We were always planning to come home for Christmas, so we were only waiting for Meadows to get his Round 1 2017 assignment. In mid-November, we got the email: we were headed to Myanmar after the holidays. By December, all of our flights were booked; we would fly home and visit with both of our families for Christmas, stay for New Years Eve, fly to Hong Kong for a long weekend in January and then head to Myanmar in time for Meadows to start work.

Let me remind you that life can change on a dime (and especially in Meadows’ role!). Coke has always warned us that schedules can shift, but we never saw it firsthand …until December 7. Just days after finalizing our flight plans, Meadows got the email that the Myanmar project needed to be rescheduled. As a result, we would be reassigned to Atlanta for those six weeks.

Meadows was thrilled from the get-go, but I ran the gamut of emotions for about a week. It felt very unusual to go from living this international life to living in an Atlanta hotel a mile from our old house and ubering around our old city (since we sold our cars)! I couldn’t help but be elated though, as I remembered the fun routines we would fall back into with our friends. Needless to say, it was an interesting time in the Carpenter hotel room 🙂

On December 16 (after an unforgettable week in Rome), Meadows and I boarded a plane back to the USA with news of an extended stay! We landed on Friday for a long weekend in Atlanta, which kicked off with Meadows’ birthday dinner with his mom (and surprise guests, Ingram and Kyle). He was so shocked to see them, and it was great to have family in town for his birthday party Saturday night!

Especially when we’re back in ATL so infrequently, a birthday party for the MedMan was an absolutely must. In true third grader fashion, we opted for burgers and bowling (but added booze for a little adult fun!). Obviously, we had a cookie cake. Check out the pics – it was such a blast!!

 

The next night I got to “cohost” Lizzie’s and my annual cookie swap! I put cohost in quotation marks because I emailed the invitations, and Lizzie did the real work of hosting.   The cookie swap stands as one of my favorite Christmas traditions, so getting to attend was the best!!

From Atlanta, we flew to South Carolina to hang with Meadows’ side of the family. We caught some beautiful sunsets and saw tons of Carpenters! Plus, we got our annual Christmas morning Waffle House.

Our time in Lexington was so great, too! I got lots of QT with my nephews (we made a gingerbread train!), and my grandmother hosted an amazing party for all of the Cowgills.

For New Years Eve, we went to our friend Reza’s wedding in Louisville. Even with a stomach bug, I had the best time!

 

We rode back to Atlanta with our besties and settled into the Westin Buckhead, our new home! Between a six-week project in Atlanta and Meadows’ annual two-week departmental conference, we had a full two months back in the A.

Bummed that our Hong Kong trip was canceled, we booked a long weekend in Naples instead! Meadows and I went early and hit the beach for a couple of days, including a sunset at our favorite spot.

 

Rebecca and Ben joined us for the weekend, and we celebrated her birthday! Despite a bit of rain (and a risky encounter with a black cat), we went to the beach when it was nice, ate at our favorite restaurants and made it an awesome weekend.

Throughout the course of the next six weeks, we took trips and saw friends that we couldn’t have if we weren’t based back in Atlanta. I got to go on Mary’s bachelorette party in Austin and attend her bridal shower in Atlanta!

I should mention that we were very firmly in Atlanta to watch the Super Bowl… ugh.

Meadows and I took a road trip to Nashville for an epic weekend with our Vandy friends.

I flew back to Naples during the week for some quality time with Mom and Dad. A getaway during the winter is always welcome, but time with them is the best. We dined, drank and even went to see La La Land!

From Naples, I met Meadows at the airport and we flew to DC for another fabulous weekend. After a very civilized dinner, my friends introduced me to Milk Bar (I’m still dreaming of those birthday cake balls!). And on Saturday, we went for an intense round of bowling.

Meadows’ project also involved a trip to Mexico City. For a week, we stayed at the W Mexico City and ate as much Mexican food as we possibly could. The team hosted us at a dinner where we tried ant larvae …and liked it!

From Mexico, Meadows flew to Vail for his “gentleman ski club” weekend with his fraternity brothers. I jetsetted to New York for a girls weekend with Carter and sweet Nell. I don’t have photos from MedMan’s boy trip, but I think we had more fun on the east coast 🙂

When we got back to Atlanta, Coke’s departmental conference dominated Meadows’ schedule. Capitalizing on my last bit of freedom, I booked another flight to Naples to piggyback on Bo and Brad’s beach vacation to see my parents. I always leave family (and the beach) wishing we had more time together.

 

I returned to Atlanta to cohost Melody’s baby shower! Sadly, it was the last time I saw many of my girlfriends, as we flew to India just days later.

If you can’t tell, Meadows’ reassignment was an absolute blessing. The happy hours, dinners, trips and non-wifi phone calls from those two months sustained us through our subsequent travels. I have to thank our friends and family; y’all make us feel as if we’ve never left every single time we pop back home! Meadows picks up on his football Sundays and guys-only happy hours, and I fell right back into Monday night Bachelor-watching and weekly Zoe’s/Maki dinners.

We wrapped up our days in Atlanta by celebrating at Coke’s end of conference party. This year’s theme was heroes and villains, so Meadows and I dressed up as Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar. Because of McDonald’s strict licensing, I had to make these costumes myself. It was that much sweeter when we won the contest for most creative costume!!

The part I haven’t mentioned is that I got insanely sick our last week in Atlanta. I spent most of my days in bed, working on our costumes and coughing like crazy. In over a year of living abroad, flying each week and living in hotels, I have never been sick like this. I had a fever, aches, sore throat and a cough; we thought it might be the flu, so I went to the doctor. It wasn’t the flu, and I got on medicine; but nothing seemed to work!

On Saturday evening, we boarded the first flight of our 20-hour, 3-legged flight plan to New Delhi. Sick and sad make for a bad combination, especially when flying halfway around the world!