Is it funny that we are in the same position-almost-as last year? Moving, setting up a home, starting a new job, deciding on what to do for school.
We have moved a few times in our thirteen years of marriage. Some big moves and some small. Every time though we have learned something new. We moved into my sister and her husband's house when we were newlyweds, as we waited for our own house to close. I learned about respect and thin walls. And before you get the wrong idea, it was more along the lines of me having a early to work job(coffee shop) and the rest of the house working late nights. So movie watching in the wee hours of the morning were a no go for me as I tried to sleep through the surround sound. Hey, I was young and it didn't bother me none.
Being in our first home showed me how much I enjoy setting up a home. I loved that home but was also caught up on making it just right and realized the balance of being content, dreaming, and knowing that what I had was enough.
We then moved a few states away to Oklahoma. That was a rough move for me. I was out in the country with just about no friends and surprised to find myself pregnant in the first week we got there! I realized how I had been back in Oregon. I has all the friends and family I needed and didn't really give it a thought to reach out to families that had just moved into the area. Now, I was that new person. I wanted a good friend desperately. I have never cried so much in my life. It was rough but I learned a lot.
Fast forward two years, and now I found myself surrounded by tons of great people in Idaho. Micheal.'s job was a better fit for our family and as a whole we were a pretty happy family. We lived in the same house for three years before a hop, skip and jump to a small town just 30 minutes away. It was a great fit from the beginning! We loved our new house, Micheal's job was great, and we made friends fast!
Now, a year and a half later we are in the mountains instead of the desert of Idaho. It too is a great fit, although in different ways. I can tell that it will take a bit longer to settle as we finish our home and get to know the community. Once again, I am observing the community and church services and am amazed at how different we all are!
There are many ways to do life and I have learned a lot from many wonderful people. I don't regret all our moves although I hope this will be the last move for a long while. Micheal and I both love it here and I think the kids have transitioned well also. We still don't have close friends-heck, it's only been a couple months!- but we love the people we have met and we have absolutely wonderful family here.
So this is home. This is what we wake up to every morning and continue to search out for new places to explore and new things to be involved in and new people to meet.
It's different from all the other places before, but it's kind of the same too. It's a great place to call home!
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Whirlwind
Hello there friends! I have missed this blog so much! Life is a bit different for me for the moment.
Modern day conveniences are not in abundance but so much more has made up for the other things we lack, so there remains a balance.
We are in the process of buying a cute little cabin and at the same time are converting the garage into a bathroom, laundry room and bedroom. Kind of going on a limb to put so much time and money into a house that you don't own and that if the loan doesn't work out, you won't get to enjoy, but we feel that if God has worked out all the other details of our move to the mountain side then surely He will continue the work right?! Well, I sure hope so! Actually we are close to closing (possibly next week) and we are close to finishing the add on too. Our current space is 632 sq. feet with one bedroom and a tiny closet with a toilet. We have a small kitchen also with a mini stove and sink. It is an adventure! Most days it is wonderful but every once in awhile I have a, " This is SO hard!" kind of day! But really, it is a sweet time.
It's been about 8 weeks since moving in. Lots of fun has been had. Zade just finished up flag football, August has started soccer, Micheal has started college and we are 7 weeks into homeschool. Liam is weaned and taking up conversation with anyone who will listen and engage! Micheal stays up late with us all and we have lots of dreaming sessions of what our life will be here and how to do this or that for the house and I guess we shall go swimming again and take some showers down at the pool. ;)
We have gone to the two churches in the area and although they are wonderful, we miss our church body in Twin. Maybe we can add a bit of what we have experienced and learned into the body here. (If you happen to live near or in Twin, I recommend checking out The Dwelling Place.) Spirit led and filled with love.
But really just being in church is such a great feeling. We were very sick for the first three weeks of being here so we missed meeting together with other Christians.
We finished up our Summer laying by the pool and hanging out at our family's house every day. If it were not for our family it would have been a rough transition. Our house would not be nearly close to being finished if it were not for our Uncle and his wealth of information, skill and desire to help us. We have learned a lot. How do you repay someone who you are so indebted to? A lot of thank you's and dinners!
Fall has come and with it such beauty. Today is the coldest day we have had and our power was out for an hour or so. We cozied up in the house and the kids played while I read a book. A book about writing I may add, which to me is surprising as I have never thought of myself as a writer, even with having a blog for this long! But I guess there is something in me that desires to write and do it well so alas that is what I am reading this week.
