The last couple months have been trying in the parenting department. Clark has been ornery, defiant and all around difficult to deal with. I thought (hoped) maybe it was a product of all the craziness of life and moving, but once we were settled it didn't improve. I am thrilled to report he has had two good days in a row. His sweetness has come back and he's been a joy to be around. Of course he still has his moments, but overall it has been a welcome change. We have had fun playing with his toys, wrestling on the floor and playing chase. His cute babbles have returned, the high pitch screaming has become less often and he has started obeying occasionally. I'm praising God for this and hoping it becomes to new normal. Michael says not to count on it, but I'm hopeful.
Every night as a part of our bedtime routine I pray for Clark (since he can't really talk yet) as I'm putting him in bed. I always thank God for Clark and for the good gift he is to our family. I pray God will give us wisdom as parents and help us to raise Clark to love him and that he would show Clark how much we love him and how much he loves him. I'm so thankful for these sweet moments with Clark. I love my boy!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Trying out e-mealz
E-mealz was recommended to me by my sister-in-law and a friend in Jacksonville. It's also endorsed by financial planning guru Dave Ramsey. It's an online meal plan that tells you exactly what to buy, how much it will cost at your selected store and how to prepare the meals. It's supposed to save you time and money because you shop according to the sales at the stores, use all of the ingredients you buy and the grocery list is sorted by the sections of the store so you don't skip anything and have to walk in circles around the store (which I am prone to doing). A few months ago I checked into it, but decided that because of my picky eater it wouldn't work well for us. This week I decided to give it a try. After doing our budget when we moved I realized (again) that food is a category where we could save money with better planning.
Michael looked over the meals and said he could eat all of them (with only a few modifications) so we headed out to Wal-Mart for our first shopping trip using the pre-planned list. Just for the record I hate shopping at Wal-Mart, but it's our cheapest option in VIcksburg. After a long and frustrating trip through the store I was shocked to find I spent more than I EVER have on groceries (ever in my entire life!). I usually spend more at Wal-Mart since I buy things other than groceries that I wouldn't buy at Publix or Kroger, but this was ridiculous!
I haven't made any of the meals yet, but I think I was doing better at budgeting my meals than I thought. Only time will tell, but if my next trip proves to be like this one, I won't be recommending e-mealz. Hopefully next time will be must more cost-effective. I'll report back in a week or two.
Michael looked over the meals and said he could eat all of them (with only a few modifications) so we headed out to Wal-Mart for our first shopping trip using the pre-planned list. Just for the record I hate shopping at Wal-Mart, but it's our cheapest option in VIcksburg. After a long and frustrating trip through the store I was shocked to find I spent more than I EVER have on groceries (ever in my entire life!). I usually spend more at Wal-Mart since I buy things other than groceries that I wouldn't buy at Publix or Kroger, but this was ridiculous!
I haven't made any of the meals yet, but I think I was doing better at budgeting my meals than I thought. Only time will tell, but if my next trip proves to be like this one, I won't be recommending e-mealz. Hopefully next time will be must more cost-effective. I'll report back in a week or two.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The latest from Mississippi
I've been slacking on the blogging. The battery in our computer decided to go kaput so it has to be plugged in all the time. Clark loves to unplug it so we haven't been using it as much as we used to. Most of the time the computer sits on the counter in the kitchen where it's not too comfortable to stand and type. Right now Clark is napping, so between shuffling loads of laundry between the washer, dryer and folding them, I'm going to attempt to write a blog.
Our family room has had a complete makeover in the last week. We've never had two living spaces so we only had furniture for the living room when we moved in. We put the futon from the guest room out in the family room and used one of the chairs from the living room so we'd have something to sit on. We spend most of our time in the family room since all of Clark's toys are in there as well as the TV. When we moved in the kitchen, dining room and family room were all painted a color called "Lemon Meringue." It wasn't a bad color, but it didn't go with any of our furniture. We've been waiting years to paint a room a blueish/greenish/grayish color we've loved for a long time. Because we were renting we never had the ability to change the wall color. Since we didn't like the yellow, we decided it was finally our chance to paint and room "our color" as we've started calling it.
