Happy Thanksgiving!

I know Thanksgiving isn't here yet but seeing as how the next couple days are about to get pretty busy I figured I'd just put this up now.  Happy Thanksgiving from some of the cutest little Pilgrims and Indians I know!  Even though they're all in big school now, they're still pretty cute:)

Have a blessed weekend!

Booooored.

Welp.  I'm bored.  Really not gonna made a habit of posting at work but really, folks.  When I got back from lunch the internet and phone were both down.  Now the internet is up and running again but still no phones.  I've done all I can do with no phones.  Now I'm just stuck.  1 1/2 hours to kill.  Aside from making wire art from all the paper clips I found while organizing this office.... maybe I should do that:)  Make different designs, take pictures and post them for all to see.  You could vote on your favorite one.  Eh, nevermind.  They would all be things like, a circle, an oval, and maybe a triangle.  Art was never really my forte. 
I could be leaving for Mexico tomorrow.  Wish I was.  But I decided to skip this year since I knew I would be just starting a new job.  Now I'm rethinking that decision.  But there's good news.  I found a Mexican restaurant here in Bloomington (really close to work) that seems really authentic.  At least, moreso than most places I've eaten around here.  I went there on Tuesday and got chiles rellenos and they were just like my house mom in Morelia made them.  Mmmmmmm...........

Go Check This Out

Hey everyone, head over to Sarah's blog (just click on the link) for a chance to win this book.  She talks about it a lot more, but the point is to just go check it out and learn more.  Sarah, if you're reading this I hope you don't mind me posting this.  I was just pretty touched this morning while I was reading about it.

Catch Up

Well harvest is officially over.  It was a sad day in my life:(  But never fear, I have recovered and am ready to move on!

This past weekend I went down to Athens for the first time since June.  It was soooo good to be back.  It was our annual homecoming weekend, filled with people, bluegrass and BBQ.  There was a bus from central IL that took a group down.  It was filled with people that I hardly ever see so between them and the Athens folks it was a great weekend for catching up on old friendships and even establishing a couple new ones.  I was planning to stay until Monday morning but I heard rumor that the bus was stopping at Patti's Settlement (which is only about the best restaurant EVER) on the way home.  So Sunday after church I quick packed up and followed them home.  And it was worth it.
Saturday morning I took Devin out to the usual places we go.... CasaBlanca (our favorite Mexican restaurant) and putt putt golfing (his request every single time we're together).  As we were getting ready to leave he decided to invite his older brother, Brennan.  So, like any normal 8th grade boy he quickly accepted the lunch invitation:)  It was fun though.  Brennan's a good kid.  And of course, both of them were THRILLED to take a picture when we were finished.

And I was just as thrilled to take a picture with the nasty Halloween decorations.

Tomorrow I start my new job!  I'll be working for an agency called Visiting Angels.  It's a non-medical homecare agency.  Caregivers do anything from running errands, cooking, cleaning, bathing or even just sitting and being a companion.  I'm going to be in the Bloomington office doing scheduling and stuff as the "Care Coordinator".  I'm pretty excited about it and think I'll like it.  There's definitely a part of me that is sad to officially hang up my "preschool teacher" jacket.  When I came back from Mexico this summer I would never have guessed this is what would be opening up for me.  I felt pretty strongly that I should look around here first but had kind of planned to start thinking about moving back to Alabama or somewhere if nothing worked out.  God did nothing short of swinging the doors to this job open wide and pushing me right on through and I feel really good about it.  I know his hand has been in it.

In other news, I just took a bike ride this afternoon.  The first half I was feeling great.  Almost to the point of being proud of how fit I was for going that speed for that long.  Then I turned around to head home.  Uphill.  Against the wind.  And no longer proud:)

Fun, Fabulous Fall Festivities:)

The times I haven't been working have been filled with some pretty fun and typical fall activites.  One night we went to "Hardy's Reindeer Ranch" way out in the boonies.  And I do mean boonies.  It was fun though.  Went through the corn maze and raced around on these pedal cart thingies.

One Sunday afternoon some of us headed to a state park not to far from here to do some hiking.  The weather was perfect and we had a lot of fun.  I had a bunch more really cute pictures but after seeing them, I decided "new camera" will be my Christmas list this year. 

Our friend Javon was visiting from Indiana and on Saturday a group of us met for lunch to celebrate Katrina's birthday.  Upon hearing she had never been in a combine, I was so excited to accompany her on her very first ride in the field:)  I just always assume people coming from farming communities have ridden one before but I guess not. 

And a sidenote:  When one's car spends all day parked at the elevator during harvest, it will get very very dirty.

No Social Life...

So.  I haven't posted in awhile.  I don't have that much to talk about.  Want to know what I've been doing?







Working.








That's about it.  It's not a bad thing, mind you.  In case you forgot, I had about two months where I didn't have a job and I spent a lot of money trying to learn spanish/experiencing a different culture/making new friends......  So all the work is good.  The hours are long.  Almost a 55 hour week. 

Yes.  I realize to some people that is normal.  But in this case I am not some people.  But hey- once I start working a 40 hour week again it's going to feel like a vacation!  I still like my job too.  I'll be kind of sad once harvest is over.

I have a job offer for when I'm done with the elevator.  And I have a couple other resumes out there too so we'll see.  Don't know for sure yet what I'll be doing but it feels like after over a year of not really knowing what I'm doing and where I belong, things are finally settling down.  But again, we'll see.  One thing the past year + two months has taught me (or at least tried to teach me) is truly finding my identity in Christ.  I am no longer Sarah Hodel, the preschool teacher, the Queenwood girl, the girl from Alabama, the girl who works full time... blah blah blah.  My identiy changed more than once in that time frame and it has been reinforced that I am Sarah Hodel, just trying to be what, where and who God wants me to be.  And as far as I'm concerned, that's a good spot to be in.

Well, I have absolutely no good reason to still be awake right now.  It's hard getting up early to face the long days but I love the fact that it usually gets me to bed early, when I should.  If I stay up late like I typically enjoy doing, well, that's just bad.  One would be suprised how mentally and physically draining a grain elevator can be.  Again, maybe those "some people" would laugh and point at me.  But now it's 11:00 and it's rare that I see this hour these days.  I think it's a subconcious thing.  I only have to work 7 hours tomorrow instead of 10,11, 12, 13.... so in my head I'm thinking I can stay up later?  Who knows.  But I do know that now I'm starting to ramble.  And I'm tired enough that every other word I type is spelled wrong, so good night!

A Journey With Ruth

Some of my closest friends and I are getting ready to start a new Bible study.  It's been way too long since I've had a small group and I am SO excited!  I'm just getting ready to do the very first lesson so I can't say for sure that it's good but from just flipping through the book I'm pretty sure I won't be dissapointed.  Has anybody ever done this one?  I'll let you know later if I would reccommend it or not:)