Safely in Macomb!

First day down! After planning to leave around 1pm this afternoon, we actually left at 2:40pm, which is not bad for us and jumped onto I-39 south heading toward Macomb, IL and Western Illinois University. Since we are going to be gone for Christmas, we wanted to swing through and bring some holiday cheer to our cousin Eden before we got too far away! ;) The morning went well, with final preparations, among them a backpack shift from a typical Jansport to a Quechua one provided to us by our neighbor Jenna (thanks you!), and a sending off of various articles and letters that needed to go out to friends in Kent. After we got here, Eden escorted us on a wonderful tour of Western Illinois University. The area reminds me of Iowa with many corn and soybean fields, and then all of a sudden a massive university with a great deal of professors and young students making their way around campus and advancing their careers and developing their lives. Coming to a university always makes me think of my own life, where I am going and where I might end up. Currently, we are hanging out and enjoying a fresh afternoon, the wind moving through the trees, and the sky slightly overcast.

What might we accomplish in this world? What if we miss the holidays and are not around for some of the significant events with our families? This trip means that we will definitely miss such things, but we hope that it will increase our ability to accomplish and achieve. Ordinary life may be satisfying sometimes, but there are other times when we need to feel that rush, to see what else is possible apart from the "normal" or "standard" progression of daily life. We can achieve only what we imagine is possible, and thus we must think beyond the typical if we want to lead atypical lives. There is nothing wrong with a standard way of leading life, but when there is that yearning inside, that ache that longs to be assuaged, but has not been cured by the typical happenings of life, we must look beyond. Thus have we set off on this journey.

Up till now the freedom, the weightlessness of independence, and the excitement and uncertainty of what is to come has turned that ache into a drive to continue along. Life is all about choices that we make. Let us choose the things that fulfill the desires and longings within us! Life is good and we look forward as we continue along...