Learning to Fly

Well, the end of 2010 is upon us and I must say, I'm almost ready for it. With the coming of the new year begins the second year of our marriage, and another chance for new beginnings, new goals, and new dreams. But for these next 24 hours, I find that I must look back and think about the challenges of the year gone-by and the chances of the year to-come!

For Aaron and I, 2010 was a year of learning. For anyone who has ever learned anything, they will know that learning is never easy. This first year was never easy, but always good. 2010 began with the most wonderful event, our wedding day... and the honeymoon that followed... but a week later we returned to Wheaton to find that my promised job had fallen through, the rent was due, and Aaron had class and track practice to busy himself. Those first few months were ones of loneliness, boredom, and rejection. I tried to settle in to our tiny apartment in the middle of Wheaton winter, find a job, learn to drive, and navigate the stormy waters of newlywed life. Suffice it to say, I failed on each front. Right off the bat, I hit a Jaguar and got my license taken away, which made for a hard time in the job-finding department. Long days alone at home searching for job openings online pushed me further and further into a dark hole of depression, while knowing that my friends were still going to class, still eating in SAGA, and still hanging out in the Beamer center - just steps from my front door - made me feel so alone. For someone who loved planning the wedding and anticipated that beautiful day for months and years, I couldn't handle the post-marital depression that came from the lack of anticipation. Poor Aaron was unsure of what to do with such an unhappy bride. It was a cold, dark time for us.

But emotional and physical difficulties aside, the hardest part was the financial challenge. We had NO money. To this day, I don't know how we paid the rent each month. I am certain that angels visited our doorstep the night we found $300 in an envelope slid under our front door. Our church and our family helped as they could, and each month the heat was on and the electricity worked, for that I am thankful. By March, my job at the census could not have been more needed.

The summer was hard for many of the same and some different reasons. Moving to Des Moines and trying to make this old trailer livable was a different, but just as difficult, challenge. While winter cold had banished me to our Wheaton apartment, in Des Moines in July, the heat in our trailer was almost unbearable (especially considering the lack of shower for the first month).  Aaron began his job at McDonalds, which could not have come at a better time, and I got more comfortable with driving on the wonderful traffic-free roads of Iowa. I got my first credit card, which has been a learning experience in itself, but the loneliness and the challenges never stopped coming. My first real job, the Spanish Program Assistant at Drake University, is one of the biggest challenges yet, which I have yet to overcome.

Through it all, we have been like baby birds pushed out of the nest. Were we ready to be so rudely shoved out? Well, we must have been, because only in falling are we learning to fly. And we have had so many blessings as well. My greatest blessing of this year is my Aaron, the man who I am proud to share my life with. Whether we're falling or flying, I'm so glad I get to do it with him. We are also surrounded by such a supportive family on both sides. My parents have encouraged and supported from afar, and Aaron's parents have given such practical blessings of food, shelter, and toil on our still-to-be-finished home. Also, we are so thankful for the wonderful people at our dear church in Bondurant.

But now to the matter at hand: FLYING.

A year is spent... and per our agreement, only three more until we want to start to expand this little family. Aaron and I are planners, since before we were engaged, we had planned our entire courtship and beyond, even talking through baby names and how we wanted to raise our children. Well, now more than ever, I have begun to realize how little time I have until that life-changing event is "scheduled" in our plan. So this year's New Year's resolutions are, for me, more like Baby Resolutions. Instead of making promises never to eat chocolate again or to exercise every day, I find it is better to have goals, sort of like a to-do list. So here is my to-do list for the next three years, or for however long or soon it will be when we two become three:

- Get my Master's
- Finish a marathon
- Work a job for one full year without quitting
- Read a whole book in French
- Visit another continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, South America... or I guess, Antarctica)
- Buy a house
- Get published
- Memorize the book of John
- Find a bosom friend

For me, these are lofty goals, that will take dedication and hard work. I am a horrible finisher, and every one of these goals requires some sort of completion. However, each of them should hopefully make me a stronger person: physically, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. I hope that developing and finishing each of these goals will build in me not only these strengths, but in the end, a strength of character. It won't be easy and I won't always succeed, but I pray that instead of falling and not trying again, through each new challenge and failure I would seek the opportunity to learn to fly!

