Well, as Cathy explained to us it was a huge adjustment trying to get back into the swing of life here at home.  The time change made me do crazy unexplainable things and the pace of life was very unwelcoming.  I felt like I was just rushed through my days and couldn’t really make sense of what was going on around me.  When I spoke with Mike in one of our classes, we both concluded that we felt like we were in a daze the past few days.

The first thing I did when I got to my parents house was to flip open my computer and whiz through all of the pictures.  After about picture 500, my dad wandered off and I knew my mom stuck with me to be a good sport.  They couldn’t be inside my head to understand the excitement and feelings that I had with every picture I flipped through.  I felt like there was so much to tell them and I just couldn’t spit it out fast enough or get to the next picture.

To help ease my way back in the hustle of my life, I didn’t do much the first few days.  I did work the Friday and Saturday to help get into the mode of normal life and to prepare myself for school, but I just didn’t feel like it was me.  Sunday I wanted to do something relaxing so my boyfriend and I went out on Lake Superior to just fish and relax for the day.  Above is a picture of the ice chunks from the first freeze of the year that built up and then was blown into shore.  The sleep schedule was very hard to get acquainted to, I was sleeping by 3-4 pm some days and up at 3:30 am, I was sleep walking and talking.  That was one of the worst things I’ve dealt with.  After almost a week of being back, I finally feel normal.

When people ask me what I took away from this experience, the first thing that comes to mind is that I took away the ability to learn how to relax and just let things happen that are out of my control.  I want to learn how to focus on the things I can control and be positive about those things.  I want to live longer not just because I exercise and have a good family “line of genes” but because I have learned how to eliminate stress from my life in a positive way.  So glad I did this trip, I met some wonderful friends whom I will continue to stay in touch with and had a life changing experience.