We had an amazing 2011! There were so many highlights I can’t possibly make this short. God was greatly gracious to us and we were very blessed this last year, with minimal hardships and frustrations. I’m sorry to say those hardships and frustrations have threatened to extinguish the overwhelming truths of God’s promises and love for me. There is so much more I could say, but won’t. After all, this is the world wide internet and it includes others. I’m sure as time goes on, I get things better sorted in my head, and I’m understanding the wisdom gained from the experiences and memories you will eventually hear about it. 🙂

This was also a monumental year for me personally. There are so many things I learned, I don’t think I could even put it all into words. There are times I read something and think – “yes, that is exactly it!” Maybe some day I’ll do a post of quotes to try to describe some of these ‘personal growths’. The year 2011 signifies the fact I have been out of high school for 20 years! This seems unbelievable to me. I don’t feel old enough to be out that long. The year brought opportunities I have dreamt of for much of my life. I understand better the saying of others, “I feel younger now than I did 15 years ago.”

{warning – this will be really long and may not be very enjoyable to you, but it is a trip down memory lane for my kids & I. If you want to just skim it – I highlighted the main parts :-D.}

January: I made the decision for our family to return to home schooling. It was for the best.If anyone has questions and I am happy to answer them via email. I’m just not comfortable with posting specific reasons world-wide. We did one week of out-of-the-home-school after Christmas break. The next day, Tuesday January 11^th, I un-enrolled the kids from the school they were going to, then finished the process of un-enrolling them from the home school program we use and in the same hour re-enrolled them into that same home school program. We had the privilege of watching my niece several hours a week. The kids loved having her come on a regular basis.

February and March: I was in my last class. A programming class. I HATE coding, I’m fine with using code and learning what to change for appearance changes, but please, please, please don’t ever make me write code for a program from a blank slate to follow through with all the possible errors! The first programming class I had was May/June of 2010. I was very close to quitting school at that point. I had a horrible teacher for that class and barely passed. At least the teacher I had for this last class was WAY better and I got a high B. For these months I was in the programming class, home schooling, part-time job, and being mom. I was tired, didn’t feel well, and living in a blur most of the time.

April: On April 10^th I turned in my last final! I was done with the associates degree in Information Technology and Web Design.I was done – 20 months after starting. Unfortunately, after starting (I realized during the above mentioned first programming class) that I didn’t really want this degree, I wanted Graphic Design. So, while I’m excited I’m done and happy I have a piece of paper to prove I did some college, I am looking at teaching myself what I really wanted to know…as soon as life slows down a bit. In April I bought one way tickets out of state to the cheapest location I could find…{yes, I realize that is a very backwards way to do things, as well as being very uncharacteristic for me :-D. Regardless, God blessed me in this moment of insanity anyways.}. I was just done with feeling yuck all the time, being confined to the computer (doing school), and the lack of sun we had the previous summer (and what sun we did have I missed because I was inside on the computer doing school), and the wind! I was so weary of the wind; and one morning about 10am I heard it start again. When I heard it everything in me went nuts. I got online, searched found a really cheap ticket, called mom (in Juneau at the time) and said “I’m going with the kids, you want to join us? I don’t have any more of a plan, but at the very least we can go for a few days, staying in a hotel, and fly back.” Shockingly, she agreed. Within 3 hours of the wind starting I had tickets out of the state. “Real life” seemed really far away and I was trying hard to recuperate from full-time school, part-time job, and home school down to “just” home school and part-time job. So…why not ‘run away’…it was logical at the moment; and I haven’t ever regretted it. I bought tickets to Denver, Colorado for $150 each! Just so you can understand how good that is – today tickets to Seattle are $530 one way/person! (granted that is no notice – wait a couple weeks and it’s $230 for one way/person). All I knew for sure was we’d go to Focus on the Family and see Whit’s End. Something I’ve wanted to take the kids to see for years. I knew the Air Force Academy was across the road and the Garden of the Gods was near as well. (I went to Summit Ministries in Manitou Springs for a session the summer I graduated from high school).

May: May was spent continuing to recuperate and learn to live life again without daily check-ins into class and no homework assignments. Doing “normal” things like cleaning, laundry, and planning possibilities for our summer trip. In late May I was told I needed to make the lifestyle change of going gluten free and dairy free. There were several health issues we were looking for answers to; one of which was to change my hypothyroid medicine. For the next three months I was to be very diligent about being gluten free and dairy free. How fun – switch to a totally different way of eating when heading out on what had become a six week trip to span Colorado, Wyoming, Minnesota, and Wisconsin … oh joy.

