Before we get too far into 2015, I really need to recap 2014...
What a year! In my 34 years of life, I believe in 30 years or so, this one will still stand out for me. So many amazing happenings, I'm not sure where to start, so I think chronological order will work best... Oh, and my one word for the year was "New," so that will be spread through the year, also.
January started with a wait. The kind of waiting that makes even phone-a-phobes like me keep their phone with them at all times, fully charged. The kind of waiting that makes you wake up several times a night and check your phone, just in case. The kind of unpredictable waiting that involves the unpredictable nature of childbirth. January 6th, right as the buttcrack of dawn appeared, I got a text saying it seemed this would be the day we had been waiting for! I arrived at my sister's house to find her vacuuming and cleaning with fast purpose. By late afternoon, I was so privileged to be present for the birth of my niece, Marlee Medora. This is the only birth I have been present for from "this end." Marlee was born at home, in a warm pool of water, AND with the amniotic sac intact until the very last moment. Truly amazing...and my sister rocks labor and delivery!
NEW life!
February brought the usual in our family...lots of birthdays. Levi turned 7 and took a bunch of friends to The Lego Movie and for pizza afterward. Noah turned 14 and had a couple of friends over for movies and junk food. Hannah turned 9 and had a sledding party that ended up being attended by only homeschooled friends, though others were invited. Nick...he turned 13. If you know anything about our past with him, you know that we haven't seen him in person in over 2 years. On a whim, we brought his birthday presents to him (without warning, so his mother couldn't make sure he wasn't there). I was actually opposed to even trying, out of fear of disappointment for myself and the other kids. However, Nick was home and his mother did allow him to come out and see us for 10 minutes. It was only 10 minutes, but it was 10 minutes...and we were so thankful! We have been communicating with him almost weekly via Oovoo. Things will never be the same as they were before "that day," but at this point, we are thankful for having contact at all.
NEW hope!
March had us finishing up trip planning for an RV trip to Texas and back! We left March 25th and were gone for 51 nights. We stayed in campgrounds or in the driveway of friends or family members. We had several day stops in Viriginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. We were in Texas for about 2 weeks. all the way from the Gulf Coast (High Island, TX) to DFW and Texarkana, where my husband has family. It was the first trip to any ocean for the three little kids and me (Brian and Noah saw the ocean in Florida and Haiti when they went to Haiti in 2013). One of the main purposes for our trip was to visit Brian's Granny in a Dallas suburb. Unfortunately, there was some family drama when Brian's dad died. We don't really understand why, but Brian's uncle hated Brian's dad and because this uncle is now taking care of Granny, he would not allow us to see her. That was heartbreaking and there were many tears shed. I will never understand...
All of April was spent on the road. Amazing... Part of why we took this trip was to see if we might want to be fulltime RVers once the 6 year legal thing got done. We did, indeed, have this as one of our main plans, until something so clearly more awesome came up. We did love our time in the camper together, and learned some things about what we wanted our next camper to have and ideas for longer trips in the future, even if the fulltime RV thing didn't pan out.
NEW dreams!
May brought us back home, the week after Mother's Day. We were all exhausted, but proud of ourselves for doing something so big and kind of terrifying. We did have some scary incidents, with tornadoes closeby, mountain travels, and a reoccurring fuel problem that we didn't figure out until months later.
NEW adventures!
When we came home, we realized that the house right next to my sister's new house was for sale. But the whole house thing needs its very own post...so stay tuned for that!
June was not too exciting (sometimes, that's a good thing!). We did loan our camper to my parents for an anniversary weekend getaway, and then got stuck at the campground for a few extra days when we went up. The truck's fuel issues decided to flare up big-time and we ended up having parts overnighted to us from Buffalo and then my boys fixed it under the camper awning in the pouring rain. Good times...
July...summer! We had our usual week of VBS at church, where I was a crew leader for the first time ever. The day that ended, we headed out to NW Pennsylvania, so Hannah could go to a new horse camp...Miracle Mountain Ranch. She had a great time there and will definitely return! We celebrated Brian's 6th tractorversary, the first one to fall on a Sunday, away from home. Very nice...and we knew the end of the legal mess was coming soon!
August...my sweet Essie-Mae turned 6 and celebrated with a bowling party, which she won at the bowling league awards ceremony. I started working for our church and Christian school, as treasurer's assistant. My first paid position in my field! Excellent learning opportunites for me in a wonderful environment, and I am thankful for that! At the end of August, I graduated from Empire State College, with a Bachelor's of Science in Business, Management, and Economics, Concentration in Accounting! This has been a very long journey and I am so glad to be done! Who knows where God will lead me...
NEW horizons!
September started a new homeschool year. The kids at home are in 9th, 4th, 2nd, and 1st grades. What an adventure! Soccer and Awana started back up, along with FLL (First Lego League...lego robotics), so our calendar was very full. Hannah tried out the goalie position, which was terrifying to me, but she stuck it out all season and improved quite a bit! Brave, strong girl... Along with the business of fall, we spent all month going back and forth with offers to settle the 6 year thing. Exciting and mentally/emotionally draining, all at once! September 24th was the day we settled. We got the call while we were on a homeschool field trip at Fort Stanwix...and I will never forget it, as long as I live. Finished. Done. Finally!
NEW beginnings!
October...we bought a house! More on that in the house post. ;)
November...we moved into that house! More on that...
December...we have worked on making the house our own. More on that, also!
It was a stressful year, with a lot of good mixed in. When I think of the year as a whole, overwhelming gratitude is all that I come up with. God has been good to us, so very good. We don't deserve any of it, not really, and we are thankful. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
Happy New Year...and may the peace of God fill your heart and life with overwhelming joy and gratitude, also!
