My bad...

As the date of my previous post will prove, I have been absent from this part of the internet for many months.  I was recently inspired to get back at it...now I am left with the decision: to update the interwebz on the last 4+ months or just dive right in and pretend like they didn't happen.

I am going to opt for a combination of the two.  So--here ya have it:

September 2011--I got a Minnesota driver's license (whoa).  I spent a week in Glacier National Park.  I hiked more than I ever thought possible, but my legs didn't even get sore because I warmed up the weekend before by doing some pretty sweet Kid-O-Deo song motions with the preschoolers--weird, but true.

October 2011-- October was an uneventful month in general.  However, an uneventful month for me is filled with lots of events, ironically.  October marked 90 days at the World's Best Job.

November 2011--busy busy busy.  I started the month with the most amazing work trip ever. I went with 2 of my most favorite co-workers to NorthPoint Community Church in Atlanta and we learned a lot, slept, had a spa day (side note: I got a mani/pedi from 2 guys...awkward.)  Our trip was short, but our bonding was so wonderful.  I seriously love the people that I work with.  The middle of the month marked the beginning of the 6 week countdown to Christmas at EBC.  The end of the month included a quick trip to Indiana and lots of family time.

December 2011--aka...CRAZY TOWN!  I was prepared for the busyness of December as a church-staffer, and I was actually excited about it.  The thing that I was not prepared for was an upper respiratory infection that resulted in laryngitis.  Two weeks before the first Christmas service, I found myself with a pathetic voice that only got worse as the days passed.  A week before Christmas, I started what has turned out to be a long-term relationship with the ENT.  He told me that "Vocal Rest" must commence immediately.  I spent one of the busiest weeks of my career with strict orders of silence...lame.

CHRISTMAS SERVICES:  As the hours passed and crunch time began, and I started the first of 6 pills of death...aka- steroids.  I began taking an incredibly strong steroid to allow me to lead and teach over 200 volunteers and 800 kids under 5.  God's power (and the 'roids) allowed me to teach the message of Hope in Christ to hundreds of preschoolers, but not without several trips to the bathroom and a few face-in-the-trashcan incidents.  I took it like a champ.  After 5 services, 13 pukes, 206 volunteers, 835 kids and 2 incredibly stressed vocal cords, I rushed to the airport to make it to Indiana for Christmas.  (airplane = +2 rather embarrassing pukes:()

As I laid in my Indiana bed that night, I was blissfully exhausted.  I woke up Christmas morning with no voice.

The rest of my trip to Indiana was spent recuperating by spending time with family and friends, reading The Hunger Games, sleeping A LOT and playing Farkle.

January 2012--back to life.  I came back to Minnesota after 10 days away and realized that this Minnesotan life has become my new "normal"  I missed my people while I was in Indiana.  My ENT is in Minnesota (we are STILL good friends--he tells me not to talk as much, I secretly tell him to shut up), my favorite bed is in Minnesota, my best friends are in Minnesota.  My work, my church, my normal is here.

So, over the last few months, I would say that the biggest thing that has happened--Minnesota is officially home.  More to come about that realization.