In August, we moved out to the "Southern" state that is Kentucky. We've now been here about four months and I would like to share a little bit of my experience so far. For those of you that need a small update, Molly and I moved out here for her to attend Asbury Seminary. I am currently subbing in the county and am looking for a full time education position.
The Good:
Kentucky is a beautiful state. Everything is green, there are rolling hills with huge houses, barns, and cattle, and it actually rains here! I'm still not used to moisture, but it's such a blessing. I don't think they know how lucky they are to live in an area with regular precipitation.
Asbury Seminary is the bomb diggity. No, seriously, it's awesome. I wasn't sure how I would fit in with the community, being the male who is NOT taking classes. Normally, the man takes classes and the wife stays at home with the kids or works. This made me nervous, but the community has been so welcoming to both of us. We have made some awesome friends and continue to meet new people all the time. It's really helped me being able to play intramural sports here. I played basketball and volleyball, befriending my teammates and becoming more comfortable with my surroundings. These people are such a blessing to Molly and I.
God provides. Man, oh man, does He provide. We're trying really hard to break even with our little bit of income. Molly is able to work part time at the seminary and I'm a sub that never knows when he's going to work. Last month, Molly figured out that I needed to work so many days for us to break even. I ended up working that exact amount! How crazy is that? Molly has been very fortunate to receive scholarships from many different donors, which has been awesome. My home church also surprised me when they all of a sudden told me that they wanted to support Molly and I during our time at seminary! Seriously, God has just been so good to us. We know that this is where He wants us.
The Bad:
Obviously we're not very close to Kansas anymore. Mulvane is about 13 hours away and Holcomb is around 17 hours away, so we aren't exactly able to go see our family over the weekends. That's definitely a bummer. We love being able to celebrate birthdays, holidays, etc. with our family. It's nice to have technology, like Skype, to be able to see them. We actually skyped with my family for a bit while they were celebrating Thanksgiving. We were able to see the whole crew!
The same goes for our friends back home. We grew very close to our friends at college. We still talk a lot, but again, we can't go hang out like we used to. I realize that even if we were in Kansas, we probably wouldn't be able to see them much because we'd all be so busy, but it would be nice to be closer. I guess we'll all just have to live in a cul-de-sac when get back. We can grow old together!
The Ugly:
Subbing is a very interesting job. Some days are awesome, some days can be ok, and other days can be just plain miserable. Luckily, I've only had a couple miserable days. Most days are ok. I can get through them and do what I need to do. Obviously, there's no consistency with being a sub, traveling from school to school and moving to new classes, so I'm not really able to build relationships with the kids, which is exactly what I want to do. I won't lie, it's rough. I want to be a full time teacher and to have my own classes where I can get to know my kids and they can get to know me. I just pray that someday God will bless me with a great job, which I know He will when the time comes.
This could go as a bad or ugly, but I decided on ugly. I'm living in SEC country. Bama fans, Florida fans, Tennessee fans, Kentucky fans. Not the best for a Big XII guy. Luckily, the people that I've met are respectable fans. We can talk sports and keep the conversation under control. I have a couple that I can argue with, but it's more of a fun debate. We both know that. Fellow K-Staters, don't worry, I still wear just as much of my K-State here that I did in Kansas. Gotta represent!
Anybody who lives, or has lived, in Kentucky can back me up on this one. Kentucky drivers are awful! I can't tell you how many times I've laid on the horn because someone has either cut me off, almost hit me, or just isn't paying attention at the stop light. It's ridiculous. There's an unspoken rule here to wait a couple seconds when your light turns green to pull out. People here run red lights like they've just committed murder. Gracious.
There you have it. Kyle's good, bad, and ugly of Kentucky. I'm sure I'll have more to come, but that's what I have for the first few months. Over and out.
