Gearing up for Britain

Life as I know it has been turned upside down.



I have spent the last two weeks packing up my life in Seattle, moving all my earthly possessions to Portland, and preparing to spend the next 9 weeks studying with my English literature program in Britain and Ireland. I will be graduating college within a week of my return to the states, so I have been forced to bid farewell to being a college student, to being a nanny, to a wonderful church community, and to the majority of my Seattle friends as we seem to be scattering to the four winds after graduation. I am, of course, excited to see Europe and have many amazing adventures, but change is often hard for me, especially when I am enjoying life as is.


In the last two weeks I have:


- Celebrated my birthday twice: with both my Seattle housemates and my family
(I will be in Scotland on my actual birthday)

- Survived finals week (after dropping and breaking my lap top)

- Celebrated my nephew's 1st birthday a month early ( I will be missing his birthday as well)

- Said goodbye to my nanny family of four years- very sad

- Taken a mini road trip with college friends from Seattle, Washington to Ashland, Oregon

- Attended an amazing play at the Shakespeare festival in Ashland with Gitta and my aunt and uncle

- Burned myself out on shopping (for travel essentials)

- Learned to ride a motorcyle- kind of :o)

- Enjoyed the company of good friends with fun activities such as the Portland Saturday market, swing dancing, and an edge-of-your-seat game of spoons

- Celebrated Easter and the gift of divine grace

Having never been to Europe before, it is hard to know what to expect, but I am pretty sure that I am going to have an incredible time. The group that I am traveling with seem like a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to learning under one of my favorite professors for the whole nine weeks. Also, I am planning to travel to other European countries while abroad, and I have already planned one trip to visit a friend in Germany so that will be fun.

One hope that I have for this blog is that it will serve as a means of accountability. I have been in a pretty dry place in my relationship with God recently, and I have determined that this trip is going to be a turning point for me. To put it plainly, God has been faithful and I haven't. It isn't that I have been living wrongly, but I simply have not made Him a priority in my life as of late, and the realization that the lack of relationship with God only leaves you with religion has inspired me to make some changes. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Wish me luck as I embark on a new adventure!

As always, I would appreciate your prayers.