Sweet Sweet Summer: Goodbye Korea (& a nutshell summary of what's next and how I'm feeling)

Someday I might get back to blogging on a regular basis again.

Cause I enjoy writing.

Lately, though, I haven't wanted to fight through the writer's block or process emotions or dig into all the thoughts about all the things. During the school year, I didn't have time, and now that it's summer, I just don't want to. It takes effort. It takes emotional bandwidth.

I'd much rather sit on the roof in the sunshine with a good book and not deal with things. So that is exactly what I did for several weeks. It was glorious.

This summer has been, in a word, perfect.

The school year ended in June, the hardest school year of my teaching career, and I hopped a plane for Texas for 2 weeks. Going home is weird, especially after you've been an expat for a long time. You've changed, and the people you always did everything with have changed, and sometimes you feel like you just don't fit anymore. It takes some adjusting. It's harder than a lot of people think, but it's worth it. Each trip is a little different; for me it usually takes a week to get used to being around people all the time again, especially if there's a huge holiday involved and there are several families under one roof for an extended amount of time, and then things settle down into a sweet routine. This trip had its hard moments, but overall it was good, and I'm glad I got to see everyone before my next adventure starts!

Speaking of next adventure, I'm leaving Korea on Monday.

Gasp! Or you already knew that?

Most people know by now, but in case you missed it, here is the nutshell recap of how it all panned out:
I started to feel like my time was up last fall and I prayed and fasted into the decision. Over the next several months, I argued with God, made pros and cons lists for 3 different life directions, and finally decided to follow a plan to move to the UAE for the next season of my life! I've got a 2 year contract at an international school to teach middle school language arts in Ras Al Khaima, about 45 minutes east of Dubai.

Everyone keeps asking me how I'm feeling, and honestly I'm running out of the emotional bandwidth to answer every single person.

The easy answer is YAY SO EXCITED EVERYTHING IS AWESOME.
Another easy answer is OH MAN IT'S SO BITTERSWEET CAUSE I LOVE KOREA AND ALL OF YOU PEOPLE IN MY LIFE.
Of course, the true answer is somewhere in the middle.

On any given day I feel every single emotion. It's like going through the stages of grief (except anger, I never felt that one), cause I am grieving leaving Korea. Denial, bargaining, depression, and acceptance all made their appearance in one form or another over the past few months.
But there's also this crazy unknown to look forward to! I remember when I first moved to Korea: no idea what anything would be like, where I would live, what teaching would look like overseas, who I would meet, who I would become. So I've got all of those emotions again, with a little more maturity and experience to temper them.
I'm very hopeful, very expectant that it will be great. I've done this moving-off-into-the-unknown thing before and I know it won't be easy or super fun all the time. Culture shock is real. I'm moving to another new culture, another new city where I don't really know anyone, but this time I have friends in the country (about an hour away), I've already visited the UAE (and loved it) so there's a vague idea of what to expect, and I've done a whoooooole lot more research to get ready.

And now it's happening.

It's so bizarre. I fly out on Monday. My suitcases are packed, my boxes have been shipped, I've sold almost all my stuff. I have my arrival visa, and my residency visa will be processed around 8/14, depending on my last documents (which are being processed in Washington D.C. now). I've said lots of goodbyes, had a going away party, and cried a little.

And then earlier this week, haha, I was packing up a few things with a classic country playlist on in the background and then suddenly I found myself sobbing on the floor of my living room while watching this 1993 Garth Brooks music video...

The video tells a story about a teenage boy with Downs Syndrome who goes out for his high school track team, with his supportive mom, his apprehensive dad, and the disapproving coach. OH MY GOSH I was a puddle of unreasonable tears by the end. 

...it seems that the leaving emotions compounded on a really sappy narrative, cause the tears were a little excessive. 

And then I watched it 4 more times. And laughed at Garth's shoulder moves and eyebrows -- oh, Garth, this video gives new meaning to "the smolder."  

ANYWAY!

That's how I'm feeling in a nutshell.

