Two weeks in Raleigh

Obviously a lot has happened in the past few weeks that I didnt write about yesterday- SO I'll try to catch you up without making it too long! :D

We ended up staying in Raleigh for a week after my dad's funeral. There was just SO much to do! and it was beyond nice to spend time with my family. In fact, I dont remember the last time I spent that much consecutive time with my family since the summer after my sophomore year in college. crazy. Time goes by so fast! Well John and I decided that there was SO much to do around the house before we left. We wanted to help my mom get most of it done so she could kind of start fresh and didnt have tons to do. We did A LOT! (with a lot of help from Sherry, Chris, my mom, Mr. and Mrs. Martin, and Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Marcus) Including:
-cleaning out the kitchen pantry, cabinets, and fridge.
-cleaning out my mom's bathroom
-cleaning out my mom's closet
-cleaning out her room and reorganized it (all the hospital stuff had to go back to the hospital and it just wouldnt be good to leave the room the same as when my dad lived there)
-cleaning out the attic (which included a mouse! YIKES! he was really cute but scary at the same time. John put a box on top of the box he was in and took him to the dump. lol!) this one took FOREVER
-cleaning out the garage (again.)
-pretty much just doing basic cleaning to all the rooms in the house
-touched up the walls where my dad's wheelchair put dents in it or scratched it up
-repainted those spots
-wrote thank you notes
-helped my mom figure out bills
-changed cable, phone, and internet service
-got cell phones
-put stuff on craigslist to sell
-and went through all my dad's stuff and boxed the keepsakes away

WOO! We still didnt get everything done that we wanted to but that's okay. It really didnt even feel like that much- PLUS we got to spend some good time with them! One night we had John's parents over and had ribs and other yummy food to just thank them for all that they did for my family. Then we played a game. It was a lot of fun :D. I miss being near home for these kinds of nights. Actually, I just miss being near home but I know that being in Miami will be good for me and John for a few years.

We came back to Miami on Saturday night- it was REALLY hard to say goodbye. But everyone seemed to be doing alright and I needed to get back to work. I couldnt believe how much time they had already let me take. I truly have an amazing workplace. John's aunt Vicky was able to get us first class tickets again on the ride home. It was SO much fun! I was able to enjoy this ride much more. They brought us drinks, warm nuts, cookies, and then a chicken salad! YUMMY! John's a goofball so it was a blast. I will definitely work on taking more pics from now on :D

While the reason for the trip was one that I could do without, it was a great trip. I know my dad would have wanted me to enjoy it :D