Our final week in Minnesota

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We leave a week from tomorrow and are hitting "crunch time" in terms of packing and saying goodbyes to family and friends. It is a strange - but very nice - experience to have so many parties thrown in your honor. Most everyone tells us that they are envious of our plans ("I wish we had the guts to do what you guys are doing") and several are indicating that they want to come visit.

Of course, we took the boys on a daylong visit to the Minnesota State Fair for games, rides, eating, and looking at all the animals and such. They wanted to know if Costa Rica has something similar - I have a feeling that the local festivals will seem puny and quaint by comparison. But then again, that is part of the whole reason for our taking this leap.

Lots of emotions are flowing - excitement about the upcoming adventure, anxiety about the multitude of unknowns, confusion and frustration over the paperwork requirements for our residency application, indecision about what to bring and what to leave behind.

Stay tuned.

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