The Blur of December/January!

Happy 2017!  Can I still say "Happy 2017" when January is almost over?  Hmmm, not sure! The past six weeks have been a total blur of:

• The joy and excitement of the holidays! 
• The frenzy of being home in Texas!
• The readjustment of life in Hungary as I begin my second semester! 

I was so grateful to come home for the holidays. God blessed me so abundantly with time to share with family and friends.  I went to the grocery store and didn't feel stressed out even once! I was able to worship at both of my church homes.  I cried SO many grateful tears at FPCK on Christmas Eve. My friends at Grace set up a gatherings for me to catch up with people and spend time together.   I soaked in being surrounded by English and signs/text that I could read.  I ate breakfast tacos as often as possible!  It was glorious!

But being home was more challenging that I was expecting because I took a real Clark W. Griswold approach to it. (Not wise...have I learned nothing from that movie?)  I was going to see eat all the food! Watch all the Christmas movies! Sing all the songs in the car! (I miss singing in the car so much, since, you know, I don't have a car here)!  See all the people! Complete all the puzzles! Read all the books!  Drive around and see all the lights!

About two-thirds of the way through my time in Texas, I found myself:

• really sick with a sinus infection 
• really stressed about the fact that I could not do all the things! 
• feeling like I was letting people down because I didn't get to spend more time with them (no one said this or made me feel bad. I do this to myself!)   
• feeling like I never actually got any rest

It was a good learning experience for the next time I come home and how I need check my Griswold-level expectations and set some reasonable boundaries!  As God would have it, my flight back to Hungary got completely cancelled and could only be re-booked the next day in the evening.  I ended up with an extra day and a half to SLEEP and just enjoy being home.  Thank you God for knowing what I needed!

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Here are some pictures to capture some of my favorite moments of being in Texas! 

Of course, my family greeted me at the airport 

with balloons and a sign because what else? 

Note: My sister, niece and I did not plan to wear the same shirt! 

 I love when little coincidences like that happen! 

Enjoying multiple trips to the new H-E-B in Kingwood!  It was such a happy time!  Non-Texans, this is the grocery store of my heart.  There will never be another that compares! 

Seeing my dear friend Alexis and meeting her beautiful daughter for the first time! 

My sister and celebrating our yearly tradition of making oyster crackers! We listened to the "In the Heights" soundtrack and danced around the kitchen the whole time, it was fantastic! 

My one nephew and five nieces together for Christmas for the first time ever! My heart could just burst! 

Little everyday moments during the week, like my sister reading to the quadruplets (the quads are the triplets plus their cousin Sarah who is close in age).  :)  

Note: These girls run around in costumes and dress-up clothes pretty much all the time.  It is the cutest thing! 

Houston Zoo Lights with nearly 20 of us!  

It was so many kids that....

Every grown-up buddied up with a kid to keep an eye on!  

Mine was Katelyn. :) 

We also enjoyed time up at my sister and brother-in-law's land. 

 The kids had the best time on the tractor rides! 

This picture is blurry but it captured a moment I wanted to remember. One night between Christmas and New Year's, my dad and I were just relaxing at home, watching Sister Act 2 on tv (how can you not stop what you are doing and watch it when it comes on?)  I was eating Blue Bell ice cream out of my new mug that my dear friend Emily gave me for Christmas. It was so nice to sit down, enjoy our Christmas tree, watch a movie I have seen a thousand times and just soak in being home. 

The best way to end my time in Texas was celebrating the wedding of my baby cousin Maggie and her now-husband Chaz! 

Such a joyful celebration!  

The sweetest dad in the world! 

An assortment of cousins and siblings! 

Me and the beautiful bride!  

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I am so very thankful for the time I had in Texas.  Making it to this (almost) mid-way point of the school year felt like a huge accomplishment.  Adjusting to life here again has been interesting. Teaching my kids each day is a joy - an exhausting joy, but still.  I love being a classroom teacher and feel energized by a planning a new semester.  I am honored to serve at my amazing school with such an incredible faculty and staff. But the pace of daily life here is so different.  There are so many things about living here that I enjoy and so many things that I don't (just being honest).  The fact that it is the dead of winter does not help....I am praying through it all and God is meeting me right where I am! Thankful for His word and that I can come to Him with every need.  

The number of wool socks I own at this point is astounding! 

My first-ever experience shoveling snow!  

(Before this, I have lived my entire life less than a hundred miles from the Gulf of Mexico.  What on earth am I doing with snow shovel in my hands?!?!?!)

Blue Bell ice cream has been replaced with hot tea! 

This is right when I arrived in my classroom the other day.  I am accepting my new reality, that I look like a snowman every single day of my life.   (Snowwoman?) 

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Thanks for reading about the blur that was my December/January season!  I am so very grateful for the support of all of my friends and family.  I feel the strength of your prayers so keep them coming!  I love y'all!