Today marks six weeks since I arrived back home in Colorado. And wow, what a crazy six weeks it has been! From the minute I got into the car with Charly in Florida (actually, from at least two weeks before then) until now, it has been non-stop crazy. Not necessarily bad, just overwhelming and stressful.
In any case, we made it. We pulled up to the house just before the sun started to set, and the views have been spectacular ever since.
It's interesting how much more a person will appreciate something after it's been gone for a while. Having lived in Colorado all my life before moving to Florida, I always loved the mountain views and I always knew that Colorado was beautiful. In fact, the whole time I was in Florida, I made sure everyone else knew it too. But after four years away, I now have a whole new appreciation for the beauty of this state. It really is breathtaking. The majestic mountains (the highest hill in Fort Lauderdale is a garbage dump), the changing leaves (they don't do that in Florida), the incredible sunsets and sunrises. Every morning, on my way to work, I get to see these amazing views of the mountains, glowing pink and purple in the early morning. I have to laugh at myself because I am giddy every morning seeing the views. One morning, it had just snowed, and the trees were all perfectly trimmed with sparkling white snow. The sky was a hazy purple-pink, and the haze broke just before the horizon, making the mountains perfectly visible. And as if that wasn't enough, there were deer everywhere. Regal bucks with impressive racks, and does with their new fawns. It was like a Christmas card. And I get to see this every single day. And I should mention that at night, the sky is so clear and dark, the starts glow so bright, and there are at least ten times as many of them visible.
And while the views are enough to make anyone fall in love with this place, none of it compares to the people I have here. This family of mine is awesome. Seriously, I have the best family. Ever.
I'm currently living in my big brother's house with his family, which includes my sister-in-law and nephews. Some of my most favorite people. I moved from an apartment filled with just me and my dog Charly into a house filled with eight people (including me), three dogs (one outdoor, two indoor), and two cats (one in, one out). It's quite a change, yet I couldn't be happier. I realized about a week or two ago that I have never before in my life felt so affirmed that I made exactly the right decisions. I'm really good at making bad decisions and then looking back and saying, well crap, that didn't work out the way I'd hoped. But not this time. This time, it all seems to be working out perfectly. Everything. Perfect. That never happens! But it has.
See, about five days after I arrived, I received a phone call from the principal at an elementary school. I had applied for a first grade position there. He left a message for me to call as soon as I could. I called, figuring that he would want to just quickly set up a time for an interview, but instead, I was in for an impromptu thirty minute interview over the phone. I had to consciously remind myself to breathe. I was so nervous, and my breathing was so shallow. Fortunately, I did well enough to get a second interview, and I went and met with the principal and the other first grade teachers at the school a couple days later. They called me in again the next day to teach a lesson for them to observe. And I was called again to provide additional references and letters. Finally, two days after I was supposed to have heard if I got the job, I was called again to meet for an "informal conversation" with the principal, which actually turned into a ninety minute drill interview. The good news is, after what was easily the longest and most grueling interview of my life, and phone calls to the greatest references on the planet, I landed the job. At a school really close by (nothing is close by to my brother's house!)! I officially started teaching first grade one week ago. Today was the first day of my second week of school.
So, in six weeks, I was quite active. I drove across the country, introduced my dog to at least thirty new people and another dog, got a job, set up my classroom (more on that later), spent some quality time with the nephews, watched pumpkins being launched over a thousand feet, went to the museum of nature and science with the family, I watched Erika run her first half-marathon, tested my still-perfectly-accurate nasal snow prediction skills, taught a full week of first grade and planned another week, sang at church a few times, attended a session of the cooking club I'm in, and survived on very little sleep.
But the reality is, no matter how busy I am, no matter how much I miss Florida sometimes and the people I love there, there really is no place like home. Even though I am overwhelmed and overly busy, I am so happy to be here and so grateful for all the things that have worked out and continue to work out in my favor. I really am well taken care of. And all in the most beautiful place ever. I am seriously a lucky girl.
And, just because I like to push it one step further, and because I really love this picture, here is a baby deer, just outside my classroom window (notice the first grader in the reflection), eating leaves off the snowy ground.
