2012 was a year full of blessings, new experiences, and changes.
I rang in the new year with Robby in Dublin in the middle of our UK adventure- after sightseeing and theatre-going in London and before heading up to Scotland to join Aileen and her wonderful and inviting family. But the travels did not end at the end of Christmas break. I was fortunate to be going back to one of my favorite places in the world, Spain, to continue my work as a Language and Culture assistant at I.E.S. Alta Axarquia in the mountains of Periana while living in the beach town of Torre del Mar, Malaga.
March continued the adventure. I started applying for jobs back in the US and my parents arrived to the Costa del Sol.
In April, I was blessed to see the way the Spanish culture celebrates Holy Week (Semana Santa) and I became tour-guide for my parents. It was incredible to be able to show them a little about my life that I had made for myself in Spain. Also, during April, I took the huge step of buying my ticket to fly back home, a strong assurance that no matter how much I wanted to stay in Spain, I would, in fact, be coming home. At the end of April, Taylor came to visit me and we adventured up to Madrid, where I had fallen in love with Spain 2 years before. Returning to Madrid gave me hope that I was not saying goodbye to Spain forever. It would still be there when I return.
May came around and the time I had left in Spain was dwindling. I celebrated my birthday with an amazing group of people who I had become so close to over the past 8-9 months. It also warmed up enough for me to take my first swim in the Mediterranean of the year. It had been warm enough to soak in the sun on the beach before this, but finally a day came in May when I was finally able to fully enjoy the perks of living in a beach town. May went by so fast, filled with days at the beach and meals and afternoons with friends.
Towards the end of May, I traveled to France with Jeff Ralston and I saw yet another city and another flavor of Europe. The last days in Torre del Mar were filled with celebrations of friendships, hard goodbyes, and fun happy hours at Vox. Then, the time came when I had to say goodbye to Malaga- my Spanish home. But although I was saying goodbye to one chapter of my life, I knew more great adventures were to come.
In June, I traveled to Berlin, Italy (Rome, Orvieto, Florence & Venice), and Ireland (Dublin and Galway), with Laura. Although it was a strange transition time for me, being neither in my Spanish home nor in my US home, I saw some amazing things that this world has to offer and I got to experience it with my wonderful sister-in-law. And with that last European tour, my trip of a lifetime drew to a close.
It was great to come back to my family and give Twix a huge hug. Then shortly after arriving home, we moved to our new house. This was a huge season of change for me. I had barely begun adapting to life back in the United States and already, I had to adapt to a new house as well. But the move went well and it was all in the same area so I still had some consistency in my life. In June, I took a short break from the craziness of the move and figuring out what to do next in my life to go camping with Julie and Keatyn. I knew adventures weren't over when I left Spain and this was proven true when a storm swept in and took down a tree on our campsite into our fire. We all came out alive and unharmed but it definitely wasn't your normal camping trip.Mitchell and Laura stayed with us until they began their trip to California in July. During this month I was busy working at the Cheesecake Factory, nannying, applying to jobs and trying to figure out what I should do with my life. I was also plugged into a great women's small group and we have been meeting since then, sharing and growing together.
In August, I continued to figure out what to do next in my life. I didn't like the floundering feeling where I didn't have a strong clear direction of what was supposed to come next. All my life, I've known the steps to take and the direction I was going way in advance. But for one of the first times in my life, the direction was unclear and I really struggled but grew in relying on God. Knowing that he knows the plans for my life, even when I do not, and that they are better than any plans I could make for myself. I met up with Eddie in August and we reminisced on our Spanish adventures by going to a Real Madrid game here in Philadelphia. At the end of August, I received a life-changing email from Immaculate Heart of Mary wondering if I was still interested in teaching Spanish. An opening had just come about and they received my resume from Archmere. I set up an interview and got the job that day and then the following Monday, started up with teacher in-service week and planning and preparation for the school year. A week later, I taught my first Spanish class.
September was full of planning and preparation. I spent hours upon hours in school preparing for the lessons to come. Not much went on in September around my crazy teacher's schedule, but I did host the bridal shower for Kim and I squeezed in a swing dancing night as well.
October continued on as September did. I became more confident as a teacher and planning slowly became easier. I also grew in friendships with people from Ogletown Baptist Church which I had been attending.
In November, I took a weekend to travel up to Gordon College to see Dance Team perform at Midnight Madness and to see the Theatre Departments production of Working. It was good to go back since I hadn't seen the campus since the summer before Spain. But it also was a great moving-forward part in my life. I had a wonderful experience at Gordon which I wouldn't trade for the world, but that was a chapter in my life, just like Spain. Things might have been great there, but there are things even better ahead of me. I also went down to DC/Arlington for a weekend where I saw Eddie and then I went to see Sergio and I met some of his friends and then had a blast salsa dancing with him and going to see his church the next day.
December came so quickly. At school, I was working on getting certain things done before the Christmas holiday. I went on the NYC field trip with my 8th graders and saw the Radio City show. Things wrapped up at school well even though the last week was hectic between the christmas concert and different field trips. But I did see Elf about 3 times over the course of that week. Christmas was good and full of delicious food. It was good to be home for Christmas this year with family since last year I just skyped with them. But I did miss Mitchell for the holiday. Shortly after Christmas we celebrated the wedding of Kim and Matt. I am so incredibly happy for those two and the wedding went beautifully.
And that brings us to today. New Years Eve. The last day of 2012. It was a year full of adventure, goodbyes, change, and growth. I don't know if 2013 will be able to top it, but I'm sure excited to see it try.
Dios te bendiga en el año nuevo!
God bless you in the New Year!
-Kaitlyn
