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Giving Thanks [4]

ThoughtfulEscapes — Sat, 10 Feb 2024 21:38:43 +0000

Today I am Giving Thanks for: Daylight Savings. Sleep

Daylight Savings & Sleep: I believe these are self-explanatory. I can not begin to adequately describe how the extra hour of sleep is heavenly.

I realize not all states do this, but I am thankful we do. It is wonderful to go to bed and have it actually be an hour earlier. I learned when I was doing school online, to not use that extra hour the night before. I tend to naturally be a night owl – I used to stay up an hour longer and just “claim” I was going to bed at the same time. It never really worked, and I never learned. However, because I was doing school via University of Phoenix and Arizona doesn’t observe daylight savings…my assignments had to be turned in two hours earlier than the midnight deadline, instead of the 11pm deadline I had when we changed back in April. Ya, I learned quick – had 3 cycles of daylight savings in those 20 months. Thankfully, the first cycle was just two short months after I started.

I hope you are able to have a rest-full Sunday. I am looking forward to a day of rest after a refreshing week :-D. It has been a long time since I’ve been able to look forward to the new week ahead. This continues to be the verse I’m hanging onto this week. I know I will need the constant reminder. In particular with elections this week – He is in control! No matter what our circumstances look like.

I will Give Thanks in ALL circumstances.

I’m not often political on here – but I will say, it is imperative to vote. This is why we live in such a great country, with freedom. Because our forefathers felt our freedoms were important. Worth giving their lives so we could have a better life. For those of you reading who are Americans, don’t ignore that portion of your heritage. If Tuesday doesn’t work for you, look for your local Division of Elections offices, some have the option of early voting.

I’m linking up with Fresh Brewed Sundays with Barbie over at My Freshly Brewed Life. Come join with others sharing a scripture with each other. What a blessed way to spend time with blog friends!

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One year ago today…right now.

ThoughtfulEscapes — Sat, 10 Feb 2024 21:38:41 +0000

One year ago today I was posting my very last final, in my last class for the Information Technology/Web Design program I was in, started in August 2009 and completed April 2010. I remember blissfully thinking I couldn’t wait for life to get back to “normal”.

The problem is Mr. Normal packed up and moved out permanently while I was adjusting to working part-time, homeschooling (then not, then yes again), and going to school full-time. It has been a year and I still have been unsuccessful in convincing Mr. Normal to move back in. I ache for the days I had time. I planned things and wrote them on my calendar. Activities had specific times and they usually happened as planned, and I even prepared for said activities. With all our technology helps, we can put way too much into each day! Also, it is getting increasingly difficult to be unavailable.

On that note – thanks to the technology we enjoy each day, I have learned a lot over the last several days. I’m going to share a couple of really important facts with you. This will be kept vague for the sake of privacy, but I will say over the last four days I have been helping plan an international trip. {not a trip for me, someday but not yet}

– Airline reservation people are really quite friendly and helpful.

– It is a LONG ways to another country; all the possible connections can be really confusing.

– This is the biggie…. You know the expiration date on your passport? That is not really the expiration date, it is really six months prior to that date. What this means is: each country has their own “passport validity”. That means, some countries say as long as your passport is valid while you plan to be there you’re fine. Other countries may require your passport to be valid for six months after you arrive into their country. If you’re passport won’t be valid for the time of validity, you will not be allowed on the plane. If you are going to travel internationally, or think you might in the next whatever amount of time, check your passport expiration date.

I have always naively thought – “have passport = can travel internationally”. This is very, very wrong. To add to this dilemma, if you are traveling from Country A to Country B, via Country C…your passport validity MUST be good for Country C as well as for Country A and B, even if landing in Country C is just a stopover/layover. Pretty amazing to find all this out and be able to contact the US Passport people, four airlines, and three US Embassies – all in the same day and come away with answers! Again, thanks to internet and phones – the technology we take for granted.

Allow me the luxury of backing up to catch you up on our last couple weeks. … Okay, I lied, I started but it made me sound like I’m a victim. I am not a victim and I don’t want to portray that in any way. We live an incredibly blessed life and I don’t want to cheapen it by being dramatic. How about if I sum up way too many events over the last several days to say, I’m desperate for life to slow down. For time to sit and see pretty sights. To visit with friends without a timer set for when I need to leave {how horrible is that?!}. Today that was put into light really well as a family friend passed away this morning. I didn’t know until this afternoon, his battle with cancer is now over and he is in the arms of Jesus. His body is whole and without pain. It is moments such as those {finding out someone has passed away} that really causes reflection on the importance of our every day activities.

