Update: Today is 8/16/18 and I discovered this post written up but left in draft format and not published. I had published it for a very short time but then removed it. I think it's kind of raw and maybe I was feeling vulnerable so I took it down. But I'm re-publishing it today. I think it's nice to see how difficult life can be sometimes. The move to WA was brutal but life is getting back to normal and I'm trying to get back to my blog again. If you see something that's simply not appropriate just let me know. I'm not the best editor especially of my own stuff and I love people who can tell me when I made a typo, bad grammar or generally said something really stupid.........
In 3 days time, it will have been 8 months since our family of nine boarded a plane, having only one-way tickets, for Portland, Oregon. We would not be returning to Alaska any time soon. We were moving away. I videoed the take off and wept as the plane sped up, the trees whizzed by and the wheels pulled up into the belly of that plane. Nobody noticed the tears streaming down my cheeks. Nobody else on that flight knew that we were moving. It was a normal Thursday, June 4th for everyone else. But not for us. Not for me.
I have spent 8 months being tired, being frustrated, being overwhelmed, feeling lost, feeling raw, and eating too much crap. I didn't not like it here. I wasn't regretting moving. But it was like my brain had to be turned inside out, and that is generally uncomfortable.
I mentioned two posts ago that I was ready to find me again. Well, me is back. She is overweight, tired of feeling tired, and ready to rock and roll. She is overwhelmed because God has given the family an amazing house. The reality is, is that this house was chosen because it seemed to be being offered up on a silver platter to us. I essentially gave in to my husband on this one. I "sacrificed" my own will for his will and that of the will of God on this one. That's a huge deal for me. I like being in control. I like to say that my husband wears the pants in the family...but as they say. The man is the head and the woman is the neck. He loves me and wants me to be happy, so he typically gives in to me on most things. He would have let me pass on this house, we actually did once earlier in the summer. He didn't push it, it was ultimately something I decided to choose to be happy with because I knew how much he loved it, but it had to be my decision too. The reality is, if I really have the ability to choose to be happy anywhere God puts us, then why would this house be any different? It was structurally sound, beautiful in my husbands eyes and I knew that I could grow to love it. I have one photo of him in the living room just grinning, the most contented grin, from when they were showing us the house. I kept coming back to that picture. I knew he would be happy here and I knew I could be too.
We were allowed to move in 2 weeks before Christmas and since the bank was not ready for us to close the owners let us rent. The oven didn't work and they did their best to replace it. We closed on the house January 1st. We finally got a working oven 2 weeks ago and we got a lot more unpacking done in February too. January was crazy and we weren't really settled in 'till February.
Today is a landmark day for me. It's March 1st. We are doing our very first canning session since moving here. (I'm teaching E the canning beans my way method, it's been almost exactly one year since we canned beans last.) I made a new chore chart for the kids last week and they were actually excited. Hubby talked to me yesterday about eating more healthy and how he wants to try it and it was perfect timing! I'm sooo tired of being overweight, Lent starts in 2 weeks and I'm excited that he's also ready for a change! Last night we had green salad and roasted asparagus with dinner and tonight we're making chicken and roasted Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Hubby has started cooking more too and though we just got him a fryer I think he's more inspired to get away from the vegetable oils and stick to animal fats. That's good with me too, it seems like a more natural choice for eating.
Anyway, just wanted to report on our silly old lives thus far.
A few updates that have happened in the last 8 months:
-Oldest daughter bought a car (Feb)
-Oldest daughter and oldest son got lifeguard training last summer and will be lifeguards this summer.
-Oldest daughter started working at McDonalds and is officially graduated from high-school. She's still trying to decide what to do with her life but is earning money for now.
-Our car was stolen at our other house on youngest daughter's birthday. It was rallied, totaled and returned to our driveway. I haggled hard with State Farm and they paid out an acceptable sum of money. We had only had that car for a little over a year since I had gotten rear ended in 2014 in Wasilla and that totaled our minivan. It gave us enough money to buy a much older Suburban and get all the seats transferred over from our Yukon so that it would fit all nine of us. Also for a hefty down payment on a new Subaru Forester.