Mom, Alison and Caroline came this week to visit. They came to see us, our new home and mostly to see Clark. While they were here we had the crazy idea of painting. They enthusiastically helped (except Caroline didn't paint, but she did make us chocolate chip cookies to keep us going and get some of her homework done). We painted two nights after Clark went to bed and got all three rooms finished (including taping, first and second coat of paint and pictures put back on the wall in less than 8 hours total). Having extra hands made the job go so much faster. A family in the church who have been a huge help to us in moving in and getting settled were getting new living room furniture and offered us a club chair. When they brought it we realized their couch matched our new paint color so we traded the couch we had (that someone else in the church had generously given us when we didn't have any furniture) for their couch. We had purchased a carpet remnant to go in the room so it'd be more cozy, but when we got it home I hated the color. Once we got the "new" furniture the carpet looked good. So, in a matter of four days our family room has had a complete transformation. I am sitting in the comfy club chair with my feet propped up on the ottoman as I write. I thank God for generous people who have helped make our house feel more like a home.
Since the beginning of July when we started all the moving craziness Clark's behavior has been horrible. He used to be so sweet but he has begun screaming (high pitch, shrill, leave your ears ringing screaming) anytime he doesn't like how something is going. It makes me blood pressure rise immediately. He has become so stubborn and doesn't the opposite of anything I ask him to do. I have tried to be consistent with discipline and have tried everything I know to discourage his bad behavior and encourage good behavior. I wish I could report that we have found the magic trick and he's a perfect little angel. Of course if I said that you'd know I was lying. What I have learned is how much I need grace in my parenting. I don't feel like I have a clue what I'm doing and whatever I instinctively want to do usually doesn't work. I've taught school for 8 years and dealt with lots of badly behaved children, but it's a different story when it's my own child and I have him 24/7. Obviously I've been deceiving myself all this time thinking I had patience. I have learned that I have none. I see my own sinfulness so much more clearly as I try to deal with Clark. I also have a greater appreciation for my Heavenly Father who has patience with me when I continually disobey. He doesn't get mad and yell at me when I do the same things over and over. He never refuses to forgive because he's too frustrated with my behavior. While I wish my efforts in parenting would start having some effect on my child's behavior I am thankful for the way God is teaching me about my own heart and drawing me to himself through my own shortcomings and my child's disobedience.
It sounds like my next load of laundry is done and Clark is awake, so I'll sign off for now. These were just a few random updates from life in Mississippi.
Oh, and I don't think it's quite sunk in with this Florida girl that I am a resident of Mississippi now, but just today we got a Mississippi license plate for one of the cars and I'm getting my driver license switched over today or tomorrow so I guess that will make it more real. So far I like Mississippi and I thank God for the wonderful people we've met. He has provided for us far beyond our expectations!
Our family room has had a complete makeover in the last week. We've never had two living spaces so we only had furniture for the living room when we moved in. We put the futon from the guest room out in the family room and used one of the chairs from the living room so we'd have something to sit on. We spend most of our time in the family room since all of Clark's toys are in there as well as the TV. When we moved in the kitchen, dining room and family room were all painted a color called "Lemon Meringue." It wasn't a bad color, but it didn't go with any of our furniture. We've been waiting years to paint a room a blueish/greenish/grayish color we've loved for a long time. Because we were renting we never had the ability to change the wall color. Since we didn't like the yellow, we decided it was finally our chance to paint and room "our color" as we've started calling it.
Mom, Alison and Caroline came this week to visit. They came to see us, our new home and mostly to see Clark. While they were here we had the crazy idea of painting. They enthusiastically helped (except Caroline didn't paint, but she did make us chocolate chip cookies to keep us going and get some of her homework done). We painted two nights after Clark went to bed and got all three rooms finished (including taping, first and second coat of paint and pictures put back on the wall in less than 8 hours total). Having extra hands made the job go so much faster. A family in the church who have been a huge help to us in moving in and getting settled were getting new living room furniture and offered us a club chair. When they brought it we realized their couch matched our new paint color so we traded the couch we had (that someone else in the church had generously given us when we didn't have any furniture) for their couch. We had purchased a carpet remnant to go in the room so it'd be more cozy, but when we got it home I hated the color. Once we got the "new" furniture the carpet looked good. So, in a matter of four days our family room has had a complete transformation. I am sitting in the comfy club chair with my feet propped up on the ottoman as I write. I thank God for generous people who have helped make our house feel more like a home.
