Photo Challenge: Day 15

Still Daddy's Girl - Jordan has always been very clingy with me, but she's always been Daddy's Girl, too. When she was an infant and a toddler, she was Punki-doo to him. She would race to the door to be the first to greet Tim when he got home from work. She would sneak into the room (with my permission first) to tickle his toes sticking out from the edge of the blanket to wake him up in the morning. She watched cartoons and movies from his lap instead of just on the sofa or floor.

Once she was starting school, she became "Monkey Duck" to Daddy. I'm not sure where it came from, I think I'd feel insulted being called a Monkey Duck but she always liked it. She even used it as a password for a game page she used to go to. Maybe it's just knowing she was special to her Daddy? That he picked her name just for her, and only to be used by him. She knew she "belonged" to him.

In the early teen years, Jordan's been more independent and moody, as expected. She's had lots of times when her own insecurities and Tim's stress levels caused them to drift apart a little, but her new name is "Chickie". Now I think I gave that to her, but maybe I got it from Tim, not sure - but it defines yet another season of her life.

Now that Tim's home time is special and he's changed so much that he's a joy to be around, she's once again, Daddy's Girl. She wants to talk to him on the phone when he calls. She wants to cook and bake things for him when he's home. She wants to go with me to pick him up. And I even notice how she dresses up for his arrivals and departures.

I don't know what her new nickname will be once she's an adult, done with school, but I'm sure they'll have a new pet name he'll call her, and she'll plan dates with him to have coffee, or lunch, or to feed the ducks in the park.

I aggressively protect my relationship with Tim, but with Jordan, I don't mind sharing him with her one bit.

Photo Challenge: Day 14

This photo challenge is to take time to enjoy the everyday moments around me. One of the highlights of our family's month is when Tim comes home for a few days. Things run pretty smooth while he's on the road for 2 to 3 weeks at a time, but when he's home, we change things up quite a bit.

We have a ton of errands to do when he first gets home so he can leave for his next trip fully stocked with things he needs to make his trip more successful. It means grocery store runs, Dollar stores, usually some kind of new tool to make his job easier, and a trip to American Discount Foods. They buy out other grocery stores' and restaurants' inventories and sell great stuff, brand names, high quality items - but at a fraction of the cost.

Anyway, after the initial errands are run, we stop having any type of schedule and just let Tim relax and play it by ear. We take time to eat a sit-down meal together as a family. We take time to watch movies on Netflix or from the library. We may go to the park, or walk around Ikea for ideas, or walk around some stores for exercise. We just let our days unfold while he's home, since it's only a day or two that he gets to rest and feel like he's been on vacation.

It's sad when he has to leave again, but this new schedule has made all 5 of us appreciate each other more. The kids have learned to follow my leadership, I've learned to give each of them individual attention where they're at, the kids miss Tim while he's gone and want to be around when he's home, and when Tim's here, he's actually "all here" with us. He's not stressing over not being at work like when he was in sales. He's calm, more understanding, less demanding, and enjoys doing things together as a family - as well as making time for just the two of us to be alone too.

We miss him, and someday he won't have to be gone so much, but for now, I think it's what we all needed to get where we are right now, and it's what's best for everyone. I appreciate Tim's sacrifices that he's made and continues to make to provide us with a wonderful home, in a great neighborhood, living where we want to live, with the resources we need. I pray that I never take it for granted.

Photo Challenge: Day 13

You know what I love about our new home? It's comfortable. I feel so relaxed when I'm at home. Maybe it's all the neutral colors? Maybe it's because everything is new and in great working order? Maybe because it's the nicest home we've had since Dover, NH back in 2003? I don't really know, but I love being at home.

I can nap or read on my bed and be at peace in my room. I can stay focused and clear-headed typing away at my kitchen table, I can feel God's peace as I read my bible in my chair on the back patio, I can relax completely sitting on the sofa watching a movie with one of the kids, I even feel contentment as I fold laundry in the new laundry room.