Do you remember the saying, “Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses”? {or whatever it really is}. I have been thinking about that lately. For me it isn’t about stopping, but I have to make a point of stopping to smell the roses, even if that means scheduling it in. I don’t forget to stop, I’m not able to stop. Everything is so go, go, go anymore. I want to stop and smell the roses, but if I do – I’ll get run over. I’ve come to the conclusion that just like a husband and wife need to schedule dates to maintain and grow their healthy relationship, I need to schedule time for stopping and reading a book. Time to just not think. This is just as important for my well-being as a single adult and single mom, as it is for a married couple. I’ve known I needed to take time to take care of myself, but I didn’t think it was incredibly important. God is changing my thinking on this – I might even be finally getting it, a little bit :-D. Have a blessed day!

{By the way, that lovely picture — is not here. it is not now. it is my cousin’s yard last summer. We are still buried under 3-5 feet of snow, depending on where you look or try to walk. At least it has been a record breaking year for snowfall. If we’re going to have that much, we might as well get to have it permanently documented :-D!}

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Fall changes…

ThoughtfulEscapes — Sat, 10 Feb 2024 21:38:37 +0000

Fall – one of many favorite times of year for me.
I am always ready for fall and the color changes…it also signals school supplies, books, and schedules (more favorites for me) :)!

A beautiful day on the lake.
Bumpa with all his grand kids checking out how the boat rides.

Getting ready to head to Whittier. 4 of the 5 boys in our family went for a guy’s only trip with the boat to Whittier.

These were the two boys who couldn’t contain their grins, the big boys were excited too – they just didn’t show it quite as much. They had a beautiful day and a wonderful time was had by all.

Vince created this ‘bread bowl’ for the campaign dinner mom & dad had last week. It is his cabbage leaves inside a birch basket. He really enjoys cooking and presenting food – this is a good thing :).

Christine has started Rhythmic Gymnastics and is loving it! For several years she has wanted to do this, I’ve held off because I figured she was too young to really appreciate and practice what she learned. I think it worked – she is practicing all the time, she’s stretching further and further. She can hula hoop for a long time and controlled balance spin it on her hand too.

She has come so far in such a short time! Yes, she is hula hooping 2 hoops at the same time. That is a bridge on her toes!!!!

This was my creative outlet this weekend…3 pairs of jeans became 2 skirts for CJ.

To make a long skirt I had to use 2 pairs of jeans. Somewhere I saw this online, but I couldn’t find it again. Doesn’t matter, I probably wouldn’t have followed the directions anyway. 🙂 Christine loved that she got to pick the heart shaped stitching for the hem and the zig-zag is decorative.

This was a pair of Vince’s painter pants. I loved that I could keep the side pocket. The opposite leg had a hole split totally across the knee it was close, but I got it to work. The ruffle I had sitting done already, it was for a flower girl dress I didn’t make because we found one instead – and it was the perfect size! Vince isn’t real sure what he thinks of his jeans’ 2nd life. (I think he’s secretly pleased :)…shhhh!) He’s informed me I won’t disgrace his Carharts….we’ll see. 🙂 The other skirt was my favorite, until I made this one.

There have been many changes for our little family of 3 this fall. I worked all but 2 days of the fair – wow! That was a really fun experience and I got to work with a wonderful team of people. Mom kept my kids, thanks Mom!! They were long days, but we all are able to now really appreciate I don’t have to work 10-12 hour days all the time for us just to live.

We are entering 6 weeks of school times 2. We are home schooling and enjoying life. In August I became a full-time student too, my classes are all online so I’m home with the kids and we do school together. I’ve also just started working a part-time job. It is a job the kids can come with me and so far they are enjoying working along side me. This is a new venture for us – for me to work outside our home, long-term, not just for a couple weeks. We are also working around 2 youth group schedules. My kids are Seniors this year and Vince is Middle School! Yes, I’m tired, but content and know these are all things that were waiting for the right timing. For whatever reason the right timing is now – all at once! The kids are old enough for this to work and we are happy. God is in control and He puts His plan in front of us. It is up to us what we choose to do with that direction.

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Overwhelmed. In blessings.

ThoughtfulEscapes — Sat, 10 Feb 2024 21:38:37 +0000

(Zach is on the left, the black vests are life jackets)

(don’t know anything about this photo, except Zach sent it to dad tonight; so, I’m assuming it is the Bahamas, isn’t it gorgeous?!)

These pictures are to show you the extremes what of my brothers are seeing right now. I am very proud of both my brothers. I am proud of how they have both grown into wonderful men following hard after what they believe God wants of each of them. I am blessed to have family. Family I can turn to. Family I love. Family I miss. I am blessed to have not just one brother, but two brothers I am proud of. I am overwhelmed in blessings tonight.