Since the beginning of July when we started all the moving craziness Clark's behavior has been horrible. He used to be so sweet but he has begun screaming (high pitch, shrill, leave your ears ringing screaming) anytime he doesn't like how something is going. It makes me blood pressure rise immediately. He has become so stubborn and doesn't the opposite of anything I ask him to do. I have tried to be consistent with discipline and have tried everything I know to discourage his bad behavior and encourage good behavior. I wish I could report that we have found the magic trick and he's a perfect little angel. Of course if I said that you'd know I was lying. What I have learned is how much I need grace in my parenting. I don't feel like I have a clue what I'm doing and whatever I instinctively want to do usually doesn't work. I've taught school for 8 years and dealt with lots of badly behaved children, but it's a different story when it's my own child and I have him 24/7. Obviously I've been deceiving myself all this time thinking I had patience. I have learned that I have none. I see my own sinfulness so much more clearly as I try to deal with Clark. I also have a greater appreciation for my Heavenly Father who has patience with me when I continually disobey. He doesn't get mad and yell at me when I do the same things over and over. He never refuses to forgive because he's too frustrated with my behavior. While I wish my efforts in parenting would start having some effect on my child's behavior I am thankful for the way God is teaching me about my own heart and drawing me to himself through my own shortcomings and my child's disobedience.
It sounds like my next load of laundry is done and Clark is awake, so I'll sign off for now. These were just a few random updates from life in Mississippi.
Oh, and I don't think it's quite sunk in with this Florida girl that I am a resident of Mississippi now, but just today we got a Mississippi license plate for one of the cars and I'm getting my driver license switched over today or tomorrow so I guess that will make it more real. So far I like Mississippi and I thank God for the wonderful people we've met. He has provided for us far beyond our expectations!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
I love Clark's room
This may seem like a strange title for a post at this time. It would make since if I wrote about the move, the new church, Michael's new job, etc, but the thing that struck me this morning and compelled me to write was Clark's new room. In general I hate moving, but one thing I like about it is it causes me to reorganize in a new space. When things stay the same for too long I get in a rut, clutter builds up and I'm unmotivated to pull it all out and rearrange. Every time we move I get a chance to look at the things we have, purge those we aren't using and get a fresh look at how I want to organize our belongings.
Clark's room is about the same size as his room in St. Augustine except now he has the room completely to himself. I loved our townhouse in St. Augustine, but the one drawback it had was that Clark's room was also the guest room. Whenever we had company (which thankfully we had often) we would have to kick Clark out of his room and put him in the pack-n-play in our room (or if it was Joel, Caroline or my parents we just left him in the crib and they snuck in quietly when they went to bed--he slept better, but it was an inconvenience to them). Now we have three bedrooms, so Clark gets his own room.
Although his room looks virtually the same as it did before there are two main differences.
1. He has more floor space and it's on the first floor so he actually plays in his room now.
2. I put his books on his bookshelf instead of in a basket next to the rocker.
The second difference sounds minor, but it has brought me great joy. You see, now that his books are on the shelf he gets down from the rocker and picks out his own books. Here's our basic routine at bedtime and naptime: I sit in the rocker and Clark goes to the shelf to pick out a book, he comes back to the rocker with the book and turns around backwards for me to pick him up and put him in my lap. I loving seeing which books he picks. He'll stand at the shelf and look at several before he makes his selection and then he runs over to the rocker to show me what he picked. There are certain books he chooses every time. He loves the "5 Silly Monkey's" book and does the motions with me every time we read it. He's also obsessed with the moon so he loves "The Foot Book" by Dr. Seuss because on the page where it says "feet at night" there's a picture of the moon. He turns back to that page at least three times every time we read it.
