It's us again!!!

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Hi everyone!

Bet you thought you wouldn't being seeing 'Trevor Good has updated his tripjournal' message again on your email!!! Well, here we are! After leaving you hanging for almost 3 months now, we are finally writing to wrap things up, answer the most frequently asked questions, and let you know 'what's next'! (BEFORE WE GO ON, HOWEVER, PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR EMAIL ADDRESS IS NOT kruga@att.net ANYMORE. IT IS NOW goodonya@sbcglobal.net So, please don't respond to our NEW email address...or we won't get it!)

What have we been up to over the last 3 months? RE-EXPERIENCING VARIOUS ASPECTS OF AMERICAN CULTURE!!!

1. THE 'HOOD': We returned to Chicago on May 11, after a long, but uneventful flight from Auckland, New Zealand, through Los Angeles, to Chicago, arriving here around 10pm. It was great to be picked up by Trevor's sister and fiance and to arrive home to a very clean house and happy dog. (Apparently the guys living here cleaned for about 18 hours before our arrival home! And it looked like it...clean and well-kept!)

We spent a few weeks unpacking, re-adjusting and seeing lots of folks around town, as well as returning to Judson for church...where we experienced an amazing welcome home! It was during these few weeks that we re-adjusted to the loudness of our neighborhood in summer (even at 3am as people hung out on our street corner)!

2. AMERICAN SPORTS AND THE BARBECUE: The first week in June we headed out on our first road trip of the summer, to Michigan to see the Krug family. We spent about 5 days enjoying family...the first time all the siblings were together since last summer! Each evening included Trevor grilling some pretty yummy food, followed by some pretty heated badminton games in the backyard!

3. THE MONSOON WEDDING: We then drove south (very far south!) to Sarasota, FL, to spend time with the Goods. We arrived the week before Michelle (Trev's sister) and Garrett's wedding and spent the week helping with wedding preparations. During that week, it rained almost constantly, with a grand total of 15 inches by week's end. Alison was amazed by the fact that the Good's street was under 1/2-1 foot of water!!! The outdoor wedding was moved inside, but was still a beautiful ceremony and reception.

4. BACK TO THE HOOD: We drove back to Chicago and spent a few weeks doing more 'organizing' and house stuff. Our daily schedule seemed to be that we would wake up at 8am, eat breakfast, make a list of things to do, and then spend time doing it! Before we knew it, the day was over and things were (kind of) accomplished. We also started running (unofficially) the Good family bed and breakfast, as we had numerous people staying here from out of town, including a group of 10 from Canada and some good friends.

5. NORTHERN INDIANA FUN: The Good extended had their family reunion in Indiana, with a 'good' time had by all...lots of frisbee throwing, eating, and card playing, not to mention the small water balloon fight Trevor began with the younger cousins... Trev's parents returned to Chicago with us for a few days of fun here. It was great to enjoy some extra time with them as we drove to Elkhart, Indiana for a night. We picked 70 pounds of blueberries at Uncle Maynard's blueberry farm, and Kia (our dog) got some good 'down on the farm' running in.

6. OUR LAST ??? TRIP!: We just returned from our last trip of the year, hopefully! The passing of the mother of our good friend Robin took us to Lubeck, Maine (the furthest eastern point in America!) While in the northeast we were able to see almost all of our northeastern friends and family within the course of 5 days! It worked out really well!

In order to keep you in suspense (and to keep this shorter) we will forgo telling you about our future plans and the FAQs till next time...which will be much sooner than you think!

We love you all! Ali and Trevor