My First Week

Exactly a week ago, I was saying goodbye to my mother and brother, and trying to settle into the idea that I was now, from that point forward, living in Texas.

Let's start at the beginning.

Ever since working at Camp Eagle starting in 2004, I'd always liked the idea of living in Texas. It's big, has lots of outdoor activities, and camp helped me meet some of the most awesome people I know. After graduating from JBU in 2006, I began applying for grad school at KU and UT. I was really heartbroken that the Lord didn't lead me to UT, but my years at KU in Lawrence were wonderful and I'm so glad that was the plan.

Then came time to look for jobs.

All my searches turned up jobs on the East and West coasts, but I knew that I was a Midwestern girl at heart, and I wanted to stay close to my family. Several times a week I would search again (using google!) to see if anything fit what I would be ok with. Then one Tuesday night before Thanksgiving I spotted a FULL TIME position for the JOB TITLE I was looking for with QUALIFICATIONS I could meet, and best of all, it was in TEXAS! And, more specifically, near Austin, where I knew most of my friends! I put all those in caps because only the Lord could've brought this job together - it honestly was the perfect job at the perfect time. I lost my voice on the day of the phone interview, yet I was called back for a face-to-face interview the next week. Two days after I graduated from KU with my Master's, I flew to Austin to interview; the next day, only hours after landing back in Kansas, I was offered the job!

That week was so crazy - we were due to spend the rest of the week in Western KS visiting family for Christmas celebrations & I had a final presentation in one of my classes to finish up. When my extended family asked what I was doing next, I told them moving to Austin, yet I still hadn't realized it yet.

The truth is, I never really thought about leaving or moving from Lawrence. It had become comfortable and predictable. And that's what I like. So while the idea of the perfect job in the perfect city was ahead, I was having a harder time that I thought letting go and saying goodbye.

But here I am!

This past week, I've set up my temporary "room" in the spare living room of some of the funniest girls I know, gotten to know this part of Austin enough to get around, and learned that Austin is a LOT bigger than I though it would be. I've gone through orientation after orientation, spent only 5 hours with my predecessor at work, and acquired and healed from pneumonia. I'm now awaiting my FIRST real day at work and so excited! My predecessor's last day was the day I was sick, so I'm really on my own now. But I can't wait. I know the learning curve will be high and take a long time, but after awhile, I'll get the hang of it and love it. I know. The Lord is good!