~as we say our "good bye" to Colorado~

It will soon be two years that I came to Colorado's Western Slopes to make my home here in Montrose as a newly married and newly (once again) retired Kansas school teacher.  On the 20th of May of 2013, Mike flew to Wichita, Kansas and met me in Hutchinson where I was finishing up my second to the last day of being a teacher.  On the 21st, the official last day of school for USD 308 of Hutchinson, we were married in the gymnasium after the last bell of the school year rang.  Surrounded by all of the students at Lincoln Elementary, our families and close friends and all the good people that I have known and worked alongside as a teacher, we stood underneath the basketball goal and were married.  Our good friend, Judge Buck Lyle performed our wedding service and when it was all over, that mass of humanity enjoyed cookies and punch together.  With tears in my eyes, I said "good bye" to the many little children that I had known in my years of teaching there as well as all of the dear friends that had become like my second family.  It was tough to leave them all behind but a new life awaited me with this guy that I had known nearly 4 decades ago when we went to school in the same little town called "Haven, Kansas".  

Life changed from that moment on.  

Our first 3 months together were a struggle as I suffered through some pretty serious issues with homesickness and loneliness for the life that I used to know back there on the plains of Kansas.  I nearly gave up, time and time again.  I began to question why I made this drastic change in life and seriously started to doubt that I would ever survive here.  Boxes that had been brought from my old home in Hutchinson were left untouched, the contents sealed safely inside.  I wasn't sure why I would want to unpack them anyways.  For the first 12 weeks, I really did not see a future here in the mountains of Colorado.

Mike was patient and kind, very loving and understanding.  He reminded me all along that it would be fine and all I needed to do was to take the tiniest of baby steps and one way or the other, we'd make it.  At first I didn't even believe him but little by little I found out that he was right.  We did make it and I didn't have to die to be able to say that.  I survived and I thrived.

The greatest blessing that could have ever happened for Mike and I was the day that I was hired to be a teacher up the road a ways at Olathe Elementary.  It was only a few days before school was to begin but it didn't matter to me.  What did count was that I would be able to find a way to make a connection here to the life that I had left behind 3 months earlier.  I went to work that first year as a fourth-grade teacher and even though I'd never taught a fourth grade class for the entire day, I made it it remarkably well.  My teaching partners, Erin and Amanda, stood by me and taught me everything I needed to know.  To those two women, I will always be remembering.  They had to answer some pretty silly questions from me but they did it time and time again and never made me feel as if I didn't have a clue as to what I was doing.  I found out that teaching fourth grade was a lot of fun and in the year's time that I did so, I learned a tremendous amount about the students I taught and myself as well.  This year I have been so fortunate to have stayed at Olathe for another year.  This time I've been able to return to one of the first grade classrooms, a place that I am quite accustomed to with nearly half of my years of teaching experience being in the primary grades.  Once again I have been fortunate to have 3 teaching partners who have helped me in any way that they could.  Amy, Sarah and Cali are very experienced teachers in the primary and to them I will always be grateful.

Now as the school year comes to an end in the very few weeks that lie ahead, it is time for a change.  It's not exactly one that was planned on, even as short of a time as 4 months ago but sometimes things like that happen.  Life is what it is.  One thing is for sure.

Change is inevitable and many times it is for the best.  

Mike and I are moving at the very beginning of the summer to the city of Wichita Falls, Texas where I hope to be teaching if and when a job should become available.  It will be a huge change for the both of us.  Mike has lived here in the Colorado Rockies for the past 20 years and even though I have only been in Montrose for the past 2 years, I had begun to get kind of used to it.  To uproot ourselves and head to a place nearly 800 miles to the southeast of us here will be a challenge.  There are no beautiful mountains to look at from the kitchen window but there will be other good things to see.  It will all be a matter of how we keep our perspective.  The journey lies ahead of us and even though it is scary to venture into the great "unknown", one thing shall always be for certain.

As long as we stick together, we will more than likely make it.  God's "master plan" is at work here and in its own time, shall be shown to us.  It takes a lot of courage to do this and a huge amount of faith.  After spending a whole lot of time on God's mighty anvil as He refined the character that I had become, one thing is for certain.  

I don't think He is done with me yet.  

January of 2013~
The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park~
Two kids from the "land of long ago and far, far away".

Two of the best friends that we have ever had together in this life.  LeRoy and Anne saved us from ourselves more times than I would ever care to mention.

3 months after we were married at school, we went back to stand underneath the basketball goal once again for this photo :)

My very first year as an "Olathe Pirate".  I am sad to be leaving them behind.  The good folks at Olathe Elementary made the difference in our lives.  They saved our marriage and I'm not kidding when I say that.  An entire school community threw out a strong "life line" and made sure that a very homesick "flatlander" was able to find her own personal niche among them.

And so yes, the view will be different.  No longer will the San Juan Mountains provide the scenic backdrop for our every day lives.  Yet there is one thing I have learned as I have grown older and somewhat wiser.  There is beauty everywhere you look in this world of ours.  It's all in how you see it.

These two women have become like my second set of sisters or something.  Never mind that I am old enough to be their mom.  They don't seem to look at it that way.  Nikki and Mary, for everything you have done to help me I will always remain beholden to you for your kindness and genuine love and concern.

And so no matter what happens~we stick together.