After almost 6 years of TALKING about leaving Dallas...I'm finally doing it. Here's the scoop. This past semester was rough for me. A guy I was really excited about left me in the cold two days before Christmas and a few days before my big 30th birthday. I began to question my life more heavily than my normal neurotic self. An avid follower of Donald Miller on twitter, I noticed a post to come to a "Storyline Conference" in Portland in the Spring. It literally changed my thinking. I have to take steps myself in order to change my actual life, but the conference opened my eyes to some new thought processes. Two things stuck out to me. The first was an exercise where he asks us to imagine our lives, one year, 5 years, 10 years from now...if NOTHING at all changes. Hell to the NO. There was NO way I was going to be 35, 40yrs old and STILL Coaching(a job I'm not meant for), STILL living in the suburbs (which are brimming with eligible bachelors...no not really), STILL commuting 17 miles to work on I35 everyday. I didn't feel valued in my Coaching position. I didn't feel like my ideas mattered, or my time mattered, or that I was being the best version of myself. It felt like I had two full-time jobs that I was somehow hoping to cram inside 60hrs/week and somehow still maintain a social life and healthy lifestyle to prevent myself from becoming a lonely hermit. The second was a brainstorming game Don had us do, and call out our our answers to the crowd. It's simply titled, the "What If?" game. And the only rule is that there are NO ceilings, NO stipulations, NO reality. You just say whatever you can think of. "What if I started running again?, What if I pet a Tiger?, What if I wrote a book? What if I taught in Hawaii?, What if I got a masters degree? What if I changed careers altogether? What if I sold every last thing I own and just got in my car? What if I moved?...yeah...What IF I moved? People move all the time!...What if I MOVED?!!" My stream of thinking went something like that.
In May I attended just one of my NINE baby/wedding showers, and it happened to be in Austin. As I was paddle-boarding Town Lake with my friend Aaron, he says to me, "Carisse when are you going to move here? You've been talking about it for a long time and look how fun it could be. You could do stuff like this(paddle boarding) all the time! You don't have to retire here, just come spend a year, and if you don't like it you can leave. Now, get me your resume and I'll see what I can do."
Me: "Okay Aaron". (rolls eyes)
Aaron: "By Monday."
And you know what? I did. I took the next week, I got all my stuff together and I applied to Austin ISD, Del Valle ISD (where Aaron works) and Lake Dallas ISD (where my house is). I finished applying on a Sunday night. Austin called me Wednesday, after I freaked out and called my advisers I accepted an interview for the following Saturday. Drove to Austin, interviewed at IHOP and was hired on the spot. And just like that! Voila! Within one week I was out of coaching, out of the suburbs, out of a 17mile commute.
I recently tweeted to Donald Miller and told him his "What If" game had worked. HE WROTE BACK. (heart stopped. I'm in love.) Do you understand that a NYTimes BEST SELLING AUTHOR wrote a few words to me? :)
God has calmed my fears for the most part. There has been lots of freaking out this summer. My house sold, then buyers backed out, then almost sold and leased a dozen more times. Currently I have no buyer or renter but God has helped me there as well. I was NOT planning on having anymore roommates, seeing as how I am 30yrs. old and never lived alone. But through a crazy fluke, I found a TWO BR apartment for rent, 1 mile south of Barton Springs and Zilker park (near the action), for less than most ONE BR cost. With my friend Ginny living with me, our rent + bills will be under $500 a month. AMAZING. And perfect since I'm still currently paying a mortgage, AND Corinth utilities, AND storage unit, AND moving truck. And by the way, I am ONLY having a storage unit based on the chance that Ginny could move out at any time and I will have a guest room. Perhaps I should just sell it all? We'll talk about it with Mom tomorrow.
Monday night I didn't sleep one wink. I can't sleep when I have too much to think about. It's like my brain doesn't have time to sleep because we are too busy sorting things out. Exhausted, I went to my first training with AISD Tuesday. At the end of a wonderful and interesting training, my new principal gets up and says something along these lines as my tears welled up fuller and fuller. "Something you should know about me is that your Principal is a prayerful person. Each morning when I drive to school I pray for you guys, for the day, for the kids, and I hope you'll do the same. I gave my life to Christ when I was 17 and I truly view this as mission work, not just a job. We are helping to save lives here, not just improve test scores. Each one of you has been called here by Divine intervention. I truly believe that. I look forward to working with you this year as we meet our scholars."
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? He's like a dream come true. I was so emotional the rest of the day. That was all the affirmation I needed to realize this move was a good idea. That all my doubts and fears were silly. Needless to say, I'm stoked about my new job.
Another activity in my current life was my decision to get adult braces. Had them since February. Note the hotness in the below picture. I realize braces for teeth like mine are about as frivolous as a nose job. But whatever, I haven't worn my retainer since 8th grade and to me they were getting increasingly gnarly. I'll wear them for a max of one year and then they'll be off. I got the bottom ones on Monday. My lands they hurt. I must look similar to a bulldog when I eat because it hurts so bad. But that means they are shifting to straight! 5 more months to go and I should have them off after Christmas!
Ladies. If you need a break from dating. If you'd like some time for yourself, some time to focus on the Lord without the distraction of men, if you'd like to lose a little weight. Get the braces! Men may give you a glance right up until you open up those pearly metals and then their gaze immediately reverts to anything ELSE in the room. Its almost comical. This has been a complete confidence booster for me (follow my logic here), because my metal mouth is SO crazy, I'm not even TRYING to be flirty or pretty right now. So I feel like I have a lot more confidence! I like to call this my cocoon year. I got dumped. Got braces. Working out. Hair(and color)growing out. By the time I get these braces off it SHOULD be like whoa, your smile is like a commercial! your clothes fit again! your hair has gotten so long! look how many books you've read instead of being on dates! I like being in the cocoon ladies. I like it way better than being a creepy 30yr. old on the prowl. Did I mention my teeth hurt today? Bless my heart.
I'm really going to miss Chuck. He's my roomie's pup. I've just grown to love him so much. I WILL have a dog someday. When I have a yard again that will be the FIRST thing I do.
AND for your viewing pleasure here is a picture of Michael Phelp's abdominals. Good grief.
