The next morning I had an appointment with the Jewish Agency. I was trying to keep my cool and not be nervous, but the moment I pulled into the parking garage, I came unglued and started crying. I don't know how to explain why that happened, but I think it might've been because if the meeting didn't go well and I wasn't accepted to make Aliyah, I wouldn't know what to do. I didn't have a back-up plan. I get nervous when I'm speaking to people, especially when it's something personal, and started getting teary eyed during the interview process. I left there feeling like everything went well, but wouldn't feel okay about anything until I got something official.
After the meeting, I headed to the car rental place to drop off my rental and meet Yael. It has been 7 months since we have seen each other. Oh, man. I can't tell you how great it was to see her face and get a hug from her. We drove down to San Diego where she lives and made a short detour to Chipotle so I could get a burrito that I took 5 bites of and couldn't possibly finish. We went to a hookah bar and her sister joined us. We basically spent the whole day and well into the night chatting. She says I give the best goat-skis (coskies) ever so I did that all night. That probably sounds weird, don't worry yourself with that detail.
5am finally rolled around and we couldn't get out of that place quickly enough. We both had early flights…me to Las Vegas and her to Minnesota. It was sad saying bye after only getting barely two days with her, but I'm so happy that we had even that. I miss these girls like crazy. I arrived in Las Vegas and my best friend picked me up…I had enough time to shower and change before we went to Temple for Pizza in the Hut (it was a thing for a youth group to eat in the sukkah and talk about sukkot). I got to make my rounds and see a few people that I hadn't seen in a long time so that was nice.
I headed back to Arkansas after less than a week of being in Las Vegas and my best friend Amber picked me up. Her baby was still up when we arrived at her home. He's no longer the little baby I left. He's a big boy now. Walking and saying some words, totally Mr. Personality. We got to spend time together the next day and my mom came to get me the following day. Time at home is always crazy. Trying to make sure I spend time with everybody..it never feels like enough; uber stressful, but it usually works out. Of course I wish I would've spent more time with everybody and I could've made my stay there longer, but I was just so ready to get to Israel. The basic highlights from my visit, since most days were kind of the same: spend time with family, see my Kimberly and "our" sister who is pregnant and I felt the baby kick(!) and her husband, have lunch with Nick, and probably two of the biggest things happened on the same day- Amber's baby's first birthday party and a friend of mine got married. Since the birthday party was in Little Rock and the wedding was in Bella Vista, I was only able to be at the party for an hour because it's a 3.5 hour drive, but I'm so glad I was able to do both. My friend Chris rode with me and it was the first time I've been with him, the bride, and another friend of ours all together in about 4 years. Unfortunately, when we arrived there had been technical issues with the song the bride was going to walk down the aisle to, but it was lucky for us or else we would've missed it. I was also able to be in town for my youngest (great) nephew's fourth birthday.
This was such a whirlwind of a month. I got to see so many people I haven't seen in a long time. And to be honest, I'm not sure when I'll be able to see them again. But there's Skype, Facebook, FaceTime, Whatsapp, iMessage, etc…so many ways to stay in touch. And while it might be a while before we are in the same place again and that makes me sad, I also know that I'll be doing something I want more than anything which is become a citizen of Israel. It's a moment I've dreamed of for years and now it's coming true. If I take a moment to reflect on these decisions I've made in these past couple of years, I have got to say I am proud of myself. People always tell me it takes courage to do what I've done, and I've always brushed it off like anybody can do it…and they can, but not everybody will. I want something, I make it happen…even if I say to myself more times than I can count "WHAT AM I DOING?!" I almost always answer myself, "Exactly what you want." and that keeps me from freaking out and focused on being happy with my decision.
So now I'm off to make Aliyah. Dreams really do come true.