The Aftermath!

Still no pictures! I know it is not right to have a blog and not post pictures, but I wanted everyone to know we are still alive and making it. The whole picture thing is a problem because Greg takes the computer to work, and it is just a pain to download my personal pictures on someone else's computer. Greg keeps reassuring me I will have the computer back as soon as he gets done with his catalog checks. The problem with that...he is covering the entire United States. Okay, so when do you think I might get the computer back? In my defense, I attempted the picture thing. I put them on a USB to bring to my sister's. Yea, her USB ports are all in the back. I love you guys but right now I refuse to pull this computer out and tackle that mess. I have come to the conclusion that once a week I am going to have to meet Greg in Ruston after work and go to a free wi-fi spot to get my computer work done. What a pain!

The title of this blog should really be something along the lines of "Where Is Normalcy?" I figured that since my normalcy is on vacation due to the move that "The Aftermath" would be the better title. Did you know...there is absolutely no part of my life right now that even resembles what it was before this move. No part of my life has any normalcy or security right now. Every part of me is screaming for normalcy to return. "Oh God, please return." I long for the day. Greg and I have not had any alone time since we got here. The only time we have family time between just us 4 is in the vehicle going somewhere...usually an errand to Wal-Mart because I usually meet Greg in Ruston. Suffice to say, we don't talk much. This is very difficult seeing as how we went from just us 4 all the time doing what we want when we want to a whole slew of family around. OMG! Please normalcy return.

The sad part is nothing will be right until we find a house. How is that going you may ask. Who knows is my answer. We have tried 3 times to fax the loan paperwork to a local bank. Three times it has not gone through. Once was because I had the paper turned wrong. Once was faxed from Tennessee. Needless to say, Greg is dropping the paperwork off Monday. If he doesn't, I will probably pull ALL of my hair out along with his. I think it might be time for us to step back and reevaluate this whole process. Is God trying to tell us something? The most likely answer to this question is yes. But what is He trying to tell us? Anyone know that answer.

It would be nice to turn around and head back to Tennessee and have things go back to the way they were before that fateful day in July. I will NEVER forget the day Greg told me the news. It stresses me out now thinking about it. Isn't that sad? The sad part is I know it can't go back to the normal we knew before. I know that this transition we are in is necessary and only temporary. What scares me is how long is "temporary?" Can you hear me screaming?

The living situation has not been bad at all. It has gone very well. Everyone has gotten along well, but John Reagan and Evie still aren't sleeping good. Everyday John Reagan asks about our yellow house in Tennessee. The other day he asked me, "Are we going to stay here a while then go back to our yellow house?" It breaks my heart. I know he is at the best age possible to make such a move, but it still isn't easy. He finally absolutely loved his time at church, every time we went. He had several great friends. He has been talking about the last time my aunt and uncle babysat him, which was probably the end of January. When does it get better? How long will it be before we all adjust completely? Will we ever adjust completely? I don't even want to go visit churches because I know it will make this move final. That is just down right wrong! Hopefully we will tackle that hurtle this weekend. I cringe when I say "hopefully" there. I really do want to find a place for us as a family to worship and get involved. I'm just not sure about the finality of this whole deal. I have realized through this move how much I HATE change.

Sorry if this blog sounds like all doom and gloom. Please be praying for us. We really are doing fairly well. I promise pictures will come soon. Maybe I can even get to it this weekend while we are running all around. I tell you, I long for the day we can spend a quiet Saturday at our own house playing with our children just relaxing and having fun. Soon! Very soon! Love you all! Please pardon any spelling mistakes. I am not proofing since I am at my sister's and supposed to be visiting.

Safely Home!

Hello All! Thought I would drop in with a quick post and let you know we made it. I am sure you have figured out by now that we are here since we have been here right at a week now. Really? A week? Wow! I can't believe it. So much has happened since we have been here, but most of it is not the best blog material hanging out there for the world to read. I will have to shoot you an email, which will probably be another day or two in the making. Just a sneak peak on the info, it does include 2 trips to the ER...back to back nights. Fun stuff!

