Goodbyes

I sit with my foot on the metal bar under the patio table, gently rocking my chair. Wine in my hand and wind in my hair - yeah, I'm relaxed. The coolness of the wind gently sweeps over my radiating sunburn, taking the sting away for fleeting seconds here and there. The leaves are moving all around us, and Sophie (the pup) is captivating us all. We break out of our reverie to talk, laugh, and share pictures.

Goodbye is lurking in the background, the darkness we are ignoring. Acknowledging it would break the magic of this last time together. No, let's instead stay in denial and pretend like it's not really going to happen. Let's pretend like it's just another night together as a family.

Eventually Goodbye gets the better of us because it wins. We have to cave and embrace it. We don't have to like it, though, and you can bet that we won't. Sure, it's great to know we'll be seeing where life goes next, what it brings, and we know that we'll be sharing it still, but there's a sadness in this goodbye nonetheless. We know it won't be the same as this again.

But it was good while it lasted.

~"How lucky I am to have known someone whom it was so hard to say goodbye to." [unknown]~

The Last Day

What a day.

There were hugs galore from my kids. My co-op, the kids and their families, and some of the other teachers I've gotten to work closely with these past 6 weeks collaborated on a "teacher starter kit" for me full of stickers, pencils, pens, borders, stamps, notepads, Post-Its (ohh, how I love Post-Its!), and even resource books. I was literally speechless.

One of the bags even had all of the kids' hand prints in the school colors. I love it!

I got the sweetest cards from my kiddos and from my co-op, too. Here's one:

I'll miss them, too.

After school was a whole staff get-together where we sat outside in someone's beautiful backyard, drinking and snacking, and talking about so much. Doug and Delo made it, too. These are some truly fascinating and kind-hearted people, and I've been truly blessed in so many ways to have gotten to work with them and form friendships with them. They told us when we started that it's like a big family here, and they really meant it. This place is so unique that I'm not silly enough to believe I could find another place just like it anywhere else. It's been fantastic.

"Thank you" hardly seems like enough for this all, for all of them. This was exactly where I needed to be and exactly what I needed to do to prepare for next year. I'm excited to carry what I've learned into my own classroom!

Tomorrow's adventure is my first ever Field Day and my last ever day as a student teacher. I'm sure I'll end up with a few stories from that!

~"Encouragement is like oxygen to the soul." [John C. Maxwell]~

Almost There

Tomorrow's it...the last day of actual teaching in my student teaching career.

But my last full day of teaching is already over. Tomorrow will be some teaching and doing some observations.

Where did the semester go?

Begin typical college senior excited/nervous graduation freak out/panic about the short amount of time left as a college kid...

~"Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go." ["Time of Your Life" - Greenday]~

It's Hitting Me

Oh my.

The next time I have to wake up on a Tuesday morning to go and teach, it's going to be in my own classroom.

2 months from now I will be in my very own apartment.

A week and a half until I walk across the stage (praying I don't trip) at graduation.

Less than a week and a half until I see my family again.

Realizations about how real this graduation thing is and what it all entails keep hitting me.

~"With everything I have inside, everything I own, I might be afraid but it's my turn to be brave." ["Brave" - Idina Menzel]~

Movie Monday

Saw this video a while ago and thought it was pretty cool. I think it's remarkable that they got so many people to do it. And a Jesus-praising techno song -- who'd-a thunk it?

A Great [Easter] Song

This song was part of the Easter service this morning at church. What a fantastic Easter song!

The music's great. The lyrics are phenomenal. The video's footage, effects, and text are all delightful. I really hope you'll take a few minutes to watch it.

The service was one of my favorites that I've been here for. They had so many people involved in so many different ways. This church is wonderful about giving people opportunities to use their many gifts, and there are so many very talented people here. They even had a lot of children involved in today's service, which of course is always something I love to see. I'm really going to miss this church!

After church we had a big lunch, a big nap, and one of the other pastors and his family over to swim for a while. Delo made Easter baskets for us and even hid some eggs for us to find -- it was super-sweet! It was a very, very relaxing Easter.

So, dear friends, I'd love to hear about your Easters as well. I hope it was an all-around fantastic day!