Both of my brothers were trained to be pilots, they started out thinking they would serve in missions together. They made difficult choices to take different paths with their pilot training. Both working in missions, with different views out their cockpit windows. Today Matt is in Alaska, thankfully just down the road – more on that later. Zach is in the Bahamas – on his way to Haiti to help with the relief effort there. Zach left West Palm Beach, FL this morning, flew all day over water and is in Stella Maris, Bahamas tonight, and heads to Port-au-Prince early tomorrow morning. They had heavy headwinds, so they only made it half way. He is flying with Samaritan Air! My mind has worked (unsuccessfully) to really grasp this ALL day. My little brother is flying a R44 helicopter with a big mission, to help with a relief effort in Haiti that we are seeing on TV!!!!!!!!! (and my baby brother flies his plane to land on glaciers, in the bushes, wherever is needed, taking whatever is needed to whomever – an Alaskan Bush Pilot) My brothers are having incredible, huge adventures!

They have prayed me through hard times, stepping up at different times to help with decisions and my children (both before they have even had their own), walking along side me. Today, I am feeling incredibly small. We have such an awesomely HUGE God. Today as I drove in the driveway I thought “Zach is flying to Haiti, Jane is in AZ with the kids, mom & dad are in Juneau – I’m so glad Matt & Samantha are just up the road and aren’t in Chile like they were this time last year!” I think I would have just curled up and cried!!! Have you heard about Louis Giglio? Watch the few minutes here, but this video is worth buying; I have it and think of it often. It is so amazing and puts our earth’s life in perspective with what is really around us. We are so little and insignificant in the realm of life, the grand scheme of everything; so NOT the center of the universe like we’d like to think we are.
I am learning about feelings. God means for us to feel; He invites us to be a feeling people, fully feeling. I really like this description, “Feelings are the internal reactions generated by our own interpretation of people, events and life experiences.” (Me, an Evangelist? by William McKay) I don’t typically have a shortage of feelings, but I do not usually express them. Over the last couple of years I have been learning to let go enough to really feel and allowing expression of the feelings in me. It is my nature to thoroughly enjoy something, but not necessarily express it. This has been a work in progress. I am thick-skulled, aka stubborn according to my parents :).

I have not had time to write a post that has been floating in my head for 3 wks now…New Year, New living room, New Life, New Schedule. In a nutshell, we have had New Year’s, I have cleaned every corner of my house in the form of organizing every room, rearranging my living room, and we have new life in our house due to a new schedule. I decided against all economic, earthly sense to quit the part time job I had started last fall. I am not going to go into detail of any of this now, because I feel like it is all old news – besides, life is so refreshingly peaceful. However, the funny thing is – we haven’t slowed down at all! I’m not sure where working fit in. My school started after Christmas full speed ahead, with many days having homework due and often both classes having something due on the same day – 2 and 3 times/week! The rest of the kids’ school work came and we’ve been doing homeschool each day too. Vince is loving cross-country skiing, his coach told him today he is ready to advance to skate skiing, even though he’s barely started and only comes twice per week. We need to work on getting to the Saturday practices, they kind of can be an option now. I say ‘kind of’ because Matt is building and Vince is working with him on Saturday’s. We’ll have to see what we can shift, so Vince can possibly work other days per week and ski on Saturdays.

Over the last several years I have had time on my side. I usually had time to do whatever came up, I was the one who’s {is that a word? how else would you write it?} schedule was the easiest to fit something into. That has all changed so much this last school year. … These last couple years I have spent a lot of time being overwhelmed, over done, over tired, just over. We went from the hectic campaign schedule into a wonderful, fun filled summer. Full of family time and me working a couple different jobs for a couple weeks, into me starting full-time school and a part-time job out of the house, but homeschool was still a need and the house walls were starting to close in around me for lack of things at home getting done. I don’t do 6 days a week out of the house. Give me 6 days straight in the house anytime & I’m good, but that much running and I was past my last thread of sanity.

All of this is to say – in a round about way… I have become a leaking, sloppy sponge. I am so fully blessed, I feel like I am oozing. I have not felt this refreshed or peaceful in a very long time. Overwhelmed. I have been feeling overwhelmed, but I am now feeling peacefully overwhelmed. There are so many blessings in our lives. My cup is running over today. Without spending any more of your time in paragraph after paragraph of explanation I can’t begin to list all the blessings we are enjoying right now. All for His glory, for His good purpose; and there is so much yet to come.

(please ignore all spelling, punctuation, and horrible sentence structure – I’m tired & my thoughts are racing much faster than my fingers can type and my heart and mind are tripping over each other to race for what is going to come out my fingertips…tomorrow [OK -later today] starts another very full day.)

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