A week in the Desert!

  Today marks the first full Wweek of living in Tempe and in my apartment! Yay, I made it a week.  To be honest, this has not been an easy process. I can’t say that I believed this move was going to be easy, but I really didn’t think it would be this difficult either. I have a huge new respect for kids whose parents are in the military. Moving is hard, but even harder is being the new kid in town. Feelings of loneliness creep in and even though I know that I just got here, feelings of anxiousness constantly wash over me.  I am ready to start school, ready to have things to be accountable for, and people to invest in. Those of you who know me know that I crave busyness. I love having a long list of things to accomplish and places to go. This week of not having much to do is testing me.  I realize that this time is probably a gift from God. Time to read an entire book all day if I want to, which by the way I am reading “The Art of Racing” by Garth Stein and it is awesome, time to mindlessly watch T.V. or go to the movies, or explore Arizona, but the realistic side of me always jumps in. I get caught up in thinking, “I could have been doing job interviews this whole week, or training for work, or even putting in 40 hours.” I am trying to be better at being alone without being lonely, more on that later but here are some highlights from the week.

1.       Finally having my own apartment, which I can decorate my way.  The furniture matches and it stays clean…LOVE IT! Pictures to come. Each room has a color scheme or theme.

2.       My advisor finally got back to me about when classes start, orientation and internship placement options. I had sent her e-mails starting in May asking for more details about my graduate program and what was required. I got very few responses and even fewer questions answered. Then I started panicking because a few grad students I had met were talking about program orientations. I started freaking out… I hadn’t heard about any orientations for my program. Another e-mail sent. Finally a week before classes started I got an e-mail… no worries, I have orientation next Wednesday.

3.       I went to the Phoenix Zoo with a friend and her boyfriend. So hot… we conquered two hours of the zoo in 100 degree weather!!! Yes an accomplishment. The zoo is awesome but we probably won’t be returning until Christmas. The zoo is only open 7am-2pm. That’s how hot it gets here. And even at 7am it’s in the high 80’s.

4.       I LOOVE A/C. I love my truck that blasts A/C. I love misters in shopping centers!!!

5.       The girl who lives above me, we’ll call her Sabrina, has a dog as well and is a grad student. We hung out and are forcing the pups to be friends. So far, so good. Her dog, we’ll call him Sergio, is hilarious and he and Ditto get along pretty well. This is good because after living with three other dogs all summer, he keeps giving me pitiful puppy eyes and making me feel guilty about the move.

6.       Went to a church on Sunday in Chandler and they are doing a flash mob on Saturday to promote their new series!!! Being in a flash mob is on my bucket list, I may participate Saturday…if so, more to come!

All in all, this has been a challenging week. But God never fails!!! He has been so sweet to me and has provided little surprises each day to keep me motivated and pursuing Zion.