so little time

As I sat down to write this post a thousand cliches about time came to mind, such as "Time flies when you are having fun" and "There is never enough time in a day". I know cliches are overused and so I will refrain from continuing the cheesiness. But they become overused for a reason, they are absolutely true. I have now been home two and half weeks with 4 weeks to go and time is just flying.

I just spent an amazing week in Philly with my best friends from college. We filled our time with the beach (or "the shore" as they say in Jersey), lots of eating out, shopping, birthday dinners, a trip to Naked Chocolate (an amazing chocolate cafe and one of my favorite places in the world...don't get me started on how much i love chocolate!), and of course, the reason we were all there, lots and lots of stuff for Sarah's wedding. We went out for her bachelorette party, cruising in style in a Cadillac Escalade Limo, rehearsed the wedding and enjoyed getting to know her other friends at the rehearsal dinner, and then enjoyed the big day with lots tears, laughter, and dancing! I was complimented many times on my reading of Psalm 100, to which I wanted to reply, "Thank you, I've been reading since Kindgergarten." But instead I just smiled and said thank you. Jackie and I even got to catch up with an "old friend" from college...actually he had never talked to us in college and we aren't sure he even knew our names, but he pretty much spent the entire reception talking to us, much to our amusement. It really was an amazing time. And the result was our little Sarah is all grown up and married...so weird! But my favorite times of the week were the times we sat around Jackie's apartment in pajamas, drinking smoothies or eating ice cream and just talking about life. A lot has happened to all of us over the past year since we had seen each other last and there was so much to catch up on. We never went to bed before 2am and one morning at 5:30 the sun was starting to peek through the blinds as we decided to get a few hours of sleep before a day full of rehearsing. Sleeping was such a waste of time, there was too much to talk about! It was a little strange however, because in talking to these people who know me better than anyone, my eyes were opened to how much I have changed over the last year. My friend was going through something really hard and I was able to help her through it because I had gone through almost the exact same thing 6 months before, and had really grown through that situation. Looking back over that time, it was almost worth all the pain then to be able to grow and help someone else because of it. Even though I had changed in many ways, as had the other girls, it didn't matter. We are the kind of friends you pray to find and once you do you never let go. We are growing and changing in different ways because all of our lives are very different, but we are friends where it matters, way down deep in the core of who we are. And that will never change.

That week flew by though, and saying goodbye is always so hard, especially when it will be at least another year before we see each other again. And now I am afraid of the remaining time here flying by as well. There are so many people I want to see, and not just see, but spend quality time with before I go back to Bolivia. I am not sure I am going to be ready to leave once July 30 rolls around, it just seems too close. And this time I am leaving for 10 months. Part of me thinks I might be just a little crazy. I am slightly dreading going back, knowing I that when I do my closest friend will no longer be there and she is how I survived this past year. I start to wonder why I decided to go back in the first place. And then I see the face of my kids and i remember the feeling I get in when I am teaching in my classroom. And I know it's where I am supposed to be. So right now, I will enjoy the next four weeks. I will enjoy the people here and just live life, making the most of every moment. Letting life happen.