C'est La Vie de la Nouvelle Orleans

I'm home.

For a bit.

As always, coming home makes me instantly want to pack my bags and put down roots somewhere near Magazine Street and Louisiana Avenue (and actually... that just might happen next summer).

My heart is always torn in two between the city I adopted as home, and the city I truly call home. Over the last seven years or so, my love affair with all things New Orleans has intensified to unprecedented levels (this from the kid who wanted to write a Louisiana History book for my fifth grade writer's project). But then, I've got that big town up North, where the speed of my brain is finally matched by the speed of activity around me.

It's tough.

As I sit here writing in a Community Coffee House on Magazine street, sniffing the fresh brews of coffee and chicory, having watched a sweet afternoon South Louisiana rainstorm out the window, I'm reminded that no matter how long I live in New York, I'll always crave these afternoons. The problem is, no matter how long I live here, I'll always miss the people that make my big city such a fantastic home-away-from home.

In my perfect world, I'd pop back and forth between the two seamlessly. If ever I had one of those financial situations in which I could spend money without thinking of it, that's exactly what I'd do.

Unfortunately I only get to call one home at a time, and that's tough.

So a few things I'll be praying about over the nine months:

1. preparing myself for huge life changes - no matter what finishing grad school and starting a more permanent career is a big deal, but it's likely going to involve a move. That's something my heart aches just to think about - even if it does mean moving where my heart truly lies.

2. decision making - I'm going to have LOTS of decisions to make over the next several months, from choosing which  job is best fit and when to turn down something even if there's nothing else on the horizon (or if that's even somethign to do!), to picking a city to plant my roots.

3. housing - there's great potential that my dream apartment could be opening next door to a friend around the exact same time I'd need to be moving back - but with enough of a time delay that I could find a job to solidify my application. If that were to work out, my geographic decision would be basically made.

4. senioritis - so since my program is only two years, it's hard to really call it "senioritis," but I've found graduate school to be ESPECIALLY easy, and so staying focused in a second year might be tough. Thankfully, despite the ease, I do LOVE my program. I'm just worried about getting to lax and not getting enough out of it even if my grades are good.

5. internship - my new internship is in a TOTALLY different branch of social work than I've ever worked with. I'm rather excited about it, but rather nervous at the same time.

ANYWAY. Throughout the year I'll be updating on my journey, but in the meantime, just keep praying that God opens doors and closes necessary ones.