Blackout

Recently I had a rather bizarre and somewhat overwhelming few days. It always seems that everything happens at once, good, bad or otherwise. Then there was a blackout. Literally. The area was hit with 20+ mph winds and trees were knocked over and the power was gone. Part of me just wanted to laugh. As a kid I always loved blackouts. Blackouts meant that we lit candles and sat around playing games by flashlight or reading by the windows or just talking. As a pyro-fan just being allowed to run around lighting candles was enough, but the real joy was the whole family being stuck in one room. Unfortunately/fortunately my parents' house has excellent power lines and when everyone else went black we still had light, meaning not many blackouts. When the most recent blackout hit I was at "my" house, and realized I had nothing to do. I didn't even have candles to light. It was 9:30 and my only option was bed. The simplicity of it all just struck me as being so perfect after such craziness. Then I drove down to my parents house and that was when I was hit with the truth. This blackout was a reminder of God's amazing power. I live in a suburb, where any given night I can drive to my parents' house and every house has so many lights on I can see plain as day. Here I was driving, a little freaked by the wind, and there was nothing but darkness all around me. I almost hit a tree that had fallen in the road. Then I crested the hill and saw my parents' street... all lit up by street lights and houses, like nothing was happening. It was home, safe, secure and home. Now, I may be stretching here, but it really struck me that God could wipe out all the power and leave one street on to guide me home. Here I was fretting about decisions I had to make and other things happening, when outside there is a storm raging and then the lights go black except one path. Okay, so it sounds a little more poetic than it really was, and I didn't really get "answers" by going home. Tonight I went outside and there was a light breeze and a moon that was shining so bright it was illuminating the backyard all by itself. So why do I freak out when my God can send a raging wind, or a gentle whisper? Maybe the next time I feel like life is getting to crazy I should just find the fuse box and pull a few switches.... or I could just sit down with my flashlight, my Bible and no other lights.
For now, I'm thinking I need to go back to my favorite verse, Matthew 6:33+34... there's a reason it is carved in my brain, I need to hear it over and over.....

Back to School

Wow... it is that time already! This year back to school means something entirely new. For the first time I will be repeating curriculum!!! (for those who don't know what that means, I'll be teaching stuff I've already taught, so I have materials etc.) Also, I'm heading back to school myself. As always, God is beyond amazing in how things in my life work. As I am taking on new responsibilities at school that I am so excited about, like Student Council and mentoring an awesome senior, I was a little concerned about keeping up with my teaching and other things. Then I threw grad school on top of all of that. God has certainly provided for me, giving me a smaller class, and a good start to my grad class. There have been a lot of things in my life lately that have just shown me that I am where God wants me.
Heading back to school may be stressful and all-consuming for a few weeks, but it also reminds me how much I love my job. I look at this year's senior class and the relationships that I have built with them and I am so excited for them. I think about how much I miss KtB now that she is off at GCC and it reminds me how much God has blessed me in placing me at RTCS. I'm excited for what will happen, and how God will use me this year!!!
I'm probably rambling but I'm pretty tired and amped for the first day of school and exhausted from the soccer game.

Family is Love

Some of you may know that I traditionally spend a week or so up in Webster, NY every summer. This summer, however, I did not go to New York. Instead I met my New York family in the Outer Banks!!! This trip has been in the planning stages for over a year, my cousin Allie and I have been talking about this for a while. It has been 4 years since I went to the beach, and that time I was babysitting. This summer has been hectic. There is a lot of change going on, a lot of craziness and I really needed a week away. I truly was "away" too, no internet! It was pure bliss.
Now, I love my friends (of all ages) and spending time with them is very special to me, but there is just something about being with family that is unbeatable. It isn't perfect (especially when there are 15 of you) but it can be less stressful. We didn't care how we looked, who were we trying to impress. We weren't overly worried about pleasing other people because they are family. We love each other and forgive each other our faults, and then get over it. I spent a week waking up, lounging, going to the beach, lounging, getting cleaned up and eating dinner whenever we managed to get around to it. "Going out" meant we walked to the beach at night. Our big adventures were to the dunes and to get ice cream. We laughed so hard, so often it was hard to stop. My family has a very special place in my heart, and that place got pretty full to bursting this past week.
Sometimes people say they need to "recharge their batteries" but I just got back from "recharging" my heart. It was the perfect end to an amazing summer!! Now I am getting ready to tackle the new school year.
My favorite part is that I have so many pictures that I can look at whenever I need to top off during the draining times of the year. Thank you to everyone who was a part of one of the best summers of my life.

Can you say "WOW!"

This summer has been a bit of a challenge for me so far. It didn't exactly start of spectacularly as some things were falling apart at the end of the school year. Around the beginning of May things finally seemed to start clicking and I was thinking I was starting to find my place and settle in. Of course, that is usually when life flips out of control. Thankfully it wasn't a total chaos all at once, there was good mixed with the bad to "ease the pain" and life just flew by before I realized how crazy it had gotten. Summer started with my being a "mom" again, which was exhausting but fun. The problem I've had is that I have been moving like crazy the past 2 months or so. I really haven't spent more than maybe 8 days in any one location. The whole "settling" process was thrown out the window and about a week ago I was feeling overly exhausted and really starting to wonder what I was doing, and where I was going. Then I went to YXL, as a counselor, and I probably learned as much or more than the kids.
Once again, as I started out on a youth trip, things weren't quite what we had hoped. We got off to a late start and were hoping to really push through fast to get there not too late. Arriving was rushed into the first seminar and I felt like my head was swimming and I had no clue what was going to happen. As things started to fall into place I could see God working in the camp to unite all of the students in an amazing way. I have never seen 85 teenagers spend so much time together and still work toward a common goal that was outside of themselves, mainly helping each other grow in their relationship with Christ. There was a lot of opening up and baring hearts to strangers to help build each other up. I learned a lot that I'd like to share, some fun, some serious, and I'm going out on a limb to bare most with you...

