Year Later

YIKES!!
A year gone by - how did that happen?
Thinking back it seems we did have a busy year.
I started a new job in September teaching Kindergarten at Stillwater Christian School.
What a great experience! I have missed being with young kiddos, and I am excited to say that I get to go back in the fall and do it again... YAY!!
I am currently taking a technology class at the college to pick up 2 credits I need to finish my certification. Blogging is part of the class, so I get to catch up on things, and get credit.
Gotta get going, class is moving on to something new to learn...

Kitchen Re Do

We started our kitchen remodel this morning. Knocking out walls, removing cabinets, pulling up carpet and wood floor.

I don't do well with change, so I am trying to hide in the other rooms of the house so I don't have to really know what is going on out there. (I will look when it is finished)...that is not entirely true, I have looked and I have taken some pictures, which I will post when I get my camera cord to plug into the computer.
My son is so excited about swinging a hammer and putting holes into the walls we are removing. He has been up in the rafters loving life. (His mother is worried about him falling through the ceiling - so yet another reason to hide and not watch).

All of this is happening in then midst of me starting a new job in the Fall...I will be teaching Kindergarten at the Christian School here in town. I am very excited about this opportunity. God has been so good through the process of this job change. One of these days I will have to share this process with you.

Gotta run - I hear walls coming down

Not Sure What To Say

A year ago I was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport trying to make it back to Virginia to see my friend, Beth, before she died...I didn't make it in time to say good-bye.
I did make it to grieve with other close friends and to offer support to Beth's family for a couple of days.
I am having a difficult time coming to grips with the fact that a year has gone by, it doesn't seem possible,...

Life has gone on,
The earth has continued to spin,
And
God is still in control.

I still don't understand why Beth's time on earth was done when it was,
but I do know that His purposes are higher than mine and I do know that she knew Him and is with Him today. I rejoice in the fact that I knew was able to know Beth, that I laughed and cried with her and that I will see her again someday.

Just Thinking

I am sitting here at work, alone because the entire class and staff have gone skiing.
Someone had to stay behind in the classroom and I was tagged it.
At first I felt as though I were being punished, but now I am felling like it is sort of a rare treat.
The room is quiet, all I can hear are the sounds of the heater clanking and cars driving by.
I may have to turn on the radio just for some background noise.

My plan, after I get some work that needs to be done finished, is to read the first few chapters of Beth Moore's new book So Long Insecurity, you've been a bad friend to us. I signed up to be a part of the blogging discussions 2 weeks ago, but I have not managed to find the time to sign in and make a comment about what I have read. Maybe I will have time on Friday's if I end up staying behind each week...could be yet another blessing or treat. :0)

WOW

What's up with it being so long since I have visited this space and actually taken the time to write anything down?

Where have I been you may be wondering, or perhaps you don't wonder at all, which is fine too...

I have been here, in Montana now for over a year and I guess "Life" has finally settled in on us and taken over in our household. I am now working full time and loving it.

Both children are swimming full time on top of school and church activities. I had no idea swimming could be a full time gig, but indeed it can be. Our son is close to having a B time to where he could compete at the state level in one of his strokes. Our daughter still views swimming as a social activity and so her times are not as fast as they could be...lol

We spent a fabulous vacation this summer travelling across the country for a month with my parents. The kids had an amazing time and saw many things. The best time they had was returning to Virginia for a couple of days to hang out with their swimming buddies for a day and going to Vacation Bible School for 1 day at our old church.

We were able to spend Thanksgiving with my husband's family and Christmas with mine. We took the train from Whitefish, MT to Everett, WA. The only downside to the train was that it travelled at night so we couldn't see anything. But, we had a fabulous time on Whidbey Island for 10 days.

Winter has set in and we are seeing lots of snowy days but the days are finally getting longer and the sun will shine upon us soon. I am so looking forward to spring.

Finally Summer

Summer is finally here. The weather is great (snow is finally gone). Everyone kept telling me it could snow on the last day of school. Instead it was a beautiful day filled with sunshine.

Things are jumping around here...