They say a man's home is his castle. I say for this woman, my home is my refuge, my place to ease into the mornings, rest and restore my soul during the night, and create great memories with my family and friends during the days.

Even Furlough has her favorite spots to relax and take a nap - like hiding in the dark corner of my room in the laundry basket.

Photo Challenge: Day 12

Reinventing or Rediscovering?

Logan is like many teens (and adults)...he's always in the process of reinventing himself - or is it just rediscovering?

Reinventing fits, because he tries new hairstyles, new clothes, with or without hats, new styles of music, new guitar techniques, new circle of friends, and more.

I also think rediscovering works because I've watched Logan through the years. He actually cycles through things. He's got habits, mannerisms, key phrases, interests, and more that he changes, but tends to return to a few years later.

Right now, he's broadening his guitar playing to include some classical, some jazzy-sounding riffs, and he's backing off some of the more modern metal-sounding songs. He's recently changed his hairstyle again to a more front-sweeping style instead of just having it hang straight down - I like it better now. He spent a long time wearing a hand-crocheted cap from his grandmother, but now he's wearing a fedora style hat wherever he goes. He always recycles his interests in 80s music and vintage games he played as a little boy.

I don't know how long it'll take him to find who he thinks he really is and feel comfortable with where he's at. Some people spend a lifetime trying to figure it out, but I think he's getting closer. I think once he does, he'll rediscover what I've known all along...who he is deep down is a wonderful, loving, caring, highly intelligent, engineering, helpful, hard-working, out-going, man of God who could change the world if he really wanted to.

Photo Challenge: Day 11

Finding the perfect pair of jeans fixes everything, doesn't it? We don't have the money right now to buy big name jeans, so we just keep an eye out for a pair that might fit better than sweatpants and don't cost a fortune.

Jordan found this pair while we were in the Goodwill at the corner. Where else can you find jeans in great shape (if you search carefully) for just $7.99?! (Or half that if it's got the right colored price tag). Jordan found a pair that made her legs look thinner and longer and when she put them on, something magical seemed to happen to her. She came out of her room with her head held high, feeling more confident, just KNOWING that she looked good in them. Now when she wants to look and feel her best, these are her go-to jeans.

Yes, the perfect pair of jeans fixes everything...well, almost. But that's close enough.

Photo Challenge: Day 10

Oh, how we love to swim! Maybe it's because we were born on the seacoast. Maybe it's the heat here. Either way, our family loves to swim. Especially me and my 2 youngest. We do miss having a pool right outside our front door like we did in the condo a few years ago, but there's so many pools here that finding a place to swim isn't a problem. We have several lakes that aren't too far away, public pools that are actually managed better and cleaned more often than those I grew up in back in Massachusetts. There's also lots of friends & neighbors here with pools that invite us over to swim now and then.

This particular pool is just about a mile and a half from our house. It's only $1 for Logan & Jordan and $2.75 for me - where else can you spend a day for just $4.75 of our entertainment budget?

Jordan likes to swim, Logan enjoys the 2 water slides there, and I love tanning - so this place, especially because it's only 5 minutes away, is perfect!

Photo Challenge: Day 9

There's always something new or different to see around here. Sometimes it's a plant or flower we've never seen. Other times, it's a home feature you'd never find in New England. Sometimes it's a bug or spider that you don't want to ever see again. On this particular day, the "strange scene of the day" was a guy up in a tree quite a few stories high, trimming off all the dead branches off a tree on the next street. You know how it is...you wake up to the sound of a chain saw, and something inside you has to go see where it's coming from. I'm not sure why, but it will stay in the forefront of my mind unless I make a point to see what's going on. Well, I found it - I'm glad Tim doesn't have to do THAT for a living!

Just popped in to say Hi

My camera's not working properly right now. I'm taking pictures but it's kind of a pain to download the new ones every day. I'll try to get all caught up by Monday night, that'll be Day 18.