• Adults don't know everything, there is a lot we can learn from watching and talking to teenagers, they have a lot to contribute to our churches
• Cha Cha is a very useful resource
• I can do more than I ever expected, even in a cave, on a mountain hike, playing paintball or digging holes, but my body is getting older and recovery takes a little longer ;)
  
• God will love me, no matter what... I don't have to be perfect, I never will be perfect and I need to come to him as I am
• I need to have "beautiful feet"
• There are quality Christian men out there in the world, and they are training young men to be quality Christian men... there is hope! :)
• There are some amazing young Christian women who have so much to give that they don't even realize... I can't wait to see how God uses them!
• Sometimes detours can be fun... and sometimes God uses them to stimulate conversations hours later... so don't always assume the driver made a mistake
• Certain high school boys should never be allowed to touch my cell phone!!!!
• I have a circle of influence... the question is what kind of influence...
• I need to be better about holding other accountable, and holding myself accountable to others
• GOD IS AWESOME!!!!! and I need to stop forgetting that he has an awesome plan for my life that is a million times better than anything I could plan

After a great trip, things just got a little better... I applied for grad school at Robert Morris University in May... I need to get some credits done or I will lose my teaching certification. I hadn't heard anything for a while and was starting to worry when today I got my mail from yesterday and I was accepted into the program!!! So yeah, it has been a crazy last week... and I'm so pumped and I just wanted to share. :)

Only I... part 2

So I have realized that I have been to more proms since I have graduated college than when I was in high school. Yes, 1 prom in high school, 2 proms since then. The really odd thing (and what really makes this an "Only I" entry) is that for the 2 of 3 proms I took dates to, they were both set-ups. In high school it took one person, my brother, to find me a date. Since then the search party has grown to be a group... literally, a facebook group was created to find me a date for prom. I have also realized that each prom has gotten progressively better than the first. Even this last prom, with being so long, exhausting and everything else, was still a lot of fun and very enjoyable. Truly it was a prom to remember. I'm actually already looking forward to next year's prom, we'll see how many people it takes to find me a date this time... although maybe we could get one a little sooner than the week before.... just a though. ;)

So yeah, there are a lot of weird things that seem to happen in my life... although I know I'm not alone in this, weird things happen to everyone... right?

Only I... part 1

I'm sure everyone has had times in their life where they have said "Only I would...". I find myself saying that a lot. Sometimes my life seems so random and strange that I can't imagine anybody else has ever, or would ever find themselves in the same position. The thing is, I'm glad. When I was in high school I loathed the fact that my life seemed unique. "Only I would have a table full of senior guys serenade me for my 15th birthday." Yes, I said that. It was true, I hated being embarrassed... I still do, but I look back now and think, how many girls would have loved to have been in my place, and I didn't appreciate it. I'm learning to appreciate the randomness, and I'm starting by looking back at the randomness of my past.

So imagine this, an awkward high school sophomore is sitting at a table at lunch. She sits with two friends, all trying to be as invisible as possible because they are stuck at the junior/senior lunch. In the middle of lunch, in front of the whole cafeteria, the adjacent table full of senior guys (some of whom are quite popular and well known) stand up and surround this awkward girl and sing "Happy Birthday" to her, presenting her with a card they had all signed. Yeah, that was my 15th birthday. The guys were my brother's friends. They always sat adjacent to us, sometimes popping over to say hi, other times just ignoring me, occasionally throwing a potato chip at me just to make me turn bright red. I was mortified... they all laughed. Now, although I would still be mortified, I wish I could go back an appreciate the insanity of what had happened. Here I was, pretending I was invisible and being so recognizable.... granted it was only as "Matty's little sister" but still, it could have been worse. Live and learn.

Only I would have to send forms home from college to be signed by my parents because I was still a minor. Yes, I was only 17 for the first 2 months of my college career, which created some interesting situations.

I could go on, but it is getting late.... but stay tuned for part 2... the prom edition (yes, only I would have 2 totally bizarre prom experiences, 8 years apart...)

Feel free to share your bizarre stories... who knows, maybe you aren't the only one... and maybe you are... just remember, it's not always a bad thing to be the only one in a certain situation :)

Moving... Again

So I have changed the title of my blog... again... but I think I like this one more and I'm going to stick with it. :)
For probably the 5th weekend in a row I am packing to move to another house. I have a pretty nice deal, a big house to myself for free, and then a room at my parents' house when I need it. The problem is that I don't have a "home" and I am moving so frequently I feel like I am forever living out of my suitcase. Now, summer is here, and most people assume that is a nice break for me, being a teacher, but it actually tends to get worse because my secondary jobs kick in... dogsitting sends me to various houses, babysitting and vacations. Now, I love vacations, and staying with friends, and even dogsitting isn't too bad, but constantly moving is a pain. I used to love it, feeling like a vagabond and having nothing to tie me down anywhere. I guess my priorities are changing and I'm starting to want commitment in my life. However, for the time being I remain homeless and constantly moving. Just like everything else around me that is constantly changing. Friends coming and going, moving and changing, getting married or moving on with life. Now, the control-freak in me wants to scream, but the "new me" that has learned to let go is anxiously awaiting the next thing. It doesn't mean I won't miss what has changed or gone, but I'm looking ahead. I just wish I was doing this from one location. Oh well... I lose this nice set-up in about a year and we'll see where I end up living then, maybe I'll be "swept away" and land in a palace... or not. :)
Alright, that's it for now, guess I should get back to packing for another weekend "away".