College

I miss college. I miss having friends down the hall and boys to talk about.  I miss going to class and working at the dining hall.  Life was simple. Everything was black or white. I had life figured out.

Perhaps that is why Aaron and I decided to volunteer for Young Life College and start a Biblestudy.  We certainly didn't need more activities in our lives, we have plenty of things to do already.  But we were missing college students. A lot. It's been awhile since we've hung out with college students.  Last Monday night we had our first gathering. I felt kind of old. But when I sat down and talked with the one girl who showed up, I knew this is exactly what we need to be doing.

She just got her first Bible a couple of weeks ago.  She doesn't know much about Jesus or Christianity, but she is so eager to learn.  It excites me to be thinking and talking about Jesus with fresh eyes. It's so easy to throw Christian-ese around and not connect with the meaning of it all. We have other students who are similar to me.  They grew up in the church.  They know the lingo.  It's going to be a wonderful challenge to walk alongside these students in their unique journeys of faith.

Not much has changed about college students.  Yes, they carry iphones and grew up on Harry Potter, but they are longing to belong. They have it all figured out, yet are so malleable. They are fun to be around and eager to learn. So much of life is ahead of them.

Yep, I miss college.

Trust your gut

I didn't know that in raising children there would be so many decisions.  Which preschool? When? Which activities? What will they like? Am I overstimulating them? When is a good time for the first sleepover? With whom? Should I let them watch another 20 minutes of tv? What about that show?  You get the point.  Perhaps I'm over thinking it or maybe I am not thinking enough....Arggggghhh.  And you tell me this is just the beginning?!?! 

I am a horrible decision maker.  I don't do well on the spot and I don't do well with loads of time to think. Often I just have to follow my initial gut reaction. And then sometimes I second guess my gut and make a "logical" decision that doesn't feel good and I later regret. I must sound a bit crazy.

And then sometimes I need to back pedal on something that I never decided to begin with. I never really thought about it. For example, we've let Montana watch the show "hannah montana".  At first, I thought it was no big deal. It was funny she liked the show and I thought it was cute because it was part of her name, but yesterday when I told her we had to leave the house she said, "I better take my phone in case my boyfriend calls."  What?!  Yeah, it's probably time to stop watching shows about teenagers.  How am I going to back pedal this one?

But you know what?  I am going to make bad decisions and my kids are probably going to make bad decisions too.  But i believe there is Grace that will cover us. I guess humans that parent humans are apt to screw up now and again. However, I want to make wise decisions and not over analyze everything to death and I think that means sometimes trusting my gut.

Ode to Amos

My son is 20 months. He is beginning to assert himself more and more and he and his sister are beginning to...ummmm....interact more.  Yes, interact. The other day I found myself at Fred Meyer talking on the phone planning a get together with a friend from out of town while my children fought in the shopping cart.  Hair pulling included. I ignored them.  Hoped it would go away. It didn't. Yes, we created a scene. And no, I did not really care.  I just wanted out of the store.

Oh, but wait, this was going to be a post about my sweet, lovable boy.  And yes, he is sweet.  He has started beckoning us to him by saying "c'mere" (come here). His favorite word is NO.  We like to test him to see if he knows what he is really saying.  Do you want ice cream? NO. Do you want to go to the park to play. NO.

He makes the cutest animal sounds. He especially likes to roar like a lion or a tiger or a bear. And he has recently taken to cars and trains.  It's so fun to watch him sit and line up the trains or park the cars. I have really tried not to push gender specific toys on my kids, but it's interesting to watch them engage in very different things. He has also recently discovered the sandbox at cohousing.  Montana played in it alot when she was his age and he loves it.  Buckets, shovels, trucks.  Who could ask for more? He hands me a bucket and asks me for "wa" so he can make the sand wet.

Oh I love my little guy.  He is long and lean and loves "Goodnight Moon". He can be snuggly and will often lay his head on my shoulder when we meet new people. But when he is comfortable with someone, he will flash a smile and say "hi"!

