?" I said.

"I don't have one," he said. "Just go in the bathroom, shut the door and I'll let you know when it's safe."

"Okay," I said. "But be careful."

And would you believe that my dear sweet husband took a broom and swatted all around our apartment in search of that little critter?

He sure did.

And would you also believe that HE NEVER FOUND IT?

Oh no he didn't.

And so, friends, while that night most certainly cemented my fear of ANIMALS UP IN MY SPACE and also expanded the definition of a true hero (and also true love), it did NOT leave my with any sort of peace of mind.

So, yes, what I'm saying, in short, is: I saw a bat enter my living room, my husband came home to save me and that bat may or may not have escaped.

Which also means, there may or may not still be AN ANIMAL LIVING IN MY HOME.

Help.