Cooking is a little confusing

Yesterday was my first day home alone...and probably my last for a long time.

All day, I worked setting up the home office, settling the kitchen, unpacking boxes...but when everyone came home, it didn't look like I had done anything!

SO, with my unpacked kitchen, I decided to cook a nice dinner for my family in our new home...

Well, I could not find anything...then, there was no counter space for me to prepare the food, I burnt the rolls because apparently, this oven is much hotter than my old one... But still, my family was thankful for a homecooked meal and ate the burnt rolls anyway...aren't kids great?

Oh, and I made rice using my spices from Belize. It was good, except I used Brown rice, and I think it would have been better with white...so I will try that next time.

I am continuing to try to settle today. I did vacuum, which helped a lot. It made things look neater just doing that. When Josh comes home, I am going to have him help me take out the empty boxes, which will also neaten things up a little.

Off to work I go...

Lee 40th Birthday

Last night we had a CHUCK E CHEESE for Lee, who will be 40 next week. My sister-in-law, Jodie went all out. It was an awesome night to celebrate with our church family.

Today is my only day home with no kids. I have gotten a lot accomplished. I am working on several things at once. I set up our home office, I am unloading lots of boxes, and doing laundry. Erika has her splash day at preschool today. Thursday is her graduation so it is her last official day of school.

I wanted to put up some pics of the very unsettled apartment. The kitchen is so tiny...I am still needing to get rid of a lot. The drawers are too small to even hold my silverware...and there are only 3!!! My house had 6 very large drawers. It is good...it helps me filter and get rid of more now....

The kids room is settled, just messy. Without dressers, it is just harder to be organized. Living out of suitcases is it own special way of life!!!

BUT, the view is beautiful. The kids look on the lake from the two HUGE windows in their room. And they love it. I am glad for them.

Moving to the Apartment

Sorry I have no pictures to post. I will get to that soon.

Yesterday was the craziest day. We moved...in the rain. Seriously. It rained the entire time we were moving and stopped after we finished.

So, as if moving isn't an incredible amount of work anyway, we had to dry every single thing off as we moved it into the apartment. Our mattresses got wet and we had to put fans on them all day so they could dry...But you know what? We made it. We survived. God really showed me that even when things don't go as planned, it is okay. It is not the end of the world. And things could always be worse. We could have had to do it alone, but we had a bunch of great guys and my in-laws helping us...and my parents...and a couple of my friends brought over all our food...and another friend brought us dinner. God provided the hands to make our burden lighter. And, although it seemed we had an endless amount of stuff--we actually had so much less than we did a month ago. We had already gotten rid of so many things.

The apartment is still very cluttered. Tomorrow, we will go and clean our house. Hopefully we will finish...and then we will celebrate Lee's 40th birthday that night at Chuck E Cheese. Then, little by little, I will continue the process of going through and eliminating STUFF we don't need. We will make a huge contribution to the YFN garage sale in a month.

It is a huge relief to me that I am finished with work...for the most part. I am sure I will need to go and help a little here and there...I am excited about being a mom. Having time to cook for my kids, swim with them...not just watch from the side, go explore the lake outside their window with them. I plan to fully engage with them, and just enjoy being their mom in this new journey we are on. I don't know how to explain, but even though I only worked two days a week, I ran errands a third day and was always busy on Sundays. A part time job still consumes a huge part of your life. And that was great for that part of my life, but I am so excited for this new phase I am in. I will miss a paycheck. But there are things you can't buy...like time. And I feel I have lost so much of it the past few years. I am looking forward to not always be rushing here and there, but being able to just slow down and enjoy the 3 precious gifts the Lord has given me. Tonight, after a very busy day, I took the kids swimming. Not because I wanted to, but because they REALLY wanted to. We don't have a TV in the living room right now...and we love it. Anyway, what else would we do tonight? Just unpack some more? I can do that while they are at school this week. So, we went over to the pool, and noone else was there. I just sat on the side with my legs in the water. I was just watching them all have so much fun. I thought to myself "why am I just sitting here?" So I slowly got in...it was cold. And I just began to enjoy swimming with my kids. We did all sorts of races, simon says in the water. It was great. I just enjoyed being with them and having fun with them and getting a great workout. Then, when it was time to come home, they wanted to take the long way home, so they could show my a huge frog and some turtles that are in the lake right outside their window. I enjoyed just seeing their excitement. I knew we needed to get home, and get baths, and get to bed. But I knew more that it was a good thing just to be in the moment with my kids and just to enjoy them.


So, if you have kids, slow down, get on their level. And just live in the moment once in a while.

