i'm not quite dead yet

Anyway, things are going a lot smoother here now, I am VERY happy to say. I came back from a retreat that we (all the national volunteers) had in Colorado and I had a lot more peace and encouragment about my situation here. It was just nice to vent to people who knew my situation and understood that my ministry here is difficult and really hard work sometimes. It made me feel like I wasn't alone or that I wasn't catching on, but that it would be hard for anyone and I have a lot of support! Plus I just really had awesome time with God and got to straighten some things out on that end that brought me great peace. It was phenominal. I think that I want to move to Colorado! I love it out there so much. It's so peaceful and open. The air is cleaner and there are trees and wild animals....and no traffic and lights and noise and Spanish-speaking people everywhere! And absolutely no hurricanes!
But that retreat was two weeks ago now and I have been running here ever since. I think that I have the hang of things as far as the music school goes and I'll have it fine-tuned soon enough. The best thing is the people here. I get to hang out with really funny musicians almost every night, sometimes until 4am! I also love my roomates. There are four of us, all women, in a fairly large house and I love it. Now we have a new addition....our puppy Gustavo, Gus for short. They are the reason that I didn't pack up and ship back to Chicago during my first month here. We get together and watch movies and eat chocolate chip pancakes or cookie dough and talk about life here and the things that are going well, and the things that suck. It reminds me of college when the B-1 girls would all get together and have deep discussions about life or just rant about absolutely nothing. Community is so important to me and I feel like I have a great one here in Miami. What a huge blessing!

Thanks to all of you who sent encouragement to me during this transition. I really needed it! I have the best friends ever!

More later, but right now I have to actually work. Whatever.