~"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." [John 3:16]~

A Day on the Boardwalk

We drove to a town on the Gulf today called Kemah. The weather was gorgeous, there was a beautiful boardwalk to wander around, and this Midwestern girl got to see the waters of the Gulf.

And yes, today's theme song was "Under the Boardwalk" by The Drifters...despite always being on top of the boardwalk as we walked.

It started with a look around.

I still am unsure of the correct punctuation of "ya'll".

Couldn't pass up the swordfish.

This used to be a big port for the shrimping industry before Hurricane Ikewiped most of it out.

We spent a good chunk of time watching the pelicans float along and dive bomb for fish.

How many times in life will I come across the chance to partake in about 2 minutes of a hurricane simulation? The wind in that time thing got up to 80 mph.

All in all, it was a great day. But next time...

...I think I'll remember to bring sunscreen.

~"Girl, put your records on. Tell me your favorite song. Just go ahead let your hair down." ["Put Your Records On" - Corrine Bailey Rae]~

The Aftermath

The skies lay low where You are

On the earth You rest Your feet

Yet the hands that cradle the stars

Are the hands that bled for me

[Chorus]

In a moment of glorious surrender

You were broken for all the world to see

Lifted out of the ashes

I am found in the aftermath

Freedom found in Your scars

In Your grace my life redeemed

For You chose to take the sinner's crown

As You placed Your crown on me

[Chorus]

[Chorus 2]

And in that moment You opened up the heavens

To the broken, the beggar, and the thief

Lifted out of the wreckage

I found hope in the aftermath

And I know that You're with me

Yes, I know that You're with me here

And I know Your love will light the way [x3]

Now all I have I count it all as loss

But to know You, to carry the cross

Knowing I'm found

In the light of the aftermath

["Aftermath" by Hillsong United]

I posted this video a while back after going to this group's concert, and I wanted to post the lyrics tonight for 2 reasons:

1) We sang this in church tonight.

2) This is a song that hits me over and over again.

Its beauty and truth get me every time I hear it.

I am living in the aftermath of my Savior's glorious, selfless, loving surrender. What tragedy that it's all of my failures and mistakes that drove him there, but what wonderful, amazing beauty is held in his willingness to take my place. Such a love I cannot fathom, nor can I fully appreciate it...but as much as my human heart can be thankful for it, let me be thankful.

We are loved by one amazing God.

Quick Quote

"Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing...Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life; gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all of our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation." [-Oswald Chambers]

Sharing the Love

Before I can post about what I really want to tell ya'll about (yeah, I just said that), you need a little back story. Sit down and get comfy, kids.

The church takes a unique approach to Maundy Thursday here. They focus on the institution of a new commandment rather than on the Communion end of the Last Supper. They adopted the mentality that Jesus gave freely and so should we. This year the idea was to go to a new subdivision and pass out Easter baskets containing candy, a card of info on the church services this weekend, a $50 gas card, and a Bible. Each home would get one.

So we met at the church for a short devo and to get 3 baskets and addresses for each car. We also got a little script of what to say when we passed out the baskets (who we're with, what's in the basket, and wishing them a happy Holy week, and explaining why we're doing this).

This was my first outreach project of such a deliberate means. I've never gone on a mission trip or anything. Sure, I've done service work, but this was different. I had no idea what to expect.

House #1: Nobody was home. Chalk that up as anticlimactic.

House #2: A sweet old lady with cancer and a chubby little dog. She was housebound and very insistant that she didn't eat candy and was part of the Methodist church. She was excited when we told her about the gas card and Bible, though.

House #3: We met somebody as they were leaving. She was the nanny, but she was willing to take the basket and was thankful for it.

So then we went up to the house and rang the bell. We waiting. A man came out eating something, and he walked straight through us. He shut us down fast saying he didn't want the basket, and that he was the only one who would open the door at the house. He did not want the basket, and he did not want to hear any of what we had to say. He walked down the street, and we walked to another group from church to hear about their houses. When we walked back to the car, the man was walking by again. He said, "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition."

I was baffled, and a little scared of that guy...and intrigued.

What has happened to this man to make him so brash, so closed off? Was it just a bad day or a bad experience? Does he reject religion? Does he ponder Jesus and faith at all? What hurts does his heart hold?

I looked up the reference. There's a song published in 1942 based on WWII and a story about a chaplain in a plane with soldiers about to jump out and fight, and he said those words to those men to help encourage them.

Maybe this man was being completely sarcastic and condescending (which was my initial thought)...but what if he was reaching out in his own way?

The church is going back out on Saturday morning. I might go back out with them. I'd like to try to talk to him again.

~"Trust and love will lead the way." ["Children of the Light" - Lacrae]

Adulthood

I watch the last kid leave the room and walk to my table in the back of the room. I pick up my coffee mug and work on finishing my first cup of coffee for the day. Who cares if I've been working on it since 7:30?

I look around my classroom, put up one forgotten chair, stack my books up, and look around again. And I smile. I grab my keys and my coffee cup again, and I'm off to a meeting.

Along the way, I realize that this is it. This is the last week and a half of being here. And I'm so excited to graduate, to be done, to have my career, but it is so hard to think of leaving here. It has truly been incredible. This place will always, always be special to me -- another home.

And the meeting and a night with some of the other teachers from school made me really excited for settling in somewhere, setting down roots and making friends, having a new phase in my life.

Those kids in my classroom look up at me and see an adult. And sometimes, in moments like this afternoon held, I see one, too.

~"Doing all the tricky little things it takes to grow up, step by step..." [-Sylvia Plath]~

Family Life Lesson

No matter how many miles are between us, that love will always come through and help us stand together, find strength in each other, encourage one another, and help one another through whatever's going on.

We'll always do what we can however we can, whether it's as big as being at the hospital almost 24/7 as things are going on or as small as providing phone numbers or wake up calls.

And family transcends time. It doesn't matter how long it's been since the last conversation, how out of touch you are with one another's lives, because when it matters, you're there for one another.

One of my nearest and dearest friends -- we call ourselves twins, actually -- was able to do what I couldn't today: be with my family. I share my Pops with her and her brother. Holl went to the hospital to be with my family, and she gave my Papa a hug and a kiss for me when I couldn't. She gave me the full rundown after she left. She was literally my hands, arms, and eyes today. Words can't describe how much that helped and how very grateful I am that she could do that.

My dear friends and family, I hope you know that I couldn't live day to day without you and your love and encouragement. Thank you.

~"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family." [-Anthony Brandt]~

Family: Feeling the Distance Between Us

I love what I do, the teaching, I mean, and I love the things I've gotten to do in college, but my word, sometimes I wish I had done things differently. That I had gone to school nearby. That I still lived around my hometown. That I wasn't so distant from my family.

I've been so lucky to have the family I have, the close knit crazy and wonderful bunch we are. We defy so many typicalities by being us. We're not only family, we're friends. There are times we have to rely on the old adage that blood is thicker than water, of course, but we are pretty good at sticking together.I find strength and peace with them. They are honest even when I don't want to hear it, challenging, and yet hilarious, compassionate, and amazing.

It's so hard to be different, to break that closeness by going off to do my own thing. I get so lonely not being able to share everything with them like I've always been able to do. The worst thing is being away when things happen. I can't be there, physically present. I feel powerless.

My grandpa's having triple bypass surgery tomorrow. Please, please pray for him, for the surgeons, and my fam. Thanks.

I wish I could say I took this photo, but I found it while browsing for a good quote tonight.

~"Family: like branches on a tree, we all grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one." [unknown]~

Special Person ♥

Some girls are a Daddy's girl...I am, big time, but I'm also really a Papa's girl.

I was lucky enough to be raised in a duplex with us on one side, my grandparents on the other. My parents and my grandparents all worked to keep me in line. I really couldn't get away with a single thing with 4 sets of eyes on me, not to mention Pops knows just about everybody in the county we live in AND the next county over...and then some.

My Pops also plays one mean game of Rummy. I always tease him that I'm going to beat him, and he always says, "Yeah, right." And on the rare occasions that I do beat him, he says, "I gotta let you win sometime, otherwise you'll stop playing with me." This man knows me and my competitive nature all too well.

Someday the guy who is crazy/brave enough to want to propose to me is going to have to ask both my dad and my Pops because they are the two main men in my life. Lucky future hubby of mine, eh? I hear once is terrifying enough.

We always tease each other when we talk on the phone. "So, do you miss me yet?" "I didn't even know you were gone." "Sure, sure. I know you miss me more." "Whatever. You miss me more. That's why you called."

~"Grandparents, like heroes, are as necessary to a child's growth as vitamins." [-Joyce Allston]~

A Savored Saturday

Cozied under the covers -- me and my thoughts waking up.

Saturday is No Rush Shower days. The Fully Awake Shower day. (weekdays are for Half Awake and sometimes Quarter Awake Showers.)

Breakfast with the Texas family. I cherish this 2nd to last Saturday breakfast.

Feet in the pool, feeling the cool water which the sun's beginning to warm up. Some of yesterday's sun's warmth is leftover in that water.

Coffee. Grading. Weekly report. IM with a friend and music to keep me company. This is Soundproof Booth (headphones) Kinda Work.

Grading break. Swim suit. Fruit and vegetable snack on the patio. Conversation.

Solo swim because everyone's already been swimming while I graded. The cold water greets my skin and makes me wonder if I'm crazy for jumping in, if I should wait until tomorrow when it's supposed to be warmer. It's a good break, though, and I'd be crazy to pass up swimming in April.

Dinner: a cookout with one of the other pastor's family. Eating on the patio, watching the birds, enjoying conversation. Watching Sophie get cornered by the little girl, getting the "Come save me!" look from the pup.

Drinks on the patio. Chocolate martini is alright in my book, particularly when paired with good conversation and beautiful weather.

Blowing bubbles while the little girl giggles, catches them with her forehead, her feet, her hands, rolling on her back on the ground like Sophie does.

Journal session with God. Emotions released, comfort and peace found.

A movie and grading go hand-in-hand.

a good Saturday

A Good Beginning to the Weekend

Sometimes all a girl needs is a challenge to step out of her comfort zone. And a good night hanging out with some wonderful people to remind her that stepping out of it and making the most of the day is worth it.

It isn't always about talking about what's going on to get through it. Sometimes it's just nice to have distractions to remind yourself there's more going on than what you're focusing on.

There's always beauty to be found. Some days it just takes some extra digging to find it.

~"Even on my weakest days, I get a little bit stronger." ["A Little Bit Stronger" - Sara Evans]~

Reminders and Somedays

I needed this reminder yesterday:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

[Ecclesiastes 3:1-8]

It applies to so much right now.

And I get so frustrated and upset sometimes with some of it. Sometimes I don't want to be silent or refrain from embracing. Sometimes I'm reluctant to uproot.

And sometimes the hardest thing is the silence.

[you get so used to a friendship, cherish it, and then suddenly it's gone...]

This song came on a little bit ago, and I just wish someday could be now for a few things.

Someday all that's crazy
All that's unexplained
Will fall into place
And someday all that's hazy
Through a clouded glass
Will be clear at last
And sometimes we're just waiting
For someday

["Someday" - Nichole Nordeman]

Experience

Sometimes we have plans of productive nights of laundry, grading, making things for tomorrow's lessons...

and then those plans get interrupted by wonderful things --

Wild at Heart holding words I needed to hear, helping me understand some of life's recent happenings.

Tacos on the patio with the Texas fam...lingering there with good weather, good conversations, wonderful pups, and a margarita.

Singing silly songs with Donna, forgetting our adult persona we carry into the classroom every day.

An hour and a half conversation with a dear friend about life. God's work in our lives. Seeing how far we've come as friends and individuals. Sharing joy and excitement about things coming up in the next year of our lives. How beautiful life is.

With the exception of one of my 2nd graders throwing up EVERYwhere today, I'd say it was a good day. (That's a post in and of itself. Just you wait.)

~"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." [-Italian Proverb]~

New Things

Last night at dinner my host family mentioned the new thing they're doing: finding 5 things to be thankful for each day. And it has to be done at the end of the day. And, to be honest, Lisa's lists are very inspiring, too.

Some days we need this more than others.

So here it goes:

1. The hug of a child at the end of the day who had a genuinely great day, who doesn't have many "excellent" days. Sharing his joy. Seeing and relishing the steps forward for one who just needs some extra love.

2. Heart-to-hearts about teaching with my co-op. Reassurance that I needed. Opening my eyes to what I have to learn and acknowledging the time it takes to get there.

3. Comfortable warmth to enjoy on the patio with the music of nature being more alluring than anything on my iPod. Birds flying close. Horses nearby. Companionship from my Bible and prayer journal. Free-flowing words.

4. Being overwhelmed by a thankful and joyful heart at what 5 months brought, taught, and was: wonderful. Peace, tears, and smiles from recollecting so many blessings within that.

5. A new tea to try, something to help with my cough and to bring my voice back. A surprise in the sips: sweetness with an undertone of pfeffernusse (an old memory).

Yeah, today was good.

~"My heart will never be the same, but I'm telling myself I'll be okay. Even on my weakest days, I get a little bit stronger." ["A Little Bit Stronger" - Sara Evans]~

Got Some Time To Kill?

This is incredible.

I'm going to have to look up more of this guy's speeches.

God's Work

Sometimes...

even good and right things break your heart.

we have to be strong enough to do the right thing even though the wrong one seems easier.

tears of sadness find ones of happiness and thanksgiving mixed in to keep them company.

silence is easier than hanging up.

giving in to let God do His work is heartbreaking.

we just have to pray for patience to trust in His plan.

we realize the magnitude of a friendship and trust it to be unfailing.

the best thing we can do is take it one breath, one minute, one hour, one day at a time.

It takes a lot of work to make something beautiful -- like this flower.

A flower is temporary, just like beautiful things can be. We don't forget about the radiance of it after it's gone, though. We use our memories to build hope for the next beautiful flower.

And it comes. It just takes time. Until then, there's hope to cling to.

~"Whenever God is at work, there is a cost. Whenever we are called to follow Jesus, there will be a cross." [N.T. Wright]~

Words, Words.

Words filling me to the brim.

Adding up and contained,

Soon to spill over and out.

Waiting for the right time,

For any time.

They aren't just everyday words.

They are powerful words

Full of emotions, thought, complexities.

I need to start really writing again. Blogging's great, but there are some things that I just can't post about...a time and a place, y'know.

And what's ironic is that I have so much to say, but I literally lost my voice. This could be interesting on Monday!

Week[End] Kickoff

A week of questioning myself - inside the classroom and out- has been challenging, exhausting, but so good. So needed.

I see where I have been and have some ideas of where I want to go next, what I should do.

I set out after school today to enjoy the first weekend in over a month where the only plans are lesson plans, grading, and church. Slowing down and enjoying the quiet.

The three of us here for student teaching went out to dinner together. We came back and sat outside in 75 degree pseudo-summer weather, our feet in the cool water of the pool while we talked away, relaxed away the busy week. It's certainly a good start.

~"And I just want to live my life honestly."["Days Like This" - Kim Taylor]~

The Time's to Come

I can't believe my time in Texas is almost over. It's been great living here. We'll see what I say after it's 91 degrees tomorrow (and it's already feeling SO humid to me, but I think they'd laugh at me if I tried to say that).

And yet...I'm ready to go home. So ready. Back to where I can just be me, where that's completely enough.

I've been thinking of how independent I've had to be this semester, how much I've had to do alone. I'm this weird mix of introvert and extrovert. I need time alone, really desperately need solitude sometimes, but I also just as desperately need anything BUT solitude sometimes. There are times where I just want to BE with somebody even if we don't do anything or talk because it's just comfortable not being alone.

And yet here I am facing so much that I'll have to do alone. So much time I'll have alone. There will be times where I really relish it, but there will be times where I loathe it, too. Phone calls, text messages, and even Skype just don't replace physical presence. They help, sure, but sometimes they hurt more than they help but reminding just how out of reach somebody is.

I'm thankful to be moving to a place where I know a few people, but I know it'll still be hard at times.

I'm looking forward to the long car ride back up to Nebraska, though, from here. I'm thinking about taking a different route on the way home that would take me up toward NW Texas. There's a site I want to see up that-a-way (future post...), and it would allow me to see more of Texas -- seeing as how I haven't really gotten out of Houston at all. It bums me out that I will be going solo, but there's also something oddly right about it.

