"Is this ACTUALLY my life... how did I get so lucky?"

Yesterday in class, in the middle of a discussion on psychoanalytic critical analysis and it's aporte to literature in general, and Latin American short story, in specific, I was suddenly overcome by a total sense of awe at the incredible blessing it is for me to actually get to live this life God has given me! I can't believe I'm so blessed to be able to spend my days studying and learning languages and I get to spend my evenings growing and building deep friendships with other people who are my age and interested in a lot of the same stuff I am.

I said to a friend this morning, "I wish I could just sit around for the rest of my life and discuss languages and linguistics and literature... oh, wait, I do!!!" Learning about how we say things and talk to one another, and how we put those words together to mean beautiful and wonderful things that speak so deeply to who we are and what we believe, I just love it! My classes are so intriguing and entertaining. Aside from just taking classes, I've gotten to sit in on other professor's intro-level classes, and I must say, I'm enjoying that immensely as well! We're learning invaluable strategies and teaching methods that I no-doubt will use frequently next year in my own classroom. I even had a chance this week to teach a lesson to an upper-level class, and I loved it! I taught a short lesson on written accents and was so pleased when one of the students came up to me after class to say just how enlightening my lesson had been! Teaching, in general, just gives me a total rush! Also, it's so fun to tutor and chat with students who are excited about learning Spanish and working really hard at it, or, in contrast, to inspire students to love the language and appreciate the need to learn to communicate effectively with those who don't speak English. I feel so passionately about this and I just can't contain myself when I get to share that passion with someone else! What a blessing!

Another huge blessing is the fact that, after class on Wednesdays, I get to turn around and do the opposite of what I do all morning, and that is teaching English to the dear people who faithfully show up to the church each week to learn more and, in their words, "to be better for this country." I work with the advanced group, so they speak pretty good English, and most of them have lived in the U.S. for many years, but we are working on advanced grammar and writing, which can be a challenge for me.

Every other night of the week, I get to study, spend time with my wonderful husband, and hang out with our many new friends here in Waco. Basically, I'm the most blessed and the most spoiled girl in all of Texas, if not the world! I love what I'm doing right now. I love my studies; I love my free time. We have wonderful friends and a wonderful church. We're even close enough to Dallas to get to see family every few weeks. I couldn't ask for more, and I can't believe this is actually my life!

Aaron and I at the Baylor football game where we defeated TCU  "SIC'EM BEARS!"