Sense of Peace

Over a year has past since we moved back to the Southeast. 13 months to be exact.

This has been an extremely challenging year. The first three months of our move, we were elated to be back in the area, close to family, and eager to see how this leg of our life journey would play out. We spent our time finalizing our trip to Belize with our best friends, and kept our minds off of missing the people back in Springfield by looking forward to the next time we would see them.

After the Belize vacation, reality set in. We looked around this city we now called home, and were disgusted by the lack of leadership and community support. We were depressed at living in an apartment in a transitional part of town.

We started wondering if we had made a mistake.

We were starting to become something in Springfield, both in our careers and in the community. We had a home and neighborhood. Things were going well there. Why did we move?

After about the six month mark, we started adjusting to our new life. We started considering putting down roots and making this home as long as we were here. At about the 12 month mark, we found a home in a community that we feel we can become involved in, and that is trying to become better.

So, at 13 months, we are home.

We have a little house that we can make our own. We have a neighborhood that is on it's way up. It's close to a downtown that is striving to become better. We are surrounded by family that we get to see on a regular basis, and we are developing friendships that are helping us become better people. After a year, our lives are almost back to where we started, and it feels good.

Sure, we miss all of our friends in Springfield, and if I could move them out here I would, but they are still our friends. The distance makes our time together that much more meaningful. We are continuing to move on with our lives, and it feels good. It has been scary, sad, almost unbearable at times, but right now - it's all good.

Blog Bandwagon

Yeah, I changed my background. Can't let the little sis's stay ahead of me. Actually, I was getting pretty bored with the background I had. It was a little too "non-feminine". I'm trying to add "girly" to my world. Flowers on the blog here, pink in the wardrobe there. I may even start wearing a skirt to work eventually. We'll see ... baby steps.

Well, the house projects are moving along. We (meaning Christian) have installed new deadbolts on all the exterior doors. This past weekend we installed a shelf and rod in one of the hall closets and the organizer in my closet. I'm not sure it made that big of a difference. I still have a big pile of shoes. I guess I need to be a little more selective and get rid of a few more pair. It's tough. Next week I want to concentrate on getting some semblance of order to the front bedroom. It is a mess.

We did finally get our stove and refrigerator. I haven't actually cooked anything yet, but it looks like it will do a good job. We got a GE stainless ceramic top. The stove heats up very quickly! Pretty cool. The refrigerator is GE stainless with the freezer drawer on the bottom. I love it. Having the freezer on the bottom makes it easier to see the fruits and vegetables that are about to go bad.

Otherwise, we are gearing up to go to dad's for Thanksgiving. Desiree is flying in tomorrow, and everyone should show up late afternoon for dinner. I can't wait to get some of Aunt Judy's dressing. mmmmm. I am going to make a Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Icing. Sounds good, we'll see how it turns out.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

Death Becomes Us

Well, there has another tragedy on my mom's side of the family. Her youngest sister died of cancer yesterday. That makes my mom, two aunts, and my grandfather all to die of cancer. Can a family be cursed? I have one aunt and cousins left on my mom's side. The ties to that family are slowly dwindling away.

I found myself a bit introspective last night, after I heard the news. I am sad because there were a few things I wanted to tell her the next time I saw her. I didn't get that chance. I did get a chance to visit with her a few months ago. It had been years since I had seen her, so I am very thankful for that time. She was a wonderfully positive person. We may not have stayed in consistent contact over the years, but everytime we talked or visited, it was great. She had recently made two scrapbooks of old pictures of my mom, and aunts and uncles. It is a great piece of history that I will treasure and pass on to my children.

While I am sad and regretful over this loss, it is not overwhelming. Since my mom's death, I find myself looking at death differently. I think it hurts the ones left behind more than the person who dies. That being said, how do we minimize that pain? One thing that I do is try to look at the positive in the situation. What can I learn from the persons life, how they lived or how they died? How can I then, take those lessons and apply it to my life to make me a better person? It seems to be working.

Another thought that is weighing on me is the repetition of cancer deaths. Will it also affect our generation? Are my sisters, cousins and me destined to die early deaths of cancer? I cannot accept that I may only have 10-20 years left on this earth. That is not enough time. I want to have kids and see them grow up. I want to have to take care of my husband when we are old. I have things that I have to do. I do eat healthy and occasionally exercise. I will be more diligent with that. I will also be more proactive in getting screened for various cancers. I am going to beat this curse. But, if I don't everyone should celebrate my life, not mourn.

A Sigh of Relief

I am so glad the elections are over. Not because I am not politically minded, but because I get tired of the slandering ads. I am not going to go into it, because the whole thing makes me really angry, but I am glad it is over for now.

We are quickly getting settled in to our home. I have all of the rooms put together and unpacked except the mudroom and spare bedroom. Christian has been installing deadbolts on the doors, so his tools are all over the mudroom. The spare bedroom is another story. It is the catch all room. A lot of it will move out to one of the storage rooms in the garage, but most of it needs a home that only exists in boxes. I need a library. By that, I mean, I need (at least) an entire room to keep my books. Do you think 10 boxes of books is too much? I even got rid of a few before we moved from Springfield. Of course, I have bought and read about 20 books this past year. Does this constitute a problem? Other than lack of storage space, I don't think so. Reading is extremely important. To be able to escape into your imagination is a trait I am seeing disappear in the younger generation. When I have children, they are not going to have electronic toys, they are not going to have video games, movies, or tv to keep their attention. Well, maybe Sesame Street will be okay. They will have books (big surprise there), building toys, balls, and a bike. All of their toys will fit in one basket. (hey, I won't have room for toys and my books).

Okay, I kind of went off on a tangent with that. Anyway, we are getting settled in. Next week, we will be adding some closet organizers, and possibly painting the hall. I am going for a burnt orange color.

I also have a new energy to get involved with the community again. I've been on hiatus for the past year, and that is more than enough. Owning a home and establishing roots was one of the things that we were missing from Springfield. We still miss all of our friends, but at least we are getting some peace of mind.