Photo Challenge: Day 8

Ahh, the thermometer...

When we lived in Concho, it symbolized justification for me always being cold. Very often we had a hard time keeping our bedroom, kitchen, and living room above 60 degrees. Especially at night or first thing in the morning. Our main living area was at the back of the house where we went without the sun hitting our side of the walls for 6 months out of the year, so it never got a chance to warm up. We just spent half the year in the shade. I'd look at the thermometer to prove to myself I'm not crazy about being SO cold all the time.

Now in the Valley, it's a symbol of happiness for me. I don't care that I was born in New England where it's often very cold. My body "belongs" in the heat. I look at the thermometer when it says 100, or 108, or even 110 degrees - and it makes me happy. The heat really doesn't bother me. Thankfully, I don't have to work outside in it like so many people do, and for that, I'm truly appreciative. But there's something about the way my body feels when the heat hits my joints. The pain I experienced in the cold mountains is gone. My joints feel warm and pain-free here in the Valley of the Sun, even in spite of having rheumatoid arthritis in my neck and right hand.

Seeing so much red in that thermometer is a quick reminder to be thankful for days without pain, shivering, gloominess, and sadness. And this next winter, my body will be very thankful that we live here.

Photo Challenge: Day 7

Computers - What would our life be without them?

I've recently gotten to ask myself that very question. In November, our home computer died. Fortunately we could go to the library a mile from the house and use theirs for an hour at a time, but how different our lives have become without them. I know people use them for all kinds of things, but without ours, here's how our life was different:

1. I didn't have access to Google. I love information, reading, research, and being able to look up locations, recipes, and answers to my questions as they come up. I've become rather spoiled when it comes to getting answers right away.

2. No entertainment. We lived where cable didn't exist, and we didn't have money for satellite TV (not that we watch enough to warrant the cost anyway), but when our computer died, we lost ALL forms of entertainment. We lost browsing through websites like Pinterest.com, we lost communicating with our Facebook friends & family, we lost Netflix so we had hardly any movies we haven't already seen 100 times, and we lost the chance to play the games we used to fill our days while living in such a rural place with few attractions.

3. We lost the ability to Skype with my sister - something we rarely get the chance to do with her work & nursing school schedule plus a 2 to 3 hour time zone difference.

4. I lost the ability to blog. Sometimes I just HAVE to write. It has to come out through my fingers typing or I feel like I'll go crazy. Losing that was no fun. I spent too many hours losing sleep with no outlet to blog.

5. I couldn't print out photos to scrapbook. I love to scrapbook, and it helps me get out my creative urges - but without a computer to edit & print the pictures I had taken, I was a little wound up.

I didn't grow up with computers like my kids did. In fact, I think I was 30 when we got our first one and I barely knew what to do with it. In high school, it was so new that I had "keyboarding" the year after I took typing on an electric typewriter! We learned to cut & paste, edit & delete paragraphs, and not much else. Everything was still DOS back then, no such thing as Windows.

Fast forward to Christmas. I got a laptop from Tim for my gift. It was more expensive than anything we'd ever gotten each other before, but our desktop was barely alive and was dying any minute, holding on by just a temporary attempt to fix the problems. We got it to work long enough to transfer most of the stuff out we wanted - good thing, too - because it died again about 3 days after moving here in May. Had I not gotten my laptop, our home wouldn't have a computer right now. That makes it very hard to grow an internet-based business.

I'm sorry that we've become so dependent (and expectant) on our computers, but I'm also thankful that we have one that works.

What would you do without yours?

Photo Challenge: Day 6

A neighborhood, at last!

The last 2 years were spent living in a very rural area. It had many advantages and a lot of good things came from it, but for 3 teenagers, there wasn't much to do - especially for our "middle child" who needs new things, people to see, stuff to do, and a new adventure all the time. Boredom would have led him into trouble.

