It's been a while, hasn't it? A lot has happened since our last rondevous: I paid rent (for a couple places), bought mousetraps (for our apartment's new pet), spent the weekend with bonafide UT students (not that that's rare up here), endured ice, rain and wind that'll knock you back on your heels, sledded in Central Park, drank the best hot chocolate I have ever had, roller discoed like a pro and stayed out until 7am.
In all that, it crept up on me. Homesickness. I was talking to Char on the phone and started tearing up hearing her voice and hearing her talk about our girls and the team. Then I talked to my roomates and wanted sooo badly to hug them. Add to that I bit of stress and 6 looming months, and you've got it. I see homesickness like this: it hits once everything in a new place goes slightly off kilter, when little tradgedies (like getting my coat stolen) add up to an overwhelming state, when the people you're with don't know you as deeply as you wish, it takes your breath away for a second, maybe a couple days, but it is something that can be fought off. I think I also subconciously see it as a sign of failure, and hate to admit it to myself when it happens, but I'm getting over that mindset. Berlin prepared me for it, thankfully--I'm finding more and more uses from that trip these days--and I found myself pouring back into the Word (which I hadn't been doing as much). Everything had been going so well up here, that I set the Lord aside- in practice if not in thought. He used my lonliness (or caused it, who knows) to call me back before I didn't think I needed Him anymore. I realized that when people asked me how it was going I literallly would say, "So great because of all of the wonderful people I've met up here." In my mind I meant: all of the wonderful people the Lord has provided for me, isn't He incredible? But that's not what I was saying, and eventually it wasn't what I was thinking.
But, He did call me back, and I'm ready to walk through this with Him.
The weekend was surreal because some of my best friends from UT architecture were up here for a field trip. We ate at an incredible restaurant for restaurant week on Thursday, and on Friday I got to take the afternoon off work and go on the building tours they were doing. Calvin Tsao, of my firm Tsao & McKown, designed one of the apartment buildings we toured, so he took us through it. We also got to see Shigaru Ban's Shutter House! Literally opportunities I would never have thought I'd get. Afterward, Calvin treated us on the top floor of the Standard Hotel--a FABULOUS hotel in the meatpacking district with THE MOST incredible view of downtown I will ever see. Picture swanky NY, this was it.
Saturday night I went to a roller disco and skated until I couldn't feel my feet! It was so fun, and so quirky, but so crowded-which of course made it even funnier-- After that we got to sneak in to the SNL after after party! It starts at 4am and is really for all the pages and celebrities that want to stay up that late- Tom from Parks and Rec was there as was Jason Sudeikis! It is in a secret location and needs a password, so we immeadiately felt cool being there. We stayed for a couple hours, but when we left, my coat was no where to be found :( sad day. Cue emotional pivot. My mama is mailing me another one though, so all is not lost.
Sunday was lazy with a touch of precious Brooklyn, church and GLEE!
Monday was work, same old, but afterward I went to Planet Fitness for the first time (which I am a proud member of as of Sunday-the $10 a month just got to me). Let me tell you, it was gaHETto. It also happend to be Pizza Monday, and as I used the elliptical, I watched 200lb women eat slice after slice of pizza in the massage chairs in their workout clothes. Whatevs. Tonight was better, though there was no toilet paper in the bathroom.
I figured I'd post before I forgot how, but I'm going to try to keep it up once a week! Hope you're having a wonderful week! I miss you so much!
