A lot of emotion

Well, I'm back from Easter in Alabama! Overall, it was an awesome trip full of family meals and time with friends. I always love coming home and it's always hard to leave. This trip had a bump in the road though. Some of you may read Joy Haser's blog at www.joyous101.blogspot.com. If you don't, she has made a list of 101 life goals she wants to complete. I thought this was a great idea, so I stole the idea (as well as some of her goals) and have a spreadsheet on my computer. One of the things I really wanted to do was videotape my grandmother telling about her life story. As most of you know, my granddaddy has pretty advanced Alzheimer's, so my grandmother is the best source of family history. While I was home for Easter, we videotaped an hour of her talking and decided to complete other phases later. I am so thankful we have this footage, although I wish we had taped more. Mimmie had a mild stroke the Saturday morning before Easter and will likely never speak 100% normally again. She is pretty confused and her speech is jumbled at times. Y'all, I am so thankful to have a tape of her telling about her early life with Granddaddy. I just want to take the time to tell you all that if there's something you want to do, or something you want to tell someone, now is the time! This stroke has changed things significantly for my family and has rendered my grandparents in need of constant care/supervision, so please pray for my parents as they wade through this uncharted territory and try to care for my grandparents as best as they can.

Second on my list of emotional overloads, I moved here exactly a year ago yesterday. That's a big milestone for me and one that, I have to say, I am really proud of. This past year has been filled with a lot of happiness, hard lessons learned, independence, sadness, heartbreak, uncertainty about where my life is headed, certainty that I will always always always have my friends in Alabama/Tennessee/Georgia/Doha to support me in times of need, God's overwhelming love and tons of new people and experiences. I miss my life in Alabama a lot (some days more than others) but there is no doubt in my mind I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I know that God wants me here for now. I don't know why. I don't know what is around the corner in terms of my love life or a new job or friends, but I know that He loves me and I trust His character. I feel so much peace knowing that God is bigger than my circumstances and THAT, my sweet girls, is what gets me out of bed every morning. Well, that and 100 calorie Oreo Cakesters. :)