The balance of living a quiet and peaceful life and yet being apart of our community and keeping in touch with my wonderful friends and family is well, a lesson. We feel we are able to get connected with our community so much easier with it being so tiny, and we love it. Not having internet has made the quiet and peaceful part happen! But peaceful doesn't mean quiet, and I feel blessed to share that I had an issue in my heart that was not peaceful but this last week it has been resolved and dealt with. It came down to the fact that I was ready to deal with it and God was obviously there to help me through it all. The Bait of Satan by John Bevere was a huge help.
Have you ever been offended? I dare speculate that most of us have been. Have you harbored bitterness? Have you not forgiven? Well, that is what the book is about and I was very encouraged through it. Don't waste another day being in that state of hatred(I know that is a strong word!). Deal with your problems and move on. There is the most amazing peace that comes from taking the time to work through all those feelings, misgivings, and past hurts. God desires so much for us and considering all the forgiveness He gives us, we should be quick to forgive others. Also, there are always two sides to a story and owning up to the fact that you have not acted in the best ways either is important in the whole healing of the circumstance. All that to say is, I have had a "mountaintop experience" while living on a mountain!
I wish I could upload pictures but I don't have that ability right now. So many great shots of the countryside and of my little people growing and enjoying this time of our life. I will figure a way out and will hopefully be back sooner rather than later to keep up on this here blog.
The only picture I have is of the trees changing colors!
I do hope you all are taking in all this beautiful world right now. Fall is such a spectacular time of year!
Modern day conveniences are not in abundance but so much more has made up for the other things we lack, so there remains a balance.
We are in the process of buying a cute little cabin and at the same time are converting the garage into a bathroom, laundry room and bedroom. Kind of going on a limb to put so much time and money into a house that you don't own and that if the loan doesn't work out, you won't get to enjoy, but we feel that if God has worked out all the other details of our move to the mountain side then surely He will continue the work right?! Well, I sure hope so! Actually we are close to closing (possibly next week) and we are close to finishing the add on too. Our current space is 632 sq. feet with one bedroom and a tiny closet with a toilet. We have a small kitchen also with a mini stove and sink. It is an adventure! Most days it is wonderful but every once in awhile I have a, " This is SO hard!" kind of day! But really, it is a sweet time.
It's been about 8 weeks since moving in. Lots of fun has been had. Zade just finished up flag football, August has started soccer, Micheal has started college and we are 7 weeks into homeschool. Liam is weaned and taking up conversation with anyone who will listen and engage! Micheal stays up late with us all and we have lots of dreaming sessions of what our life will be here and how to do this or that for the house and I guess we shall go swimming again and take some showers down at the pool. ;)
We have gone to the two churches in the area and although they are wonderful, we miss our church body in Twin. Maybe we can add a bit of what we have experienced and learned into the body here. (If you happen to live near or in Twin, I recommend checking out The Dwelling Place.) Spirit led and filled with love.
But really just being in church is such a great feeling. We were very sick for the first three weeks of being here so we missed meeting together with other Christians.
We finished up our Summer laying by the pool and hanging out at our family's house every day. If it were not for our family it would have been a rough transition. Our house would not be nearly close to being finished if it were not for our Uncle and his wealth of information, skill and desire to help us. We have learned a lot. How do you repay someone who you are so indebted to? A lot of thank you's and dinners!
Fall has come and with it such beauty. Today is the coldest day we have had and our power was out for an hour or so. We cozied up in the house and the kids played while I read a book. A book about writing I may add, which to me is surprising as I have never thought of myself as a writer, even with having a blog for this long! But I guess there is something in me that desires to write and do it well so alas that is what I am reading this week.
The balance of living a quiet and peaceful life and yet being apart of our community and keeping in touch with my wonderful friends and family is well, a lesson. We feel we are able to get connected with our community so much easier with it being so tiny, and we love it. Not having internet has made the quiet and peaceful part happen! But peaceful doesn't mean quiet, and I feel blessed to share that I had an issue in my heart that was not peaceful but this last week it has been resolved and dealt with. It came down to the fact that I was ready to deal with it and God was obviously there to help me through it all. The Bait of Satan by John Bevere was a huge help.
Have you ever been offended? I dare speculate that most of us have been. Have you harbored bitterness? Have you not forgiven? Well, that is what the book is about and I was very encouraged through it. Don't waste another day being in that state of hatred(I know that is a strong word!). Deal with your problems and move on. There is the most amazing peace that comes from taking the time to work through all those feelings, misgivings, and past hurts. God desires so much for us and considering all the forgiveness He gives us, we should be quick to forgive others. Also, there are always two sides to a story and owning up to the fact that you have not acted in the best ways either is important in the whole healing of the circumstance. All that to say is, I have had a "mountaintop experience" while living on a mountain!
I wish I could upload pictures but I don't have that ability right now. So many great shots of the countryside and of my little people growing and enjoying this time of our life. I will figure a way out and will hopefully be back sooner rather than later to keep up on this here blog.