June: On the 6^th mom, the kids, and I flew from Anchorage to Denver. We left the car rental lot at 8:30am; went to a restaurant nearby for breakfast then headed to Colorado Springs. We went to Focus on the Family and visited Whit’s End. It was so much fun to “see” Whit’s End and the location of Adventures in Odyssey. The kids got one of Mr. Whitaker’s World Famous Chocolate Soda (Wod-Fam-Choc-Sod). After Focus on the Family, we went across the highway to the Air Force Academy. It was amazing to see the chapel – I haven’t seen it since 1991 and it was just as amazing as I remembered! Then we went exploring a bit in Colorado Springs (drove a bit in town), including the Garden of the Gods. It was so much fun to show the kids monumental things I saw so many years ago – plus, it is where mom grew up. After the Garden of the Gods we drove back to Denver – we returned the car at 8:30pm! My cousin and aunt were at the car lot to pick us up, we then went to my cousin’s house for the night where my uncle (mom’s brother) was waiting for us. I haven’t seen my cousin since 1991 either…It was fun to see her really cool house! I will be enjoying pictures ofher house and yard over the next cold, wintery months for sure! On Wednesday morning all seven of us loaded into her jeep and my aunt & uncle’s truck; we headed to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. What a gorgeous drive! My cousin had a photo shoot for her job and we got to join her. It was so cool to see a bit of her life. Mom & I got to go for a couple hours and see the end of their magazine photo shoot – for real! Oh, it was so wonderful. My creative thoughts started to thaw and there was a trickle of a desire again. The kids stayed with my aunt & uncle – in the pool – where else :-D. Friday morning we packed up and my cousin headed back to Denver while the rest of us climbed into my uncle’s truck to head to Cody, Wyoming. We drove for 14 hours – six of us in a truck – and it was so much fun! We got to drive along the Oregon Trail and see the ruts (still!) from the covered wagons, and into South Pass City & Atlantic City. They knew so much history – it was like we were on a personal narrated tour! It was so amazing to see the countryside and the truck was so comfortable we weren’t even desperate to get out when we got there. We spent the next week in Cody and it’s surrounding areas. The last time I was there was about 30 years ago for Christmas, so for all practical purposes it was my first time. It really was a history rich, enjoyable week and wonderful start to the summer. On the 16^th we went to the airport in Billings, Montana. The kids & I were flying to Minneapolis (via Denver?!) and a couple hours after our flight left mom flew back to Anchorage.

… to be continued later. I forgot how much went into this last year. This is just the timeframe from January to mid-June…. Wow, 2011 was a FULL year!

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Once again our family is going through major changes – changes I am sure will be used to God’s glory because the decisions have been covered in lots of prayer directly for several months and indirectly for years. I have had to make a decision I feel is huge. Quite honestly, next to going to court this is the hardest thing I’ve done in my life and the hardest day is yet to come. I have enrolled my children in school. This is temporary; it is just for this year until I finish my associates degree. One week from today I will take my children to school for the first time in our lives. For the first time ever I am not deciding what school supplies they need, I am not deciding what they will learn, what we will start with, how our days will “look”; they need school clothes; and we need appropriate food in the house for making packable lunches for multiple days at a time [I totally have absolutely no idea how to do this! – we have always eaten what we want at the moment and most often just heat up leftovers].

I am a home school mom at heart. I have always said I will home school as long as it is working for us, this is not an indication of home school not working for us. There just simply is not enough of me to be the best single mom, home school mom, full-time student, and part-time employee to go around. Being a home school mom is the one element that could change with the least amount of long-term consequence. I should be done with my degree in April -Lord willing we will be back to home schooling next year.

This has honestly been a heart-wrenching process on multiple levels for me. Registration day was earlier this week and filling out all the paperwork was truly a nightmare – I can’t really put my finger on why, other than wondering “why on earth do they need to know all this information about us?!” I am keeping this explanation fairly short and simplistic because I don’t have the energy to say more – emotionally, mentally, or physically without rambling. I am hoping and praying to be a better mom than I have been over the last year and for the grace of God and love of Christ to spill out of us onto others in this process.

Although I said in my last two posts I have prayed Jeremiah 29:11-13 most consistently over the last 10 years. That verse is why I have the confidence to go forward with this plan, but this is the verse I am clinging to most desperately right now. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:18

Be joyful always ~ can’t say I’ve done very well at this, especially not lately.

Pray continually ~ this to me is a no brainer, I could not function without my complete dependence on Christ. I have learned over the last 10 years that I do not function at all without an ongoing connect thru prayer, it is how I cope each and every day. I don’t make decisions well, big or small.

Give thanks in all circumstances ~ it really doesn’t say for everything, but in everything. I am working hard to remember this right now. Some days are good, I can give myself an attitude check in the morning and it lasts – lately not so much…

This is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

This is written very simply and rather clearly. It does not say be joyful when times are good, fun, and easy; pray only when times are hard, you need extra help, or if you’re confused; and give thanks when you feel thankful; this is a suggestion from God and the best you can expect from Jesus Christ.

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