Hold your breath because here we go again!

Almost a year later, I'm packing my bags yet again. So far I have taken 11 international flights, 10 international trains, traveled to 12 new countries, taken ferries and trams, and even went hang gliding!

But there are more interesting ways to measure a year. You could look at me through the eyes of my Swedish kids. You might try some of my cooking after making a year's worth of dinners for these people. I love to remember the seas I've skinny dipped in, and the mountains I've fallen in love with. My facebook friends' list is growing like a weed, and I can now count to ten in English, Spanish, German, Schwiizer-Düütsch, Swedish, and Catalan.

Once you start, you can't stop. I have such conflicting emotions about going home. My worlds are colliding and I have to wait to see how they fit together. Lately I've been having dreams about it. In one dream everyone I know here went out and we had 'Terhaar' beer. Everyone knew how to say it, even with their european accents. I was so proud, I wished they could know some real Terhaars.

Last night I was standing with a crowd of cousins in the pale yellow fields next to the family farm underneath grandpa's hill. We were all sitting around, hugging each other, listening to him sing the old songs with his guitar, "You are my sunshine..." "How much is that doggy in the window..." and I jumped up and hugged him, told him I loved him and he held me so tight, like he would never let me go. He put me up on his shoulders like I was little again and we walked away into the fields... and he died.

I've opened up my humongous duffel bag and the ball has started rolling. It's picking up momentum now. In 17 days I break away from life here, 19 days and I'm back in my beloved Idaho. 1 month brings me and my subaru to a long haul drive cross country. In a month and a half I'm taking the big step of moving in with my man-friend, and in a year I'm flying off to be a "woofer," back packing around both islands of New Zealand. I do all of this because when I return from New Zealand I'm going to the school of my dreams and if I do my adventures first, I'll be ready and willing to settle into a long life of dream job/student debt. It's a lot to take in, I know, but its impossible to look at any one bit of it without knowing how it fits into the big scheme.

I met a sweet old Irish man on the London tube who boasted me to his wife. "Look honey, I found a farmin' girl. You don't find those anywhere these days," although he says I don't look it. I'm a whole new breed, now, and my home is in Idaho and in hostels around the world. Terhaars and travelers are my family, and love and smiles are our values. This is Dani culture. Stay tuned for more!