Adventure of Ups and Downs

I can not believe I have not blogged in over a month.I am sorry to family and friends that have been actually keeping up on me through this. I kept meaning to blog and something kept coming up. A lot has gone on in the last month with work, the community, home etc. FCX has celebrated Halloween together, gone on retreat, had thanksgiving dinner with the JV's and had our first little party. All of these events had ups and downs of course but have continued to allow us to grow together as a community and we are now closer because of them. Halloween was fun, had trick or treaters come and then went to a party with Eric and his friends. Retreat was amazing. It was relaxing, reflecting and rejoicing with my community members, Bro Jim and Sister Ann. We got to go to Niagara Falls and that was beautiful and fun to sight see. We also got to work out some of the issues that we were having- nothing major but things that were important to talk about. Thanksgiving dinner with the JV's was a hassle to plan because they are not much of planners but once we picked a date and time, it was good. We all took on different roles and had fun cooking, cleaning and organizing all day. After dinner we had them stay for drinks and games, along with a few others such as Kev, Eric and some of my co-workers. It was a great time, smaller then planned because Syracuse got its lovely first snow storm that day but still it was fun. I also need to work on my temper when I drink ha but lessons learned. So like I said it has been a busy month. We have all now got back from home with full stomachs ready to get back to work and we are going to NYC this weekend which I am so excited for.
The last month in work there has been a lot of ups and downs. There was the SU basketball game with the kids, the incident with one kid who had a break down, a little girl who went missing for like 24 hours, and I got moved from the 7&8 year olds to the 5&6. without going in a lot of detail there are plenty of stories if your interested. Overall the issues with communication have definitely improved and I feel like we are a stronger team who can deal with the problems that arise. I still love going to work every day and getting my hugs from my preschoolers. I enjoy my morning rides in with Chris and while I miss my kids, I enjoy the younger group because they do not question me as much.
Life the last month clearly has been hectic. Um, I got wicked sick one weekend and had to stay in bed while the rest of the community went on a wine tour.I then managed to sprain my ankle while attempting to work out with Matty in our basement. I got really home sick and was counting the hours til I left but then was pleasantly surprised when it was time to return. I also have begun to do a lot more about next year and I have decided i am going to apply to grad school for higher ed. I do not know which schools but I am looking through websites every night to see which programs interest me the most. It is great knowing I have decided what i want to go for its now just where and making all the steps to get there.
In all of this I have realized how important prayer is. I am learning to trust God and let him give me the direction I am struggling to find. I realized that while it is important to have a plan, one decision is not going to change my entire life and that there is a plan for me, even if I do not know what it is. So my conclusion? Its been a long month with many different things going on but it has been one that has reminded me how important my faith is. I am gonig to work on living on the present and just enjoying life as it unfolds, lets see how it goes for me "the planner" ha.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. -- Buddha