This move has been hard on all of us. Michael and I have had an overload of emotional stress since there seemed to be complications at every turn. We had more problems than I can list with the moving company, a place to live was like a rollercoaster ride: one day we had a place, the next we didn't, and then maybe we had a place. It was like that every day for the two weeks we were packing. Clark had a rough time too. His schedule was completely interrupted, he slept in a different bed every night and had different people caring for him. His behavior was horrible and Michael and I had both decided he was going to make us prematurely old. Now that he's gotten a little bit more settled (granted it's only been a week) his behavior has improved. He still has quite a few fits and ugly moments, but his sweetness has come back.
We spend a good bit of time in his room because he loves reading his books and I love snuggling with him while we're reading. I can't tell you how happy I am that he loves to read. He sits still longer to read than he does even to eat. So, while it may sound weird to say, I love Clark's room!
The rocker where we read.
Clark playing in his room. Notice the books on the shelf behind him.
Clark showing off his new room.
A view of the whole room from the door.
Clark's room is about the same size as his room in St. Augustine except now he has the room completely to himself. I loved our townhouse in St. Augustine, but the one drawback it had was that Clark's room was also the guest room. Whenever we had company (which thankfully we had often) we would have to kick Clark out of his room and put him in the pack-n-play in our room (or if it was Joel, Caroline or my parents we just left him in the crib and they snuck in quietly when they went to bed--he slept better, but it was an inconvenience to them). Now we have three bedrooms, so Clark gets his own room.
Although his room looks virtually the same as it did before there are two main differences.
1. He has more floor space and it's on the first floor so he actually plays in his room now.
2. I put his books on his bookshelf instead of in a basket next to the rocker.
The second difference sounds minor, but it has brought me great joy. You see, now that his books are on the shelf he gets down from the rocker and picks out his own books. Here's our basic routine at bedtime and naptime: I sit in the rocker and Clark goes to the shelf to pick out a book, he comes back to the rocker with the book and turns around backwards for me to pick him up and put him in my lap. I loving seeing which books he picks. He'll stand at the shelf and look at several before he makes his selection and then he runs over to the rocker to show me what he picked. There are certain books he chooses every time. He loves the "5 Silly Monkey's" book and does the motions with me every time we read it. He's also obsessed with the moon so he loves "The Foot Book" by Dr. Seuss because on the page where it says "feet at night" there's a picture of the moon. He turns back to that page at least three times every time we read it.
This move has been hard on all of us. Michael and I have had an overload of emotional stress since there seemed to be complications at every turn. We had more problems than I can list with the moving company, a place to live was like a rollercoaster ride: one day we had a place, the next we didn't, and then maybe we had a place. It was like that every day for the two weeks we were packing. Clark had a rough time too. His schedule was completely interrupted, he slept in a different bed every night and had different people caring for him. His behavior was horrible and Michael and I had both decided he was going to make us prematurely old. Now that he's gotten a little bit more settled (granted it's only been a week) his behavior has improved. He still has quite a few fits and ugly moments, but his sweetness has come back.
We spend a good bit of time in his room because he loves reading his books and I love snuggling with him while we're reading. I can't tell you how happy I am that he loves to read. He sits still longer to read than he does even to eat. So, while it may sound weird to say, I love Clark's room!
The rocker where we read.
Clark playing in his room. Notice the books on the shelf behind him.
Clark showing off his new room.
A view of the whole room from the door.
Friday, July 23, 2010
It was a God thing...
Today marks the 6 year anniversary of Michael and I meeting. I always love a good story and hoped that one day I would have a story of my own to tell. God, in his faithfulness, gave me not just a good story, but a great story to tell over and over again of his providence in our lives in bringing us together.
