Living La Vida Loca

Considering the way my life has been lately, I am not surprised that it has been over a year and a half since my last blog post!We have seriously been living the crazy (wonderful) life! Work, school, band, football, church, youth ministry, therapy and vacations have all been keeping us busy, But busy with the business of life is how I like it! Last fall, I was able to spend some quality time with friends in rural parts of Texas. We crafted, shared stories, laughed and cried together while spending time away from family and home. It was some well needed rest. Summer brought on a family wedding in St. Louis and a long road trip for the family. Our adventure took us to the St. Louis arch and children's museum as well as to Branson , Mo for some zip lining and Shepherd of the Hills outdoor show. The Ozarks were a pleasant deviation from the coastal plains of Texas.I am hoping to add more entries the remainder of this year, but I know that if I don't, it's because I am out enjoying and creating this wonderful, crazy and blessed life!

Garden of Possibilities

It's been a warm winter here in south Texas. Spring like days in January with the grass growing and birds singing. More wet, rainy days are ahead, though. Signs that the world around is engaging in the cycle of life and death. Death to what needs to be reborn in order to flourish and grow. I am looking forward to the days ahead in spring. Dreaming of the garden of possibilities in my new yard and my life. But for now, I am simply content to rest and dream in what is left of this season of winter.

Dream Home

It has been quite some time since I have added a blog post. I would like to return to posting more often again. Lots of things have changed in our life in the last year. The biggest has been moving into our new home. It is a dream home for me. It is a one and a half story plan with an upstairs play room for the kids. Lots of home projects to keep us busy for quite some time!I do miss my old home from time to time (only because I had finally finished making the space mine). I love that we have a lake view now! I took a job at a local preschool and I enjoy the children immensely. I teach twos all day. They are precious! I hope to learn how to begin adding photos to my blog this year. Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

Changes Are Coming

Have you ever noticed that as soon as you start getting too comfortable, life has a way of throwing lots of changes your way. Now that I am in the middle part of life (I hope it's the middle anyway), I seem to expect this turn of events. It's as though God is saying " I have work for you to do, don't get too complacent!". The most difficult change right now is the moving our our little preschool from the church parish that has been housing us for the past three years. I have been attending this parish for almost ten years and truly felt that the preschool was a benefit to both the parish and the families there. Sadly, the parish has informed us that they can no longer house us due to space issues. As a result, we are having to move the program to another location. It has been a lot of hard work for the past few weeks but I must say that my co-workers are some of the most hard working and devoted women I know! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful "family" of women to work with to serve the needs of preschool aged children in our area! We are also contemplating selling our home next year and moving to a new neighborhood. Whether this happens or not, only time will tell. I have mixed emotions about both events. Moving is a lot of hard work and there is always sadness in losing that which you have known for a while. However, there is also the hope of new beginnings, new friendships and new possibilities for the future! I think my focus word for next year is going to be "hope"!

Unconditional Love

It's been quite some time since I've posted to my blog. Valentine's Day has reminded me of my spiritual word for 2013, "LOVE". I was reading somewhere that you choose a word for the year to be your focus word. I just purchased a beautiful key and heart necklace at the Christian bookstore with the word "Love" engraved on it along with a Dollar Store scripture study book on the word "LOVE". This year has been very difficult emotionally as a result of my brother's death. He took his own life in September of 2011, leaving behind two beautiful daughters. I will never be able to fully grasp the depth of his pain that led to this tragedy. I look at the faces of my two beautiful children and cannot fathom being separated from them in such a way. My love for them runs so deep and so wide that words cannot describe it. My love for God is the same. I love the Christian song, "I can only imagine". It describes the moment of meeting Jesus in heaven and we can only imagine what that day will be like. I pray that my brother's soul is finally at peace and resting in the loving arms of our Savior. I only hope that he knows how much he was loved and how much he is missed in our lives. Be sure to tell those that you love each and every day how much they mean to you, for you never know if today may be their last.

Summertime Blues

Being a teacher, I look forward to my summer break. I always have lofty plans of all of the organizing and house cleaning that I can get done, in addition to catching up on my reading and relaxing by the pool. Being a Mom seems to change all that. I often find myself starting projects that never seem to get finished because I have to break up a fight, fix lunch, make smoothies, go to the pool, wash clothes, etc... There's always the temptation to spend hours on Facebook and Pinterest as well. It's enough to cause a case of the summer time blues. But, then I stop and remember that before I know it, they will be all grown and I am so fortunate to be able to spend this time with them. The housework and projects will always be there, but my children will not. When I ponder that point, I realize that I am not blue at all, just green with envy at the Mom's who can stay so organized and have such clean homes! My attempts at organization just seem to add more clutter. Before I know it, the school year will begin again and another summer with my kiddos will be gone, but the happy memories will last forever.

Refreshing

I was trying to find a word to describe how I feel about this time of the year. Refreshing was the word that came to mind. It seems that October through March is the busiest time of our year with school, activities, holidays, etc... When the winds of spring blow in, I feel a burst of refreshing happiness. The flowers blooming, wind blowing, birds chirping.
As I begin organizing and cleaning out areas of my home, I also have a spiritual sense of refreshment that comes from "cleaning out the cobwebs". Uncovering all those things from the past that have piled up and need to be cleaned out, stored away or discarded. As my home becomes less cluttered and organized, so does my spirit. I am not constantly "busy" doing those things that are mundane and have more time to do the things that are meaningful.