Happy as a clam, drinking Chai Tea for the first time in almost 3 months.

I think life isn’t as complicated as we make it out to be. We are constantly looking for answers. But there are no answers, things just happen. The good and the bad. To see the rainbow you’ve got to put up with the rain. It happens, and there is nothing we can do about it. The universe isn’t made up of questions, waiting for us to answer.

Mail is the best thing in the world.

Last week, I got my letter from Student Missions full of notes from my friends at WWU. It made me laugh, and cry, and feel so blessed to have so many people missing, praying, and supporting me from so far away. 

Yesterday I received instant happy in a box. My best friends - Daniel and my two cousins, Ashley and Chelsea - spent endless time, energy, and shipping fees to send Kenton and I a glorious package full of chai tea (picture above!), pumpkin cheesecake cookies, chocolate, chocolate and MORE chocolate, coconut cookies, chocolate chips and Reese's peanut butter chips, some crazy adorable socks, and for specifically for Kenton - a pack of bicycle playing cards.

I had been waiting for this package for over two weeks and raced to the street every time the mail motorcycle arrived at the school. FINALLY, yesterday was the day.

Amidst all of those delicacies which WILL allow me to properly put on my holiday weight (ha!) were three hand-written notes. These were the true treasures.

My cousin Ashley had written a poem that brought me to tears, Chelsea's letter made me laugh so hard that I cried again (see above picture) and ached with missing her, and Daniel gave Kenton and I our celebrity couple name (Kenla Gonzalbrecht. Catchy, no?) and then proceeded to write a sincere and beautiful letter that made me yearn to be together again, laughing, at WWU.

In Daniel's letter, he commented on how Kenton and I had started to dwindle with our blogging posts. I started to wonder about that. Why was that the case?

I was still doing wonderful and adventurous things. Four weeks ago, I traveled to Orotina to the Adventist camp ground location and had a beautiful day with Kenton and Krystal swimming and laughing. Three weeks ago I took an AMAZING chocolate and coffee tour--my first tourist thing here in Costa Rica! Two weeks ago, I went with the kidlets from the school to an INCREDIBLE and luxurious set of volcanic-heated pools in Las Juntas. I had seen monkeys for the first time in the wild there! I was still trying new things, learning as a teacher, and living life here in Costa Rica.

And that was when it struck me: I am starting to live life here.

I have been here for almost three months now, which doesn't sound super impressive, but is 1/3 of my missionary experience (Oy!). People here still go to work every day (like me), still die, still get sick, still break up, still cry, still get into car accidents, still struggle maritally, struggle financially, grow exhausted (like me), cook dinner, go grocery shopping, and move from one house to another. Life is still going on and I have started to, unconsciously, realize that this is my life now. 

For a while, this is my day-to-day grind, and it is difficult and draining and it is still beautiful, but it is no longer as foreign. It is my normal.

I find moments in every day where I have to sit and take a moment just to realize: "I am IN Costa Rica. Right now. I am a student missionary WORKING right now. What am I doing to savor that?" I have to tell myself this because I easily get so caught up in going straight from teaching, to planning dinner, to cooking dinner, to lesson planning, to sleeping, and pressing repeat. I have more than once thought, "When will you EVER again be in this position? Next year, when you're at Walla Walla, how will you ever be so blessed to speak and learn Spanish like this? To serve others? Wake up!"

I have started to realize that life is life no matter where you are. Life is so fleeting and I know that soon, sooner than I expect, I will be home wondering where my time in Costa Rica went. 

So, I will try to be better about writing on my blog. I have definitely found myself a comfortable pattern here, but the school year is ending (this is my last week! I'm putting off writing final tests to do this. LIFE.) and soon Priscilla will be moving. Krystal and I will move to live in the school after Christmas break, and we will get a new principal, and there will be big changes at our cozy little school. My comfortable pattern will be shaken and once again, everything will seem foreign until it becomes 'life' once more.

This IS life. In the quote I posted, there is a simple little sentence that says, "...things just happen." And this is true. I'm learning that.

I apologize if this blog posted ended up incredibly circular. My processing-while-writing tends to do that, but I figured I would crank this one out since, as Daniel noted, it's been a while.

I love you all. If you're reading this and sent me a note, it made me feel so blessed and loved and lonely for Walla Walla. We'll be reunited soon.

Pura Vida. <3

Some pictures from the weekends I had mentioned before: First, the lava pools, second, Orotina (with Kenton), and third, the coffee tour.

(: