Can't believe it

I cannot believe that Ethan and I are finished (almost) with our first year of seminary. We have completed two semesters of graduate school. Whoa. I should be studying for my last final right now, but I have no motivation at the moment.

This semester has been so so crazy. I think I may have mentioned it before. Ethan started a new job as adult discipleship pastor at our church, which has been a huge blessing and fun for him. I have overloaded myself with responsibilities, which is not a new thing in my life, but I think this time I actually learned from it. We have really been struggling this semester with trying to find our place out here. It is so hard to make new friends in a new city. Luckily for us, at seminary almost everyone is in the same spot as you: poor, stressed, and pretty young. We have connected with several couples from school that we really like a lot. Of course we have friends from church that we love. And for me, honestly, if it hadn't been for the girls I work with, I would be lost. Ethan and I have realized how great our friends are from Mississippi. Our MC friends are so special to us. I had to finally reconcile the fact that I cannot have friends like that here right now at this very second. It takes years to develop those friendships and we have only been here a little less than 10 months. Also, we have so many other friends from home that aren't from MC that we miss dearly. Not a day goes by that we don't think about them. It's pretty tough, but we are so thankful that we have them and continue to keep a close relationship with most of them. We are really praying for God to cultivate the relationships out here this summer when most of us will have some freedom in our schedules to actually have a social life.

Also, I miss the tutoring center so so badly! It is my heart. It was there and it is here. I am praying about looking for a job like that here. It is such a rewarding, fulfilling job; but I guess that happens when you are doing the things God made you to be passionate about. That's a whole different topic, and I don't have time to expand on that thought pattern I've had all semester.

I am very much looking forward to a somewhat relaxing summer. We are going on two mission trips, one to Puerto Rico and one back to Mississippi. Our church is very focused on missions, so we are really looking forward to those things. We are taking a one night trip to Dallas for our anniversary. That should be pretty awesome. I cannot believe we have been married almost 2 whole years!

We are also excited about our trip back to Mississippi next week. I am in my sweet friend Erin's wedding and just two days after that, Ethan's sister graduates from high school. It was perfect timing. We are looking forward to time with family, friends, and home.


So, you know I have to put pictures in every post. I love pictures!
Here are some from the weekend my parents came to visit. We went to the Fort Worth Main Street Art Festival. We got to see Dr. John!!!