Date night

Just about every week since we got here, Nathan and I have gone out on a date.  Sometimes to somewhere nice, sometimes just for ice cream.  Either way, we have a great time and talk A LOT!  I think it's so important to have this time together.  We don't need a whole weekend alone, just a few hours to reconnect.  Last night we went to Dairy Queen.  I LOVE that place :)  It's so nice to be able to have a great time and still spend less than $10!  Nathan is such a good sport and would go anywhere with me.  Actually, we were supposed to eat at the galley at the Coast Guard base, but it was closed for remodeling.  It actually worked out better to go to DQ, since I was craving it!  We had a really good talk, smoothed out some rough edges, and planned our next vacation (which I LOVE to do!)  We really have a great relationship and I am so thankful for that.  I love dating my best friend and I love that no matter what issues we face, we can get through it and get closer from it.  I think everyone should date their spouse.  It really is a lot of fun :)

What is God's will?!?!?!

I always wonder if I am really in God's will and how to know if I am.   Well, I guess we just go on with life until a door closes in front of us.  We sometimes are shocked by the door closing, so you know it's from God!!  Sometimes, it seems like the door swings open and closed without ever letting you know for sure if you are on the right path or not.  That's how I feel right now.  Like I'm in the middle of a swinging door.  Do I go through?!  Do I go a different way?  Then I think of what our pastor said.  If you don't know if it's God's will.  Don't do anything!!  That makes a lot of sense.  If you aren't sure, then you shouldn't move.  So that is what we are trying to do.  Wait on the Lord.  There are so many "what if's" out there, that I don't know if/when they will be answered, but I know that if I want to be in the center of God's will, then I need to be still and patient.  Things are moving forward (slowly) with the house which is the biggest hurdle.  We know it will sell in God's timing, and I am trying hard to be content and not anxious.  We are very thankful for staying with my parents.  It's not stressful at all here, and the kids are getting so much closer to them.  What a huge blessing to have this opportunity for them to build fond memories with their loving grandparents!!  Not every child gets that, and I know they will cherish it forever!  We also have another opportunity from God, that I am praying fervently for.  I want to be a blessing to others, but only if God allows it and if it is His will for it to happen.  Maybe more later on that, we will see how God directs the steps.  I don't know what I would do without God's guidance.  I guess wander around aimlessly without any hope.  I am so thankful for God teaching me so much in the short months since our lives were turned upside down.  You never know what God has in store.  I love looking back and saying "Ohh, so THAT'S why things happened that way!!!"  What a blessing to be in His will and to see how things came together :)

2011 so far

This is what has happened so far this year:

January: Nathan applied for a job in Clearwater, FL (career change) not expecting anything to happen soon.
February: Moved with trailer full of stuff from NC to FL (while having chronic bronchitis) and my sister had a baby!!
March: Getting settled in FL, enjoying the sun and sand, Nathan got a second job, and we met friends at Disney!
April: Got membership to MOSI :) started bible study with a good friend, it was a lot of fun!  Nathan had a birthday, still in his 20's (grrr).  Found out my other sister is having a baby!!
May: My cousin came to visit, we had a blast!!  I turned another year older (sniff)
June: Went to NC to get the rest of our stuff, got news of a possible change to our family situation, still waiting/praying for the outcome.  Feeling closer to my family and to God than ever!!

So much has happened already, I can't believe this year is already almost 1/2 over!!  I can't wait to see what happens with the rest of the year!  Never a dull moment here!!

What was I thinking?!

I had this brilliant idea to stop drinking coffee.  Now I am thinking that was a bad idea!!  I really could have used it this past weekend, and even today to recover from this weekend.  (sigh!) I know I will be glad to be done with it, but I really miss it.  But not drinking it will save money, and calories!!  So I will try to resist the urge for a nice hot cup of Dunkin Doughnuts French Vanilla coffee.  Instead I will drink water (sigh!) Oh well, I will have to just find enjoyment in reading again, and not in my coffee!!  I do think I should have waited another week to quit, this was not the best timing IMO!

