My last post from Oklahoma for a while!

Greetings friends,

Tomorrow (which is really today) is the big day!!! I am finally off to DC to meet up with some of the other PC volunteers who could not get an early flight on Monday for staging. I'm quite thankful I don't have to wake up early Monday morning and get on a plane...only to arrive in DC and get whisked away doing PC activities.

My mind is a little fried at the moment...kind of on overload. My mom is still up (of course...the Frost women are night owls at heart...) sewing some extra lining into my down jacket. This is typical btw, for my mom and I to still be up working on a "project." I think this entry calls for a few bullet notes because my brain is all over the place right now.

• At 5:30 pm today, one of my best friends Mitchell rang the doorbell to mi casa. He lives in Dallas...and it is busy season for accountants, so this was a big deal for him to leave RIGHT after work and drive up to see me off :) He also happened to arrive just at the moment I was about to burst into tears because I couldn't get everything to fit in my carry-on. I pride myself on being a good packer, and it was NOT working for me. After dinner, he got it all to fit :) looks like I'm not the best packer in the world after all. Thanks, Mitchy :)
• Many last minute errands were run today by my parents. Kudos goes to them being able to help. Couldn't have done it without them.
• My church's spring break trip down to the Rio Grande Valley got back tonight around 10:30 pm. Mitchell and I went to greet them...so glad to see them all :) Many, many hugs.
• Some of my friends and church family are coming up to the airport tomorrow right after church to see me off. My flight leaves at 2:30 pm. Anyone who knows me, knows I'll be getting there at least 2+ hours before the flight. Call me crazy, but I like to be prepared. And I'm OCD.
• Tonight is my last night to sleep in my bed that I love. With all 1324035 pillows. I'm taking one pillow with me (my little pink one). BIG deal! I plan on sleeping well and sleeping in a little!
• I have never been so tired of packing in my life. From packing up my stuff, to packing for a garage sale, to packing for 27 months, it's all annoying. And I'm sooooo ready to be done with it.
• I didn't get all of my Friends DVDs ripped to my computer. But I got a heck of a lot of them :) Seasons 1-6 (ish), some of 7, some of 8,
• I am SO so so ready to meet some of the people that I have been communicating with for the past 2 months as we all eagerly learned about each other's lives through Facebook, blogs, even some texting. I'm not used to having "virtual" friends that I've never actually met in real life, so I truly can't wait to meet them tomorrow night and on Monday.
• I arrive into DC around 9 Sunday evening. I'll wait for my PC bama friend Hayley to arrive, and we'll grab our luggage and head to the hotel. Our official PC activities start Monday at noon. FINALLY!!!!
• If you are wanting to send me anything in the mail for the first few months, it will have to be strictly flat envelopes. NO boxes are allowed for the first 3 months we are in Ukraine because we will be with host families and spread throughout different cities...making it too hard to get packages delivered. Here is the address that you would use to send letters, or postcards, or flat envelopes:

U.S. Peace Corps/Ukraine
PCV Lydia Frost, Group 41
111A Saksahanskoho Street
P.O. Box 298,
01030
Kyiv, Ukraine

Корпус Миру США / Україна
PCV Lydia Frost, Група 40
111А-стріт Саксаганського
PO Box 298,
01030
Київ, Україна

It has been suggested to put both the English and Ukrainian on there. (Btw, totally just copied that off of my fellow group 41er's blog. Thanks, Amy!)

Well, I have everything printed, ready to go, just have to throw last minute stuff in my carry-ons. My checked pieces of luggage weigh 44.50 and 44.94 pounds. Right under the line!! You could bet I would use every ounce possible :)

Thank you for all of the support and love. It has been a big journey leading up to tomorrow, and I can't wait for my new adventure to begin! Expect a blog post in DC!

Love, Lydia

PS: Forgot to tell you all my PC resolution! Anyone who knows me, knows that I love pictures. I have always wanted to do the "picture a day" challenge as a new year's resolution...or a sunset a day challenge...but obviously those have never happened. They just didn't feel right. SO, here is my resolution: I want to take a picture every day that I serve in the PC. I think that it would be a great book and montage of memories that I could put in a bound format and have for years to come. And it will also encourage me to upload them onto the blog...which I've kind of been slacking lately. Please please please help me with this challenge! K, toodles :)