Another Post

What?! Another post? What has gotten into me?

I don't know. I mean, lots of things have been happening, it's true, which does contribute to the sudden influx of updates, but I think I'm waxing nostalgic again as I see another move looming before us.

School ended Friday with a talent show. Now I have to tell you I think some things here in West Virginia are nice and some are just plain weird, but having a talent show on the last day of school is one of the nice things. From 8-10:20 am, students were able to share anything from dancing to singing, playing instruments to gymnastics. One girl even sang a song while moving cups around, and there were three groups of hula hoopers! Jacob chose not to participate, but Emily played her violin and danced with some friends. It was an entertaining morning. A fun celebration of things the kids had learned throughout the year.

So now school is done. Over. And we can't believe it. The kids are sad to be leaving friends they've made, and teachers they've enjoyed.

I think that's one thing that I've been thinking about a lot lately. We moved here knowing it was only for 12 months. That's not very long. For good and for bad we've had that deadline in our heads the entire time we've been here.

It was good in that it helped force us to make the most of our time here exploring and doing things unique to the state. We saw and did lots of neat things! 

It was bad in that we didn't have much patience with things we didn't like. Something would go wrong or they would do something differently and we'd say we just couldn't wait to leave...

But I think the thing that has surprised me the most is the fact that even though I didn't want us to put roots down here, we totally did. I thought our time in WV would be so short that we could avoid growing attached, and avoiding it would make our move from here easier. But we did it unknowingly, as we lived our everyday lives. We've all made friends we'll be sad to leave behind. Because to really live is to become involved with people; to spend time with them, to serve them and to get to know them. And we did that here.

So now as we count down the weeks, 4 to be exact, I'm feeling mixed emotions just like this time last year. Excitement for the next phase, but sadness for the chapter quickly coming to a close.

"Wild, wonderful, and almost heaven" West Virginia will always have a soft spot in our hearts. We've learned valuable lessons here, made some great memories and met lifelong friends.

What a blessing. We are grateful.