A note here: if you know someone who is leaving soon and you're not super close to the person leaving, please give them grace. Now that I'm one of the ones leaving, I wonder how well I did that? Basically, it's hard to leave after so long, and answering the same emotionally-draining questions person after person after person just wears on you. If you are close to them, let them process organically, and respect their silence if they just don't feel like talking. Some people are internal processors and some are external, but even external processors get tired of it. You can ask how they're doing, and it's good to ask, but maybe frame the question like: "Hey, I know everyone's probably asking you the same things, so you don't have to answer. I want you to know I care about you and I want to know how you're doing, but if you're drained, we can just watch stupid tv shows and not talk." Some of my favourite goodbye moments have been the normal afternoons on a friend's couch watching Galavant, An Idiot Abroad, or a constant stream of youtube videos. Just make sure they're not country music videos from the early 90's. 



So that's basically it!

I've spent July packing, selling, saying good goodbyes, relaxing, cooking, reading, binge watching Galavant (and if you've not watched it yet go to iTunes now and buy season 1, you can thank me later) and Father Brown. I've taken a couple of daytrips around Korea. I've enjoyed cool mornings on my roof and evenings walk/jog/run/hiking around my neighborhood. I even took my bike down to the river one day and then realized that a bike ride at 12 noon in 95 degree weather with 80% humidity might not have been the best idea, especially when the ride home is 100% uphill. I've been trying to soak up as much goodness from this season as I can, squeezing as much life and love out of my friends as possible. I'm even enjoying the Korean summer rainy season, because I won't see much rain in the next couple of years. I've been very intentional about resting this summer and it has been, as I said earlier, perfect. Absolutely perfect.

And now I leave in 4 days.

So... bring me that horizon. 

Seasons may change but God never does: Part 2

 "Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different..." - C.S. Lewis 


Seasons are designed to change, but God never does.

As I mentioned in the first post (and if you haven't read it, start here, it's short), I was in a tough growing season for a while. Sharp grow spurts aren't easy, nor are they always fun (though they can be!!), but the benefits far outweigh the pain. I have seen a lot of changes in my life in various areas. It's really neat to look back at the differences from even just a few months ago. God has been working on me, convicting me and challenging me a lot, especially about being satisfied with what I've been given rather than discouraged because of what I don't have.

I've spoken to a number of people who are going through different seasons in their lives about the tension in seasons, the waiting, the changes, the ups, the downs, etc. and I've learned quite a bit.

Personally, my most recent growth spurt started like this:

Living overseas can be lonely. Being single can be lonely. I miss my family, I miss my home country. I love this life, I really do or I wouldn't stay so many years! My expat community is fantastic, it's true. We have a lot of love for each other and form a psuedo-family by necessity. I'm not sure how long this overseas season of my life will last. For now, I don't see an end in sight. Being an expat is exciting, but it's a trade-off. When I'm here, I'm not there. That being said... I occasionally get caught in the comparison game, like many people do. Most of the time I know that's ridiculous. Harboring feelings of resentment just because someone else's life looks different from mine? That's jealousy, and it's dumb, cause helloooo my own life is pretty darn nifty as it is! Jesus is doing some great things here and WHY should I be unsatisfied? Comparison does no one a service. Why would I want to diminish the goodness of what God's doing in my life in this season because a different season (or the next great adventure) seems* full of so much new excitement and wonder?

*"seems" can be so deceiving. 

---

A while back, I was talking to a good friend who's in the "married & motherhood season of life" about this. She expressed surprise that I sometimes get discouraged or lonely, because "it seems like I have such an enviable life," because what she sees on facebook is all ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE! But then she came to the conclusion that it's not all that surprising after all. She mentioned that I'm "free and able to travel and experience new things," while she's the "wife/mom/church volunteer/part time worker bee/typical American MOM" and that we often get caught up in a grass is greener on the other side mentality. We're human. It's what we do.

Now, I've noticed a trend on the internet: we are all getting sick of the comparison game. We see each other's best moments highlighted on facebook, blogs, instagram, wherever, and we bemoan the fact that our lives don't look so perfect. I think I've read a dozen similar posts about this ridiculous comparison thing where we "should" ourselves into feeling bad (this one is by far my favorite)(this one's really really good too).

Along those lines, I took a break from facebook for a few weeks in November... facebook had become a negative thing in my life, colluding on feelings of loneliness and isolation. I was struggling with feeling satisfied with this season because I was coveting others' seasons. (Notice I said "feeling satisfied," rather than "being satisfied." Oh, all these feeeeeelings! Sometimes I am 100% sure that feelings are dumb. Feelings are such liars sometimes!)

