October 29th.
Exactly one year ago today I posted my very first blog (Here’s the Thing).
It is crazy to think about how much has happened in a year.

In one years time I:
Began a relationship
Graduated college
Started graduate school
Ended a relationship
Found out some exciting news that I am unsure if I can share yet
Moved away
Completed a quarter of my graduate career

Time is a funny thing. It seems to move ever so slowly in the moment, but when you take a second to look back you are blown away by how quickly it has gone. How is it possible that this time last year I was a quarter of the way through my senior year and supposedly going to WVU for grad school? How did I end up here in DC at Catholic already a quarter of the way through my program?

Since moving away from home, I have learned a lot about myself. I am more of a homebody than I thought I was. With that being said, I have realized that I probably will not move back to West Virginia on a permanent basis. I miss my family, but I love being on my own yet close enough to go home if I need to.

So much has changed. Things began to change before I left West Virginia, I just did not want to see it. Now that I am on the outside I have been able to see how things had changed so drastically I had just refused to see it.

I started this blog high on life, thinking I knew exactly what God had in store for me. I had predicted what the next few years of my life would look like and I ran with it. Funny thing is, every single one of those predictions were wrong.

This happens to me over and over again yet I never learn. One day I will learn to live life day to day instead of planning years into the future. I am semi-practicing this now. Only because I am in a phase of life where I have absolutely no idea what I am doing.

I graduated just under six months ago and I will graduate again in just over six months. I graduate with my masters and will be done with school for good. Continuing my education can no longer be my fall back plan. There are so many options post graduation. There are endless options right here in D.C. and even more beyond.

I have been asked over and over again what I plan to do once I graduate.
Answer is: I will tell you when I know.

I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me next. The old me would be freaking out right about now. I graduate in six months and have no idea what comes next??? What?? Honestly, I do not care. I am enjoying where I am. I am enjoying this life that I am building for myself here. I do not want to think about being here longer then the scheduled six months, but neither do I want to think about leaving.

Today I was in one of my schools for my internship. I walked in to the main building and one of the staff members stopped me and asked if I worked at the school. We began to talk about how I was an intern from Catholic and how I was nearly done with my MSW program. She asked me if I was going to stay in DC post graduation because, “Surely you’re not going back to West Virginia!” I laughed and expressed my love for West Virginia, but that I did not see myself going back nor did I see myself staying in DC. She asked where I had in mind.
No where. I can literally go any where with a my MSW. DC, West Virginia, Alaska, or Africa! I love that I have so many options. Come December I will have to seriously start praying and considering my options, but for now I will just sit back and enjoy this life.

Life is full of surprises
It is full of laughter and tears
It is full of exciting beginnings and sorrowful endings
It is full of difficult decisions
It is full of God’s mercy and grace

So here’s the thing:
No matter how dark the clouds,
How close the lightning,
How loud the thunder,
There is no storm too grand for God to walk you through,
There is no storm too violent for God to shelter you from,
Despite the rolls of thunder or strikes of lightning,
There is no storm you cannot weather with God by your side.
Life is A storm You can Weather.