Life is Good

When time and life allow, Celeste and I often sit and think about how beautiful life is. We ponder our heavenly blessings, our temporal luxuries, and the loving families we consider ourselves lucky to be apart of. On top of that, we marvel at our opportunities that most could only dream of. Being a part of the Teach For America family, having financial security through the Great Recession, and now embarking on what will be a life-changing journey with NELA - all bear testimony to one simple fact: life is good.

Of course, there are costs to our chosen course in life, and the one that weighs in the heaviest is the omnipresent fact that we are a 3-day drive or an all-night (and rather expensive) flight from most of our family and some of our dearest friends. It's not easy being separated by such a vast geographical gulf. We miss birthdays and weddings, recitals and soccer games. We miss nieces and nephews saying their first words, showing off their repertoire of tricks on the trampoline, and the shared heartwarming moment with their parents (of course, I don't mind missing diaper duty). In the end, it's the little things we miss. The beautiful evolution of life and character can be as slow and meticulous as the growing of hair.

It's true, we do miss a lot living on the East Coast while the majority of our family remains in the West, but life is a train station, and we boarded our train years ago. Though it's taken us far from home, it has also taken us places we would have never otherwise seen. It's showed us things we didn't know existed. It's taught us things we would have never otherwise learned, and there's something equally beautiful and satisfying about that. At this point, our train is still running with a full head of steam. Perhaps one day it will slow down. Who knows - perhaps one day it will return to the West. Until then, we live life to its fullest, keeping the old adage close to our heart: distance makes the heart grow fonder.

All that said, here are some photographs from our most recent trip to Utah, Oregon, and Washington:

Lazy Bloggers

Okay folks. It's been over a month, and we apologize for our cyber-silence, especially to those of you who check our blog like religious zealots and feed on new posts like Judge Judy on a ignorant redneck. Despite the title of this post, we haven't really been lazy at all. Just busy. So instead of overwhelming you with all of it at once, here are three bite-sized posts to fill you in on the month of June. Enjoy, and Stay Classy.

The Big Move

When it was decided that I would be attending N.C. State University, Celeste and I knew that it was time to move. Geographically, it would have been a nightmare trying to commute from Oxford. For those of you who don't know, N.C. State's campus is in the capital city of Raleigh, which is about an hour away from Oxford. But we couldn't really move to Raleigh either, because we're still going to be teaching in Henderson next year, so we needed a midway point. That's when we decided to live in Wake Forest, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh just 30 miles from Henderson. Basically right smack dab in the middle. Basically perfect.

Wake Forest is a beautiful, Southern town, full of charm and history. It's a little bigger than Oxford, but much nicer in comparison - stronger economy, less poverty, and more pizazz. We were thrilled to find out that it had restaurants, malls, gyms, movie theaters, and even a TARGET within a 5-minute drive. We forgot how luxurious life could be!

But the nicest thing about living in Wake Forest is not the city itself, but the house in which we live. We found a perfect little house for rent right in the downtown area. You know, you never realize how awful apartment living is until you leave it for a house. After being in the same complex for the past two years, we thought things were fine there. But after only a week in our new place, it's like the sun is shining on our pale faces for the first time, and the dark clouds of mediocrity have finally parted. Okay, that may be a little dramatic, but I tell you what, it's nice not to share a parking lot, a mailbox, and a dumpster with 400 other people. It's nice to not hear neighbors music through the floors. It's nice to have a yard and a garden, and a driveway. I guess it's the little things. Whatever it is, we love it, and are excited to spend the next several years here. I told Celeste we'll stay as long as our family can fit in it...we're planning on having a lot of dogs.

HOME SWEET HOME

Girls Camp!!!

Mayo Reservoir Lake

The day after returning from Casey's wedding I was whisked away to Mayo Reservoir to spend four days camping with around 60 girls between the ages of 12 and 18. I spend the week avoiding bugs, singing songs, swimming in the lake, hiking and playing games in the moonlight with my 8 Henderson Branch Young Women. I was fortunate to have an energetic assistant and some fun-loving girls.

My Henderson Girls

Being in charge of girls camp for a ward or branch is usually a dreaded calling - filled with months of stress, planning and constant encouragement for sometimes reluctant campers. While I did have some planning, a little stress, and some not so happy campers, I really enjoyed being at camp in charge of my little flock. I was fortunate to know most of my campers fairly well before camp started - with two of them being students of mine all year at school. The younger campers really had a ball and they all had some great experiences that have them looking forward to camp next year!

Paige and Makayla - I taught them both Earth Science and Spanish this year!

This little dog tagged around camp all week

Girls showing their true nature

When the girls lost something, they had to sing this magical song to get it back. Both of our first year campers are in white t-shirts on the left.

Beach Wedding

We met Casey 2 years ago. She and Celeste were both brand new teachers at Northern Vance High School, and both teaching Spanish. Casey also lived in Oxford in our same apartment complex. She and Celeste became quick friends, and I made quick friends with her dog, Mika.

After a few months, Casey introduced us to her beau, a fella named Brent. He was studying education at UNC-Greensboro, training to become and English teacher. Brent and I bonded over sports and films while Celeste and Casey talked about...who knows what. Probably their periods. That's all girls ever talk about.

Anyway, Brent finally proposed, Casey said yes, and the two were married the week after school got out. They chose a beautiful beach destination for the ceremony, and a hip loft in downtown Wilmington for the reception. It was a good time. Wilmington is probably my favorite place in all of North Carolina. Beaches, Civil War forts, and historic Southern mansions that would make Oprah jealous.