transitions

The last time I transitioned was a little over a year ago when I made my move into my cute little home in Pasadena to start my credential program. With the exception of a few classes left to finish my masters, I am done with my credential. I have spent the last year draining myself, losing more sleep than I typically like too and learning so much about what it means to be a teacher and in that being affirmed daily how perfect this career path is for me. I was just starting out on the path towards this profession and I had no clue what my year would hold, what I would experience, who I would meet and how I would feel when I came to the end of this journey.

This past year has been just a good year. Sure, there have been a lot of moments of loneliness, a couple let downs, and lessons that I had to learn the hard way. For the most part though, I have spent a lot of the year laughing, dancing and learning to enjoy where I am at. I got to spend the year living close to my best friends again, getting to see them whenever our crazy schedules allowed for it and having it be a thirty minute drive compared to a six hour one. I have seen friends get jobs they so deeply wanted, find love, marry, and move into new seasons. I have met people who were such a delight to meet and brought so much joy into this season. They came into my life and made the choice to walk with me through this year in both the hard times and the beautiful ones and I am so very grateful for that. I have made friends who I know will carry into this next season of life with me and that makes every hard and lonely moment worth it. Although I have not been close to them I have experienced great trips and moments with my family. I said good bye to my wonderfully crazy Grandma Fran and through that deepened my relationship with my family even more. I have learned a lot about myself and about the woman I want to become. I have become fiercely independent and slightly introverted from living alone and have found so much refreshment in alone time as I need to recharge. I have had to learn to say no to a lot of things and time manage in a way that will help me be more successful and take better care of myself moving forward into my next season.

As I move forward into that season, here I am again, at the brink of another transition. I am only somewhat sure of what is to come but there are a few things different about this transition than ones I have gone through in the past. I still eat way too much candy, make too many emotional decisions, and I am still a terrible dancer even though there are few places I love as much as the dance floor. The biggest difference though is that I am sure. I am sure of the steps I am taking, and the direction I am headed. I am sure that the next place I live will be my home for years and years and I am sure that God will provide, challenge, stretch and bless me as I walk forward into a new life. I have learned how to make a life and find happiness and I have learned from being away from them that being near my family and really doing life with them is something that I would give anything to have and am so lucky to have that opportunity in the near future. I am no longer running away from a life that has always felt like something is missing, but I am running towards a life that will give me more.

So here's to another transition. In three weeks I will be 25, smack in the middle of my twenties, and I have figured it out. Although there are still so many things to learn and so many more things I want to experience I know what my calling is and if that was what the first half of my twenties were for then I can't wait for the second half.