A huge new chapter

So there is SO MUCH that has happened since I last wrote in Feb., but I am just going to give a quick update and then focus on the most recent adventure.
I finished up my undergrad doing a couple months of student teaching and then had the great opportunity to long-term sub in my own 1st grade classroom.  It was a great experience teaching inner-city kids and testing the waters of teaching.  In the evenings and then into the summer I nannied for a wonderful family and was very sad to say good-bye at the end of the summer.  Because at the end of the summer I started one of the greatest journey's yet: I moved to Madison, WI....!
I decided to move here (where my dad lives) in mid-July because I just felt that I needed a change and there weren't any opportunities opening up in Grand Rapids.  I figured I would just move here towards the end of August and start looking for jobs.  God, however, had other plans.  I did some light searching in the weeks leading up to the move and applied for a couple jobs, one of which was at a pre-school.  Well, the pre-school was very interested and wanted me to interview with them before offering the position.  So as I unloaded the car from a week at Simpson Park (GREAT week, by the way), I re-packed in the same night to head to Madison the following morning.  I spent 36 hours in Madison, enough time to interview at Kids Express Learning Center and be offered the job of teaching that very day!  I headed back to Grand Rapids to spend a whirl-wind two weeks packing up my life and driving all over MI to see friends near and far.  On a Tuesday morning, after one last who-rah with the BFF, I headed to a new home. 
And that brings me to now.  I have been in Madison for two weeks and so far, so good.  It's definitely an adjustment and it's going to take a while to feel "at home" here, but I really do love the city.  I've visited often and already started to fall in love.  My job is fantastic (I teach in the 2-year old room), and I'm finding lots of fun things to do in and around the area.  Like today, I spent the day hiking at Devil's Lake about an hour north of the city.  SO beautiful and a perfect pre-fall day.  Oh, and I got to spend my 24th birthday here too!  Adulthood is really setting in and I have to say I'm okay with it.  I have my rough times, but overall, I am fully loving this grand new adventure!