Last week, Amy came down to visit for her spring break. I really enjoyed having her here! She got to meet Jera for the first time, and it was love at first sight. :-) Amy helped out with a few projects around the house, like painting the living room. (Yay! Only a few more things left to do, and then I’m going to post some “after” pictures.)

On Tuesday, I took the day off work and we went to Zoo Atlanta to see the baby panda. Mei Lan is six months old and SUCH a cutie! They have the panda exhibit open to members only from 9 to 9:30, so we took advantage of that and I’m glad we did. She was adorable… At one point, she fell off the contraption from where she was sitting, and landed on the soft floor with a plop! She kinda sat there like, How did I get here?

After seeing the panda, Amy and I wandered around the rest of the zoo. It was still quite early (the zoo opens to the public at 9:30), so a lot of the animals were still asleep. We really wanted to see the lemurs and the red panda (Firefox!), but both were asleep the whole time. I remembered last time we went to the zoo, and the lemurs were soo cute, running around and chasing each other. This time they were more interested in sprawling around on the ground being lazy. We enjoyed our day at the zoo, though.

We also did some shopping and got stuff for the living room. I’m really excited about how it’s going to look. :-) I took Amy to REI, which Amy loved. Paul and I are still looking at tents to buy to camp. I think we’ve decided on the one we want; we just need to get it. We also have to get a few more things, and then we’ll be ready!! I think by April it will be warm enough to camp and I’m looking forward to it. I got some books on tent camping in Georgia and the Carolinas, and have been poring over them trying to decide where to go first. Fun stuff. :-)

During the week Amy was here, I also got a really bad cold. At one point I had to stop talking! I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right, it just about killed me to be silent like that. I am all better now, thank God. :-) In Peru, my colds always lasted at least 6 weeks but now that I’ve lived in the States they seem to be much more infrequent and quicker. That’s a relief! A relief for Paul, too, because he can’t understand my finger spelling as fast as I can sign it. :-)

Last Friday, Amy, Paul, and I headed up to the Garrison’s house to meet Adrian. We needed to check him out and make sure he lived up to our standards for Susan, and I’m happy to say he passed with flying colors. (Although I’m not sure it mattered either way whether we passed him or not. :-)) Susan also helped me sew the curtains for the living room, and this evening I went back up to finish them. It’s so nice to have a friend with a sewing machine! I will have to hand sew the hem, but that’s better than sewing two sets of 8 ft. long curtains. :-) (Thank you, Susan!!)

Overall, it was a fun visit with Amy and I’m so glad she came! It’s so much fun being able to spend time with my sister. We are as opposite as night and day, but we can still hang out together and have fun. I think I prefer being friends with my sister instead of enemies! Now, for some pictures:

Jera loves Amy

Mei Lan, the baby panda (with Lun Lun, her mama)

Aww sleepy panda!