Less than 1 month...

Until I'm on a plane with Mr. on our way to EUROPE!!! 27 days to be exact. I have to quit my job. This actually makes me sad because I like my job - I didn't think that I would. But I'm sure I'll get over it as I'm adventuring around England and the surrounding countries with Leo! :) As of today, everything is booked. What a relief!

Found one!

Hooray! The search for a huge, hard-sided suitcase is over! And I got it for a steal at TJMaxx :) And it matches the carry-on I already possess. Life is great! And - only 33 days until we are flying to Europe! June 22nd is going to be here before we know it.

What I really need -

A gigantic suitcase! The largest suitcase I have is too small - I'm going to be gone for almost 6 weeks people - that's a lot of cute clothing, shoes and accessories to pack! I've decided that I want to get an expandable hard-sided suitcase - they're pretty sweet. However, when looking online they're pretty expensive too. I found out that TJMaxx carries overstock hard-sided luggage, I will check with them every week until I find one I like :) Keep your eyes open - if you know of somewhere I can find a hard-sided, expandable suitcase for a steal - holla.

I've also decided that I'm going to use some of those space bags to pack - my sister used them when she went to Australia and said they were fab. Hopefully I'll be able to save some room - for all of the souvenirs (and, ok, clothes I buy for myself) I will be bringing back. :)

Shopping List.

So, the big day is coming. The day we will depart on a six week adventure in and around Europe. It's crazy to think about. We still have so much to do! It's kind of overwhelming to think about. (Not to mention I have to do a final edit of my thesis proposal and pass my defense!)

We're going to do some shopping before we leave - but we're also going to leave some extra room in our suitcases so we can shop on our trip as well!

Things that we have to get: general power converters, computer converters, extra camera/video camera batteries, weekender packs (so we can pack lightly and conveniently for our weekend excursions), and so much more that I can't even think of right now!

It will be nice that we are both staying in University housing - convenient and pretty affordable since I need to cover my housing costs. My flat is in the City Centre - appropriately named as it is in the center of Worcester (pronounced Woooooster) - which means I am close to all of the action! Leo's housing is provided by BSU as part of his assistantship - he will be staying in one of the buildings on the map below. My flat is about a 15 minute walk from the main campus.

Below is a picture of the Worcester University campus (click on it to see it larger):

Preparations.

Leo and I will be traveling throughout the United Kingdom - with the added weekend trips to various countries - for six weeks this summer. I am getting very excited and can't believe that it is only 42 days away! He was awarded an assistantship through Ball State so his entire trip (besides our weekends and anything we do outside of planned activities)is paid for. This is the opportunity of all opportunities and I am really looking forward to six weeks abroad!

I will be taking online classes while over there but the bulk of the trip is simply an extended vacation. We've been planning this trip since he found out about the assistantship months ago - I think excited is an understatement.

Below is a picture of our Worcester backyard: