Adjusting.

Whirlwind day: Bible class. Church. Being prayed over during the service. Lots of new names and faces. Settling into a new home. Meeting the principal, assistant principal, EC program director, and a number of other teachers.

Feeling excited/nervous/ready for tomorrow. We'll tour the school and town, get taken to lunch, fill out paperwork, go through the guidelines and expectations, and get keys and IDs.

I keep getting struck over and over that this is it. The real deal. I'm a full-on student teacher. No methods classes, just teaching. And learning. And experiencing.

God's already at work here. I'm blessed beyond what I imagined, and it's only the 2nd day.

~"Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." [-J.R.R. Tolkien]~

Arrival At Last

If I could stop my car, get out, and take a picture (okay, lots of pictures) of every beautiful, inspiring, thought-provoking, funny, or inexplicably attracting object/sign/thing I see when I'm driving, I'd never get anywhere.

But I wish I could do that.

So far Texas is beautiful.

And I have pictures and stories waiting to be shared. But they'll have to wait...unless you go to my secret website. If you don't have the link and want it, let me know. I'll be putting lots of pictures of life around here up on there (mostly for the family's sake).

For now, there are things left to do to get ready for the morning and slept to be had.

It sure feels good to finally be somewhere that's been a year in the making.

~"Let your mind start a journey through a strange, new world. Leave all thoughts of the life you knew before." [-"Music of the Night" from The Phantom of the Opera]~

New State, New Adventures

Moving is hectic, even if it's just for a semester.

Sorry for being MIA for agree days, but I wanted to make the most of the few days in KC with David and his family (and did. It was fanatatic.)

I'm in Dallas now, and I'll be "home" by tomorrow afternoon.

The Texas adventure is officially underway!

~"Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary..."~

And So It Begins.

It is 2:20 in the morning.

And I still have some packing left to do.

I'm going to sleep, finish packing, and then hit the road. On time. Which is anywhere before 8:30.

It snowed earlier. It was just an inch, but it happened to be the beautiful fat, fluffy, and glittery flakes that are mesmerizing. I admired them on the way to my aunts, praising God for their beauty. "Thanks for one last beautiful bit of snow!" I mentally told Him.

Later, as my car was sliding around on the snow and ice covered roads, I thought to myself, "Goodness, it'll be great to be in Texas."

(A few seconds later... )

"Sorry, God. It is still pretty. I'm sure I'll miss it at least a little."

Mission Texas Adventure:

Kansas City today. Spend time with David and his family.

Dallas on Friday. Spend time with Matt and Kelly.

Tomball on Saturday. Meet host family. Settle in. Think about the high of 18 degrees back home while there's a high of 66 degrees in Tomball. :)

~"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." [-Lao Tzu]~

Brain Result(ing) Humor

It's official: I have a brain.

Got the MRI results today. Turned out to be mostly normal except for two small spots. Doc's going to run it by the neurologist and see if it's something that I should get checked out or not and when (leaving for TX means that I would have to find somebody there or wait until I get back in May...which I would rather do so it's in a system I'm familiar with, less nerves, yadda yadda, but we'll see).

I'm not worried. (Although this may fall under the catagory of "things that qualify for legitimate worrying rather than the petty things I choose to worry about instead.")

I'm just relieved there's a brain there after all. Otherwise I'd have to change my name. Goodness knows I've already got the clumsy part down, anyway. ;)

~"I wish my name was Brian because maybe sometimes people would misspell my name and call me Brain. That's like a free compliment and you don't even gotta be smart to notice it." [-Mitch Hedberg]~

Football Fan(atic) Family

I come from a family that loves football. Half of my family (Mom's side) lives in WI and are Packer fans, half (Dad's) is from IL and loves the Bears.

When it comes to football, I'm totally a Daddy's Girl.

Dad's side also has a lot of superstitions that come with the football season. We are very particular about what jerseys or Chicago gear may or may not be worn on game days, what foods we eat, etc. We're serious about keeping them; we're not serious about believing them. It's just a fun tradition we have going on.

I love Bears vs. Packers games the most because of the rivalry in the family. My brother's a Bears fan, too, so it's fun when the two of us get to watch the game with Mom's sides. It's more fun when Da Bears win, but that's obviously not always the case. (Today we lost...10-3. Ouch.)

I think the family togetherness is secretly the true root of my passion for this sport.

~"In life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is: Hit the line hard." [-Theodore Roosevelt]~

ReNew(Year).

Sometimes I can't wrap my head around what is...

engagements and marriages

graduations

student teaching

seeing my cousins grow up

having the joy of watching a nephew grow into this little curious person

friends moving all over the world

How did we get here? It doesn't feel like we should be old enough for this. These concepts were always so abstract...and now they're real. And they're here. Nestling in to stay, even.

I was overwhelmed last night as my aunt, uncle, cousins, a few family friends, and I rang in the New Year. I had to walk away and sit for a few minutes to review what this year is bringing with it:

student teaching. graduation. the end of college life. the beginning of the real world. interviews. my first teaching job. growing relationships. new friendships. moving to who-knows-where. my first place. new opportunities.

And with a deep breath, I got up from the stairs and went to start this landmark year.

'Cause God's got this. May He work through this year. Work in our lives. Shape us and teach us. Lead us. Forgive us. Love us.

Bring it on, 2011.

~"Couldn't wait to get going, but wasn't quite ready to leave." [-"American Honey" by Lady Antebellum]~