In the fall, I found myself in a rut of bitterness, discontentment, and discouragement and I desperately needed something to change.

When my married-mom-worker-bee friend said that it seems like I have "such an enviable life," in a way she's right. I mean, there's a reason I moved overseas. The draw of the expat life: the unknown, the newness, the challenges, the adventure. As an expat, it's true that I have a chance to do crazy stuff that many people at home can't (or don't) do, BUT why must we compare? Not to mention, more of my time is spent doing non-expat-life things, anyway. Work, bills, groceries, coffee, friends, church. Normal, everyday tasks. I just happen to live overseas while I do them. (Not to mention, most people don't post pictures of doing laundry or (cough, *not*) cleaning their apartment. We'd much rather post pictures of the exciting things, which don't happen all the time. The little things that make up life here are much the same as little things that make up life at home. We only post the highlight reel.) 

My cousin and I also talked about it. She's working on her PhD in Psychology, so she knows her business. She mentioned that comparison is such a natural human tendency and it's much harder to internalize praise than it is to internalize negative criticism, "whether it comes from ourselves or others." I think that many of us internalize criticisms that are founded in comparison. We look at the lives around us, on facebook, wherever, and we scold ourselves for not being as _______ as that person over there.

--- 

Now. Why should I give my time and attention to feelings of inadequacy? I don't want anything to receive more time and attention than my relationship with God - not even good things and certainly not negative things. Isn't comparison just a way we indirectly complain about our circumstances? Ben Stuart (director of Breakaway Ministries) says it this way: complaining about circumstances dishonors God, just like complaining about food dishonors a cook. Why should I give my time and attention to comparison and bitterness?? Don't I trust God? Don't I believe that He has something better for me than that?

And with that, I took a 21 day facebook-hiatus [back in November] to break the habit, to break the idol.

It was awesome.

 

As the seasons shifted, autumn to winter, I asked myself some tough questions, then I took an account of all that God has done. That process helps me release bitterness and focus on joy. I think it's good to periodically evaluate the seasons you've been traveling through. Spiritual exercise takes discipline.

---

Going off the grid helped a lot, freeing up a lot of time to be productive in other areas, even though it freaked my family out that I was suddenly missing!! The morning after I disabled my account, I woke up to, like, 7 missed calls and texts wondering where I went. It's good to know you're missed! **BIG realization there about how TRUE this is.** While my family loves that fb is an easy way to keep up with my comings-and-goings, I don't always realize that they're paying attention. When you're fb stalked, you don't receive the benefits of two-way communication, the community. Facebook has a way of taking the exchange out of relationships, lending to consumerism instead of connections. A short hiatus reminded me, and them, how we have to be careful about facebook lurking. It reminded us how important it is to interact and let people know you're thinking of them. It's good to know you are loved!

Relevant says it this way: "In reality, community isn’t always supposed to be comfortable. Real community is messy. Real community is unedited. Real community involves taking time to actually be with people, even if that means finding time by making sacrifices. It means investing emotion into someone else’s life—even if you get nothing in return. It means getting hurt and getting involved. It means taking the filters off and embracing the parts of your friends’ lives that haven’t been cropped out of a picture or have gone unmentioned in a status update."

I had been feeling very lonely and isolated, which was weird cause my family, friends, etc, were actually paying a attention to me, loving on me from afar, I just didn't know it. Going off the grid helped shift the way we interact on social media, and I believe helped us reevaluate what is important. We've gotten much better at this!

---

Anyway.

While I was off the social media grid, God kept sending me reminders that he IS there, he HAS a plan, he KNOWS what he's doing, and he DOESN'T make mistakes.

And while the seasons outside my window changed, I contemplated the similarities to seasons of life. 

I spent much more of my time digging into the Bible. It was an incredibly fruitful transition!! Jesus keeps growing me and maturing me in ways that I wouldn't expect and I. LOVE. THAT. I love looking back at the Zara who was and realizing that I'm not really her now. It's especially fun as a blogger because I can re-read old blog posts and laugh at myself. I am still me, of course. I am still Zara. It's just... It's like a tree...

I'm like a tree. 