Like a rite of passage or something.

A time for meditation about what's happened this semester, this school year, and about the adventures in the future.

Time to sort myself out.

Time to sort my life out.

I'm nearly bursting at the seams with things I've been tucking away to think about later, things that I need to ponder uninterruptedly, that involve facing truths and emotions I don't know are there yet.

Because there are some things I need to figure out. Worries that I need to give up. And there are things that need to change. I'm not sure what all that entails yet, but the answers will come in time.

15 hours should be enough, right?

~"It is neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so." [-William Shakespeare]~

Growing Up, Reaching Out

I used to think that growing up meant that you learned how to stand on your own two feet, how to be strong alone, be ready to handle anything and everything that came your way.

Now that I am growing up, I'm finding that it's completely the opposite. Reaching out for help is actually the wise move. Add that to the list of things I wish people wouldn't tiptoe around.

I don't think I'll ever stop trying to do things by myself first before asking for help, though. I'm just too stubborn.

Thank goodness there are people who know me well enough to see through the facade and can see that I need much more support than I let onto. God knows how much I need it -- He's the one listening to me asking for it when I don't feel like it's there.

~"Growing up is never easy. You hold onto the things that were. You wonder what's to come. But that night, I think we knew it was time to let go of what had been, and look ahead to what would be. Other days. New days. Days to come. The thing is, we didn't have to hate each other for getting older. We just had to forgive ourselves...for growing up." [The Wonder Years]~

This song just came on Pandora. It's beautiful. And it's one of those that just fits into the day perfectly.

Some Days...

I get grumpy and discouraged.

seeing what didn't go as planned.

acknowledging time poorly spent.

recognizing how much i have to learn.

I get impatient.

taking extra breaths to calm down in the classroom, to shut out my own shortcomings and to embrace the learning of my students (even about respect and listening)

ready to graduate.

more than ready to be home.

planning around distance that only seems to grow bigger by the days between our visits.

I get nervous.

trying to hold on too tightly to things, even things beyond my control.

seeking reassurance.

trying to fake strength i don't really have.

And then I think about

prayer.

being wrapped up in a hug so warm, so comfortable that it shuts out the world for a while.

little joys tucked away in hidden pockets of the day

someone just being there to say it's gonna be okay. reminding me i'm okay sometimes, too.

remembering tomorrow's a brand new day that i haven't messed anything up in yet.

And I will mess things up tomorrow. It just happens. We don't always have to like the learning process, but we're always going to do it anyway.

~"Don't tell God how big your problems are; tell your problems how big your God is." [-unknown...but thanks to 1 L Shel for sharing it.]~

Home Again

4 airports in 2 days. 3 different flights. Lessons of trust, patience, kindness tucked away within those moments, the ones that reminded me of my adulthood, of knowledge and confidence I've gained -- even though I can't pinpoint where it came from. I can only conclude that I've picked up bits of both along the way. And I had people reminding me of it, too.

Now I'm searching for words to capture this magic that's these emotions that come with returning to a place that I once knew as a temporary home away from home, passing my familiar landmarks along the way that have become friends along the freeway, seeing what will now be my home away from my home town, which will still be a sanctuary to me, a heart-lifting, rejuvenating place, but of a different kind -- the kind that I will go to for visits, that I will relish every moment in, but that I will be glad to leave for my very own sanctuary that I've put together my own way. A place that will be no less special, but that will have to share some of my sense of "home" with another.

The Midwest grew more beautiful while I was gone.

The moment I could see the North Platte again, I knew that I would always, always be a Midwest girl at heart who would always feel her heart swell with love again at being reunited with this home.

~"Where we love is home,/Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts." [-Homesick in Heaven by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.]~

Huge Range of Emotions Here

A day of twists and turns.

Discipline with love, outward forced patience, and inward heartache.

A heart-to-heart with my co-op about the real nitty gritty tough parts of teaching.

A surprise in my flight itinerary and an earlier than expected morning.

Working out the grumpiness by packing to a shared Pandora station.

A reassuring voice: "It's beyond your control." Letting how right he is sink in.

a glimpse of one of the places i call home...nebraska...and my future home city...faces of friends mixed with new ones...all less than 24 hours away.