"Boy, I got vision and the rest of the world wears bifocals."  - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Butch (Paul Newman)

     One short year ago I packed up everything I thought I would need in three suitcases and headed off to the Houston airport to begin a new adventure in Uruguay.  Never in my wildest imagination could I envision the next 12 months.  Stress, love, tears, friendship, death, joy, terror, growth, self-doubt, enlightenment, heartache, and finally fulfillment have marked the past year.  

     Always a bit of a drama queen (I admit it!), even my most dramatic moments could not compare with the emotions filling the past year.  I might be a tad too old for this!
     Pros:  new and wonderful friends, old friends and family who still love me, an amazing view from our front porch, a front porch (!!), a 25 minute drive to the beach, opportunities for compassion, generosity of strangers, freedom, and building a dream home
    Cons:  language difficulties, doubting every decision, being cheated by others, driving amongst the motorcycles, missing family and friends with every piece of my heart, building a dream home in a foreign country
     It has been one heck of a year.  Would I do it again?  Probably.  However, if there is one thing I have learned during the past year, it's that life takes us where we belong.  There is no hindsight.