A tree is always a tree but it looks so different in every season! For example, take the cherry trees that grow along my street. In the spring, they're bare at first, but slowly they grow light pinkish-white blossoms that float down like floral snow as the weeks go by. As the blossoms fade, their fresh green leaves bud and fill the branches. Through the summer, they're bright and clean, green and shady. In the fall, the leaves catch fire and astonish me with their vivid oranges, reds, golds, and faded brown beauty. As the winter approaches, their leaves drift away down the street to be replaced by snow and icicles or simple bare branches. The next spring, the changes continue but the tree has grown an entire year. It's not the same tree that saw the last spring, yet it is still the very same tree.

I didn't take a picture in the spring last year, but here's the general idea that I'm going for: 

Same street. Same trees. Same hills. Same hospital building in the distance. Same sky.

All seasons are a trade-off. Some seasons look prettier than others. 

For each season, you gain something. For each season, you miss something.

In nature,
seasons of planting.
seasons of growth.
seasons of harvest.
seasons of plenty.  seasons of want.

In humanity,

seasons of boredom.

seasons of adventure followed by seasons of frustration. 

seasons of Sabbath rest. 

seasons that are much more hectic than I think I can handle. 

seasons of waiting. 
seasons of life overseas. 
seasons of study, 
of travel. 

seasons of bitterness.

seasons of security. 

seasons of this career. 

seasons of that career. 

seasons of the next thing to come.

Have you considered that God designed seasons? They were His idea. God approves of the tension they bring. It's all part of the plan. I think it's important to remember the reality of seasons: love them or hate them, they're going to change.

Seasons are designed to change, but God never does.

(take comfort in that.)

"For I am the LORD, I do not change," 

     Malachi 3:6a

"Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

James 1:16-17

"Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever." 

     Hebrews 13:8

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." 

Psalm 90:1-2

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not

As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Sometimes I look at my life in wonder or confusion and I ask, "Jesus, what on earth are you doing?" Even so, I have faith that the God who loves me beyond reason has the best possible plan in store! Lord, where would I go but for you? I do trust you. You know what you're doing. I will continue resting in His providence, growing, looking different and yet the same from season to season, year to year. 

It was definitely a good season, even if it was a hard season, and now it's time for the next season. Through it all, God is so good. 

Seasons may change but God never does: Part 1

This year, more than any other, I've fallen in love with seasons. For all the positive things about my homeland, Texas isn't really renowned for its seasonal variety, so all this *seasons stuff* is very new to me.

Spring in South Korea is stunningly gorgeous. As April arrives, so do the cherry blossoms. Love them. It's like pink snow in the trees. After the cherry blossoms drift from the trees in cascades of floral delight, the azaleas bloom, lighting up the streets around Jeonju with bright pink and magenta joy. After the azaleas, the roses. THE ROSES. Gardens of them, just begging to be admired. I tell you, spring is lovely.

Summer has long been my favorite season, with its beach vacations and sweltering temps, trips to the river and never-ending sunshine (and freckles! and sunburns...). I'll take 100 degrees (~38*C) and be happy, so long as I can jump in the water. I love some summa-time.

Autumn stunned me this year, as I've mentioned. The trees turned to flame with color like I'd never experienced. I couldn't help myself; I smiled every time I turned the corner and found another view of gold and orange and red and brown.

And finally: Winter, here we are again, nearing its last days. Thanksgiving dawned bright and white with the first fresh blanket of snow. This past weekend in Seoul, it snowed quite a bit. Snow perfectly delights me, much to my surprise. When I moved to this country with it's famed "seasons," I didn't think I would like this last one at all. Snow won me over. And the cold? Well, I don't hate it as much as I used to. Back in December, I actually uttered the phrase "Nah, it's not that cold tonight. I'll walk home." -- Y'ALL. It was 48 degrees out. Am I still from Texas??? 'Not that cold??' Am I ...*gasp*... acclimating!? It helps that I bought a new, beautiful, maroon parka this winter. So fluffy and warm! Dressing in relation to the weather makes a huge difference. Huge.

What I love most about seasons is that as one season draws to a close, a new one is ushered in. As the winter cold or summer heat take their toll, the spring or autumn brings relief and transformation in due time. Often before I'm quite finished enjoying and admiring one (or maybe when the last has taken long enough), the next season is ready to go with new sights and smells for me to admire and enjoy.