This week is Drama Camp at church. My son signed up to only play the percussion instruments and ended up with a speaking part in the play. My daughter, who is too old for the camp is watching 2 of the leader's children. It is fun to watch each of my kids finding a place here and coming into their own.

Next week is Vacation Bible School, which back in January when I wasn't thinking clearly, agreed to direct. That isn't completely true...Vacation Bible School is one of my favorite things to do each year. I look forward to it eat, drink and sleep it the month before it is to happen.
It has been difficult to get volunteers, mostly because people are having to get 2nd jobs with this economy, or Mom's who have stayed home previously are heading back to work. I know that God will provide the workers, it would just be nice to have them all in place before Friday. Once again He is teaching me that I am not in control and all will be worked out according to His plan, not my own.

As soon as VBS is over the kids and I are headed out on a 3 1/2 week trip across the US with my parents in their trailer. The kids are excited about the trip and looking forward to our stop in Virginia where they will get to see their friends again. I have to admit that I am looking forward to that too.

It's Been A While

It's been a while and many things have been happening. The biggest would be that Beth passed away in April. I caught a flight out to Virginia to try and see her before she left this life, but unfortunately I didn't make it in time. I say unfortunately because I would have liked to have seen her one last time, but in some ways I think I am thankful to have my memory of her where she is healthy and well.

Spring has finally arrived in Montana. The flowers are all in bloom and the sun has been shining down on us. It has been marvelous. We are in the final stretch of school. 1 more full week left and then 2 1/2 days. I am looking forward to Summer.

UPdate

Beth came through surgery fine and is recovering in the ICU tonight.
Thank you for your continued prayers for her and her family.

Prayers

Please offer up some prayers for a friend of mine (Beth) who found out this weekend that she has 2 tumors in her brain. Many people have already begun to rally around her and her family, showing amazing support, praise God!
Thank you for joining me in praying for her.

SNOW

The snow has kept us from travelling across the mountains to spend Christmas with our families. We have chosen to stay home and have Christmas here. There is a lot more snow since this picture was taken and one of the mountain passes we were going to have to cross was closed yesterday.

I have been sad the last couple of days because I was looking forward to spending time with my mom. But in some ways, not being able to go anywhere has been a good thing. The kids are looking forward to doing some things around our new town that they haven't been able to do and we are getting a chance to see how this house handles winter.

It has been fun being all together too. This is the first time that David has not had to take leave to spend time with us. His schedule matches our schedule now. This alone is a huge blessing to our family.

Well, I am off to shovel some snow off the driveway so I can get out to run some much needed errands.

The In-laws Are Coming! The In-laws Are Coming!

Sound the alarm!
The in-laws are coming!
I have 12 hours to get my act together before my parents arrive for Thanksgiving and another 72 hours before my husbands family descends upon our humble abode. I'm not worried about my parents, they appreciate my various stacks of organized stuff. (I'm not sure they really do, but they love me).

This is the first Thanksgiving we have been together with both sets of parents since 1990. It is bound to get interesting. We might even have a few snowflakes.

New Job

I started my new job yesterday. I am not 100% sure of what it is I am doing yet, but I know that I like it. I spent the better part of my morning grading math papers and realized that I really needed to bone up on some of my unused math skills. The morning was gone before I knew it. I worked with a young man in the afternoon on math and literature. He was much more interested in taking breaks to play on the internet, but I kept reminding him that the game would be there after he finished reading with me. :0)
I am waiting to see if I will be working with the kids at home or if I will stay at the school.
I also have Monday's off from now on, so I will be able to pay attention to home things at least one full day.

My heart is heavy for a girl I met yesterday morning. She has such an attitude and doesn't seem to care about anything, least of all school. She is also pregnant with twins due in June. Please keep her in your prayers.

God IS Good

I hope this makes sense and is not just ramblings from my head.

I haven't posted anything in awhile, mostly because I have been stuck. Not in a good place at all. I had applied for 4 different teaching jobs and went to 3 interviews that I thought were pretty good and that I had done well on. I also thought they were jobs that God wanted me to have because they fit into our schedule of having to transport Jakob to and from school. I have to transport him to and from school because he was displaced to a school outside of our housing area because of overcrowding.

