Onto the Next Chapter…

As I squinted into the sun, crying tears of exhaustion, relief, loss, and change I realized that it was time to update my blog. A chapter of my life is over. I know, it wasn’t a profound thought by any means, but seriously… I’ve abandoned this blog for far too long. I have posted video updates here and there, but that’s pretty much it. This past season of my life was busy. The move was the hardest, worst one I’ve ever been through (and I’ve seen my fair share of moves – 20 now) and I suppose it isn’t officially over. We still have to (in the future – maybe not so near) move everything into a new place and unpack. Right now I would feel content living in an RV or furnished rental for quite awhile. I DO NOT want to move another box for a very long time. My back aches, my wrist feels damaged, my wrinkles look deeper, and I’ve had laryngitis for about 5 days (maybe more – I’ve lost track with all the busyness). My family has had more colds/flues during this stressful move than we’ve had over the course of the past three years combined. Maybe it’s just a bad year for germs, though, I’m not sure. I really think the stress has something to do with our immune systems having issues fighting off the germs.

There are many things to be thankful for, though. I had friends by my side helping me for many days with packing, cleaning, and filling vehicles with boxes to move. (Thank you, Crystal!) I’ve had friends and family there for all the days I needed to vent. No one is seriously injured, no one got food poisoning in spite of lots of eating out during the past two weeks, and the weather has been spring-like. Rain and warmth. During the end of our move we had a lot of warm days, which I’m very thankful for. Moving things would have been far more difficult there at the end if we had a lot of windy, cold, and/or snowy days. Instead we had a lot of sunshine, temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s (Fahrenheit), and blue skies.

Brad is starting a new job and things are up in the air a bit. We may or may not stay in the U.S. for the summer, but if not we’ll be headed to Nicaragua in the near future.

Well, I guess that’s basically all that is new for now. Things are a bit up in the air, but there are many things to be thankful for!

Mr. Blue

A couple of days ago I discovered a garbage bag that I had put food (herbs, vitamins, miscellaneous things) into the night before, torn open. Food was scattered all over on the floor surrounding it. I quickly decided our cat probably wouldn't do that, which left three people who could have done it - Ethan, Madeleine, or Robbie. I questioned all of them and decided it definitely wasn't Ethan or Robbie. Madeleine's answer was questionable, though. She at first said she didn't know how it happened, then changed her story to that she saw the cat do it. See why I wasn't sure still? I decided not discipline her, due to I still felt a bit unsure, but warned her to not lie and told her I hoped she was telling the truth. Well, that very evening I saw the culprit. It indeed was Mr. Blue. I was sitting in the dining area of our home after a full day of moving talking to a friend on the phone when I noticed Blue acting like a dog, chewing into a garbage back and pulling things out of it! I went over to investigate. I pulled out the bag of herbs from inside the garbage bag that he was getting into. It was a mixture of herbs for making a "Snooze Tincture". I read through the ingredients and quickly figured out the problem... catnip. LOL! No wonder my cat was going crazy over those bags! I grabbed out a handful of the herbal mixture and put it in a sock, then tied the end of the sock shut, gave it to Mr. Blue, and grabbed my camera. Here he is:

The Sound You Hear On the Other Line

Okay, so if you've talked to me on the phone you've probably heard this funny sound, but I thought I'd share with you what she looks like while making it. :) Elizabeth's little "scream":



I made this little video last month, but wasn't able to upload it until now.

Elizabeth Playing With Chips

It's going on a whole month since I last wrote! Sometimes when I have a lot going on in my life I write less often. I'm not sure why things work out that way, but they do. We're nearly moved out of our house (finally), so hopefully I'll have more time to update everyone on things soon. Anyway, I'm actually here today to post a short video of Elizabeth from last month. :) Here it is:

Follow Up to My New Year Post

I've been meaning to say, that although at times I feel hesitant about going to a third world country where I don't know the language, I still have been excited about it. I like adventure! I've just been a lot more cautious since I had children. :)

On the subject of Nicaragua, I'm not sure if it's going to work out or not to go. Some things have come up that have brought the whole trip into question for me. I'm still hoping things work out, though! So, if you're someone who prays, please be sure to include my family in your prayers (I'm looking for prayers that we make all the right decisions concerning our next venture/s.) Thanks so much!

Rice is Life

I just wanted to share with all of you this neat video one of my California friends, Sean made. He now lives in Thailand where he is trying to raise the funds for a rice mill. This is both interesting as well as educational, so why not check it out?! :)

Happy New Year!

I must say, I'm so very glad 2009 is in the past. The best thing about 2009 was, of course, my baby girl, Elizabeth Rose. There were a lot of struggles that had to be gone through last year, a lot of painful changes that were made, and a lot of things I want to simply leave in 2009. I'm hopeful that 2010 will be a year of growth (hopefully not too painful), healing, and, well... change. That's one thing we can depend on - every year will be filled with change. In one form or another, change seems to enter every year. Sometimes with a bang. Like this year. I should be off to another country within the next couple of months. I'll be learning to live in a place where I'm not even close to fluent in the language spoken there. I will be leaving nearly everything and everyone I know behind. Yes, change is here and I welcome it. Okay, not really. I want to welcome it and to feel adventurous, excited, and trusting; but I don't. I'm working on it, but with change I tend to dig my heals in and fight it a bit. Most folks can't always see that with me, because I say the right things so as to help them (I want them to feel like I'm living my dream and not to worry about me), but inside... I'm a bit afraid. This is big and "secretly" I hope something comes up and it doesn't work out. I'll probably even be a bit disappointed if it doesn't work out (I've focused on it so long) and yet I could live without this big of a change... I think. I want to do what's right and maybe this move is right, but maybe it's not. And maybe it will just be another thing to live through. Another thing to praise God I make it past. None of us know what the future holds and that can be a bit daunting at times. I'm going to try and trust God to take care of directing our paths and taking care of us as we travel no matter where our travels take us.

Happy New Year!