-We started attending the mission here in the funeral home. My Deacon husband hunted for a rental and found one, a stinky old building on Main Street with leaks that had been vacant for 3 years because the land lords didn't take great care of it. He re-wrote the rental contract, got them to fix a ton of stuff before we would move in and negotiated the rent payments down on a one year lease. He got the non-profit organization status for the church finalized. He submitted names for our church to the Metropolitan and my favorite name was chosen, Ss. Joachim and Anna. I could not be more elated. It seemed so fitting for being just down the street from the Orthodox Monastery. Our mission is here for married couples, for people who want a parish life but who like to live close to a monastery. We are here for converts and plan on converting the town! The men stumbled upon a great piece of property that was for sale out by the main highway. It is 8 acres and though the man selling it got a higher offer from someone else, he said that he preferred that it go to our church and is giving us a very good deal on it. We closed on that in January and begin making payments next month. This is a poor town and there is much chatter about how will we receive enough funds to build a church...but as our priest says, "God owns all of the money in the universe. Do not worry about money." I love that.
-K will turn 18 in May, A turned 15 in June, M turned 14 in February, E turned 12 in December, F turned 10 in February, S turned 7 in August, TT turned 1 in August.
-Our last house was infested with box elder bugs. That was terrible.
-Our last house was not heated very well, 2 of the kids bedrooms and the office didn't have any heat source. That was also terrible.
Mostly I have become generally more thankful and a lot more prone to saying the Jesus Prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!). Thank God for that, right?! I have needed to cling to something that I know, and I know that no matter where we move, no matter if someone dies. Our Christ God will be the constant in this crazy life that we live. We are on an ocean with waves crashing around and He is our rock. Clinging to Him has helped me so much and drawn me closer to Him. If that is all that I got out of this move, that would be the most important. I am amazed at the gifts He has poured out onto us. I am amazed that this house was actually built for our family 50 years ago...for us. Every day that I live here, there is something else I discover that is so perfect for us.
Thank God. I'm back. I'm ready to re-boot this life of mine. Thank God.
In 3 days time, it will have been 8 months since our family of nine boarded a plane, having only one-way tickets, for Portland, Oregon. We would not be returning to Alaska any time soon. We were moving away. I videoed the take off and wept as the plane sped up, the trees whizzed by and the wheels pulled up into the belly of that plane. Nobody noticed the tears streaming down my cheeks. Nobody else on that flight knew that we were moving. It was a normal Thursday, June 4th for everyone else. But not for us. Not for me.
I have spent 8 months being tired, being frustrated, being overwhelmed, feeling lost, feeling raw, and eating too much crap. I didn't not like it here. I wasn't regretting moving. But it was like my brain had to be turned inside out, and that is generally uncomfortable.
I mentioned two posts ago that I was ready to find me again. Well, me is back. She is overweight, tired of feeling tired, and ready to rock and roll. She is overwhelmed because God has given the family an amazing house. The reality is, is that this house was chosen because it seemed to be being offered up on a silver platter to us. I essentially gave in to my husband on this one. I "sacrificed" my own will for his will and that of the will of God on this one. That's a huge deal for me. I like being in control. I like to say that my husband wears the pants in the family...but as they say. The man is the head and the woman is the neck. He loves me and wants me to be happy, so he typically gives in to me on most things. He would have let me pass on this house, we actually did once earlier in the summer. He didn't push it, it was ultimately something I decided to choose to be happy with because I knew how much he loved it, but it had to be my decision too. The reality is, if I really have the ability to choose to be happy anywhere God puts us, then why would this house be any different? It was structurally sound, beautiful in my husbands eyes and I knew that I could grow to love it. I have one photo of him in the living room just grinning, the most contented grin, from when they were showing us the house. I kept coming back to that picture. I knew he would be happy here and I knew I could be too.
