Almost a year gone and so much change.

Well, I suppose I should take this downtime to engage in some reflection as well as chronicle my thoughts to look back on later..

Almost a year since my last entry and I haven't run out of gas since then. I am going to count that as one very epic win. But other things have happened. I graduated from college, I got my first teaching job, I moved out on my own and 1200 miles away, I found and lost love almost instantly, I have made a great many new friends, and I have directed my first successful high school musical, and I have found a whole new appreciation for my family and where I grew up.

Kansas life is very different from life in America's High-Five. Life is a little slower paced, there is a slight southern draw in everyday speech, and the cultural and socioeconomic situations are far from the same. I never really considered Grand Rapids to be a center of industry and commerce but after moving to Garden City I realize how different life would have been growing up in a city that is truthfully built on the farming industry. It's pretty crazy how different the two places are.

Geographically Kansas leaves a great deal to be desired in the aesthetics department. Now its not completely flat as I am sure most think it is, as I thought it was. But the hills roll so gently that even when they are around you don't even notice them. The lack of rolling hills however, does not compare to the lack of rolling waves. The Great Lakes are truly a treasure taken for granted.

My life is so busy now with teaching and all the responsibility that goes along with the title. I am learning to navigate the professional world that I have chosen and have decided that a great deal of the time, the students are much easier to talk to than some of my colleagues. But I am surviving and doing much more bridge building than burning. I seem to be rather well liked and my name is being shouted in the hallways much more often by students and staff greeting me. A good feeling.

Personally, I have discovered how independent I can be. Don't get me wrong I am someone who thrives on large groups of people and love a party full of smiling faces. But I have discovered living alone is something that I can do and do well. I enjoy my quiet evenings and coming home to things exactly as I left them. I do miss roommates and having long discussions with hard laughter, but who is to say that those things won't come back into my life? Overall, I am slowly realizing that I am growing up. While, I am obligated by my inner child to fight this natural progression of mental maturity, I can't help but sort of enjoy developing my adult life and begin what I can only hope will be a long line of successes marked with learning experiences and mild speed bump failures.