Homesick for another kinda home..

It's Thursday night.. 15th of December.. just over 4 days have gone by since getting home
It's been really difficult re-adjusting back to my old life, in all honesty.. much less exciting than what was going on back in Ohio. It was an amazing experience and time in my life :) sad to think that's all over with :/ miss my friends and family so much :( Depression much..
At the end of the day, i got more than i ever expected from this whole "going to America for a year" thing.
I feel like a very changed person now, i can look at all the things i've been looking at all my life but differently after being so far away from it for over 11months.
I'm not kidding,
This was all so worth it!!
Thank you for all the love and support, i think that's what helped me get through it all the most.. support from both homes, New Zealand and Ohio :) <3
Since Julia, i know you'll be reading this..
i love you stalker!! ;D x

FML!!

Cassi and Julia spent the night in Warren with me for the last sleepover for the last time.. maybe the most well behaved we've ever been haha, we were very mature that night :) Julia gave me my Christmas present, i'm just happy i fit the tiny shirt she bought me!! We all went out to dinner that night.. quite entertaining actually :P

Cassi and Julia had school the next morning, we had stayed up most of the night literally just talking and crying.. yeah there's skype, there's facebook and email.. but i'm still leaving and no one knows for sure what's next as much as i remind everyone that i'll be back some day.. how do we know it's truly gonna happen.. Cassi and Julia certainly don't believe it but all we can do is trust that it's true. Even I didn't expect all the life long friendships i gained by being here!!
I walked with Julia and Cassi into the high school.. again :P (omg i didn't think i'd be doing that again!!) It was nice seeing everyone again, i know nobody expected me to be there lol :) Just saying goodbye to Cassi... omg it's so tough, what are you supposed to say to someone at a time like that? See you on skype in another country?? :P I don't know..
It will never be the same without you two..

Skyped my little sisters for the last time before seeing
them at the airport 11th december :D They found a baby chicken and thought they'd be funny by added the chicken flavored noodles to the pic ;)
It's all very scary!! I'll actually be home :O I don't believe it yet.. not till I'm in that airport :) :)

New York & my American Xmas with Mum;D

Julia and I decided that with only a few hours left we might as well stay up all night to make sure we'd be up and ready at 4:30am to leave Warren/Niles to go into Cleveland to pick my Mum up from the airport.. it had been going so well up until I began to fall asleep during the end of our movie: Paulie.. haha yesss that movie is a total cutie ;) After much hitting and pushing.. Julia finally let me crash for the 2 hours left before having to get up to leave for the drive to Cleveland. Probably the worse choice to make.. sleeping for such a short time, made me feel like absolute crap. It still hadn't hit me that'd i'd actually be seeing Mum again, been so long without her.. you just kinda get used to living with her so far away, just a totally new adaption to my everyday life!!

Our first photo after 11 months apart!!

Waiting at the airport at 6:15am with Julia.. we just sat in the middle of the almost empty airport pointing out all the people who could possibly be my Mum, so when Julia said to me.. "Isn't that your Mom".. I kinda ignored it, "Nooo," i told her :P "No seriously Amanda.. that's your Mom right?!?".. "hahaha, ahh noo?" and then my "Mum" was waving as she was waiting on one of those escalators, "Ohhh ****, that is her i think"
I was so confused and mixed up, seeing her felt so strange.. but we hugged and i couldn't help but just cry, she'd gone all this way to in a way.. "pick me up and take me home", it'd been so long.. i couldn't believe she was actually finally standing there right in front of me!! She was convinced that i'd got shorter but then i could say the same about her.. midget :P ahaha!!!
Sheila took us all out to Sugar and falls :) an adorable lil' place to relax and eat out.. Just like Mum had hoped.. it had started snowing the moment we drove into Cleveland to pick her up, so yesss she did indeed bring the snow with her :) lol

The New York trip took around 8/9 hours.. omg i hated the drive there, we were leaving Ohio at 11:30pm which meant we really had to sleep as much as we could before reaching New York in the early morning... so when we visited this really old Church Julia and I sat down and tried sleeping for a bit (everybody assumed we were "really" praying!!) But it was just a good time to take a break :) hahaha!! We got so much done in New York, and in all honesty.. i hadn't really been looking forward to, but having gone there.. yeah, i had a good time :) such a crazy and amazing place to see!!

We had an early Christmas celebration with my host family and Mum. It was a nice night :) :) Good family bonding time.. and even with Julia convinced she was driving back to her Dad's that night.. clearly she was in "my bubble zone" as she left that next morning for school ;)