Visa - Check!

I'm not going to lie, it's been a rough 7 days.

Last week, I was enjoying a nice dinner when my date very nicely informed me that I had blood coming out of my ear.  WHAT!?  It was literally coming out of my ear and running down my jaw line, and I didn't feel a thing.  We both got on the phone with our family members in the medical field, and figured since there was no pain I could wait to go to the doctor till the next day.  It all turned out fine - no burst ear drum, no brain tumor - just a total fluke!  

The next day I made the long trek home to Wisconsin, and just when I'm pulling off the freeway and I'm about 15 miles from home, I notice that something is not right with the transmission on my Jeep that I just bought 2 months ago.  NOOOOO!  But truthfully, all I could think was - "I'm just so glad this happened when I was close to home and not in the middle of nowhere".  Let's face it, 90% of my drive from MO to WI is the middle of nowhere.   I'm SO thankful I was home when it happened!! 

So I found myself stuck in Wisconsin for a few extra days, and no way to get to my appointment at the Indian Consulate in Chicago, and having to spend $2900 on a new transmission.  UGH!

I was beginning to think that I'd make an egregious mistake somewhere and Life was inexplicably trying to block me from going to India.

And then everything started to go right.

My dad and stepmom suggested we take the train down to Chicago together.  We got up early, drove to Milwaukee, and rode the train all the way to the downtown Chi-town station, which turned out to be only 6 blocks from the Consulate.  It was a perfect 75 degree & sunny day, so we walked there, and still made it with plenty of time to spare for my appointment.  They let me go in 45 minutes early, showed me a couple of things I needed to sign that I had missed, didn't ask me any questions, and took my passport.  3 days later I have my approved 10-year, multiple entries Visa!  AND, I got to spend a really fun day with dad and Judes - just the 3 of us.  We never get to do that!  

Then my transmission was finished a day earlier than expected.  
Then on my way out of town, the guy at Starbucks gave me a free breakfast sandwich, just because he'd made an extra one and I was nice.
And I made it back to Missouri in record time.  

Sometimes bad stuff happens. But it doesn't always mean what we think it means.
The point is - Don't freak out.  Self-reflection is good, but Just wait.  Maybe good stuff is around the corner.  

I GOT MY VISA FOR INDIA!!!!!!!!!!

As you can see, I have revamped my blog. New Direction = New Blog.

So here is what's happening...

Step 1:  Renew expired Passport - check.
It's kind of sad to lose all of the fun stamps I've collected in the last 10 years - Costa Rica, Belize, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Hong Kong - but also very exciting to see all of the blank pages yet to be filled with all new destinations. 

Step 2:  Apply for tourist visa to India - check (I still need to go to Chicago to turn in the final paperwork, which is happening in 2 weeks.  This seems to be the best and quickest way to secure a visa for India). 

Step 3:  Learn some Hindi before my trip.
Today I went ALL-IN and purchased Rosetta Stone's Hindi program.  I'm looking forward to some hardcore language learning over the next few months.  

Step 4:  Book tickets
TBA...