the ahhh moments...

Right now, yes this moment of writing is an "ahhh" moment.

"Ahhh" moments are those moments when you realize that this is actually your life. This is actually happening to you. These moments could happen at anytime throughout the day. 

For instance, I am just sitting here relaxing on the couch in my parents house, writing. Writing the beginnings of a blog that will tell of the adventures I am soon to have in a far away land. Ahhh. This is my life, I am getting ready to leave. This is my life, the butterflies spring from their slumber even as I type.

Earlier there was another "ahhh" moment. I was sitting in my room. My phone buzzed with the excitement of sharing shoes. Packing. Oh I suppose that has to happen sooner or later. I am going to be packing for five months of traveling. That is another moment when you realize that this is actually happening. 

As I go through my life prior to leaving, my stomach turns with excitement and yet it is filled with butterflies that seem to erupt every time I think about the various items that I still have to do. I make the lists and then I always seem to lose them. I make more and seem to forget things. I have that nagging feeling that I am going to forget some of the most important items for my travels. Dreams keep occurring where I lose my passport or forget to pack anything at all.

I have daydreams of walking down the sidewalks of Wales and of my new University. All the daydreams are "ahhh" moments too. Yep I am really going, and yep this blog is really happening. And yep, this is my life. 

 "For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

        -Jeremiah 29:11

And yet, another "ahhh" moment...

the tales prior to wales...

Hello, and welcome to my very first blog. I hope you and I can go through this journey together. Or at least together in the sense that you see what I do and I am doing it. When I think of a blog, the image that pops in my head is this:

I am on a sidewalk bordering a sandy and sunny beach. I am rollerskating on the sidewalk. Looking rather stylish with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, I am flawlessly gliding across the sidewalk a very handsome man ahead of me catches my eye. We are going straight for each other. He glides in a curve every so gracefully, and I think he is trying to catch my attention with his skills. Well, he wasn't. He was swerving around a dog leash that some lady on a bench was holding. I skate straight into it, tripping and practically tackling a garbage can. You (the reader) are sitting on another bench close by the whole time, watching this scene with amusement. You get a kick out of this while I am embarrassed as ever, icing my knee and my pride.

That is my view of this blog, I am taking all the risks out there, trying to be graceful, and you get to sit in that chair and read about all the silly, strange, and adventurous things that I happen to come across. 

A little about myself. I am just a simple college student. I go to school at Central College (Go Dutch!). My training of choice is that of a mind-sculptor. I hope to become a high school teacher. But for this next semester, I will not be in the delightful town of Pella, but rather the lands of the United Kingdom. Bangor, Wales is where I will be resting my head for a whole semester. Studying abroad to live a little outside the lines. 

I don't know what is yet to come, but I am excited to take this journey. I hope you enjoy watching from the bench giving head-nods, laughs, giggles, snorts, or other various comments.