And She's Back.

Hi all,

I know it's been forever since I've posted, and for that I am sorry! Between end of the semester exams, internet problems, and being HOME for two weeks, I simply had no time to do anything else but sleep. But here I am!

I'm back in action and ready to go... one class down already! Leaving home was not easy... in fact, there were many tears, MANY tears, but I knew that once I returned to Houston, I'd be okay. I didn't want to leave my home, and after having spent so much time in Philadelphia, I didn't really want to come back to Houston, but alas, here I am.

It was so wonderful to see my housemates again last night, even if I wasn't completely thrilled about my geographic location. We were immediately laughing (and eating) again, and all was well. I am still missing one of my checked bags (PLEASE say a prayer that it gets to me- all of my favorite clothes are in it), but other than that, I had a relatively smooth transition once I hit the ground in Texas.

My 5:30 AM alarm was simply rude this morning, but after I realized that it was in fact an alarm that meant I had to wake up and not some silly mistake, I wasn't too grumpy. I'm tired but happy to be back at school. I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't miss my kids- they bring me so much joy! I'm slowly settling into my routine again, and I'm happy about it. Once my sleep cycle gets reset and everything gets flowing as regular again, I'll be back to my happy self!

A cup of tea in my new LaSalle coffee cup (thanks Leenie!) helped me to begin my day, and helping a new teacher get settled in to his classroom was a good distraction from the fact that it was so very dark out when I arrived at school. When I arrived home last night, after a DELICIOUS dinner involving authentic tacos cooked by Eva; Cassie, Rachel and I watched the season premiere of Downton Abbey! It was simply lovely to see our favorite characters back in action, and we of course enjoyed a lovely cup of tea alongside the Crawley family.

I think part of what made leaving so hard was that for once in my adult life, everything and everyone that I really loved was in one place, except for me! My family, friends, and boyfriend are all in the same city- not to mention that the city is Philadelphia. It seemed odd to be leaving it, but I know that I'm in Houston for a good reason- to do God's work with these awesome kids.

I won't launch into a full description of Christmas Break, because I could be writing that post until 2014, but here are some highlights:

-Tom surprising me at the airport
-Christmas Eve Mass in our home
-SNOW on Christmas Eve!!
-Christmas Day
-visiting the Philadelphia JV house
-lots of food with my ND ladies
-New Year's Eve with family and PC friends
-visiting Cristo Rey Philadelphia
-sleeping
-eating meat (though I now feel the need to detox)
-taking a cooking class with my mom
-breakfasts in the city
-visiting family from Dallas
-knitting
-sleeping
-wawa
-sleeping


Great things are on their way... so sorry for the disorganized post... there will be many more structured ones to follow!