We were allowed to move in 2 weeks before Christmas and since the bank was not ready for us to close the owners let us rent. The oven didn't work and they did their best to replace it. We closed on the house January 1st. We finally got a working oven 2 weeks ago and we got a lot more unpacking done in February too. January was crazy and we weren't really settled in 'till February.
Today is a landmark day for me. It's March 1st. We are doing our very first canning session since moving here. (I'm teaching E the canning beans my way method, it's been almost exactly one year since we canned beans last.) I made a new chore chart for the kids last week and they were actually excited. Hubby talked to me yesterday about eating more healthy and how he wants to try it and it was perfect timing! I'm sooo tired of being overweight, Lent starts in 2 weeks and I'm excited that he's also ready for a change! Last night we had green salad and roasted asparagus with dinner and tonight we're making chicken and roasted Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Hubby has started cooking more too and though we just got him a fryer I think he's more inspired to get away from the vegetable oils and stick to animal fats. That's good with me too, it seems like a more natural choice for eating.
Anyway, just wanted to report on our silly old lives thus far.
A few updates that have happened in the last 8 months:
-Oldest daughter bought a car (Feb)
-Oldest daughter and oldest son got lifeguard training last summer and will be lifeguards this summer.
-Oldest daughter started working at McDonalds and is officially graduated from high-school. She's still trying to decide what to do with her life but is earning money for now.
-Our car was stolen at our other house on youngest daughter's birthday. It was rallied, totaled and returned to our driveway. I haggled hard with State Farm and they paid out an acceptable sum of money. We had only had that car for a little over a year since I had gotten rear ended in 2014 in Wasilla and that totaled our minivan. It gave us enough money to buy a much older Suburban and get all the seats transferred over from our Yukon so that it would fit all nine of us. Also for a hefty down payment on a new Subaru Forester.
-We started attending the mission here in the funeral home. My Deacon husband hunted for a rental and found one, a stinky old building on Main Street with leaks that had been vacant for 3 years because the land lords didn't take great care of it. He re-wrote the rental contract, got them to fix a ton of stuff before we would move in and negotiated the rent payments down on a one year lease. He got the non-profit organization status for the church finalized. He submitted names for our church to the Metropolitan and my favorite name was chosen, Ss. Joachim and Anna. I could not be more elated. It seemed so fitting for being just down the street from the Orthodox Monastery. Our mission is here for married couples, for people who want a parish life but who like to live close to a monastery. We are here for converts and plan on converting the town! The men stumbled upon a great piece of property that was for sale out by the main highway. It is 8 acres and though the man selling it got a higher offer from someone else, he said that he preferred that it go to our church and is giving us a very good deal on it. We closed on that in January and begin making payments next month. This is a poor town and there is much chatter about how will we receive enough funds to build a church...but as our priest says, "God owns all of the money in the universe. Do not worry about money." I love that.
-K will turn 18 in May, A turned 15 in June, M turned 14 in February, E turned 12 in December, F turned 10 in February, S turned 7 in August, TT turned 1 in August.
-Our last house was infested with box elder bugs. That was terrible.
-Our last house was not heated very well, 2 of the kids bedrooms and the office didn't have any heat source. That was also terrible.
Mostly I have become generally more thankful and a lot more prone to saying the Jesus Prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!). Thank God for that, right?! I have needed to cling to something that I know, and I know that no matter where we move, no matter if someone dies. Our Christ God will be the constant in this crazy life that we live. We are on an ocean with waves crashing around and He is our rock. Clinging to Him has helped me so much and drawn me closer to Him. If that is all that I got out of this move, that would be the most important. I am amazed at the gifts He has poured out onto us. I am amazed that this house was actually built for our family 50 years ago...for us. Every day that I live here, there is something else I discover that is so perfect for us.
Thank God. I'm back. I'm ready to re-boot this life of mine. Thank God.
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| Canning beans with E. |
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| There are so many deer around here. |
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| Our beautiful house. A frame houses apparently look good on me. |
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| These two. So funny. Looking at deer. |
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| Chore time, this girl is a good worker. |
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| The convincing photo. |
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