Before that, we were in a very congested condo complex in the city. Although there were lots of people and cars (and stray cats), it wasn't what I'd call a neighborhood. To me, that word conjures up images of houses, green lawns, private driveways, neighbors who spend time together on the weekends, kids that grow up together. We had that back in NH for 2 1/2 years before we decided to move permanently to Arizona. After 7 years in that complex and the 2 years in the mountains, we're finally in a neighborhood again.

We're still pretty new here, so most of our interaction with our neighbors is just waving for now, but we did get to talk to one family here in our cul-de-sac that were very friendly. I'd like to get to know them a little better. There's a few teens just a few doors down, but I don't think our kids have met them yet. It's summer here, and in the Phoenix area, it's hot. People leave for vacations and the teens try to get summer jobs, so I think we'll see more of our neighbors when the fall comes. Hopefully by winter, we'll be enjoying the beautiful weather outdoors with them.

To me, a neighborhood has a community feel to it, a sense of belonging, and we feel at-home here already. The palm trees, nearby park, birds of every type, quiet streets - it's a great place to live. Almost all the streets around us are cul-de-sacs and dead-end roads. That keeps us a little more protected from speeding cars, strangers that don't belong, and excessive road noise. I don't know how long we'll stay here, or if we'll end up buying a place in a new neighborhood in a year or two, hopefully if we do, it'll be our last move for a long time. But either way, we're thankful and happy to be in Carriage Lane, our neighborhood, our home.

Photo Challenge: Day 5

My quiet, early morning spot - I've had one for about 10 years now. It's been a chair on the patio, on back porch, and now on our new patio. There's something about those mornings when I can't sleep, and I wake up irritated or still tired but I can't get to sleep. I need to get re-centered. I take my bible, head outdoors, and spend about 15 to 30 minutes out there rebooting my day to start it right.

There's something very calming about reading God's Word in the cool morning air, seeing the hues of early morning sun on the treetops (especially on the palm trees, it's a pretty shade of golden pink), hearing the birds just waking up, and smelling the fresh flowers and grass. Even when we lived in a mostly cement, busy condo complex, watching the sky turn colors listening to the birds, it was enough to calm my spirit.

In those times, I've grown, learned, understood, appreciated, planned for, and looked forward to all the good in my world. In a world that's so fast-paced, time speeding by faster as the years go by, it's nice to have a small piece of space where it all stands still and waits for me to re-center my focus, my head, my heart, and my spirit - before starting the next day in this short breath we call life.

Photo Challenge: Day 4

I'd love to say this is about my son, but it's not. It's a given that my kids are a part of my everyday life...this is really about the Mexican blanket in the photo. No, I'm not kidding. Really. That particular blanket is a big part of my world. Even in the hot weather - but especially in the cold weather.

I found that Mexican blanket while shopping at Old Town Scottsdale a few years ago. There was a shop where they had these blankets for just $5! Best $5 item I ever bought. This blanket has been with me like a little kid's security blanket. It was there when I was watched movies snuggling with my husband or kids, there when I watched the kids' soccer and football games, there when I napped in the car on long drives with the family, and there when a nap could fix everything. The most amazing thing about that blanket is it magically senses what I need. No, not really, but hear me out. When I was in the mountains freezing in the winter with multiple layers of clothing, mittens, and shoes - I could get warm under that blanket. In the summer when I needed to rest, it would make me feel cozy but not too hot. And for some reason, every time I cover up with it lying down, I fall asleep almost instantly and awake refreshed.

Do you have that one item that acts like your "Linus Blanket"?