For all the positive things about my homeland, Texas isn't really renowned for its seasonal variety, so, as I mentioned, summer has been my favorite season my whole life. Now that I live in a place with seasons, though, the other three are catching up.

All this has me thinking.

A lot.

Lately I have been considering the value of different seasons of life, in all their variety, which directly correlates with my new appreciation for calendar seasons. 

Seasons of plenty, seasons of boredom. Seasons of singleness. Seasons of adventure followed by seasons of frustration. Seasons of planting, seasons of harvest. Seasons of Sabbath rest. Seasons that are much more hectic than I think I can handle. Life's constantly changing, naturally, and though seasons may change, God never does.

I've definitely been through a tough growing season lately... maybe even several growing seasons back-to-back. It's not necessarily easy, but it sure is delightful to recognize! Growing pains aren't usually fun, you understand. The end result (or work in progress) is worth it.

"Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different..." - C.S. Lewis 

To be continued...

9 great things about my winter break in Texas

Last month, I took a long break from Korea. I've been back for a few weeks now and I've been processing and relaxing and thinking and just plum enjoying this welcome low-stress winter break! There's been a lot going on and I'm sure I'll be talking about that soon, but for now I want to share a quick update on my trip back home! 

9 is my favorite number, so here are 9 great things about this year’s winter break back home in Texas:

1. CHRISTMAS! I got back to Texas just in time for Christmas. I spent a couple of days spending tons of time with my family, partaking in excitement, watching the kids be kids, and eating all the good Christmas food I missed last year, like our traditional Christmas dinner and this pesto cheese block that my grandma always has. It's funny the things you get excited about when you return from overseas. I didn't know I missed that block but - no kidding - I got so excited that I took a picture of it. Speaking of pictures, we took a family portrait on Christmas Day and no one got mad or cried any angry tears, not even one! How's that for holiday spirit, huh? And Duck Dynasty was only mentioned a few times, hehe. It was so so so so lovely to spend the holiday with my family, especially after missing them last Christmas. 

PS. Hammy Ham got into Santa's cookies on Christmas eve. It was pretty much the cutest thing ever. Oh, Ham. You're so stinkin' hamsome! 

2. ZZZ Ranch. After Christmas (and a quick bout of a stomach bug), most of the family went out to the ZZZ Ranch in the west Texas brush country for some hunting and stuff. Lots of folks got deer and normal hunted-animal-types. And then my niece shot a skunk. I pretty much have the coolest family ever. I gave my nephew a Korean card game for Christmas, which he and my cousins and niece played a lot! #auntwin! (The ZZZ Ranch, pronounced "three zee ranch," is my family's property near San Angelo. My brothers and I all have Z names, so we've been called the 3 Z's our whole lives, so the ranch is named for us. Don't you international peeps try to say "three zed ranch," cause that's just weird.)

3. Cake. My little nephew's b-day falls right before New Year's Eve, so we had a little b-day party for him and I got to bake his cake! Fun story. I misplaced the recipe and overreacted a little (read: a lot). I'd made a big deal about wanting to bake the cake from scratch (rather than a box. Box cakes don’t belong in my life anymore.) and I’d already bought all the ingredients, so I panicked when I couldn't find my recipe the day of the party, and we don't have much internet at the ranch so I couldn't just look it up again at will. I got really irritated and snappy with, um, everyone. Sorry. (For the record, it was THIS recipe. Yum. You’d be upset with yourself too.) I also realized that I'd left his b-day gift at my parents' house and I was mad at myself for that #auntfail moment too. Can I blame jet lag for my overreaction? Perhaps. I have a tendency to overreact anyway... ugh emotions... I'm still growing in that area ;) The recipe turned out to be in my apron pocket. DUH. Also, it was DELICIOUS, so all's well that ends well.

4. FOOD. Can I just say that food is my favoritest material thing about America? Going to a grocery store and basking in the variety - AND BEING ABLE TO READ ALL THE LABELS! It's almost enough to make a girl want to move home. Baking supplies as far as the eye can see! Being able to buy a giant box of washed, organic spinach, rather than a bushel of spinach with roots and dirt still attached and having to process it before it makes it into your pan or plate. (I mostly enjoy cooking from scratch a lot a lot, but that is a pain.) 

I ate as much Mexican food as I could, and dove breast wrapped in bacon, and venison sausage, and cheese!

