Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I missed posting something last week since I was having so much fun talking with my parents and siblings at my parent's home in Texas.

It has been a fun couple of weeks.
I was supposed to start the next stage of Indonesian where we actually break up into our smaller classes and get into the textbook material and so on. But one instructor was retiring, our class was not anticipated soon enough to hire another instructor or two in time, and there are several days around Christmas and New Year's when we are supposed to do study on our own and formal class is not held. So we ended up just in the same larger group, doing review of material we already had and finishing up the material we never got to. We also had one day canceled because of the huge snow storm that hit the area.

I took off the only three vacation days I have accumulated to this point and went to a family reunion that my parents have been planning for us for the last 2 1/2 years. Almost all of my siblings were there with their families. We missed my oldest brother and his family, but had a really good time relaxing and spending time together. It was colder than it usually is this time of year and we were cold most of the time, but it was still fun to be in a big beach house on the beach. I even took a dip in the freezing water a few times. Invigorating!

I kept up on my studying as well as I could so I don't lose what I have acquired. Most days I was able to still do a little studying. On Christmas Eve we didn't have class and I spent some hours studying and on Monday I spent most of the day studying. It worked out really well since we went down to the beach house on Tuesday morning early.

2009 was a year of many changes for me and my family. I feel very blessed and grateful for everything. I had two job changes, both of them jobs I have wanted for a long time and great opportunities. I moved across the country. I was released from the church calling I had for 5 years. I experienced the joys of not wearing a suit to work and of getting paid to learn a language. We sold our home. I have learned how to live with less with so many of my possessions in storage. I have seen a bunch of historical sights. I have met a lot of new people. It has been great. 2010 will continue to bring changes. It will be interesting to see what kind of experiences we have.

It has been a great holiday and I loved seeing my family and spending time with them, and I am excited to be home and to get back to work.