Photo Challenge: Day 3

Furlough - our cat

If I'm going to photograph our life, I can't really neglect putting in our cat. We're actually "dog" people, but no one left a dog out to die all those years ago, so we have a cat. Let me explain briefly. We bought our first real house, it was a duplex in NH. It was still very cold that fall. One day, I heard a strange scratching sound on the cellar door. I opened it, and in walked this cat. She must've found her way in through a broken basement window to keep warm. I put her outside after she walked around a bit, and she would repeat this for the next few days. The nights she didn't sneak into the cellar, she would spend them on our back porch meowing until you wished she'd lose her voice. She couldn't really be chased off, she'd just come back. We didn't feed her, but she begged anyway. I found out from the upstairs tenant that she was one of a neighbor's litter from St. Patrick's Day. She was only about 8 months old now, looked half-starved, and the family had moved and just left her behind. I hadn't seen any other cats that were from that litter, just her. When we let her in, she let the kids pet her, play with her, and since they were only 1, 3 and 5 - they were pretty rough sometimes, by accident. She never hissed, scratched them, or tried to bite them. She never hid under the furniture. She always sat with one of us, and was never any trouble, so Tim finally said, "Since she's good with the kids, why don't we just go ahead and keep her." I asked Adam what we should name her. Being only 5, I'm not sure where he came up with it, but he immediately said, "Furlough". I asked why and he told me it was because she was furry and low to the ground. 'Nuff Said.

Now it's time to move a few months later, and we didn't know that she was pregnant until just a few weeks before, she had been so starving we just figured she was "filling out". I think she had her kittens about a week before the move, maybe it was just a few days. We had Tim's grandmother watch her & her 3 kittens during the move, then brought her home. The kittens were given away but we kept her, had her fixed, but there was one drawback. The vet told us she was only about a year old, very young to have fixed, but we told him she'd already had kittens. To do this, he said because of her age, he'd have to cut the muscle that holds up her stomach for some reason, so she'd always look like her stomach was either dragging, or she'd look bigger than she really is under all the fur. I wasn't taking her bathing suit shopping, why would I care if she looked fat?

Over the years, almost everyone who's ever come to our house has either said, "Wow, you have a fat cat!" or "you're cat's pregnant?!". Ok, so the vet was right. You could feel that her hanging stomach was just empty skin, but unless you picked her up, yeah, she looked fatter than she was.

Today we still have her. It's odd now that she's older than Jordan. We never really gave it much thought until a few years ago. We've had her for 13 years this year. She still doesn't bite, or scratch people, or hiss, or hide. She's the quiet member of the family. I've never understood how people think of cats as members of the family, but she's always been more like a small dog. She sits on command, does tricks for her treats, chases off other animals from the property, licks Jordan's face when she gets up in the morning, and loves people.

We had a big realization how important she is to all of us when we almost lost her twice living in the mountains. The first time was after we first moved there. She got bit by a wind scorpion/sun spider (it's a spider that resembles a scorpion) in her water dish. It left a big, swollen lump on her neck, she couldn't eat for a week, and kept hiding under the woodpile. We though it was going to explode on her neck and she was hiding because she felt she was going to die and wanted to be alone. Well, we fed her Monavie juice from an eyedropper since she couldn't swallow much, and forced her to drink water, and maybe that helped. The mass did explode, she had almost no voice on the inside and was bleeding on the outside off and on for days. But she pulled through. That's when I realized how much we still wanted her around. She'd become Jordan's best friend.

The other time was just before this move away from the mountains. She couldn't keep anything down for days. We can only assume she ate something bad - maybe a mouse that had eaten d-con? or a bird that died of something other than old age? Not sure. We didn't think she'd pull through that - but again, we gave her Monavie for a few days on her food. She didn't keep much down, but she pulled through once we moved here and is doing just fine now.

She's old now, doesn't play much, has trouble jumping up or down from beds & the sofa, but she's still very loving to people. She licks you as you pat her - like a puppy.

I couldn't blog or photograph our life without including Furlough.

