Ch-ch-ch-changes August 9, 2010

It hasn’t gone unnoticed by me that it’s been awhile since I have posted something.  I have thought of it from time to time.  When the thought has occurred to me to maybe write something, I’ve used the excuse that I’m still adjusting to the changes.  Which is true.  But I’m just starting to realize just how deep the changes have been… and how deeply they’re affecting me.

Frankly, I’m not even sure what to say about it.  It’s not like it’s been all bad.  In fact, it’s been so good that it’s been easy to brush aside the hard parts.  I can’t say enough for living near my family.  That has been priceless.  But, it definitely cost dear friendships.  I am just not good at keeping in touch with people.  The great part, though, is that I’ve come to realize (not for the first time) that I have been so blessed with amazing friends in each place I’ve lived!  It’s pretty incredible, actually.  It keeps me going with the hope of making great friends like that here.  And again, my sisters fill that role in such a great way!

One of the many changes taking place is that I am returning to the *paid* workforce for the first time in 11 years.  The last time I taught was when I was pregnant with Trey- who will be 11 next week!  I will be teaching 2nd grade this fall at the local Christian school.  I wasn’t anticipating going back to work this soon.  However, in one year Trey will be entering middle school… and Karis the year after that.  After lots of talking (like for the last 11 years) Brent and I felt strongly that we didn’t want our kids in public middle school.  Middle school is plenty hard enough, without all of the extras.  The only way we could afford to send them to CCA was for me to teach there.  So I applied.  I’m not sure how this first year will go.  It will be an adjustment for all 6 of us for sure.  But the funny thing is that we’re all excited about it!

Seeing the Other Side of Things August 16, 2009

There have been a lot of heated discussions about health care in recent days.  Some in town hall meetings, some on news programs, some in people’s living rooms.

I would venture a guess that most (if not all) of the people that are pushing or buying into the fearmongering of the government getting involved in our health care have acceptable health insurance.  It’s easy to fear what we don’t know and natural to want to cover our own butts.  However, a huge part of what got our country into the financial disarray that we’re in now is our selfishness and sense of entitlement.  I know I certainly have been a part of that.

I’m not going to pretend to understand every side of this issue, but I would like to show another side that maybe not everyone sees.  I would also encourage you, if you are concerned about what is happening, to talk to someone who does not currently have health insurance and hear their side.  If you don’t know such a person, that may tell you something too.

Here is a recent quote from President Obama, and the response below it of one of my friends:

“In the end, this isn’t about politics. This is about people’s lives and livelihoods. This is about people’s businesses. This is about America’s future, and whether we will be able to look back years from now and say that this was the moment whe n we made the changes we needed, and gave our children a better life. I believe we can, and I believe we will.”

Let’s get past the politics of this and get the real information. The real deal is that because of a health condition I’ve lived with for years Anthem wants to charge me $1200 A MONTH for health insurance. Who is that good for? Instead we live off of meager coverage that Art’s school provides and hope nothing goes wrong…I’m ready for some new options…

More than Friends April 27, 2009

We got away!!  Brent and I spent the weekend in Birmingham, Alabama… without the kids!  Brent officiated the wedding for some sweet friends, Stephen and Ashley.  The joke of the weekend (well, one of them) was how many years of “he/she is just a friend” that they went through before they realized that maybe they were more than that.

The whole weekend had that theme though.  As we were reunited with some amazing friends from our past years in Williamsburg, we realized that they are all much more than friends in our life, they are our family.  The years and the miles don’t change how deeply we care for each of them.

The best part of the weekend (for us anyway… I’m guessing the bride and groom might have other ideas…) was spending time with all of these friends that we love so much.  Stephen’s family has been such a big part of our lives over the years.  They have been extended family to us as we started our little family (at the time!) away from our own families .  We had our first two kids in Williamsburg and Kim, Theresa and Lindsay would babysit them while Katie and Stephen would go to youth group with us.  They included us in meals, pool time and life.  When we had our fourth child, we all talked about how we had 1 boy, 3 girls like the Spencers and casually said how we hoped they grew up like them.

Then there were Brent’s small group boys who were the groomsmen and a few of my small group girls who came to celebrate with Stephen and Ashley.  They were all so much fun as teenagers, getting into (mostly) good trouble and challenging us on life and God.  We couldn’t wait to see who they turned out to be too as they grew.

Well, now they are all grown up and this weekend reaffirmed that hope.  The times I cried the most this weekend were the times when Brent and I realized just how much we love each of the people we were reunited with and just how much we really do hope our children are blessed with the family and friend relationships that they all have.  We are blessed to know these people, even more now as they have grown up into amazing adults.

To My Mama Friends April 21, 2009

Here is a really fun/helpful/creative/entertaining/make you feel better or worse as a mama blog!  I have read it several times before from my other friends’ blogs, but just added it to my blogroll finally in hopes of remembering to read it more.  Guess I should just add it to my Google Reader.  Anyway, I wanted to share it with those of you who don’t know about it yet!

Mama Manifesto is written my several women in various stages of being a mom.  They discuss just about everything from giving tips on parenting, sharing recipes, giving ideas for living in healthy and creative ways, evalutating different products and sharing the goings on in their own homes and how they are dealing with them… or in some cases asking for advice on how to deal with them.  I enjoy the humorous, honest way they look at their lives and they way they take the serious things seriously, while laughing off the things that we sometimes forget to laugh off.

I hope you like it too!

Tee Time Everyone! April 13, 2009

This week marks the anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting in which one of my friends, Alicia, lost her brother.  While this is a remarkably hard time for her and others, it’s a time for the rest of us to show our love and support.  One way to do this is by joining in a golf tournament that has been set up in her brother’s honor.

Here are the details:

Castle Rock Golf and Recreation of Pembroke, VA will host a golf tournament in honor of Jarrett Lane, one of the 32 students killed at VA Tech on April 16^th, 2007. All proceeds will benefit the Jarrett Lane Memorial Fund and its mission to better the future of deserving youth in Giles Country.

The tournament will be held on Saturday May 9th, with a tee time of 9:00am. Teams of four will play on one of the area’s most beautiful and challenging golf courses. The registration fee is $300 per team, and teams can register by calling the golf course before May 8^th at (540) 626-7276.

Just to let you know, the Jarrett Lane Memorial Fund is used to provide college scholarships to Narrows High Grad. We have a vision of expanding this to provide financial assistance to deserving youth in Giles County who wish to participate in various academic, athletic and leadership development programs.

Not as good as you think December 11, 2008

It came to my attention last night that some people think we’ve converted waaaay more than we actually have.

Yeah, we don’t eat meat anymore (unless served it).
Yeah, I’m milling wheat and making our bread.
Yeah, the lightbulbs in the house are compact florescent.
Yeah, sometimes we have more put out for the recycling than the trashman.
Yeah, our kids’ milk is organic.

But that’s pretty much it. We care a lot about our role in taking care of this earth and our family, but we can’t do everything. For one thing, we can’t afford it. For another, we don’t have the time.

So, to our dear friend who is bringing my husband his much loved, once a year happiness in the form of eggnog… we don’t care that the eggs aren’t free-range, or that the heavy cream isn’t organic, or that the animals who gave to this (nasty, in my opinion) concoction may or may not have been mistreated… okay, so maybe we care, but how in the world would we ever know??

Introducing “Sweet Lu” August 22, 2008

Not every kid in the world is cool enough to have their own blog, but our sweetie girl Lucy is!!

Here it is people! All the happenings in this chick’s new life!

Sweet Lu