Broken Down Computer

So the bad news is, Aaron's computer (my old computer) is totally breaking down and I don't know/haven't figured out yet how to download pictures onto my computer. This would be my excuse for the lack of blog posts since the middle of September. A lot has happened since then: two family visits, a wedding, AWANA every Wednesday, and dozens of fun and exciting Spanish classes. If a picture is worth a thousand words, I owe you all about 40,000 words. Over the next few days, I will hopefully be able to put up a few posts just letting everyone know everything that has been going on here since my birthday. Okedoke?

Fiesta Bicentenaria

Padre Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla - AKA Prof. Eduardo Garcia

La mexicana with some of my estudiantes

Pastel de la patria... ¡Viva México!

Eating cake and candy, I love all the different poses!

Erika is so cute in the sombrero, I just HAD to include this one!

Mikey's Soccer Game

Mikey is on the light green team this year, apparently that's his light green coach

Adorable 5-year-olds chasing a ball, unfortunately Mikey was playing in the grass at this point

Cheering enthusiastically from the sideline - you can tell they LOVE soccer!

While I got to play with the cutest niece around

Mikey and Layla's Birthday Party

The piñata I made from pizza boxes - the other side was princesses

Zoey got to go first because she was the littlest

Layla beating the candy out of Cinderella

Eagerly opening all their presents

Princess Layla and her tinkerbell cake

Our New "Matching" Bibles

They're actually the same size

That's me!!! Mrs. Andrea Ruth Woodard!

Camping with my Sweetie

Our campsite

Inside the ginormous tent

Proudly displaying his half-eaten "first campfire hot-dog" (first of six in a row)

Watching Football With the Woodards

Hawkeye Fans

Mr. Serious Business

The Cute Contingent

House Update

Our bedroom, featuring my new computer!

Laundry Room

Beautiful new shower - definitely my favorite part of our house

Our faithful little $6 toilet, who's been with us through it all

This is where the sink is supposed to go... someday

Messy storage closet full of tools

Our new vintage chairs which I adore

Trusty old couch, the only piece of living room furniture that survived the move

Our new stove and old hood, which we are replacing today

Profesora Andrea Woodard

I've recently decided that I'm in love with the fall. On Tuesday afternoon, fall unexpectedly fell in my lap. It was cool outside, there was a gloriously brisk breeze, and everything just smelled like fall. On top of that, fall carries with it the most exciting time of the year: the beginning of a new school year! I love starting school! I love the promise of new beginnings and new classes. I love that the stores full of rows upon rows of school supplies in every shape and color, and I love the fact that there are frantic parents everywhere trying to grab that oh-so-important box of pencils or Hello Kitty folders. (Shopping for school supplies is one of my guilty pleasures). But most of all, I've noticed, I just love school. Summer is long and hot and boring, for the most part, and school means seeing friends and having a full and busy schedule. School brings with it a chance to learn and study and challenge yourself!

When I graduated in December, it took me a few weeks to grieve the end of my school career. For an academic and a life-long student like me, graduating was the end of my life as I knew it. But when I found out in March that I was going to become the Spanish Intern at Drake University this fall, I didn't expect to be so thrilled when I got here. There is something about a college campus that just captures me. The throngs of young people heading to class and dorms and social events, the passion for academia that you can just feel in the air, the big brick buildings and lush green lawns covered in statues and fountains and a history of intellectualism... these are the things that capture me and draw me back once again to this place where I feel at home.

A few weeks ago, before I realized my excitement for the fall or what was to come, Aaron and I saw a sign for school supplies (one of the first). Without thinking I immediately sang out "I can't wait for school to start! We need to go shopping for supplies!" Every year as long as I can remember, shopping for school supplies has been a given, but Aaron, in his usual realistic manner, laughed it off and answered "Andrea, what would you need supplies for? You graduated, you're not going back to school." This caught me off guard. No school supplies? How could it be? And how on earth could I survive this time of year without going shopping for school supplies? Then I remembered!

"Wrong!" I triumphantly answered him, "I need supplies for Drake this fall!" We both laughed and resumed our shopping trip, minus the school supplies (they weren't on our list - and besides, it's best to hold out until everyone else has bought theirs and then buy them on clearance, fyi). This conversation made me think, though, and it made me realize that the truth is that I will never be done shopping for school supplies. More than anything I hope the day never comes when fall doesn't mean time to go back to school. I love school; I always have and I think I always will.

All this to say, one week into my "job" at Drake, and I'm loving it. I thought I wouldn't like teaching, but standing up and leading a discussion for a classroom full of eager students is one of the most exhilarating (albeit tiring) things I've ever done. This environment is where I'm most comfortable and where I find my energy and my joy.

