Life in the wind

There’s always plenty to be said. This, if you think about it, means there is plenty to be written about as well. Though for some reason I have spent the last two years procrastinating logging onto my blog. Instead, I have spent the last two years living in England. It has kept me quite busy, not just in terms of studying for my degree but also in learning about myself. The first year was euphoria – Everything brightly colored, the sights breath taking and the sounds fascinating. Then slowly the reality of day to day living gently crept up on me and I realized that, in my day to day life, I missed my family being a part of that. I had made the naive mistake of not visiting home until 13 months had passed and home-sickness hit me harder than it would have if I’d gone home sooner. Finally, in the beginning of my second year abroad, I went to see my parents. I was relieved to find everything as I’d left it. A part of me feared that with me gone that everything would be gone or different. But the sight of my Dad at his computer, dogs at his feet and of my Mom on the patio, writing her books made me feel whole again. I might be living away from my family but I was still a part of it. And just like the comfort of an old shoe, I fit right in.



Reassured, I returned to the UK to finish my Second Year of study. I’d spent the entirety of my second year studying full time, participating in a Peer Mentoring program for my School and working every weekend and nights as a waitress in the City Centre. I had made another elementary error … in Math. In my earnest desire to borrow as little as possible for my student loans, I had figured in September to May but had left out June, July and August. So I worked to pay for my rent and living expenses over the summer and through the semester. It was difficult, sure…Here I am ten years down the road and a whole lot more experienced and I was waiting tables again like when I was a teenager. But it proved to me that if you want something enough, you do what it takes to make it happen. I wanted to live in England for the full course of my degree and I wanted to get to know the British culture. And, working shoulder to shoulder with the local staff, weekends and nights, I accomplished that. Covered in sauce.



Before I even thought of beginning my third and final year here at the University, I went back home to see my family. I spent a full month with them and am a better person for it. Going back to my roots has allowed for me to begin fresh this summer. I know where I came from, where I am now and have a good idea of where I want to go in the future. Surrounded by distraction it is easy to get lost in the din of everyday life. Phone calls, emails, news articles, interaction can be, if you let it, a 24/7 habit. And I’m no angel when it comes to being ‘’plugged-in.’’ I was actually surprised when a psychic went to read the color of my aura and instead came up with the name of my favorite wireless network. (Kidding, kidding.) But this summer I began by turning off the phone, limiting my access to an hour at night to return emails and visiting properly with the people who have shaped my character: My mother, my father, my little sister and my grandparents. From them I have earned my sense of humor, my ambitions, my hopes for myself and the humility that comes from someone knowing every success, and every failure, and loving you anyway.



So there you have it. There is always plenty to be said. And, with a bit of effort and a moment to reflect, I will start to tell you all about it on here.