Photo Challenge: Day 2

Day 2: At the park on the next street over we've been watching both the turtles and the ducks, especially the baby ones. I got this photo because it seemed to carry the heading "But You're So Different". Every day we encounter people that are so different from us. Maybe they look different, or act culturally different, or have an opposite personality from us, or they dress different, or talk different, (you get the idea). We all have pre-conceived notions about those that are different, but do we ever stop and think how we appear to them? Maybe we seem too aggressive, or too loud, or too people-pleasing, or too old-fashioned, or too self-absorbed, etc. If we realize that WE'RE different to most people, maybe we can make a conscious effort to be more friendly, or to help out someone in need, or maybe just pass on a smile to someone who's hurting. Be encouraging to someone who needs it. You never know who's life you may touch for the better.

Photo Challenge: Day 1

Day 1: The tropical hibiscus flower that opened on the plant in my back yard. We've actually gotten about 5 of them since we moved here. They are so short lived. They bud with promise on one day, open fully by the next morning, then by the next day, they're purple and shriveled and fall off the plant. What a glimpse into life. We're here such a short time, too. It flies by before we know it. We have such a short window of time where we can bloom and be vibrant, then it's over. What will YOU do to be vibrant and come alive during your time here on earth? Don't waste it. Shine now while you can. Bring happiness to those around you and you'll be remembered fondly long after you're gone.

Reflecting on 20 years of marriage

Tim & I just celebrated being married 20 years. I spent a lot of the day reflecting on our struggles and our triumphs during that time. I thought of the lowest of lows, and the highest of highs. We've faced everything together and God has kept us protected and blessed just enough to keep us together and dependent on Him. Here's some of our high points in our marriage (for me, anyway):

Our wedding - the day was perfect, not too hot, not too cold, everything went smoothly.
Living in AZ the 1st time - our first 6 months we learned to live together w/o anyone around to tell us what to do.
Having a friend announce the coming of our first born in Canada during a function, from stage, surprising the new would-be grandparents.
The birth of our children - each was unique, Tim was wonderful in the delivery room.
Our first home - it was so inexpensive, the bank made us take out a personal loan rather than a mortgage.
Our first duplex - we lived free since the renters upstairs covered the cost of the mortgage.
Camping at Salisbury Beach, MA, watching the sun rise over the ocean and toasting marshmallows by campfire at night.
Moving to AZ the 2nd time w/our kids - it was like coming "home"
Tim breaking through some lifelong struggles to be free forever.
Utah trip through Zion national park - so beautiful!
Taking the stage together as we advanced in our business, and winning a free suite as the top winners of a contest in Las Vegas.
Tim changing careers to be a flatbed over the road driver. We miss him but it's the start of getting back on our feet, better than before.
Returning to the Valley after 2 years of living in the cold, snowy, too-windy climate of the high elevation, high desert area where everything hurt.
Starting our new adventure together, better than ever, looking forward to another 20+ years together.

Photo Challenge: 30 pictures in 30 days - June 2012

Hi Everyone! I've been thinking...the best way to start scrapbooking again is to make sure I have enough photos. To do that, I'm going to throw something out there. For the month of June, I'm going to take 30 pictures in 30 days. They'll be pictures that depict things in my world. Some may be big like Father's Day, or a special person's birthday. Other pictures will be my world around me...flowers, lizards, palm trees, the neighborhood park, elements of my new home that I love, etc.

If you've hit a rut in picture taking, this may be a good way to get you going again. You could take the challenge too. Maybe that's too aggressive for your schedule? Then agree to take 3 to 5 pictures on the weekends, or something like that.

What pictures should I capture? Any ideas?

