Deep Breath...Type.

Wow. This has been a long time coming.

Life lately has been great...hard...challenging...transitional...joy-filled...family-filled...crazy-filled.

I've been processing old experiences, places, people, and memories with an entirely new set of eyes. Sometimes I feel excited, but most times I just feel exhausted. While we were in India I was able to change without really realizing the extent of my changes. Now that I'm home, however, I'm staring the changes right in the face, along with a context to recognize them for what they are.

The problem, though, is that I still don't know how to apply them. We've been living with my parents since we got back, so we still don't have our own space, time, or money. And, while we're transitioning back into American culture, we're also in a new home culture (living with my parents). Chris and I were basically on our own for the last year...now we're never alone. This is definitely factoring in to our ability/inability to process all these changes together.

*Let me clarify - I LOVE living with my parents, and thank God daily for His provision through them.  It would have been SO difficult and stressful to have had to find a place to live right away, not to mention get into the swing of full-adult life during this transition.  But with the many, many positives, there are also a few things that make our situation hard.

We've slowly been contacting the people from our lives pre-India, and it feels so good to be in close contact with people we love again! I've been able to recognize some Truths I now believe that I hadn't before, as well as an increase in general confidence, which is SO exciting!

And...we're both working! I started my job at Roland-Story elementary school two weeks ago, and have loved every minute of it. It's pretty exhausting, but I'm with kids again and am learning new things every day. And the best part - these kids are AWESOME!  While I do like teaching elementary a lot more than I thought I would, it's just not "perfect" for me.  BUT, the schedule is perfect (no mornings/nights/weekends, not much take-home work), and there's very little stress....so who knows!

The Lord answered SO many prayers, and gave Chris a job in the Marshalltown School District working as a computer guy. He really likes his boss, and it seems like the perfect "stepping stone" into the job he wants in the long run (Tech. Director for a school district). It's a long drive (an hour), and he has to work from 7-4:30...so his day is usually around 12 hours. Needless to say, we're both tired, but very thankful for jobs that we love and that will pay the bills!

Other than that, I'm just taking one day at a time. There are some days that I feel crazy, and other days that I feel totally normal. Some days that I feel like I could change the world from Iowa, and other days that I deeply mourn "losing" India for now. Some days that I feel like giggling with my kindergarteners and loving elementary kids is a beautiful purpose, and other days that I scream inside to be doing and experiencing more. So again - just one day at a time. :)

Other random thoughts...

- Our friends Cookie and Dave have moved back to the U.S. after facing a diagnosis of cancer in India. We're SO excited to be able to visit them, but obviously our hearts are heavy as we're thinking about them and the struggles they're going through.

- We've been having some pretty intense family struggles on both sides of the family, which of course intensifies any emotions we're naturally feeling during this transition.

- I get to play with my doggies every day!!!

- I miss my India family. :(

- I've been running! Surprisingly, I've been completely consistent. I think it feels like one of the few stable things in life, and I've been really loving the physical exertion to get my mind off things. This week I'm up to 20 miles...and it'll just keep going!

-One of my good friends Lana got married this last weekend - beautiful, beautiful!

- We're going on a mini-family vacation this weekend to a Twin's game, then wedding dress shopping for Amy and up to my aunt and uncle's cabin in northern Minnesota with some extended family.  Should be a great time of getting away!  And, we get to go to breakfast with the Endo's (a family from Woodstock) on Saturday morning!  YAY!

- We've gotten to go boating with Chris' dad and brother's a family times - SO MUCH FUN!

- My mom makes my lunch every day. :)  And, today she added a napkin with a note on it.  I love you mommy!

Okay, that's about all I can handle for right now.  I'll continue to try and share my thoughts as they are clarified...but no promises on when that's going to happen!  Just taking one day at a time. :)