Beginnings are Scary, Endings are hard :)

Today was my last official day at work. Its surreal...I don't even really know how I feel. I think I am too overwhelmed with so many things right now to really express my feelings. It is coming out more in just feeling on edge, I guess.

It was weird going to work today knowing it is my last day. It is all I have known for the last 7 years. I have not planned anything on Tuesday or Thursday for years, because that is when I work. Now my schedule is wide open--open ended. Next week, Erika has preschool on Tuesday, then that is it for her. Josh and Tori only have two weeks left of their school.

Our life as we know it is ending---and a totally new life is beginning. My kids have only known public school. And I have only known sending them to school every day. Now I am their teacher, responsible for their physical being and helping to make sure they get a social life. We will now be together 24/7.

As I was driving to the office (church) today, I thought how much I will miss, not miss, and what I've learned...

I will miss the staff---they are my family

they are my friends

they have walked with me through so many things...

mainly the tears of sadness and joy with the process of Erika

I will miss the adult time I have while the kids are at school/preschool

(even though it was while I was working)

I will miss the little lunches out that Lee and I get sometimes while I am working

...just the two of us.

I will miss the LAUGHTER and FUN of the office.

This morning, Pastor Adam left me a going away gift of a black rubber snake in my drawer.

the constant harrassment of Darren :)

and the girl talk with Kelly...and all her encouragement.

I WON'T miss...

the high pressure when we have big events going on

...now I just get to enjoy them, without the planning

carrying caseloads of water and whatever else I buy at SAMS each week

TAX SEASON

Erika's too short naps on preschool days.

What I've learned:

To work hard and be proud when I finish a project

to appreciate women who work full-time and then come home and take care of a family

(since I only did it part time)

seeing first hand how hard my husband works and appreciating him for it

that I can learn to do anything...if I try

that computers are an incredible blessing and also a pain when they dont work right:/

how blessed I have been to work in a Christian environment

so many computer skills that I never had before working

My whole routine is changing.

I will be busier with the kids being home all day.

God is calling me to a time of rest, and a time of seeking Him all the more.

I am entering a whole new world, a whole new culture...and this is just the first step.

God is preparing the Way for us in Belize

I just wanted to share some things that God has been doing to prepare for us to move to Belmopan Belize in a few months.

First of all, God pretty much did some major heart surgery on me. He totally turned my heart and made me happy about it.

Second of all, He has taken care of every detail to make our way smooth. Including selling our house in 10 days.

Third, He prepared the pastor who will be over us. He even went to help make preparations for when we first move. Finding a place for us to live for about a month while we find a house to rent. That blessed Lee and I so much when we went down there last month.

He prepared our children's hearts, and even others around us.

But today, the most amazing thing happened. 10 years ago, Lee and I made our first trip to Belize...to Belize City. We made a connection with a lady there. Even emailed her a couple of times several years ago. But really had not kept in contact and never returned to Belize City.
Today, she found Lee on Facebook and was so excited that we are coming and now lives in Belmopan. She offered to help in any way. This is just another confirmation of God's hands on our lives.

The next two weeks are going to be very hectic for me. Moving does not get any easier as you get older and have a little one, but I am just believing for God's strength. After all, look what He has done so far.

The House is BARE!!!

Tonight we prepared for our third garage sale. It is crazy. We have moved before, but we have never SOLD almost everything before we moved. We took down Josh's bed, it will be picked up tomorrow. Lee's parents are getting our bedroom set and an antique dresser on Monday. So we are down to the basics. Still need to get rid of our dining room set...badly. Because we can't take it with us!!!

This afternoon, Erika and I made a cake together. So fun. She felt "Big". And then Tori frosted it and decorated it. Oh, and please notice my right and left handed daughters. God gave me one of each. I think one thing over the last couple of months that I have learned is to enjoy the simpler things in life. I am so looking forward to homeschool. A big box arrived of lots of paces for the kids to work on over the summer. It was kind of exciting to me, although I don't feel I can deal with it at the moment.

I am ready for my life to slow down a little. Hopefully in June :) It seems that every day I have this huge "to do" list. I have to decide what MUST get done today and what I must put off...

Moving day is May 15, Lee's huge Chuck E Cheese party is the 17th, closing the 20th, then we head to Atlanta on the 30. Just all that makes me feel tired.

Good Night.

Garage Sale

A couple of weeks ago at our garage sale, we had friends stop by...Erika and Joshua had a blast sailing away on the GRASS in Daddy's canoe. It is now gone, like about half of our stuff....We are having another garage sale this weekend. Hopefully our last. I wonder what fun Erika will find this time:)