Hello, Dusty Little Keyboard

Oh how I've missed this little space of mine over the last month! It feels so great to have my fingers skimming over this keyboard again. This break from Arrows was unintentional, but oh so necessary. I'm definitely happy to be back, however, I can't say for how long. Life is hectic at the moment you guys, and I doubt things are about to wind down anytime soon.

So where have I been for the last month? Somewhere between a nap and a text book to be honest. This month has been a month full of assignments and exams. I have one more exam left (thank the sweet Pope) and this time next week I will be done until November. I wish I could say that I've felt confident about these exams, and to some extent I have, but there's a large part of me that just doesn't know... I'm nervous - I like to know exactly how I've done, and the month long wait for results will be a tough one.Here's hoping that everything turns out well.

The beginning of this month was wonderful - a real time of growth for me. I finally got round to doing my driver's license and I'm elated to report that I passed first time. It took my two years to eventually do it and not having it done was really weighing heavily on me, not to mention the flak I took from the siblings for not having it. I feel so much more confident now that I have it - I even drove the 900km's from home to Grahamstown by myself. Em and I did drive together in convoy, but it felt so great to know that I'm capable. I'll tell you what though, I've never felt so nervous that I've almost vomited, but the morning of my test I very nearly did!

After passing my driver's, I headed home for a week (Rhodes gives us a week of study leave before exams begin) with Em to surprise the family. Dad was in on the whole thing - we'd been planning it for two weeks and I'm so proud of him for being able to keep it a surprise. I arrived home at about 9pm on the Monday night and my Dad and his best friend Troy helped sneak me into the house without Clauds and Troy's wife, Lisa, knowing. They were all in our bar area celebrating my license (the Leahy's don't do anything on a small scale; the whole family was in celebration, including our wonderful maids, Florence and Happy). After Dad and Troy joined the ladies in the bar I waited in the kitchen for about 5 minutes before I walked through to the bar and announced my presence with a "What's for supper because I'm starving?" I'll never forget Clauds' reaction - she jumped about 30cm and was absolutely speechless with the exception of a few very confused f-bombs.

It was so, so lovely to have surprised everyone and to be home for a while after two very long months in Grahamstown. Quality time was spent with everyone and once again I was reminded of just how truly, truly blessed I am to have such wonderful family and friends. My sweet Aunty Ruth passed away a few days before I got home after being ill for a long time and so a lot of family that we hadn't seen in a while were over from Australia and it really was lovely to see them all. Besides Aunty Ruth's death, we're dealing with some pretty difficult stuff right now, but who isn't? We're sticking together and I know that as a family hanging onto God, we'll get through all of this together. Life isn't perfect right now, but it's still pretty great. I'm grateful for the imperfections - without them I wouldn't truly appreciate the great things.

Waking up to Autumn views like this made for a happy Shan.

Loved on this little Lem every chance I got. He's getting so big so quickly!

I even managed to sneak in some studying!

After a week at home, Em and I returned back to little old Grahamstown and began writing our exams. We've had a number of days off and so we've taken little day trips to the beautiful Port Alfred, had brunch at cafes with sweet friends and done some shopping. This weekend we're staying with a friend at her digs to get some group studying done as well as to just get out of res for a bit.

The Port Alfred Marina

Lunch on the Marina

So that is what my life has been looking like lately - very busy, but always fun. I'm heading home on Thursday as soon as I've finished my exam. This upcoming holiday is a lovely long one and I've already got some really exciting plans. The first weekend back home already looks like it's going to be a busy one; my brother is playing in his last Hilton/MHS of the rugby season and that's always exciting just because Dad also went to Hilton and rugby is such a big part of Nic and Dad's lives - a lot of the girls that I went to school with also have younger brothers playing that weekend and so we're all hoping to meet up and get together for the weekend. Many of them I haven't seen in absolute months so I'm dying to catch up with them!

So much has been going on and there's a lot to look forward to! I'm excited to get this next week over and done with, be back in my home province and to once again be surrounded by that crazy bunch I call family. I hope you all have a delightful weekend!

xo, Shan