Scottsdale or, um bust??

Scottsdale Culinary Institute. Sounds pretty cool right? Its the number 5 culinary school in the nation. Its a Le Cordon Bleu school, if you don't know much about culinary things thats like the big sha-bang of culinary schools. Le Cordon Bleu is the elite. Recently I got this crazy idea that it would be a cool thing to go to culinary school and open my own restaurant that would cater to people who have crazy food allergies like I do. I told Chris about it and he thought it was a pretty cool idea and that I should look into schools. I started looking at schools in Texas, because is there really any other place to be? I looked up some information about schools in general and found that there were two major institutes in the culinary field, Art Institute schools that do all sorts of things and Le Cordon Bleu schools. Of the two I was more impressed with LCB, mostly because they focused completely on culinary. I then looked at the ones here in Texas. There is one in Austin and one in Dallas. If you know me very well you know I have about a -10 desire to live in either of those cities or in Houston. But, I looked because like I said, is there anywhere else but Texas??? Well of course I did look at New York's because thats where the Culinary Institute of America is and it doesn't get any better than the CIA! I think I want to live in New York about as much as I'd like to live in Houston. But I had to look. I quickly found that New York was the number one state in the nation for culinary arts with California being second, Arizona being forth and Texas being fifth. (Yes, I know I skipped number three...I can't remember what it was.) Well I then found a list of cities, basically the major culinary cities in each of those states. Looking on the list for the Texas city (of course) I found Austin, but right above that was a link that said "Scottsdale". I think I really just liked the name, but I clicked and was hooked approximately 10 minutes later. There is something about this place that captivated me. I looked at the Texas Culinary Institute but wasn't near as impressed. Scottsdale is beautiful. One thing I hate about big cities is the traffic. When Chris and I go to Houston Will normally drives while Chris rides in the front seat and I lay down in the back. I want to cry it scares me to bits!! Scottsdale could easily be considered a suburb of Phoenix. But by looking at it on Google Earth it looks like what I know Tuscon to be. Its a big city but its built like a small town. I've driven in Tuscon and I wasn't scared. I liked it. Scottsdale appears to be this way. Cool right?

Well about that time Chris had texted me from work to say he was so bored! I told him I had been looking at schools and he asked me about them. I asked if he thought I was crazy yet after telling him which one caught my eye. He said he didn't think I was. I went home that evening and this lady called me from SCI because I had put a request in for more information. I talked with her for a while and was so excited by the end of the conversation. She loved my restaurant idea. Talking with her gave me some good information. She also sent me a link with all sorts of school information I was wanting. It sounds really cool.

So one of my thoughts through all of this is what will Chris do? This is my dream, why would he even go if there wasn't some point for him too. I'm sure here he would insert that he would go anywhere with me for whatever reason, but I didn't want to drag him somewhere that gave nothing to him. Well Thursday I came home and he had like 6 websites open on the computer, each one about Scottsdale. He told me that he was looking into churches in the area and he found a Baptist Seminary. He has been wanting to finish his degree so he can go to Seminary. I've always loved this idea because I think I would like to be a minister's wife. I love my youth minister's wife and I wanted to mean as much to his kids as she meant to me. Chris looked a little into the school that evening and found that they have Diploma programs which are programs that you can do without an undergrad degree and then do a Masters. He really wants to get a Masters in Divinity. Well he could do it though this school. How cool right?

Sounds perfect right?? Here is where everything else starts going on in my heart and my head. I grew up in the same house, same bedroom my whole life. I wouldn't trade it for the world, I loved it. When I was 18 I moved across the state to College Station, TX where I have lived for the last five years. I love Texas. But, Scottsdale is defiantly in Arizona. I love Bryan/College Station. I think of it as my home. Scottsdale is 18+ hours away. Its real far. Real far. Its about 10-11 hours from my parents and 15 from Chris's. Wow. Earlier this evening Chris and I were talking about our future. We have almost been married a year and we love Bryan/College Station and would both love to graduate from Texas A&M University and have bling known as the famous Aggie Ring. But, somethings different now. For about the last month I think God has been preparing me for a change. I have kind of known that but I thought it would be something much smaller. I've seen how Father has put people in our lives and how he has separated me from people lately. I know he is doing something. Chris and I feel like its time to move on. We don't know what that means. It might me Scottsdale, it might mean something completely different. Either way change is coming.

I love puzzles. I get it from my mom, granted she is so much better than I am at them I like them a lot. I like to see how this crumble of pieces all fit together and I like the accomplishment I feel when I'm done. I think Father likes them too, but his are bigger and more profound. His are life pieces. I feel like he has been doing that with this. He has taken all these worries and things and put them into place. The culinary school and the seminary are within blocks of each other. There is a Banfield within a block from the culinary school where Chris could probably get a job. Its crazy.

Insert more fear. I don't know if I'm cut out for this. Do I really want to do this? I don't know if I can handle this. Culinary school is big. I'm not good enough to be some hot shot chef, much less have my own restaurant. What am I thinking?? I would probably end up working in a restaurant somewhere that might be pretty nice. What if I never see my family? What if I get out there and can't handle it? What if I miss my family and friends too much? What then? -- Thats pretty much what I feel. This afternoon I was walking around my house doing little things when I stopped in my entry way to my dining room, kitchen, and hall. There I have a set of Tul dry erase markers and on the end they have arrows (it is to show which side is magnetic) I laughed because I had been sign in my head "is this really what I'm suppose to do?" to Father and I looked at the arrows. I then scanned the living room to have my eyes stop on a big sign that says "pray often". I laughed. Told Father I understood and a little later walked into my front bedroom. I was hugging Chris and my eyes stopped on a word I have written on my wall, "Pray". See what I'm getting at?? I have a lot of praying to do. Scottsdale seems right, but I don't want to be wrong. I want to do what Father has for us. I feel like he is putting this together. Chris called and told his mom, she took it really well. My mom took it really well. She told me tonight that there are times I'll tell her about ideas I have (and I have had some funny ideas) but that every time I brought one up she would get a knot in her stomach, but with this, she didn't. She said I sounded passionate and for some reason she doesn't have the knot. It all seems right.

Now its time to pray.