We met in New Mexico at a Boy Scout camp (Philmont for any Boy Scouts out there who may recognize the name). The first question people always ask is, "What were YOU doing at a Boy Scout camp?" Well, for as long as I can remember my parents have talked about taking a trip "out west." When my mom was in high school her oldest sister lived in Utah so her family drove from Atlanta to Utah and saw all the sights in between. Because of the nostalgia of that trip and wanting us to experience it as well, she had always talked about us taking a trip out west as well. But my dad only had two weeks vacation, so to try to drive from Florida wouldn't be feasible since most of the time would be spent getting there and better back. So when the opportunity came up for my dad to go to Philmont for a Boy Scout training week, he arranged for us to go with him. Ironically, it was just the girls (Alison, Caroline and I) who ended up going as the boys had other things they were doing and pretty much hated family vacations anyway. We had the best time! We flew into Denver, drove through the Rocky Mountain National Park, saw Red Rock Canyon, Buffalo Bill's grave, Colorado Springs and the Air Force Academy, Pikes Peak, and other sites on the way down to Cimmaron, New Mexico. We then spent a week at the camp where we got to go hiking, horseback riding and a ropes course while my dad sat in boring classes. After the camp we went to the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion and Las Vegas. I hadn't been on family vacation in nearly ten years since i had been in college and teaching in Japan. I actually had a mandatory training at school the week of the trip, but I skipped it to go.
So, that's a lot of background information on why I ended up at the Boy Scout camp. Michael was working for the Boy Scouts at the time and had been to Philmont as a scout and loved it. So when he found out about the opportunity to go to the same training my dad was going to, he jumped at the chance. He took along with him his two top volunteers. One of those volunteers took his family with him as well.
So, during the week while we (Mom, Alison, Caroline and I) were doing fun stuff I became friends with the wife of one of Michael's volunteers. We ended up signing up for almost the exact same activities and enjoyed the same things. On the last day of camp she sidled up next to me and said, "Do you have a boyfriend?" Now, I was no spring chicken and I had had many well meaning ladies in the past try to hook me up with their sons who were not the least bit interested. So, I thought, "Oh great! Here we go again. Please don't do me any favors." She told me that there was a really nice guy who was about my age who I really needed to meet. In fact, she said her husband was having a little mini birthday party at lunch that day and I should come so that I could meet this guy.
At lunch she came and found me and nearly dragged me across the dining hall to sing happy birthday to her husband. Funny thing is that when I got to the table there were two guys with her family, one was Michael (who I had actually noticed earlier in the week because I thought he was cute) and the other was a guy in his 40's with a thick mustache. The first thought that went through my head was, "Oh crap! She's trying to set me up with the old guy." Thankfully for me, it wasn't him :)
Michael and I didn't really get a chance to talk because it was kinda awkward with everyone staring at us wondering what we thought of each other. Later that evening we had the closing ceremony around a campfire (except it was raining, so we didn't have a fire). Michael and his friends were all sitting on the back row so I went over and sat with them. This was completely out of character for me, but I figured if I didn't take the opportunity to talk to him, I'd never get the chance again. As soon as I sat down they all stood up and rearranged seats so that Michael could sit next to me (They tried to be sly about it saying something about spreading out the tarp so I could have a dry place to sit, but it wasn't too subtle). We hit it off and talked for a little while, but when the program was over several people came over to talk to Michael and I started to leave. Julie (our matchmaker) tracked me down and wanted to know what I thought and if I'd give him my number.
I wasn't sure if he was interested or if she was just being persistent, so I gave her my email address instead. Also, I was moving when I got home, so my phone number was going to be changing. While we were talking Michael came over and talked some more. We ended up talking for three or four hours that night at the pavilion and he met my mom, dad and sisters. I wouldn't say it was love at first sight, but there was definitely something there that I had never felt before and I knew I wanted to see him again. Strangely enough, even though we met in New Mexico, he lived in Brooksville and I lived in Orlando which was only about an hour and a half away.
When we got home we emailed and talked on the phone. We had our first date at Epcot where we spent over 12 hours together. My friends thought we were crazy to spend so much time together on a first date, but I figured if we weren't sick of each other after that, then that was probably a good sign. Michael drove to Orlando nearly every weekend after that, we fell in love and the rest is history.
Now, that's just my side of the story. Michael will have to chime in with his because I can't speak for him.
