Why Georgia Tech

It is official! We're moving to Georgia Tech right after the 4th of July. It is going to be quite an adventure crossing the country by ourselves. I've done it at least 5 or 6 times before, but always safe in the backseat content to draw, read, or listen to music. Well, I guess I can do that still, but I'll be in the front seat this time (of a U-haul) trying to navagate our way.

Here are some things I am not looking forward to moving:
1. I have a horrible sense of direction. We will proptly by buying a good ol' fashioned compass for our car.
2. I've never been away from my family for more than a week and a half.
3. I won't know what our neighboorhood is like--can I run outside? Is that safe? Do people smoke a lot? Will our neighbors be friendly?
4. I am going to have to find a job.
5. I will have to put forth a lot of effort to find flute students
6. I will have to get used to seeing David a lot less.
7. The traffic is TERRIBLE

Things I am looking forward to.
1. Even though I'll be away from my parents I'll be with in a few minutes from my Mom's aunt and uncle (they're a few years older than my parents) and a day's drive to my own Aunt and Uncle.
2. I'm close to the East Coast.
3. Getting to know some good Southern Cooking.
4. Exploring
5. Exploring all the old historic sites
6. Exploring all the beautiful house
7. Exploring and finding all of the cool shops and restaurants.
8. Apparently there are a lot of BYU graduates there.
9. I get to set up MY OWN house! How fun!
10. I will still be free from the bondage of school.
11. The Atlanta Symphony is awesome and David gets fantastic discounts because he is a student.
12. Making new friends.
13. The TREES!
14. The botanical gardens and beautiful flowers.
15. There is a temple right in Atlanta

See! There are more good things than bad. It's going to be quite the adventure. I feel like not only is it a new chapter in our lives, but a whole new section. Or new book in the series "David and Rachel go exploring."

Choosing Georgia Tech was difficult, but once we made the decision it is obvious this is where we are supposed to be.
1. It is the #2 biomedical engineering school in the country
2. There are many different research opportunities at Georgia Tech. David is unsure as to what he wants to research and this provides lots of different options.
4. There are 40 professors in the Biomedical department and 40 more in other departments that could mentor David. Rice only had about 15-20 in the Biomedical department.
5. Better connection with industry
6. Because I wanted to go to Georgia Tech--not Rice.

Life is good right now. It is funny that after all I have been pushing and struggling and laboring for the past 6 years has finally come to a close. It seemed so far away during the midst of it, and now that I have made it to the other side of the tunnel, I have realized that trials really do come to an end. God promised I would make it and here I am. It's hard to see the end from the beginning and to have perspective, but now I have a testimony of enduring to the end. The next trial that comes my way will be just a little easier to handle because of this past year. Not only that, but I will help those who feel their future is dim and their present even darker to realize that all hard things will come to an end.

Yay for moving on!

If you want more pictures about our Graduation. Click here. (It is my mom's blog.)

The last stretch

Here we are folks. Four more days and I will be a free woman. The last few weeks haven't been easy, but I know I can do it. On the doors entering into the library there are always signings posting the hours for the weeks leading into finals week--it closes now at the obscene time of 2:00 AM. And usually they have something witty to say about being done. It is usually lighthearted and just fun--nothing of importance. This year as I walked into the library for the first time after they posted the new hours, I was blown away by the sign. It said: Keep Calm and Carry On.

No matter how cheesey is may sound that saying has been my motto. That is exactly what this semester has been about. Keep calm and carry on and YOU will make it to the finish line. We won't arrive without some bumps and bruises on our way. We'll be hot and sweaty. Maybe we pulled a muscle on the way. We don't have to arrive graceful and in perfect condition. All that matters is that we make it to the end.

That is what I have learned this semester. We work hard, we do our best, we help people along the race, and we'll all make it together. There will be times where we make mistakes, feel or be dumb, feel inadequate, or feel stressed. Or anything! If we keep calm and carry on we'll get through the race and come out better for it.

My last four days here are going to be stressful, busy, tiring, with a lot of worrying thrown in. But I have been told I will make it, and I have decided to trust those people and believe it. And so I will keep calm and carry on. I hope that I will be able to help other women keep calm and carry on. Well, you know what, I know I will be able to help others, and they will help me in return. Like I said in a previous post: We're all in this together, you and I.

And here is a picture of where David and I will be for the next 5 or so years. Guess where it is and I'll write a future post telling all about it!

It probably isn't too hard...

What I sometimes think--when I'm good

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in my own issues, stresses, problems, and crazy life that I forget that so many other people are praying to God just as fervently as I am. They have their own faith-building trials.

• Maybe you are struggling financially and hope they can make enough money for the next months rent
• Maybe you have a child with disabilities
• Maybe you have cancer
• Maybe your father or mother has cancer
• Maybe you are unemployed
• Maybe you just lost your house in a fire
• Maybe you had a beloved loved one die
• Maybe you are a single mother
• Maybe you have a wayward son or daughter
• Maybe you are in slavery in Africa
• Maybe you are suffering under the burden of sin
• Maybe your nation is suffering from a devastating earthquake or Tsunami 
• Maybe you just had your first child and it is wonderful, but oh so overwhelming
• Maybe you are suffering from a mental illness
• Or something else so, so personal

I was thinking the other day (as I sometimes do) as I walked through the library who all these faces are. Everyone is so different. Everyone has their own LIVES. Their own hopes, joys, sorrows, trials, ambitions, heartaches and families. We are so unique and yet all of us commune with God on a daily basis for supplication, help, and strength. He is mindful of each of us, even though we are so different. 

I try not to forget that perhaps someone else is also having a difficult time, even though I may not know them and they are simply my desk partner in the library. 

We're in this together, you and I.