To be fair, you must know that a huge part of why I love my job is the fact that I get to take Arabic and German while I'm here. I'm so spoiled! Aaron pointed out this morning that very few people get the chance to do what I'm doing now. At the ripe age of 20, I've been given the responsibilities of a full-on professor, the chance to study, to research, and to lead group discussion in a truly academic way, while still learning and watching those who are instructing me in these tasks. I get to sit in on faculty meetings and spend time with some brilliant minds in the field of Second Language Acquisition. And on top of all that, I have the privilege of learning not one, but two, languages for free!

So, Fall, do your worst! You are beautiful and I welcome you with open arms. I am so grateful today to be in this place and to be so blessed by my Maker with a sharp mind, an amazing understanding of languages and a love for the intellectual, the academic. I am so content right now to be Profesora Andrea Woodard!

State Fair

A fun (albeit somewhat stressful) day at the Iowa State Fair with two adorable little ones... and their mommy

Layla the nurse with Clifford the big red dog

Petting baby turkeys

Flying on their favorite ride

Three little cuties in front of the big map

Day on the Lake

Aaron's friend, Dan, and his fiance, Molly, invited us to go to the lake with them on Saturday. We were taking care of our adorable niece, Layla, this weekend, and we weren't sure if we should take her along with us, but in the end it turned out that she had more fun than all the rest of us.

She LOVED jumping off the boat into the water and, with her little life jacket on, we didn't have to worry too much about her ability to keep herself from drowning, although she's a good little swimmer anyways. It was a really fun time out on the water, and we even got Aaron to get in for a little bit! What a wonderful day in the sun.

The boys (Jake, Alex, and Dan) did flips off the back of the boat. Aaron made a great judge and handed out scores for difficulty and execution.

Alan David Mayen Giron

The newest addition to our family of A's, Alan David joins Arlin Lisbeth! Like Arlin, who shares Aaron's birthday, Alan has a special connection since he shares Andrea's birthday. He loves to play ball games and his favorite subject is drawing. He is an adorable 5 (almost 6) years old. He lives in Guatemala, just like Arlin, and we're hoping that someday we can go visit these two special children who have become a part of our family! We're so blessed and we're glad we can use our resources to bless other children. Isn't he cute?

Weekend Barbeque

Things I love: 

Cute nieces,

Sticky fingers,

My adorable husband,

Family time,

and big smiles!

7th and 8th Grade Late Night Party

Last Tuesday was the 7th and 8th grades' late night party at the church. It was a fun time, including pizza, a game of sardines, and  Night in the Museum 2. It was fun for us to continue to get to know the kids better, as we are going to be working with them over the next year, and it was fun to hang out with the wonderful Corey and Jennifer.

Waiting for Daisy

This week I read a heartwarming book called Waiting for Daisy: A Tale of Two Continents, Three Religions, Five Infertility Doctors, an Oscar, an Atomic Bomb, a Romantic Night, and One Woman's Quest to Become a Mother. It was the amazing story of the infertility of Peggy Orenstein, and I recommend it to all. It would also be a great reading group book. For me, what struck me about this book was her brutal honesty about the importance of wisdom in youth. Throughout the book, this late-thirties/early-forties year-old must deal with the fact that the choice she made not to have children in her youth affected her ability to have them once she actually wanted to. In the epilogue she comes to the conclusion that

It touched me. It is quite the challenge, to dream and hope for the future. I am struck by my need to "reckon with my dreams" not yet fulfilled, to find a wisdom beyond my years in order to look back before I move forward. Where do I find the courage to never regret? And how do I live my life in a way that I do not regret. Anyone who knows me knows that I have lots of ideas and visions, WAY more than I could ever actually fulfill. Pray for me, and pray for us, as we decide what to do, when to do it, and how to live with no regrets. 

Family Time

On Sunday we were incredibly blessed by a visit from two of Aaron's siblings: Vanessa and her family and James and his wife. We had a very special time together and are glad to see God's healing hand at work in each and every family member. It was also fun to spend some time with Myles, Aaron's four-year-old nephew and to hear about James and Regi's upcoming plans to move to Hong Kong and teach at an international school there. We are also praying for wisdom for Chris and Vanessa as they decide whether to move closer to Des Moines to be closer to family. We would love to be able to see them more often, especially their adorable little one!

Today was another Tuesday play date with Mikey and Layla. Here are a few adorable shots I got of them at the park!