Coming back to blogging...

My life has been a whirlwind this past year and many of the things I love have been put on the back burner. Things have not really begun to settle down yet, but I am making a commitment to myself to begin to enjoy those past-times that once brought so much joy to me and those that I have not had the opportunity to experience for the past 12 years: knitting, dancing, spending time with true friends, blogging...so here I am again.

I figure I will put a very brief update here for those of you who may have thought I'd fallen off the face of the earth, if anyone who ever read this little blog are still around. I am now divorced, still have 3 beautiful children, still working on that MA in French and looking to move my life forward in many ways.

I've been accepted to the French Linguistics program at Indiana University and I'm currently working on getting permission from the courts in Florida to move up there with my kids. This will mean moving in with my parents who live near enough to the university to commute daily and who will provide an awesome support system that I have been lacking for so long. I won't go into details of the case since it is pending, still waiting for the court date, all I will say is that it is proving to be more difficult than ever expected.

I have found through the experience of my divorce and this process of relocation that I have some amazing friends, old and new. Facebook has allowed me to reconnect with some of my high school friends and they have proven themselves to be true friends, providing the support of a listening ear and prayer. I have also discovered that I've been working with some really cool people for the past two years, finally having the ability to spend time with them and build true relationships, I have discovered those same listening ears and prayerful support, as well as fun people to hang out with. I only wish that I would have realized it sooner, we are all going our separate ways in a few short weeks and I will miss everyone dearly.

The kids have fared as well as can be expected through this past year. I have seen many changes in them for the positive as they are being exposed to a new environment at Mommy's house, my understanding is not the same of their behavior at Daddy's house, but I can never know for certain. They are adjusting well to the time-sharing schedule of spending about half of their nights at each house, but they are so adaptable, I feel they would adjust to whatever life throws their way and still come out on top.

They have all grown so much, it's hard to believe that Elisabeth just finished 5th grade and will be moving onto middle school next year, Joseph has completed 1st grade and was accepted into the gifted program (but is still bored in school) and Margaret is now 2 years old and shows no delays in development due to her prematurity...they are all amazing children.

These next few weeks will be a great challenge for me. I will finish teaching my last class at UF in a week and a half, I will need to focus on getting my thesis finished by the end of July and also prepare for a relocation trial around the same time as my thesis defense. Being someone who thrives on planning her life, whether the plans fall into place or not, I am finding myself struggling with the uncertainty of my life right now and leaning more and more on prayer and the support of those around me, both near and far.