Back to FL

Well, we made it safely home last night and I am EXHAUSTED!!  We got the trailer unpacked, surprisingly most everything fit in my parents garage, so that was a huge blessing!!  Now to sort through all the boxes we have in the bedrooms, weed out what we can live without, and use what we really need.  Hopefully I can sell at least 1/3 of what we have inside the house.  We'll see what happens though!!  So much is going on in our lives right now.  It seems like it's either everything or nothing!  Right now it's everything.  I can't wait to sell the house so we can rent something else.  I also have a HUGE unspoken request.  We are praying for God's will, and for a definite YES or NO, so we know for sure what His will is.  I am so thankful that He guides our steps so perfectly!!  Nothing is too big for Him and His way is perfect!  I try to remind myself that when things get overwhelming!!  I am so tired right now, I cannot wait to get to bed!  I got my arm squished by the microwave yesterday so it still hurts pretty bad.  I'm glad I have a brace for it though!!  Hopefully it will heal quickly.  I am so blessed to have such great friends and family that helped us pack up and unload!!  I feel bad we could not see all of our friends, but we hope to make a "fun" trip to NC within the next few months.  I try to remember through all of this that God knows what is best for us, and won't give us something we cannot handle.  A prayer request for my sister who is in the hospital right now.  She will be there a few days.  We love her and we are praying for quick healing!!  I think that is everything right now.  The house is all clean, but the bedrooms are full of boxes LOL.  A task I will do tomorrow!  Off to bed now . . .

Packing like a maniac

So ends day 2 of our moving extravaganza!  Yesterday was pretty uneventful, which is very good when traveling!!  The girls were really well behaved, which was a huge blessing.  We heard the whole series of Adventures in Odyssey Novacom (it's 9 CD's!) who says you need a DVD player on road trips :)  Last night was nasty though.  We had to turn back on our water, that was not fun, not to mention the toilets were very dirty after the water was off for 4 months!!  With all that taken care of, we were very thankful to have a nice cozy bed to snuggle into!!  Today was very hectic and crazy.  The girls were off with friends/family which left Nathan and me to pack up the whole house.  Thank goodness for friends!!  They all came and helped us move the big stuff, cram the trailer full, and help figure out what we REALLY need and what we can live without.  That was the hardest part for me.  One of the big things we had to leave behind was our bedroom set and king sized bed.  They wouldn't fit in the trailer :(  Thank goodness for Craig's List!  I was able to sell the bedroom set, and only have the king bed left.  I'm glad to have it to sleep on tonight since I'm so tired, but I would love to sell it tomorrow!!  We weren't able to bring our Christmas stuff, but we could leave that at my sister's house.  We had A LOT of stuff to bring to her house.  I felt bad about leaving so much, when I got a call from her saying that we brought too much and Nathan needed to come and get some.   What a stinker, she was kidding, and was laughing so hard.  That was a good one!!  It's hard to pull a fast one on me, but she caught me in a vulnerable moment, and I assure you, it won't happen again ;)  Nathan and I promised each other not to fight during this stressful time and so far so good!!  We are a team and we're trying to not get upset with each other.  We could not have done all of this without our friends and my family!!  Thank you so much for all your help!!  We have so much done today, there is hardly anything left for tomorrow!!  I hope we aren't dragging when we are driving, I am really glad for the automatic suspension leveler (I'm sure it has some technical name, but that's what I call it!!)  I know we stuffed the trailer and the car to the max!  Well, off to bed, I'm exhausted.  Now the fun part to drive back 10 hrs to FL and unload everything!!  I hope we make it home without incident!!  I'll keep you posted!

Dreading the weekend

I really should be getting to bed, we have a LONG weekend ahead of us!!  We are driving to NC tomorrow, loading all our stuff in the trailer, and coming home in ONE weekend!!  Honestly, I wish it was over already!!  I am glad to get to see some friends and family, but I am horribly exhausted just thinking of the overwhelming task at hand.  I appreciate prayers so much!!  I know God has a plan, and His way is perfect!!  Speaking of His plans, I have a HUGE prayer request.  If you REALLY want to know, email me.  I don't want to post it right now, but it could be huge for our family, or it could not turn out the way we think it will.  Anyway, prayers for wisdom are definitely needed in the next coming weeks/months.  As long as we are following God we will be doing just fine :)  I feel like I'm getting a cold too, which really would not be good.  I'm praying it's just allergies, but we'll see.  I also got a big case of Oolong tea.  It's supposed to be good for you.  I am trying to quit the coffee.  The tea smells bad, like wood or something :P but it tastes fine.  I hope this will help me gain more energy and also get healthier :)  Well, I guess I will be off to bed.  Right after Nate gets home from work (around 10 AM) we will head out.  We're praying for a quick (haha) and safe trip up to NC without incident!!