Sunday, September 20, 2015

Fall Beginnings

Week 4 of school is complete...which means I've been in school twice as long as I was three years ago.  I've definitely found a rhythm--that could use some refining--but it's where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to be doing.  There are days that I have to press myself to keep going on homework; however, keeping the end goal in mind makes it all worth it.  Plus, even those subjects I'm not so fond of (*cough* English Composition) are teaching me a lot of skills I can use in the future.

Online school is working out really well, as long as I'm not suffering technical difficulties with the 'online' part, which happens frequently.  For the most part, though, it's been great.  The flexibility is a huge blessing and since I'm the type of person that likes to get things done and out of the way, I love being able to access the whole week's materials at once and see several weeks in advance so I can work ahead to make room for social activities.  So far, there has been one day every week that I'm gone and don't get much school done, but being able to plan for that is wonderful so I can enjoy the event without stressing out about deadlines.  This week Monday and Tuesday were mostly spent on my laptop and in textbooks, but having a more relaxed end of the week makes the hours of study well worth it.

One to two days a week I make my way over to Wolcott where I work at Freedom Foods.  It's been great to have an outdoor job where I can get dirty, listen to my music as I pick and wash vegetables, and work with amazing people.  Watching the miracle of growth as I plant seeds in flats and see them soon poking through the black soil is another reason to love my job.  Again, I am blessed.

Besides school and work, I've enjoyed some social activities, like going to Chicago for a day to visit Leah and see where she's living.  Over Labor Day a group of us drove to Rockville for an invite and it was the first time I went on a young group trip with my brother.  That was special.  Last weekend Kim, Edie, and I took a spontaneous trip up to Michigan.  This week Leah came home for break and as an early birthday present I took her camping with the horses.  We did it two years ago and had so much fun that I knew it would be a good way to spend break :)  Although it rained and we headed home after one night instead of two, it was a great time.  We stayed drier than the horses and managed to have a wonderful time despite the weather.  In fact, I'd have to say it's been one of my favorite camping trips ever.  Today the young group came over and we pressed around 100 gallons of apple cider.  I can smell it just thinking about it!  A sure sign that summer is on its way out but the bounty of fall is in the air!

Before I share some pictures, I'll refer back to my last blog post when I mentioned all you wonderful readers. If you have your own blog, please send me the link or post it in a comment so I can keep up on your life.  Some of you I already follow but I'm sure many of you have your own blogs and I'd love to hear about the amazing things happening in your lives!

Now, here are a few pictures :) Enjoy!

Evening in the city with Leah!

Reunited with some friends we met on our Haiti trip earlier this year!


Danny had a birthday September 6th and Isaac will soon be 18!

Calvin loves his Aunt Kimmie and swinging.

 Our two-man-no-room-for-any-thing-else tent in Winimac.

Great seat with a great view!


We both did a little bit of studying in the morning. When you're stuck in a tent while it's raining...

Then we had s'mores and doughboys with gravy for breakfast. 'nough said.


Thanks for reading!