9/11

Ten years ago I was woken by a phone call from my father alerting me that America was under attack by terrorists. That a plane had taken down the World Trade Centers, hit the pentagon and a fourth plane in Pennsylvania.

I turned on the tv, anxious to take in more information. I sat on that couch where I had been sleeping for the last few weeks still in my pajamas and poured over everything that Katie Couric was saying. I couldn't imagine what this meant for my country, nor what it would still mean 10 years later.

It was just two weeks prior that I had gotten on a plane from Richmond for my new home and new normal in Texas. I was working at Target and had classes at Tarrant County. I didn't know many people in this strange place. At the time my mom was still in Richmond while our house there was on the market. I thought about my mom. I thought about those families in New York, Washington, and around the world. I questioned what this would mean for us, our country and our future.

I was fearful for more, a flash of memories from apocalyptic stories that were taught in my church classes from the time I was little. The future seemed so uncertain. I wasn't sure what my future looked like. And looking back I remember wondering if all I have now would even be possible.

I felt so alone in the first months (and sometimes years) after 9/11. I didn't have any friends. I had just left the only life I had ever known and America had just been attacked. I had nothing to cling to except for hope. Hope for healing and for comfort.

Ten years later and I can't put into words how thankful I am for those that rose up after 9/11 and fought back and ensured our freedoms. Those that are still fighting so that my children can have the same kind of life that I have been blessed to have.

We are all so thankful.

Falling in love with fall

I'm so glad that the month of August is over. It makes me irrationally giddy for boot weather to hurry up and get here. I love fall, it's all cozy and cool, all laid back and relaxed. I definitely think it's the most chill of the seasons, like if mother nature had a family, fall would be that awesome aunt/uncle with the cool glasses and giant cup of coffee that listened to good music and drove you to get ice cream when you were a kid.

That seems really random, but that's just how my brain has been working lately. I'm blaming the frillion days of over 100 degree summer weather we've been having in Texas. Or fatigue. I really did just google, "where to buy 5 Hour Energy in bulk." Sams Club has it, just an FYI.

My plate is admittedly full and each day seems to bring some other awesome opportunity that tugs at my heart. Just when I think I can figure out how to shift the weight of that heaping portion of responsibility to one side in order to squeeze a tiny sliver of pie (Or say, a girls-only weekend), I trip over my own feet and my plate ends up a yucky sloppy mess scattered amongst the shattered glass and I have to clean it all up and start all over again only more hungry than I was before. It's a cycle.

I think we have some really great things ahead of us in the coming months. I'm not a person that gets their hopes up, but the prospect of the change in our lives makes my heart and soul happy.

Fall is right around the corner. I can see it in the leaves and feel it in the air. I'm anxious for the dried up layers and tired days to end, like my soul shedding its skin and starting over with a new season. Refreshed. Renewed. Relaxed.