As this was my idea, I will go first:
Last year around this time I was graduating child #2 from High school and Child #3 from eight grade.
It is hard when the kids start getting older and you do not feel like it was that long ago that you were graduating and it seems impossible that you are actually the one that brought these fully functioning people into the world and that it actually was a long time ago....
However, I was working on a move and pretty excited about being in the mid- west for the first time, Dan and I had been living a commuter marriage for quite a while and ending that struggle was pretty exciting!
So I was busy saying good by to great friends and see you later to great family!
We took a crazy fun road trip across to the Mid- West
With all the dumb stops at the stupidest sights in America (Use roadtrippers.com - it's great) I realized that I love this way of traveling. I have always been about getting in the car and not stopping till you get where you are going. I have missed great things along the way. I vowed from that time on to be more aware of what I was passing and not to let my agenda ruin my experience. Thats a big deal for me, and I might have to keep working on it!
We got to Kansas and found a house and on the day that we got the keys and were going to go over and clean the house a bit in order to move in, I got the call that every mother dreads. My child had been hurt and it was an emergency room nurse on the other end. The memory of that call and the way the nurse falsely tried to make the situation less , makes me cry to this day, however that is not how I handled it then. I was pretty calm "Wait till we know more" "Call Dan at work- " "Inform family members" "go clean the house- there isn't anything else to do"
People would call me and text me with questions, many I didn't know the answer to, my gut would wrench, to the point where I had to bend over and clutch it tightly in order to breath. What I have to say now about the time then, is that I am amazed at the calm and efficient way that Dan and I were able to deal with the situation, it was out of character and a complete blessing to have that control and clear mind.
So in my attempt to stop and smell the roses :
Logan wasn't paralyzed, or worse! It was so painful , and there were days she cried and screamed and I cried and didn't sleep and ate horrible food or none at all and was living with the same 4 outfits in a hospital dorm in another state and my little kids were struggling with Dad being at work and me being gone everyday for months. Tori who was supposed to come home for the summer vacation but,was on her own and sad and scared for her sister. It was all very overwhelming, but Logan was going to be OK!
I also was shown the gift of amazing family!
My sister, My mother, My aunts, and uncles,My cousins, My best friend Kasey- It was out of this world amazing the people who came to NY and saw us from far away states like Michigan, Arizona, Baltimore, Connecticut. My Aunt Debbie who lives in NY was hands on the scene right away!
This was also overwhelming , but,in the most beautiful way! They brought food, birthday wishes, balloons, magazines, company, a relieving outing, smiles,clothes,and so much more.
Healing was great and love was plentiful, who would have thought such a difficult situation would have been a highlight of my year.
I was able to get back just before this handsome man had to go off on assignment and I could be with the cuties all again. When he got back he had a minor surgery that turned into a big deal with blood clots and hospitalization. So yup- I think the theme of my year might be "Hospitalization. " - No, the theme of my year is "Discovering hidden blessings"
Other than the blessing that Dan caught the problems early enough for them to be healed, we were told because of his healthy life style he was still alive. If he had not been in such good shape, he would have had a harder time, or possibly died. This is a testament to me of the word of wisdom and the true blessings received by following it. I am also very thankful he didn't die!
I am still looking for the hidden blessing that is in our sweet little Meg passing on. Dan always liked to call her my shadow because she followed me every where. She was a member of our family longer than Paige had been around and we miss her a lot. Its been ten months since she passed, and we still sometimes hear her collar jingle, or think we saw her sitting on the couch.
I found that in December when all of my kids were home, that it is a great place in life to really appreciate life! My husband was well, my daughter was healing and my kids and love abounded. I really am very blessed in so many ways.
One of my favorite things to do is travel. I really love to see new places and new things and I save all my money for just that.
In January I took a fun trip to MD and attended my fiends birthday party!
We had a great time! She's the best! We also got to have company in May , My mom and her husband came to visit and we saw lots of fun things and tried new restaurants in Kansas city.
In June we had her to our house!
Thats some pretty good times!
As well as the road trip I recently posted about with Dan's parents and we were anxiously awaiting our orders and visas to go to Italy. So wonderful the travel, the friends, the healing - Life is great!
Day's pass and as I've said before in my posts about being a military wife, the Army is an unpredictable beast. Dan get all his paper work done and in line to go, but they are taking forever to get the family paper work done and we are supposed to report Aug 1st. Its my birthday July 20th and still no papers, but we did just get back from our road trip and jumped right into the final stages of Seth's Eagle scout project!
More on that later!
Logan made me a lovely cheese cake . It's great when you can see the fruits of your labors, and taste them! But... my mind is still on those papers.
It's late on my birthday and everyone has gone to bed. Dan and I sit down and discuss the "What if" what if the visas do not come back in time for the paper work to get done? "What if " we can't travel together? What will we do, where will we go?
We made a plan B and a plan C and a plan D but we were praying hard that plan A came off without a hitch.
Well in actuality I am not writing this post on my birthday because the next few days were spent packing and movers and NO VISAS!
We decided to put into action plan D - I starting looking for a place to live in AZ .
Plan D was to go back to AZ where we had lived before where the kids have friends, where we have family and stay for a whole semester. Let the kids go to their old school and help Logan do wedding planning, Help Tori with her mission papers and let Dan go to Italy to set up for us. Surely our visas will show up some time in that time frame, and honestly it will be cheaper than flying us all back for a wedding in December.
Within 3 day's it became more and more clear that this was what we should have done anyway. Perfect housing situation opened, Dan was able to drive with us, we are able to help some friends who are in need by being there and share some of our blessings with others we had not thought about.
Dan flew out yesterday for Italy alone. I am not going to lie- I was pretty sad.
I am so happy for the opportunity to help others and for the ability to be with my college girls and for a husband who works hard and makes sacrifices for our betterment. I am so lucky to have to opportunity to see all of that and through all these trials this year, the happy places are so much more appreciated and the blessings in the struggle are so real.
This was my 2014-15 and my 42nd year of life- It's amazing!
I think more excitement is on the horizon for this 43rd year!
LOVE YOU!
ReplyDelete