Mother's Day Reflections

(Note: Sorry it reads like a big paragraph. I wrote it as bullet points and with spaces for quick reading, but the blog didn't format it the same way.) This Mother's Day is pulling out a whole range of emotions. Maybe it's because my kids are almost all grown, maybe because Tim's been gone for 3 weeks. Maybe because my mother and grandmother are thousands of miles away. Here's some random thoughts, good and bad, that I've been experiencing this week in regards to Mother's Day: The bad: - I wish he'd hurry up and move out, his selfishness is really bothering the other two. - Why is she so whiney! She's going into high school and still acts like she's 10. - What makes him think he knows everything when he's never attended public school, had a job, lived on his own, had a real relationship, or drove a car by himself yet? - It's so hard being a single parent while Tim's gone for so long - it was supposed to be 2 weeks and it'll actually be almost 4 full weeks! - I feel guilty when I know I'm doing or saying the right thing when disciplining my kids. The good: - I'm so proud of him. He's alcohol, smoke, and drug-free as a young man. He makes good decisions and recognizes the mistakes his peers are making. - I know she's almost in high school, but to see her swinging at the park makes me wish she were little all over again. - It's a good thing he's so smart and handy with Tim gone so much. I don't worry about what I'll do if the car breaks down, or I need computer help. - With Tim gone, it gives me a chance to establish a good routine for our family, and begin some new good habits before he gets back. - Stepping back and seeing how great my kids are, I'm glad I was more strict on them than they said their friends' parents have been. It's been a roller coaster of emotion. Mostly because we're all experiencing this move and changes differently. Part of us wants things to go back to how good they were before we moved from here 2 years ago. Part of us is excited to start a new life, with a new circle of friends, and happy that the bad things of the past are just that - in the past. So this Mother's Day, I have many mixed emotions going on, but I know one thing...I have great kids, it's not about flowers, candy, cards or gifts. It's about the relationships I have with each of my children. They're all unique, have their own strengths and weaknesses, are both so alike and so different from me in many ways, and no matter how much time I've spent with them, it still feels like it went too fast. To have one more day with Adam when he was about 5, one more with Logan when he was 3, and one more with Jordan when she was 2...those days are gone, I know, but at least I was there for them, and have great memories (and tons of scrapbooked pages) of those times. I am blessed. Happy Mother's Day.

It's all new and different...

Sometimes we have the opportunity to go back to where we came from, whether it's a town we lived in, a church or group we belonged to, a sport or activity we used to participate in, etc. Often we return expecting things to be like they used to be, but I've learned over the years, that rarely happens. Recently we moved back to the city where we lived 2 years ago. We even got to re-join the church where we'd been members for 7 years before we left. But I had no illusions that things would be the same as they were when we left. In fact, things changed so much just in the 6 months before we left that there's no way it could be "how it was". This economy has really changed the face of our country, even in the higher-end neighborhoods. Friends who were living above the normal standard have lost their homes, stay-at-home wives and moms have had to go to work, people have left the area to live less expensively, and with gas prices rising to almost $4 a gallon for so long, many have had to leave our church and groups because it became "just too far" of a commute. Now our family will be starting over in the city we came from, but it'll be all new. We did return to our church, even though it's 22 miles away. We'll cut expenses somewhere else to afford the 2 trips a week on Sundays and Tuesday morning (for my Ladies' Bible Study). We're in a new area of town, a much better neighborhood, but that means we'll need to make all new friends here. Also, the names on the stores are the same, but they're at different locations now so we'll meet new people that work there too. The church has lots of new faces (and unfortunately, many of the familiar ones are gone). The organizations we belonged to and places we used to frequent aren't going to be the same this time around. The kids are older. Adam's graduated (once he finishes Physics). Logan's 16, has his license, and Jordan's going into high school. I'm not sure the same field trips and homeschool groups would work now. We'll be finding new things we like to do, both individually and as a family. Even our household dynamic has changed. Adam's rarely home to eat dinner with us, both boys are looking for jobs, and Tim's on the road 2 weeks at a time with just 3 days off in-between. It's a new adventure but in familiar surroundings. It's a bit strange, I see the kids struggling to make things like they were, but they can't. Life changes, it goes on while we're doing other things. Two years has changed so much - and I think, so have we. I don't know exactly what's in store for us, but I know we're better prepared and have learned to appreciate what we have a lot more. It's a new adventure for sure. I'm looking forward to seeing what God's got in store for us with the new lessons we've learned.