Every time I tell the story I have to say it was a God thing. Who would have thought we'd meet hundreds of miles from home at a Boy Scout camp. God, in his providence, was arranging all the details. We are so thankful for his care in our lives and for giving us each other. Michael's my favorite gift! (although Clark is a very close second)
We met in New Mexico at a Boy Scout camp (Philmont for any Boy Scouts out there who may recognize the name). The first question people always ask is, "What were YOU doing at a Boy Scout camp?" Well, for as long as I can remember my parents have talked about taking a trip "out west." When my mom was in high school her oldest sister lived in Utah so her family drove from Atlanta to Utah and saw all the sights in between. Because of the nostalgia of that trip and wanting us to experience it as well, she had always talked about us taking a trip out west as well. But my dad only had two weeks vacation, so to try to drive from Florida wouldn't be feasible since most of the time would be spent getting there and better back. So when the opportunity came up for my dad to go to Philmont for a Boy Scout training week, he arranged for us to go with him. Ironically, it was just the girls (Alison, Caroline and I) who ended up going as the boys had other things they were doing and pretty much hated family vacations anyway. We had the best time! We flew into Denver, drove through the Rocky Mountain National Park, saw Red Rock Canyon, Buffalo Bill's grave, Colorado Springs and the Air Force Academy, Pikes Peak, and other sites on the way down to Cimmaron, New Mexico. We then spent a week at the camp where we got to go hiking, horseback riding and a ropes course while my dad sat in boring classes. After the camp we went to the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion and Las Vegas. I hadn't been on family vacation in nearly ten years since i had been in college and teaching in Japan. I actually had a mandatory training at school the week of the trip, but I skipped it to go.
So, that's a lot of background information on why I ended up at the Boy Scout camp. Michael was working for the Boy Scouts at the time and had been to Philmont as a scout and loved it. So when he found out about the opportunity to go to the same training my dad was going to, he jumped at the chance. He took along with him his two top volunteers. One of those volunteers took his family with him as well.
So, during the week while we (Mom, Alison, Caroline and I) were doing fun stuff I became friends with the wife of one of Michael's volunteers. We ended up signing up for almost the exact same activities and enjoyed the same things. On the last day of camp she sidled up next to me and said, "Do you have a boyfriend?" Now, I was no spring chicken and I had had many well meaning ladies in the past try to hook me up with their sons who were not the least bit interested. So, I thought, "Oh great! Here we go again. Please don't do me any favors." She told me that there was a really nice guy who was about my age who I really needed to meet. In fact, she said her husband was having a little mini birthday party at lunch that day and I should come so that I could meet this guy.
At lunch she came and found me and nearly dragged me across the dining hall to sing happy birthday to her husband. Funny thing is that when I got to the table there were two guys with her family, one was Michael (who I had actually noticed earlier in the week because I thought he was cute) and the other was a guy in his 40's with a thick mustache. The first thought that went through my head was, "Oh crap! She's trying to set me up with the old guy." Thankfully for me, it wasn't him :)
Michael and I didn't really get a chance to talk because it was kinda awkward with everyone staring at us wondering what we thought of each other. Later that evening we had the closing ceremony around a campfire (except it was raining, so we didn't have a fire). Michael and his friends were all sitting on the back row so I went over and sat with them. This was completely out of character for me, but I figured if I didn't take the opportunity to talk to him, I'd never get the chance again. As soon as I sat down they all stood up and rearranged seats so that Michael could sit next to me (They tried to be sly about it saying something about spreading out the tarp so I could have a dry place to sit, but it wasn't too subtle). We hit it off and talked for a little while, but when the program was over several people came over to talk to Michael and I started to leave. Julie (our matchmaker) tracked me down and wanted to know what I thought and if I'd give him my number.
I wasn't sure if he was interested or if she was just being persistent, so I gave her my email address instead. Also, I was moving when I got home, so my phone number was going to be changing. While we were talking Michael came over and talked some more. We ended up talking for three or four hours that night at the pavilion and he met my mom, dad and sisters. I wouldn't say it was love at first sight, but there was definitely something there that I had never felt before and I knew I wanted to see him again. Strangely enough, even though we met in New Mexico, he lived in Brooksville and I lived in Orlando which was only about an hour and a half away.
When we got home we emailed and talked on the phone. We had our first date at Epcot where we spent over 12 hours together. My friends thought we were crazy to spend so much time together on a first date, but I figured if we weren't sick of each other after that, then that was probably a good sign. Michael drove to Orlando nearly every weekend after that, we fell in love and the rest is history.