They were not the jobs that God wanted me to have, even though I thought they would be perfect for me and for my family life. The 4th application served me a letter to say thank you for applying, but we went with someone else. These rejections made me sad and they made me doubt my abilities and what God was up to in my life.

Here is the kicker. I decided I was just going to stay home and be happy about it and this was going to be my life this year. I was totally okay with that. In fact I had started to plan some activities to do, like make some ornaments for the Christmas tree, maybe do a little scrapbooking, stuff like that. And I thought I would go down and turn in my paperwork to be a substitute teacher. So I did that yesterday. Had my fingerprints done, went to the Health Department to have a TB test, was given a stack of papers to finish filling out and bring back on Wednesday.

So, I get home from all of this and the phone rings and it is the person in charge over at the Alternative school in town asking if I might be interested in working with them at the school. So I got back in my car, drove over to the school to meet with her. The job is working with special needs kids or with kids who can't go to school because they medically cannot attend and so they do their work at home and turn it in for credit.

And you know what? The hours fit my son's school schedule.

I am so excited about this opportunity.
God is so good.

Football All The Time Here

It seems as though we have entered into football mania.

I thought it was bad enough to watch the games on the TV, but we have entered a new dimension of sight and sound. Jakob is playing the game.

Thankfully he is not playing tackle football. He is playing Flag Football with 8 and 9 year olds. They still try and tackle each other, because, well, it's fun.

We play every Tuesday and Thursday night. They incorporate practice into the game schedule so we only have to be out 2 nights per week for this sport. Much different than baseball season in Northern Virginia. This is not nearly as competitive either, which I like.

Here is a photo of Jakob getting the flag, holding it up proudly in the back:

Thoughts On Time

Time is a funny thing. It goes by fast, it goes by slow, but it does go by.
We have been in Montana for 2 months now. Some of that time has gone by way too fast and more of it has gone by at turtle speed.
I look outside and I can't believe that when we arrived here, it was hot and sunny and today it is cloudy, rainy and a little chilly, and they are calling for snow on Thursday. SNOW! I am not ready for snow.

The stores are full of Halloween items and I am sure that before the 31st Christmas will start appearing on the shelves. When did this happen? When I was a child, Christmas decorations did not come out until the day after Thanksgiving. This was the first appearance of Santa in the malls, green and red ribbon and twinkle lights. This is when it was okay to watch Christmas movies like Rudolph or Santa Claus is Coming to Town and pull out the Christmas albums (CD's).
I must admit that I watch these year round and listen to Christmas music whenever the mood strikes, much to my husband's dislike.

So, before I know it, my parents will be here for Thanksgiving turkey and Christmas will be right around the corner. YIKES! I need more time.

A Relaxing Day

A couple weekends ago the family went for a drive around the area just to see what was here.

We ended up in Big Fork, which is around the lake from us about 20 miles down the road. We stopped at the State Park to stretch our legs and wander around a bit. The kids discovered the fine art of skipping stones on the lake, while I found a sunbeam to sit in. Jakob didn't want to leave the lake and kept begging to "throw one more rock."

It was nice just to get away for a few hours and sit in the sun, watch the kids play and enjoy each other.

I Love Fall

I love Fall. The crisp mornings where you can see your breath hanging in the air, the colors of the leaves changing. I love it. It is a call to slow down a little bit before winter and hibernation mode. To slow down after the rush of summer and the constant running and doing. It is a signal of change (which is the part I don't love so much).

First Day of School

These are late in coming, but I just got them off my camera and onto the computer.

This was the first day of school, which they both survived.

Helper

Jakob wanted to be right in the thick of things when my dad was covering the hole on the deck. Dad finally agreed to let him be a helper and turned him loose with the drill and screws.

Jakob loved every minute of it. Maybe I can get him to paint. Hmmmm

I Got the Blues

The house is quiet.
Everyone is gone.
The kids are in school.
David is at school.
My parents left this morning before the sun came up.

I am just feeling blue today.
It is the first time I have been in this house alone since we got here. (Big sigh.....)

I guess I should turn on some music and get moving instead of feeling sorry for myself.
Thanks for letting me vent a bit...I feel a little better now. :0)