I can hardly believe we are approaching the six-month mark from our move to Columbus.
Time flies when you're ... insanely busy. We have fallen in love with our new city but have been aching to do a little exploring outside its limits. So on one day of my fall break, we took a day trip to Yellow Springs — a crunchy little town about an hour west from our place.
It was a perfect and much-needed getaway from our hectic schedule, which I'll talk more about in a bit. But for now, here's how we spent our day:
We started off by grabbing brunch at Sunrise Café — a great recommendation from a friend.
We then let Dawson run around a playground before heading to to Clifton Gorge, which is what Ohioans refer to as hiking. It's practically hiking — minus any elevation change. The scenery was gorgeous and we really enjoyed the peace and quiet.
Next we checked out the Glen Helen Raptor Center, where we eavesdropped on a third-grade field trip to learn all about predators.
Lastly, we grabbed some ice cream at Young's Jersey Dairy and checked out the shoppes in town before calling it a day and heading back home feeling refreshed and ready to hit the ground running in the morning!
And for a life-update:
Josh is working part-time as a sports clerk at The Columbus Dispatch (newspaper). He works late nights inputing content for the sports agate pages. He is also freelancing for the Idaho State Journal. He works full-time between the two jobs, but he's continuing to search for a steady, full-time position here in Columbus. We never imagined it would take this long for him to find a good job here, but we've been blown away by the ways in which the Lord has provided for us. We are constantly reminded that He had this path laid out for us long before we could have dreamed it up ourselves. I'm sure someday we'll look back at how crazy this season was (and how crazy we were for doing this), but for now it's just our normal.
I spend about 20 hours a week in class and clinicals. On top of that are a few online classes and enough homework and studying to keep me occupied at least another 20 hours a week. This program is insanely fast-paced, and I've never been more academically challenged. Thankfully, this week marks the halfway point of this semester. They say it's the most challenging semester of the program, and I really hope it's true — that it doesn't get worse than this.
I feel drained in every way imaginable and owe much of my survival to Josh; his support is unbelievable. Because he has gracefully stepped in to manage much of our household, I can be successful in the throes of an accelerated program like this. That said, I still feel remarkably blessed to be here chasing my dream.
Dawson goes with the flow, which has been a huge answer to prayer. He continues to be an outrageously energetic and outgoing little guy that's always up for an adventure. He spends a few hours a week with a wonderful babysitter that watches him when our schedules overlap and for a quick date night each Friday, which has been the saving grace for our marriage amongst the chaos.
In August, we rented "Bye Bye Bink" from the library and ditched his pacifier, which was super emotional for me (where'd my baby go?!). Around the same time, he upgraded from a crib mattress on the floor to a twin bed. He still talks about his "NEW BED!" with enthusiasm and we're thrilled that he seems to sleep a little better on it. He counts to ten, "One, two, bee, bor, bive, dix, deben, eight, nine, ten!" He'll go to the bathroom on the potty almost anytime we ask but rarely tells us he needs to go. Someday we'll get him potty trained. He's quick to tell me, "Mama I missed you!" after a long day, but don't let that sweetness fool you — earlier today he said, "Mama, stop talkin'!" Needless to say, his newfound ability to speak in sentences has kept us all entertained.
Thank you for keeping up with our family. Your support means everything.
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