Now, that's just my side of the story. Michael will have to chime in with his because I can't speak for him.
Every time I tell the story I have to say it was a God thing. Who would have thought we'd meet hundreds of miles from home at a Boy Scout camp. God, in his providence, was arranging all the details. We are so thankful for his care in our lives and for giving us each other. Michael's my favorite gift! (although Clark is a very close second)
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Next rollercoaster stop.....Vicksburg!
So the rollercoaster continues, but this time we like the direction it's going. Michael accepted the job in Vicksburg, Mississippi so we have switched gears from looking for a job to looking for a place to live and packing up all our belongings. We're driving out this weekend to find a place and then leaving our car and flying home. This way we don't have to drive separate cars or pull one of them with the moving truck.
For all of our smaller moves we've just rented a U-haul and gotten friends and family to come help us load and unload the truck. Michael is completely competent to drive the truck, but with this move being so much farther I've been looking into moving companies so that Michael doesn't have to drive the truck. It's pretty exciting to think about moving without having to load and unload all our big heavy furniture. We'll still be packing everything, but it'll be so much easier to just drive out and meet our stuff while someone else unloads it than to have to take it ourselves. All three estimates I've gotten are very reasonable, so we're encouraged.
I'm especially excited about this weekend. Mom and Dad are keeping Clark (so he doesn't have to be in the car so much and so that they can have some time with him before we move). Michael and I are going to be busy the weekend of our 5th anniversary in October, so we're doing a mini early anniversary trip. This Friday is the 6th anniversary of when we met, so we're substituting it for our wedding anniversary. We're driving to Ft Walton Beach and staying a night to just enjoy the beach and eachother's company. Then we'll drive the rest of the way to Vicksburg on Sunday. We haven't taken any trips just for fun anytime that I can remember, so I'm super excited to get some time alone. I haven't left Clark for more than a night before though, so five days is a long time. We're going to miss our little guy!
We're preparing to say our goodbyes to Jacksonville, Orlando and all our friends and family in both locations. We are so thankful for this job and God's provision for us, but the reality of leaving is starting to set in. This year we've been close enough to go to Orlando anytime we wanted. Thankfully Vicksburg is within driving distance and there are reasonable non-stop flights on Southwest, but it's not a weekend trip. We're realizing that we may never live in Florida again, which for this Florida girl is a strange thought.
We're also excited to get to Vicksburg, start building relationships and jump into youth ministry. It's almost surreal that this actually happening. We've prayed for so long and had so many near opportunities that it doesn't seem like this is actually happening. We praise God for his faithfulness to us over the last year (and our whole lives as well) and for this new opportunity. I'll try to blog when I can as we get settled. We're hoping for a 3 bedroom so we'll be set up for company. There are over a million visitors to the Battlefield Park every year, so come see us and we'll show you around.
For all of our smaller moves we've just rented a U-haul and gotten friends and family to come help us load and unload the truck. Michael is completely competent to drive the truck, but with this move being so much farther I've been looking into moving companies so that Michael doesn't have to drive the truck. It's pretty exciting to think about moving without having to load and unload all our big heavy furniture. We'll still be packing everything, but it'll be so much easier to just drive out and meet our stuff while someone else unloads it than to have to take it ourselves. All three estimates I've gotten are very reasonable, so we're encouraged.
I'm especially excited about this weekend. Mom and Dad are keeping Clark (so he doesn't have to be in the car so much and so that they can have some time with him before we move). Michael and I are going to be busy the weekend of our 5th anniversary in October, so we're doing a mini early anniversary trip. This Friday is the 6th anniversary of when we met, so we're substituting it for our wedding anniversary. We're driving to Ft Walton Beach and staying a night to just enjoy the beach and eachother's company. Then we'll drive the rest of the way to Vicksburg on Sunday. We haven't taken any trips just for fun anytime that I can remember, so I'm super excited to get some time alone. I haven't left Clark for more than a night before though, so five days is a long time. We're going to miss our little guy!
