Ice Cream Week!

Ice cream week is something that I've been looking forward to, as well as DREADING!

My foreign exchange student (sister) is leaving on the 26th :(( 4 DAYS! Back in January we planned the last week before she leaves for Brazil will be ICE CREAM WEEK! And now that's it is here, it is really, really sad (except for the Ice cream part...)

Honestly, last year when I knew that we were going to have a foreign exchange student this year...I wasn't that excited. It was mostly for my older sister, Amanda who (was) living at home while going to college. When I started e-mailing her during the summer, I realized that even though she lived in a separate hemisphere, we were SO MUCH ALIKE! --crazy!

This past year has been one that I will honest-to-goodness NEVER forget. I can't even list all the memories that we've shared this past year together. It seems as though I've known her my entire life! Last night I had even mistaken her presence at a wedding that happened two years ago!

A lot of the other families who hosted foreign exchange students haven't come half as close as me and Ana have...I think that when a family signs up to have someone else living in their house for a year that's all they sign up for. What I mean by that is they don't realize the experience they could have. You need to put forth a little effort! Risk a couple of late nights and time to listen and trust someone else with your stories, problems, faith, feelings...etc.

I can't express the relationship that Ana and I have. I KNOW that it will last, we will be an essential part of one another's lives up until we leave this earth. I thank God everyday that He put her in my life...