Road Trip

So far, the road trip has been a success. I may upload a few pictures in a couple of days, but for right now, I'm just writing to tell everyone what Steve and I have been doing since we left Missouri.

We left Thursday afternoon around 2:00 and headed to Lyons, KS to see Jordan (my younger brother) who will be teaching at Lyons High School in the fall. It was a fairly small town which reminded me a lot of Lamar. He made us some delicious chili, then showed us the high school. We spent the rest of the evening watching The Office and having great conversation.

Friday morning, we left Lyons around 9:00. Then we drove the width of Kansas. It was pretty damn boring, but we made it in one piece with most of our sanity in tact. Steve and I brought his parents' walkie talkies for the trip since we are driving separate vehicles. We will both need our vehicles when we get to California, so we rented a U-Haul trailer which Steve is pulling with his pick-up. Anyway, the driving can be mind-numbing, so the idea was that having the walkies would allow us to talk to each other for the duration of the trip ... but unfortunately, one of the walkie's batteries die after talking on it for about 20 minutes, so we haven't been talking much on the road.
Our next stop was Colorado Springs. Steve's best friend Chris lives here and his other best friend Lance flew in from Rapid City to visit us. We got dinner with Chris on Friday then picked Lance up from the airport. I went to bed when we got home, having not slept very much and being exhausted from the drive.
Yesterday Chris took us to downtown Colorado Springs and Garden of the Gods (I just typed "Dogs" instead of "Gods"). We spent almost the entire day with a beer in-hand, and in the evening we went to a barbeque of some friends of Chris' parents. Chris, Lance and Steve played croquet with one of the girls at the barbeque and Lance kicked everyone's ass.
We will be leaving for Flagstaff in the morning, but today looks like a lot of chilling out in Colorado Springs.

Day 4 and the road trip is still a success.

Moving

II'm moving to Stockton, California August 4th to pursue a Master's at UOP. I'm finishing what I started six years ago.
I have the support of so many that it's almost overwhelming. Trust me when I say that this is a leap I know I will not regret. I've spent the last nine months getting excited about it and it didn't hit me until recently that this is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Sure ... the move itself is daunting and the preparation so far has been stressful, but that's not what I'm talking about.

Southwest Missouri is my home. I have lived here, literally, since I was born. I was raised in Lamar and when I graduated high school I attended Missouri Southern in Joplin ... thirty minutes from my parents and my home town. Moving away from home was extraordinarily difficult for me because I've always been a small town family girl at heart. Those who know me also know that I get attached to people very easily. My entire life I have clung to the familiar because I am so deeply in love with the people in my surrounding area. I chose MSSU to stick with the familiar, knowing in my heart that I deserved a better education. I'm not saying it's not a good school ... it is. Attending MSSU turned out to be a great decision because I met some of the most amazing people I've ever met and the professors there are wonderful ... professionally and personally. But my reluctance to venture out of my comfort zone kept me working part-time jobs and staying close to my family instead of pursuing a degree I was passionate about.

When this past academic year started and I realized that I was not enrolling to continue my education and had a Bachelor's degree I wasn't using, I set my sights on greater things. My exhaustion with Joplin and boredom with my life had finally started driving me crazy. It was time to shop for a school again: this time, with no restrictions.

I will be starting my Master's in less than a month, and at a great school far from home. But I will truly miss being able to walk down the street and run into six or seven people that I know. I will miss my co-workers so much I can hardly stand the thought of leaving. Serving tables has never been a burden. It has been a pleasure. My co-workers are some amazing people and I don't know where I would be without most of them. I love people, so the opportunity to make a living talking to others was never difficult for me; however, I am not suited to life in a small town at this point in my life. I am a talented and determined young lady and I should use those qualities to their best advantage while I have the energy to do it.

The last few years, I feel like all I've done is say good-bye to the people I love. I've had a lot of friends move away to pursue their dreams and I finally feel like it's my turn. Even my brothers have moved away. Wesley is in Virginia loving the Navy and Jordan will be teaching "bright young scholars" in the fall. My best friends are strewn about the United States ... from Missouri to New York. It's time for me to come out of this coma in which I've been for the last year and live the life of adventure that I know I can handle.

Friends, I know this is good for me. But please bear with me as I shed millions of tears. Thank you for all of your support.
I guess this is growing up.

Joplin

Sunday night, May 22, while I was at work, a giant tornado ripped through my city and destroyed businesses and homes, leaving thousands without shelter. My co-workers and I huddled in the walk-in cooler and stood helplessly, waiting for the storm to pass and hoping that our loved ones were safe. Many tried to text their family and friends, but lack of cell phone signal prevented it. Some were crying, others were silent, but everyone listened and hoped that it was all a dream. Thankfully, I am fortunate: my apartment is still standing, my belongings are not damaged, and all the people I deeply care for are accounted for ... though a few of them are not as lucky as I was.

When the storm passed, I left work to drive home. My boyfriend was there and I knew he was worried about me. There was one other person I still hadn't heard from and I figured I should drive by her place just to make sure she was alright. I was in a part of town that was untouched by the storm when it come through, so I had no idea anything was wrong. I kept thinking, "It can't possibly be that bad." I took the long way home and slowly noticed a difference in the town I knew so well. As I drove along, things became less recognizable. At first it was just leaves all over the road and tree limbs. A few downed power lines. Nothing too terribly serious. Eventually, I noticed branches from trees that were thrust through roofs of homes and traffic was moving at a snail's pace. I kept trying to avoid the traffic, annoyed at the fact that it was taking me so long to get home and check on my friend. I got to Connecticut, oblivious to the fact that I would be driving through the worst part of the wreckage. All I could think while I drove through the utter devastation was, "I hope Steve is safe." I watched as people held hands walking down the street without shoes, crying and clinging to each other, looking at the rubble that once was their home. I tried desperately to understand what I was seeing ... I recognized nothing. I didn't even know where I was. Homes and businesses were literally leveled. I continued to drive on Connecticut from 15th to 20th. My friend and I had moved from our apartment on 20th and Connecticut about a year earlier, and it no longer stood there. I looked down 20th west of Connecticut and saw only the cars of those trying to escape the nothingness. A street once busy and full of life was now nothing except debris and stripped trees. I didn't even know where I was. People stood with their dogs, asking passers-by for a ride. I heard a man driving a van ask a woman on the side of the road, "Where are you headed? I can take you." Her face was full of despair as she realized, "I don't know. I'm sorry to trouble you. Get to safety." A man carrying his young son whose face was bloodied rushed to an ambulance on the west side of the street near a place apartments once stood. It was the most humbling and shocking experience of my life.
This is just another account of the tornado, I realize. But I hope it provides a new perspective and helps readers understand the sense of hopelessness of many people living in Joplin. The tornado was almost three months ago, and I started this blog two days after it happened ... and the pictures I took and memories of that night are still humbling and shocking. I am moving to California to finish my education, but Joplin will always have my heart and so will the people living there.