We're preparing to say our goodbyes to Jacksonville, Orlando and all our friends and family in both locations. We are so thankful for this job and God's provision for us, but the reality of leaving is starting to set in. This year we've been close enough to go to Orlando anytime we wanted. Thankfully Vicksburg is within driving distance and there are reasonable non-stop flights on Southwest, but it's not a weekend trip. We're realizing that we may never live in Florida again, which for this Florida girl is a strange thought.
We're also excited to get to Vicksburg, start building relationships and jump into youth ministry. It's almost surreal that this actually happening. We've prayed for so long and had so many near opportunities that it doesn't seem like this is actually happening. We praise God for his faithfulness to us over the last year (and our whole lives as well) and for this new opportunity. I'll try to blog when I can as we get settled. We're hoping for a 3 bedroom so we'll be set up for company. There are over a million visitors to the Battlefield Park every year, so come see us and we'll show you around.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Rollercoaster Ride
When I was little I loved rollercoasters. One of my favorite memories with my dad was when we went to Six Flags and he and I went and rode all the rollercoasters we could before the park closed (I think we rode all except one...of course Mom was grateful not to have to ride them with us.) As an adult I'm not a fan of rollercoasters. Somewhere around my 16th birthday I started getting motion sickness. I'm not sure what changed, but I remember numerous times of sleeping in the back of the van because if I was awake I was sick. Yuck! I hate the feeling. Rollercoasters weren't fun anymore when they gave me a headache for the rest of the day.
Since the end of April we feel like we've been riding a rollercoast. Obviously it's not a literal rollercoaster, but life has been CRAZY and filled with so many unexpected twists and turns we're trying to figure out which way is up. I can't elaborate on all the craziness, but it has included three funerals, numerous trips out of town (we have been home without visitors only one weekend since the end of April), a weekend church interview and waiting to hear if we're moving, a week in Ft. Myers keeping my nephews, Michael preaching, and Clark figuring out how to climb out of the crib so naptime and bedtime have been a fight when they used to be simple. The whole moving thing of course has been the biggest question mark. Both of our birthdays are in the summer so I have to renew our license plates. If we're moving out of state I don't want to pay to renew my tag if I'm going to move before my birthday. Our lease is up the end of July. If we're moving we have to give 30 days notice to our landlords, but since we still don't know what we're doing we can't give notice or let the know for sure we'll be around. These are just a few of the relatively minor, yet not completely insignificant things running through my head ad we wait.
We're praying for God to open doors and provide clear direction. We're learning to wait on him and be patient (neither waiting or patience are my strengths). My mom said we're never going to forget this time and I have to agree with her. There are certain times in life I remember vividly. These last few months I won't be forgetting anytime soon. We're ready to be off the rollercoaster, but it's also a good reminder for us that our God doesn't change regardless of the craziness in life and knowing we can depend on him has given us peace.
Since the end of April we feel like we've been riding a rollercoast. Obviously it's not a literal rollercoaster, but life has been CRAZY and filled with so many unexpected twists and turns we're trying to figure out which way is up. I can't elaborate on all the craziness, but it has included three funerals, numerous trips out of town (we have been home without visitors only one weekend since the end of April), a weekend church interview and waiting to hear if we're moving, a week in Ft. Myers keeping my nephews, Michael preaching, and Clark figuring out how to climb out of the crib so naptime and bedtime have been a fight when they used to be simple. The whole moving thing of course has been the biggest question mark. Both of our birthdays are in the summer so I have to renew our license plates. If we're moving out of state I don't want to pay to renew my tag if I'm going to move before my birthday. Our lease is up the end of July. If we're moving we have to give 30 days notice to our landlords, but since we still don't know what we're doing we can't give notice or let the know for sure we'll be around. These are just a few of the relatively minor, yet not completely insignificant things running through my head ad we wait.
We're praying for God to open doors and provide clear direction. We're learning to wait on him and be patient (neither waiting or patience are my strengths). My mom said we're never going to forget this time and I have to agree with her. There are certain times in life I remember vividly. These last few months I won't be forgetting anytime soon. We're ready to be off the rollercoaster, but it's also a good reminder for us that our God doesn't change regardless of the craziness in life and knowing we can depend on him has given us peace.
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