I have a love/hate relationship with this toddler stage.  It is so fun to watch him learn something new everyday.  He is so funny and energetic.  But I dislike this stage because it is so frustrating when he is trying to communicate and I just don't know what he wants. Or he gets frustrated and bites his sister. He is impossible to use logic with and likes to run away.  But he is still my baby.  Wears pajamas with feet in them.  Drinks a bottle while we rock him. And sleeps in a crib.

Here's to Amos. My adorable son.  My baby who will soon be driving his own car.  Did I mention how much he LOVES to sit in the driver's seat of our car?  It takes us longer to load and unload now because he wants to sit for a few behind the steering wheel. I try to take the time to indulge him and have often thought about locking him in there while I go do a load of laundry. Is that bad?

The good life...follow-up

I found this quote today from the book, Repacking your Bags, by Richard Leider and David Shapiro authors of one of my favorite books Whistle While You Work.

The good life is a choice to live in the place we belong, with people we love, doing the right work, on purpose.

Thoughts?

The good life

On a recent escape with my best friend

Aaron and I met when we were juniors in college.  The first conversation we had was about how we both longed to live a simple life. We had similar ideas of ideal priorities. Little did we know that 13 years later we would be doing life together with some of the same ideas. In some ways my life has turned out very much the way we envisioned, however, I would have never thought it would look quite like this.  But, really, how do we ever know nor would we want to know exactly what life will look like.

I just had a birthday and for some reason birthdays always bring reflection and evaluation of the year past as well hopes and desires for the year to come. I am so thankful for my life.  We live in a beautiful place, doing something that God has placed on our hearts.  We have supportive family and friends and healthy children. For now I stay mostly at home taking care of my kids and our home, indulging in soap operas and bon bons (haha...only kidding). I love telling people that we live in co-housing. It is easy to get annoyed and wish for more space and privacy, but at the end of the day, I love sharing life with my neighbors. It reminds me a bit of our team in East Asia, minus the common spiritual purpose.

I feel fortunate that most of my stress comes from having too many wonderful people in our lives and not having enough time or energy to give as much as I wish.  I also miss my family often and wish I could call my sister and go for a walk with our kids.

My birthday hike with a great neighbor and friend. I can't believe we live here

Life is good.  Life is full. I appreciate the things I have and the things I don't have and don't need. I don't want to take this season of life for granted. I am grateful and I want to embrace each day fully, even if it is just doing laundry, hanging out with my kids and neighbors, and cleaning the kitchen (again). I have an amazing partner and the older I get, the more I realize that we have something special.

So here's to the good life. When I am feeling crappy and overwhelmed, I somehow need to remind myself to come to this post and read it again and remember.

Feast

As I emptied my recycle bin the other day, I realized why I was feeling so tired.  I saw evidence of snacks, dips, and drinks we don't normally consume. And I was reminded of all of our delightful feasting this summer. Not just a feast on food, but on relationships.

I started June with a girls' getaway with some of my closest friends from college.  I flew BY MYSELF to Colorado where I spent a precious day alone with my mama, and then it was off to Boulder for a weekend of talking and eating and walking with my friends. It was so refreshing.

Then it was back to WA for a couple of weeks and then the 4 of us hit the road for 2 weeks.  We drove to SD and spent time with family there, which included a family reunion on my dad's side.  It was a special time of connection and play, and again lots of good food!

We took 4 days to drive home and squeezed in a slight detour to my sister's new house in Laramie, Wyoming and then back through Idaho and Washington wine country. Wow.  Eastern Washington is hot, but I want to go back soon!

We were home for one week of catching up and prepping for the next round of fun...Aaron's whole family came to visit us for a week!  What fun to be able to show them where we live and the amazing things here.  Their trip included a 3 night stay with everyone in Pt. Townsend and we even had enough sunshine to play in the water. I am thankful for such fantastic in-laws!!

Last week our feast of family and food came to an end.  I am tired, but a good tired. 

Summer Road Trip

Our annual summer road trip to South Dakota was wonder-full. Full of family, full of sun, full of fun.  Here is my whole family celebrating my dad's 60th birthday.  A few days before we all ran a 10K in honor of him. I feel so blessed by this amazing quirky family.