Time to go

I'm leaving for Mexico on Monday morning! Now that it's actually here and I'm looking at my visa and plane ticket instead of just imagining them, the nerves (and endless questions) are kicking in. The past two weeks have been challenging, and I've felt homeless for lack of a better term. I moved out of my apartment and back to my parent's house in Cincinnati. The bummer is that I don't really know anyone in Cincinnati so I've had lots of me time. Anyways, here's a glimpse into the mess that is my head at this point in time.

I don't really speak Spanish, and as much as I've been studying I just can't remember anything. I've gotten to do 3 triathlons and 1 running race in the past 6 weeks and I'm really going to miss racing and my awesome endurance sport friends. I've still been able to text and talk to my best friend Jenny every day, and I'm not certain I'll survive without the daily communication. I haven't been to church in about 6 weeks, and boy do I miss Clear River! I can't believe I'm leaving a full month later than I planned on, although I'm seeing the purpose in it.

I'll leave you with a picture of my race last weekend, the Boilerman olympic distance triathlon. I took 3rd in my age group and shaved 17 minutes off of last years time.

Still Waiting

I'm still playing the waiting game. I finally got an appointment at the consulate to get my visa paperwork finalized, but the first available was Tuesday afternoon. Most likely I'll be leaving next weekend, which is October 3rd. The original plan was to leave on September 9th. Thank you really slow and ridiculous new visa process. I'm trying to stay positive and see the good things about still being in the States. Feel free to add to my list, sometimes I need some encouragement, particularly when it's 9:30am and I'm still laying on the couch in my pj's with little intention of moving.

-extra time to move out of my apartment

-living in my parent's house for a while (they're currently both out of town)

-2 extra triathlons with my friends

-a few extra play dates and dinners with friends

-time to relax, sleep, and read some new books

-tv (I got rid of mine a few months ago, I forgot how easily tv sucks you in!)

Top 10 lists

This idea was lifted off of my friend Julie's blog, she just moved to Costa Rica for a year with the Vineyard church. I'm still waiting for my visa, the consulate was closed several days this week for Mexico's independence day so I still haven't gotten my paperwork finalized. Hopefully I can get it done on Monday and then get a flight on Wednesday.

10 things I'll miss most in the States

1. Clear River Church and the girls in my lifegroup

2. My little friends who grow up so fast

3. Triathlon training/racing

4. My car

5. Liquid coffee creamer

6. Going for a run whenever/wherever I want

7. Always understanding what people are saying

8. TriTippecanoe and YMCA training buddies

9. My cell phone and texting

10. Autumn (which sounds much classier than fall)

10 things I'm most excited about in Mexico

1. Living on the side of a mountain range

2. Learning to speak a second language well

3. Working with the awesome staff

4. Sharing my training on crisis intervention/foster care/adoption/attachment disorders

5. Real mexican food

6. Ponytails and athletic shorts are normal daily attire

7. Having a roommate again and living in community

8. Summer for 9 or so months of the year

9. Helping with groups who are on missions trips

10. Life changing experiences

Hasta Luego

Today my good friends had a little "see you later" fiesta for me at the park. I even got a Mexican flag drawn on my arm, which I was trying to wash off before I went into WalMart and offended people. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and I think so did everyone else. Or they already know I don't like having my picture taken so they purposefully left them at home. Anyways, it was great fun and a wonderful chance to see them again before I leave. This next week is going to be a rush of packing and moving my apartment into a storage unit, picking up my visa and other paperwork, sending off my application for physical therapy school, packing for Mexico, and trying to see everyone one last time. I should be flying to Mexico on the 20th or 21st!

The past two weeks I've been doing lots of shadowing at a physical therapy clinic in town before I leave. I got really lucky and got to shadow the physical therapist I saw for my various injuries, and she was one of the huge influences in me deciding to go back to school this spring. The shadowing experience was great confirmation that I made the right choice in going back to school after working for a while. So while I'm in Mexico I'll be waiting to hear if I got into physical therapy school which would start in August 2011. Life is never boring!

Questions Answered

To answer everyone's burning questions, I'm not moving on Sept. 9th, which would be tomorrow. I still don't have my work visa back yet, although it should be any day now. I think the tentative plan is to leave next weekend, although at this point I'm basically saying at some point in September I'll be moving to Monterrey. I'm really glad that God plans these things for us, because left to our own devices it would be disastrous! For example: my plan was to fly to Mexico on the 9th. As of the 8th, my apartment is still not packed/painted/moved out, my physical therapy school stuff isn't finished yet, and I haven't even started packing for Mexico. I'm working on it though, and it WILL be done by next week so that I'll be ready to leave whenever I can.

Some of you have also been asking about Ironman Kentucky, which I participated in on August 29th. It consisted of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run, which totals 140.6 miles in one day! I made it 132.4 miles before having to drop out of the race because of heat exhaustion and dehydration. I got pretty sick out on the bike course where the actual temps were 92 or 93 and the heat index was definitely over 100. However it was one of the best days of my life, and I'm hopeful that I can do another full Ironman in 2012. Here are just a few pictures from that day (swim start, on the bike, on the run, and after getting out of the medical tent).

Beginning of the end

As long as Mexico approves my visa paperwork, I'm moving on September 9th! That's only 21 days away, which seems like a long time and way too soon all at once. The "lasts" are starting. I attended my last Clear Vision meeting, and this coming Sunday is my last at church since I'm out of town the next two. So, if you happen to attend Clear River and find me still sitting in church well after the second service has ended, it's because I just don't want to leave quite yet. As I'm trying to prepare my heart to go, this chorus has been running through my head quite a bit. Christ's love has been the concept of many a late night conversation lately, and I'm trying to wrap my mind around the fact that His love is too vast and complex to ever fully wrap my mind around.

"Your love is peace to the broken,

Faith for the widow,

Hope for the orphan,

Strength for the weak.

Your love is the anthem of nations,

Rings out through the ages,

And you're always enough."

Always Enough by Casting Crowns

I'll leave you with some pictures I took on my last trip of where I'll be living in Mexico, the poverty in the Rio communities, and the sweet children who have hope because of Jesus.

This is the view from where I (and the other 34 staff, their kids, the teens in the Hope program, and American's on missions trips) live. It's my favorite place on the planet.

The not as fun stuff

This week has been about the not-so-fun part of getting ready to leave. I had to extend my apartment lease for 2 extra months, which is really expensive but was necessary. Yesterday I got some of my shots (typhoid and H1N1), and by Friday I still need to get a TB test, hepatitis A, and a tetanus booster, which are also kind of costly and make my arm really sore. Thankfully I have an awesome doctor who's attentive to the fact that I get sick pretty easily, so she's sending me with 2 rounds of antibiotics "just in case". So it's not all sunshine and roses, some of this prep work is really not fun. But I'm still excited and can't wait to be down there loving on those kiddos and working with the rest of the staff. 5-6 weeks to go!