Friday Letters 64

Happy Friday Y'all! 

I hope you had a good week. I am excited to see the week ending and have the weekend to laze around. To be honest, this week was kinda sucky. 

On Thanksgiving, we got the news my Papa Drake was in the hospital and was having a lot of problems. At one point, they even called in the family to say goodbye. The next day it seemed as if he would be okay if he could get off the ventilator, so my hopes were high. I recorded a video via facebook for my Papa to listen to.  But yesterday- I got the news that he had passed. I was expecting it after having a few conversations with my mom, but it still did not lessen the blow of losing another loved one while living in Korea. I am writing this- not to bum y'all out- but to have a record of how I'm really feeling and what's really going on here. 

Living overseas is one of the greatest experiences I've ever had, but with it comes the knowledge that when stuff happens back home- you could be missing out. It is hard to push through here in Korea and feel happy and upbeat about the upcoming holiday season- when life back home sucks. I hate that I can't just jump on a plane and be with my family. There is comfort in knowing that families are forever, and I am so thankful for the technology that allowed my Papa to hear my voice and see my face one last time while on this Earth. I wanted him to know that I loved him. That I was thinking of him. And I hope he knew that. Papa- I know you are up in Heaven with Greyce now, and I'm so happy you are in peace. 

I don't mean to drag y'all down, but I needed to write these words, and at the end of the day- my blog is a journal of sorts. 

In more upbeat news- here is what we've been up to: 

We finished up with our 30 Days of Thankful project. 

28: The opportunity of living in Hawaii

29: Care packages from our family (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Fahey and Mom and Barry)

30. The Schmitt Family- our good friends here in Korea

I loved working on this project and being in the spirit of Thanksgiving for the whole month. I am thinking of doing project thankful 365 for next year. 

-Thanksgiving morning we put up our Christmas decorations

-I love the little ornaments we picked up while traveling this year (and by ornaments I mean keychains that we repurposed)

- I love the decorations I made for Super Saturday this year 

-November 28 we helped host a Friendsgiving for people at church that were alone this holiday. It turned out pretty well. 

-We had an endless amount of leftovers that we enjoyed

-We watched Free Birds and a ton of Christmas movies (Arthur Christmas, Santa Clause 2, Santa Clause 3, ABC Family movies, and Elf) 

-December brought the super cold weather and some snow. Luckily, I got a package from my mom with the clothes I bought from Old Navy- so I have some more winter clothes to add to the rotation. 

 {Don't you love getting packages with clothes and food and then trying all the clothes on!}

-This year we started the tradition of 25 Days of Christ. Our advent calendar this year is following the booklet and reading from the scriptures every day. 

-We finished all the ornaments for the 25 Days of Christ

-Putting together the ornaments was a pain in our butt, but we love the messages so far 

-Matt got a new bow tie for our anniversary and I got my Christmas smash book 

- I wrapped presents to send out to my family

-Ordered our Christmas cards and my in-law & and Grandparents' presents 

And finally we are faking it till we make it. We really had a good couple of weeks, but we are putting in a lot of effort to be happy. We are going through the motions hoping that soon we will really feel joyful and ready for Christmas. But right now- being away from our family really sucks. 

And that's my motto for the week- Fake it till you make it. 

We are here in Korea, so we might as well be in the moment. 

Have a wonderful weekend y'all. 

Love, Alex