Waiting

Coffee shops are great for writing. I don't know what it is about them that just inspires creativity. Hence why I'm sitting at Daily Grind, sipping water, and making funny faces at my good friend Sarah Pollock. Coffee shops are one of my favorite environments; they have been beloved by me since I first began inhabiting them in college. The good ones are relaxed, warm, and have cool artwork on the walls. Serving good drinks is an absolute must. Seattle definitely had a plethora of excellent coffee shops; I miss them. But Pullman certainly has a few, Moscow even more. So I'm not coffee shop-less here, which is good, because I would probably go crazy if there wasn't at least one quirky coffee shop to occupy.

Enough about coffee shops.

Work has been really good lately, if slightly crazy. One of our therapists left at the end of December, and another one has been on leave since the middle of December. We still have three therapists working, but scheduling is significantly harder when you go from five therapists to three in a matter of weeks. So it has been a bit hectic around the office lately. Don't mistake this for complaining - I'm not. This is me just stating the facts of what has been happening. But my co-workers continue to be awesome, my bosses continue to be incredible people to work for; all in all I am one happy camper.

The one difficulty to suddenly working full-time is the loss of time outside of work to do...well, anything, really. I work 8-5 Monday through Thursday, and 8-4 on Fridays. I get picked up for work at 7:40 am; I get home from work between 5:20 and 5:50, depending on if I get a ride home or ride the bus home. That wouldn't be bad, if not for the fact that I get up at 4:45 am to work out. Which means that I need to be in bed around 9 pm. That means I have around three hours after work to cook, clean, relax, hang out, read, play with Evie, hang out with Phil and Brooke, etc. It's just not possible to do all of those things in the short space between leaving work and crawling into bed. I'm slowly learning better time management, and also learning to choose on which days I will do which things. It's slow going though. I don't like to give up my liberty. I especially don't like having to say no to doing something with friends because it starts too late. But wanting to live life well, wanting to eat well, and wanting to take care of my body, which is God's temple, means sacrificing some pleasures during the week. I'm happy to make those sacrifices for the end goal, but that doesn't make them very easy at times. Nor does it make getting up before 5 at all easy, but I know that I love the feeling later when I realize I already got in a good workout so I don't have to worry about it after work.

I've been thinking about adoption a lot lately. It's always been in my heart to adopt several kids, but I've always put it in the category of "someday, after I'm married". Yesterday I decided that I need to stop thinking like that. I refuse to have my dreams for life be contingent upon the day I pledge myself to someone. Dreams like becoming an interpreter. Dreams like adopting kids. Dreams like backpacking in Europe. Dreams like living in Italy. Dreams like going on a road trip to Niagara Falls. Why should I keep my dreams on hold while I wait for God to bring me my 'somebody'? Me. I am the only thing holding myself back. Yes, I am young. Yes, I am a girl. Yes, I am single. But those are only excuses for not doing things. Things like adoption will wait till I am more completely financially stable, but it will not be waiting for me to get married. Life is too short for me to wait for a mysterious someone before I live my dreams.

I'm going forward with my life hand-in-hand with God. I'm going to chase my dreams, go on silly adventures with friends, live outside of the U.S., adopt a bunch of dogs, adopt a bunch of kids, and just try to live life well and to the glory of God. Honestly, what more could you want?