Holiday Season

It's different doing holidays as a married couple- a good kind of different. However, this also means that there are now TWO sides of the family to accommodate, which is a blessing and an obstacle at the same time. This year, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my dad's family in Houston. We are celebrating Christmas with Andrew's family. I'm not sure what the holidays will look like in future years, as there is a very good chance we could be living in Louisville in the fall and it is at least a 12 hour drive from anything. It's hard when you want to spend time with both families but simply can't be everywhere at once! Thanksgiving this year was quite enjoyable. We got to spend some time with my cousin and her husband, who live in Utah. Our whole family does not get together very often, so this was probably the biggest family gathering we have had in awhile. I again avoided the opportunity to learn to play 42, the family game. Instead, it was nice to just catch up with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and parents. And, as is the case with all Hicks family gatherings, there was no shortage of food. We all stuffed our faces sufficiently.

When Andrew and I came home, we decorated the house with winter things. I have tried to do this in past years, but decorating a dorm room or an apartment is certainly not the same as decorating a home! This was a fun first experience to share together.

Last week, I decided that I am going to Peru on Spring Break for a mission trip with RUF. I went in 2008 and absolutely fell in love with Peru. I had to make the decision to go fairly quickly, so I prayed about it over a few days and wrote my support letter! I wish Andrew could go, but work will not permit him to take a week of vacation. Hopefully one day, we will get to experience Peru together. Trujillo, Peru (where we are going) is a broken and poor city, but there is beauty in the faces and in the way that people care for each other. It is my favorite place in the world (Camp Summit is a close second).

A great opportunity presented itself recently, and I hope it comes to pass. I will be graduating with a minor in Spanish, and a man from our church approached me on Sunday about this. He had received my support letter and saw that I will have a Spanish minor. Apparently, he has been looking for a Spanish tutor for his 6-year-old son, but was afraid to hire anyone who he did not know or trust. When the letter came, he thought I would be perfect for the job and asked me if I would be interested. Would I?! I have been looking for a job for next semester because I will not be able to substitute teach anymore (due to student teaching), but I did not want to overcommit myself to anything. I also want to keep up my Spanish after graduation and do not have many opportunities to do that. I really think this would be the perfect job for me. Mr. Acton is going to ask some other families from his son's school if they would also like to be tutored, so I would probably end up having several kids in my group. Wonderful.

I think I made a very bad decision today. The principal at Lincoln Elementary (where I have had my practicum and still sub often) approached me about taking a 2-week sub job for a kindergarten teacher who will be gone next week and the following one. I had been planning on subbing those two weeks anyway, so I said yes. I have no idea why. Kindergarten is my least favorite grade, and they are going to be especially terrible for a substitute. I do not know what I have gotten myself into. I really should learn that saying no to people is okay sometimes.

In Christ alone,
Mary Rachel