5 years later

WOW! and 5 years later I'm asking myself- why did I not keep up with this blog??? Pretty sure I know why-life, moving back to the states, figuring out life in America after having been gone for 9 years, moving to Arizona, the invention of Chatbooks to record my life in pictures......I just looked back through this and it is so interesting to read my thoughts from 5-10 years ago! I'm def still the same person with the same questions but I have also come up with a few more:)

Why are American's so obsessed with "stuff?" Why do I have this overwhelming "need" to know what's next? What-of my beliefs/knowledge- is cultural and what is universal? How does God see me? How do I see myself? When will I feel ready to settle down? What does that even mean? Where should I travel to next? Why does Williams, AZ not have a Chick-fil-a? :)

When I initially started this blog it was so people would know what was happening in my life while I lived in Norway and then Belgium. Looking back I realize it had morphed into a place where I was sharing bits and pieces of myself-not really caring if anyone else was reading it. And so today, I begin again- not caring if anyone else finds/reads this but also valuing the ability to not just look back on pictures but also on thoughts, questions and ideas.

5 years later. . . .

I live in a tiny town, where there are more tourists than residents, in Northern Arizona. I work at a camp(which I always thought was my dream job-still figuring that one out). I try to take a 2 week adventure trip each fall and spring-using my passport as often as I can. I have now been to at least 30 countries. I am still figuring out what life looks like for me and what I am passionate about. I have kept a few foster kids short term-which as been on my heart since middle school. I keep in touch with friends on a few continents. I still struggle with identity and a sense of belonging. I am still passionate about women and their strength and successes.  I still question the "why's" of anything I do.

This weekend I am heading back to Atlanta for a baby shower. It has been a couple of years since I have been there and I am so excited to get to see and spend time with people that mean so much to me. 18 years ago I left Pennsylvania in a car packed with my limited earthly goods and drove to Atlanta knowing 3 people. I started a job teaching at a school I had been to one time(for an interview). I lived in the basement(picture cement floors, an area rug and flying cockroaches as my neighbors) of a friends family. I arrived feeling nervous and insecure but also excited about the possibilities. Feeling like I did not fit in to the southern world in which I had arrived. 4 years later I left Atlanta calling it home. I left with friends that had become family. I left having met some of the biggest heroes of my life- Teachers, Mothers, Students, Athletes and Activists. I head back this weekend knowing I will see some of those amazing women and some others I've met along the way in Norway and Belgium(somehow everyone ends up living in Atlanta at one point or another!). Women who are strong and loyal. Women who are vulnerable and giving. Women who care deeply and give of themselves freely. I am so excited to see some of these mentors and friends and hear what they have been learning about life.