I also got caught up on food trends that I have missed, so that was really great. Coconut water, where have you been on my life??? Honestly, I spend most of my monthly budget on food while I'm in Korea, since I still try to eat like an American all the time. Kind of a problem... but it was nice being back in the west where western food isn't overpriced. I also made 'n bietjie South African food while I was home, so that was nice :)

What else, what else?

5. Friends and the stuff we did together. I was home for about 5 weeks and met up with friends and family ALL OVER the place. What a blessing! I saw as many people as possible and did as many things as I could. I walked a half marathon and ran a 5k. I went to all of my favorite restaurants, plus a few new good ones. I went to a lot of movies. I got to go to not one but TWO Fightin' Texas Aggie basketball games, AND I got to saw 'em off during the War Hymn with Dr. Loftin on his last night as Aggie Prez (Dad said "that's better than a t-shirt," and it's true!) I enjoyed an afternoon at St. Arnold's Brewing Co. with my cousin. I love me some microbrews! Nomnomnom. I helped my other cousin paint the ceilings at her new house. I went to see Beth Moore live at her new Tuesday night Bible Study series. It was increeeeeedible! 

I visited Dallas a few times, ironically went to the wedding of some friends from my church in South Korea, and I visited the Village Church. I love that community of believers and the way they have a heart for church planting. Dallas impressed me a LOT this trip home!

I saw Frozen 3 times. IT IS SO GOOD! I downloaded the soundtrack before you could say “Do you want to build a snowman?” and totally memorized all the songs, then had a sing-a-long jam with my niece and nephews around the dinner table. It was something else! (And seriously, Korea is as obsessed with Frozen as I am! Every shop is playing the soundtrack non-stop. IT IS WONDERFUL.)

What else?

6. Learning about changing relationship dynamics. I realized that being an adult visiting your parents' home can lead to a lot more tension than being a student living at home with your parents. I realized that I'm incredibly selfish and brash and that doesn't sit well when you are an adult visiting your parents' home for a month. We worked on this. It started out pretty rough but got much better as time went by. Redefining boundaries and such. I also learned *not* to mess with the settings on Mom and Dad's TV. 

7. Getting rid of all the crap. Since I honestly don't know when I'll live in the USA again, I went through and organized a ton of my old stuff from collage and donated as much as I could. I’m not using it, someone might as well benefit from it. My room at my parents' house finally looks more like a guest room than a storage unit. Hooray!!!

8. Family. We took a lot of family portraits this trip home. It's pretty handy having a photographer in the family! Keep it up, Jessica ;):) 

I know I say it all the time, but my family is truly amazing. I love my life and community overseas, but I miss my family a ton when I'm not around. I got to spend time with my mom doing special mama-daughter things, and spend a bit of time just with my dad. They're special. I love them so much! 

Out at the ranch, I was sleeping in the same room as my niece and nephew, the two older ones who I've taken on adventures and spoiled as much as a good aunt should... just being there for the small moments of our trip meant so much to me! I love them so dearly. It's very hard to miss big events in their young lives. I made the most of my time at home, especially with the older 3 kiddos. I took A to see Frozen (!!!!!), I took E for a study sesh at Starbucks and spent extra time with him doing day-to-day stuff, I took Big Z to the children's museum... We had a blast. It's such a blessing that they all live close(ish) together now, so I can spend that extra time with all of them when I visit! 

I'm blessed beyond measure to have a family that loves each other so well. I also want to send a special shout-out to my seester, my love, my best friend! I don't know what I would do without Stephanie in my life. She's my sister in my heart. I'm so glad Zane picked her all those years ago, and even more glad she picked him! I look up to them in their marriage and in their life so much. 

Well that got mushy real fast... moving on... *wipes away a sneaky tear*

 9. Winter weather, and not winter weather. In true Texan fashion, temperatures were all over the place this trip home! We would get well into freezing temperatures, only to finish the week out with sunny days that were so warm we could wear shorts, followed by ice storms, followed by jogging weather, followed by more ice storms. TEXAS YOU SO CRAZY. And I love you. Never change. My flight from Houston to Dallas even got cancelled due to ice on the day I was supposed to fly out (but that's ok. My parents drove me to Dallas so I could catch my flight. Extra quality time, yay!). The next weekend the high was in the 70's. Because yes. 

And that's my trip home! 

And here are pictures.