The path appears when you take the first step

This past week has been a pretty good one. I love spring. I love the spring-time holidays and spending time with family and friends.  The semester for my online class is wrapping up and my official PhD commencement is just a few short weeks away! (I officially graduated last August, but will participate in the graduation ceremony this month)

On Saturday I had a fantastic run, despite the snow on the ground. It was sunny and I listened to a "This American Life" podcast. Did 6.5 miles, which is my longest run in a very, very long time.  I'm very happy about increasing my mileage and really hope I can continue to do so.  I'm pretty sure I owe miss Tess a half marathon together sometime in the future.

Friday was the first night of Passover. It was also the 7th anniversary of my first date with J according to the Jewish calendar (Our first date was the first night of Passover, so we always joke about celebrating our anniversary according to the Jewish calendar ;) ) We had a lovely time at a family friend's Seder and got to spend time with some awesome people we see very rarely. 

Sunday was Easter. For me, Easter is a time for happy spring dresses and spending time with the family.  We also got to see some adorable little animals at church! (They had an Easter egg hunt, party, and mini petting zoo for the kids at church).  This was all followed by brunch with J's family, an afternoon walk with our dogs, and Skyping with my adorable nephews.

Our own animal, however, is kind of a goofball.

It's been fun to talk about holiday traditions with my students. Many of them have learned the American Easter traditions, but fewer of them know much about Passover, so I make sure to discuss both. I also talked about Dyngus Day with them. While it's not a major holiday, is definitely becoming more of an event in Cleveland and I thought they should know a little about it. I also discovered many of them celebrate something similar in their home countries (such as Romania, Hungary, and Czech Republic). And speaking of my students, I had a fabulous moment this morning when going over words for the house and yard with my class this morning. I asked my students "What is the chimney for?" and one student said "For Santa Claus."  Brilliant.  (and, on a side note, I'm a big of The ESL Teacher's Holiday Activities Kit. While it's rather dated, it makes a good jumping off point for lessons!)

I've been finding myself feeling rather reflective lately. I almost never talk about my weight, but I was thinking this morning about how it's been *ten years* since I had my "oh shit something has to change" realization about my weight/health and how different on SO many levels my life is now.  On the most superficial level, I am literally fifty pounds lighter than I was then! But my hopes, dreams, interests, and priorities in life have all shifted as well.

Speaking of self-reflection, this is also the time of year where academics (which many of my friends are) have to start to think about not only "what am I going to do now that I didn't get a job?" but "*who am I* now that I didn't get a job?" I am happy where I am now, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't still wonder that sometimes and I definitely still wonder where I'm going to end up.

This Sunday at church, our minister said something that really stuck with me. He was talking about the Passover story and how, if you read the scriptures, the Red Sea doesn't part magically as Moses approaches. It parts when he steps into the water. "The path appears when we take the first step."   I need to keep reminding myself this. I have taken so many "first steps" this past year, but I have a feeling there will be many more until my path appears. 

And, because I wanted to end on a lighter note, I spent a little bit of time with my dear sewing machine this afternoon. As I mentioned in my last post, I haven't been crafting as much as I'd like to be. But today, there was an urgent task that had to be completed in a timely manner:

Yes, folks, the home opener is tomorrow and I needed a new headband to wear :) Cross your fingers that it brings us luck... and that the weather holds out!  

Hope you all have a great weekend :)