March in the USA

*Trigger Warnings: death, stillbirth, pregnancy/birth announcements.

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I spent the month of March 2021 in the U.S.. I purposefully did not broadcast this information widely for a few reasons.

This was not my story to share...

First, my reason for the visit home was not a social one. In fact, it was an extremely personal one and involved the death of a very good friend, Ben. Jesse and I were unable to go home for the funeral but I was able to go a month later to help his wife and one of my best friends, Dimple, for a few weeks. My role was physical (chores around the house), emotional (being a sounding board to discuss and feel any and all emotions with her), and mental (helping sleep train her 5 month old son and help her get some sleep). I didn't share previously because this was not my story to share without checking with her first.

My second reason for keeping my visit quiet was that there was/is still a global pandemic happening. I stayed as safe as possible with tests before, masking, and social distancing when possible, but I really didn't want to inhibit the true purpose of my visit by risking unnecessary social interactions. I'm sorry to anyone I was unable or unwilling to meet during this time. It literally broke my heart to tell people no or to be so close and not see/hug you all. Please forgive me.

With all of that being said, I did manage to see a few people safely and very much enjoy myself along the way! One of my biggest love languages is quality time and goodness was that cup overflowing with love by the end of my trip!

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Week One:

I flew in and out of Chicago and built in a week at the beginning for family time. I built in some extra time for jet lag too but if I don't say so myself, I handled that beautifully! I'll give credit to my inability to sleep on planes and my intense love of movies helping to keep me awake. ; My brother, Nick, and his girlfriend, Liz, picked me up from the airport and drove me back to my parent's for dinner. I spent the week meeting my parent's new dog, Lucy, who unfortunately has since passed away, and spent some incredible quality time with my parents. My mom and I are basically the same person/best friends so living so far away has been hard on us both. I was also able to meet one of my best friends from High School, Maggie's, new baby Theo! Oh my goodness the cuteness and baby overload was real!

Unlike Germany currently, stores were open in the US so I got to go to one of my favorite stores, TJMaxx! The first few days in the US I also decided to chop off 10-12 inches of my hair! I loved my long hair but it was extremely damaged and I was looking for a change. It was that or purple and to my mom's delight, the dye didn't make it to Germany in time. I miss my long hair some days but am having fun trying to figure out new styles for short hair now.

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Weeks Two and Three:

I borrowed my parent's old minivan and made my way down to Columbus. It was an odd sensation driving into town and not going to "my house" but Dimple has always made me feel so at home at her place that it was an easy adjustment. Her baby, Oliver, is by far the happiest baby I have ever met. He seriously is always smiling and has his mouth wide open. Not to be unrealistic, he cries and gets fussy but overall, such a happy boy! It was wonderful seeing Dimple in her role of full-time working mom. She handled everything with such grace, selflessness, and with so much love in her heart.

Screaming/crying babies have lung capacities and stamina that any marathon runner would aspire to.

One of the first things we discussed was how sleep deprived she was and how she was running in survival mode. Neither of us had any clue how to sleep train a child and there are a million and one opinions out there. So, we came up with a plan she was comfortable with and that would work for her. We purchased and watched sleep training videos and put the plan into action that first week. Since I am not a mom (yet) and am a fairly heavy sleeper, I didn't always wake up right away to his cries (good for my sleep, bad for his sleep training). Dimple did his bedtime routine every night, but I took the first two overnights so she could catch up on some quality sleep. A couple observations from those first few nights:

1. My love of movies works to keep me awake while sleep training babies too.

2. A person can have major positive physical differences after only 1-2 nights of somewhat decent sleep.

3. Screaming/crying babies have lung capacities and stamina that any marathon runner would aspire to.

Overall, full sleep training took a good two weeks and a lot of reassurance but we saw positive changes in his overall happiness, eating patterns, and quality sleep that everyone was getting within the first 5 days.

Outside of sleep training and the obvious difficult emotions we were dealing with, I absolutely adored the quality time spent with Dimple. We laughed to the point of tears more times than I can count, I attempted to cook with Ben's fancy kitchen equipment and I could feel him glaring at me from heaven when I burned butter in his fancy pan... *facepalm* sorry Ben! We stayed up late talking about everything under the sun, from past memories to future dreams and of course the Bachelor finale. When we needed it, we called each other out or built each other up. Wonderful, emotional, baby cuddles filled weeks and I feel so blessed to have been able to help in that small way. Oh, I also got to help re-plant and establish some house plants for her which made my plant loving soul very happy!

During my time in Columbus, I was also able to visit a couple other friends including Mike, Sara, and their little girl, Colbie, as well as another friend who recently announced they are expecting! I easily could have spent a month just visiting people in Columbus but I had one more stop on my list the last week in the US.

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Ringing in the 2008 New Year!

Week Four:

Dallas, Texas here I come! One of my best friends, Emily, who I met in second grade, lives in Dallas. Jesse and I have visited numerous times and were down there last February for Emily and Alex's wedding. I knew them both in High School when they met so we all go way back. :)

Emily has had some major life changes recently including changing jobs (promotion, yay! but still stressful), and she and Alex also had a recent traumatic still birth of their baby boy. She and I can talk about things over calls or on video but some things just can't be said as well or felt from that far away.

Some days we spent the whole morning in our pjs just sitting and talking on the couch and snuggling with her pittie, Rizzo. We probably could have spent all 5 days there on that couch just talking but Emily is also a do-er and I was desperately craving some authentic Mexican food which she was happy to oblige. Alex picked me up from the airport and he and I went to a mouth-watering bbq place for lunch, I kid you not, across the street from the airport property line. Every single day we had Mexican food of some sort and I was a very happy and well fed girl! We also hit one of my personal favorites Milk + Cream which is ice cream with a cereal topping sandwiched inside a glazed donut, aka heaven in food form.

Outside of talking and food, we also visited a few fun places. There was a Tulipalooza happening where we lived out all our flower field dreams. We took a day trip down to Waco to see Magnolia Market. On the way home we stopped at a Buc-ee's and on the side of the road to "squat in the bluebonnets", both Texas classics. Truckyard is also a regular stop when I'm in Dallas and our conversations while there were as wonderful as the laid back atmosphere and drinks.

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After five fun and food filled days, I hopped a plane back to Chicago where I immediately went to get my Covid test done for my flight back to Germany. I spent the next two days packing and actually had to buy another suitcase from Goodwill to bring everything, both needed (contact solution) and wanted (Kraft Mac n' Cheese), back with me. Whoops, lesson learned! Negative test in hand, I said a tear-filled goodbye again to my parents at the airport and headed back home to Germany, Jesse, and Zoey. :)