The only picture I have is of the trees changing colors!
I do hope you all are taking in all this beautiful world right now. Fall is such a spectacular time of year!
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Let the music lead you
This last couple of weeks we have hit up our local(tiny!) library and August found a set of books that he loves. They are a bit longer than picture books, but not chapter books either. Each book is about a different person from History and talks about their life and some kind of character trait.
Today we read about Beethoven and giving. Many people invested in his life and music and when he felt like giving up, he persevered and gave back, with his beautiful music.
Afterward I got on youtube and found a couple songs and I said to lay down, close your eyes and dream about what the music is saying.
Well, there was no lying down, but there was plenty of imagining! Zade rushed over to me and said, "Mom, I thought of a new word! Musimovie!" They started creating a story of a man in the desert with a turban, sneaking up to a princess' window and trying to capture her. They went in and out of character and multiple characters throughout the music(about 30) minutes, and came up with a pretty good story! Princess, ballroom dancing, sword fights, poison, the antidote, good guy, bad guy, etc.
I wrote it down as they performed and they loved that even more! I read it back to them and then they chose a couple other symphonies and made up new plots and stories.
The only input I gave them was to try to think of a completely different story and characters from the one before.
It was such a fun hour! We haven't delved into Shakespeare yet, but I hope when we do, they will want to reenact the plays!
We finished our read aloud today also. Ralph Moody's, Little Britches. We all really enjoyed it. There was a lot of great lines from Father to son that I hope sunk into their heads and hearts.
For the summer we kept things really simple. We wrote out 1, 2, 3 John and the kids read 2 chapter books. Zade read Sign of the Beaver and a magic tree house book and Grace read May B. and the same magic tree house book, Dolphins at Daybreak. I wanted to challenge them to read something a little harder or longer than they have been, but in the end we made a compromise of one hard and one easy. Their reward was a date night with mama. Zade and I saw TMNT, and Grace are going bowling tonight.
Other learning happened through planting our first garden and reaping the benefits of that. Also, having a garage sale and making change, lots of life lessons and many late nights with great conversations and movie watching.
We are moving in a week so we haven't started the traditional school year yet. We will move and get settled, spend a good week with long nature walks exploring our new area and then get back to the books. I am looking forward to every part of it!
I will share more as we get into September what books we will be going through, but for now I just wanted to journal a little of what our summer has consisted of.
Enjoying the last of it, for soon enough we will be snuggled up with hot chocolate and tea and gazing at the leaves changing and the snow falling.
Today we read about Beethoven and giving. Many people invested in his life and music and when he felt like giving up, he persevered and gave back, with his beautiful music.
Afterward I got on youtube and found a couple songs and I said to lay down, close your eyes and dream about what the music is saying.
Well, there was no lying down, but there was plenty of imagining! Zade rushed over to me and said, "Mom, I thought of a new word! Musimovie!" They started creating a story of a man in the desert with a turban, sneaking up to a princess' window and trying to capture her. They went in and out of character and multiple characters throughout the music(about 30) minutes, and came up with a pretty good story! Princess, ballroom dancing, sword fights, poison, the antidote, good guy, bad guy, etc.
I wrote it down as they performed and they loved that even more! I read it back to them and then they chose a couple other symphonies and made up new plots and stories.
The only input I gave them was to try to think of a completely different story and characters from the one before.
It was such a fun hour! We haven't delved into Shakespeare yet, but I hope when we do, they will want to reenact the plays!
We finished our read aloud today also. Ralph Moody's, Little Britches. We all really enjoyed it. There was a lot of great lines from Father to son that I hope sunk into their heads and hearts.
For the summer we kept things really simple. We wrote out 1, 2, 3 John and the kids read 2 chapter books. Zade read Sign of the Beaver and a magic tree house book and Grace read May B. and the same magic tree house book, Dolphins at Daybreak. I wanted to challenge them to read something a little harder or longer than they have been, but in the end we made a compromise of one hard and one easy. Their reward was a date night with mama. Zade and I saw TMNT, and Grace are going bowling tonight.
Other learning happened through planting our first garden and reaping the benefits of that. Also, having a garage sale and making change, lots of life lessons and many late nights with great conversations and movie watching.
We are moving in a week so we haven't started the traditional school year yet. We will move and get settled, spend a good week with long nature walks exploring our new area and then get back to the books. I am looking forward to every part of it!
I will share more as we get into September what books we will be going through, but for now I just wanted to journal a little of what our summer has consisted of.
Enjoying the last of it, for soon enough we will be snuggled up with hot chocolate and tea and gazing at the leaves changing and the snow falling.
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