Our heads are spinning and our children still aren't quite sure what is going on. Poor John Reagan doesn't know where home is anymore. He keeps telling everyone he is going to have a new house. The problem with that is, we don't have a clue when that might be. We haven't had the time to spend even a minute working towards that goal.

I don't know about Greg, but I will speak for myself. I very much miss Murfreesboro and all of you very dear friends. When we hit Vicksburg the other night, I felt such a weight of depression come over me, and it only increased as we crossed the Louisiana state line. Reality had hit. Let me tell you, after 11 hours of driving at that point, I could have turned that vehicle around and headed right back to Murfreesboro without a second thought. I would have only made it to Jackson or Meridian before I would have had to stop and rest but just having my vehicle turned in the direction of Tennessee would have been enough for me.

I am better now. It is clear after our first week here that we are very much in the will of God and are needed here.

As far as our trip, 13 hours. Yes, you read that right...13 hours. We had to get a Uhaul trailer along with the van thanks to the many things we have. Our 9 hour trip turned into 13 because we couldn't drive over 60 miles an hour thanks to the Uhaul. Long story! Long drive! We survived and arrived at 3:30 a.m. Of course the kiddos slept a good bit of the way, so they were ready to play. You can imagine how mommy and daddy felt about that.

Be on the look-out for your informative email, and we will be seeing you all soon. We will let you know when we plan our first trip up there. We love you all and miss you very much.

Going Green

I know what you are thinking. You are worried that I am about to go on a rant about what we need to do to save our environment. Although I do recycle and believe in doing my part (on some things), you don't have to worry. I will NEVER preach to you on the state of our environment. This is about the state of my plants.

So let me take you back...all the way to May. At John Reagan's birthday party I had an avocado seed in some water rooting and I had the top of a pineapple in water rooting. Two particular friends (you know who you are...lol) thought I might have set the seed and top out trying to mess with them. They didn't believe me when I explained what was going on. I took pictures back in May to show the progress of my plantlings. I thought I had posted the beginning of this process on here but after looking back over the blog apparently did not do that. For some reason at the time I decided it wasn't worthy of the blog.

Enter the middle of the process...the pineapple loves where it currently is. He/She has sprouted big time.

I wish I still had the beginning stage so you could see just how much she has grown.

The avocado seed has sprouted into a little tree. I can't believe it has grown this much since the end of May when it was nothing but a seed with a tiny root coming out of the bottom.

The avocado is a little hard to see. Should have photoshopped it for you, but that is Kristin's specialty, not mine (not yet anyway).

The overall picture.

That is ivy to the left. The avocado is hard to see at the bottom.
I am excited about my plantlings and can't wait to see them fully grown.

A little extra for you...we have arrived at moving weekend. We will be packing the van, or whatever you want to call it, tomorrow and leaving Sunday. How sad! We have found out as of Tuesday morning through a series of things happening with our families that we are needed at home though. It has made this a little easier. We are going to miss all of you Tennesseans greatly and are already looking forward to our first visit back. We love all of you very much.

Safety 1st

Every so often I have to pull the car seats out of the car and strip them down to threads for a good washing. This motivation is few and far between because I absolutely hate having to take those dang seats out and then latch them back in. When you have one seat, that's fine. It's not so bad. But when you have 2! Two that are practically on top of each other and are rather large. You almost have to be double jointed just to get your hand in there and unlatch them. You with car seats understand the latch system. It's great for the security of the seat but a pain in the (insert bleep) when you need to take them out.

I decided this week that ever so often had arrived. I had cleaned the seats with wipes as many times as I could. It was time for the deep down clean that only the good old washer brings. This decision came mainly because Evie's shoulder straps needed to come up, and since I had to take her seat out to do that I figured I might as well go ahead and take them both out and wash them. I could have lived with the filth just a little while longer to spare myself the headache.

Anyhoo, for some unknown reason, John Reagan LOVES to sit in his car seat when it is the living room and I have gotten all the pieces back together. He always has. I guess he thinks it is his own personal "leather recliner" for TV watching. He is such a man (in the making).

If you are wondering, that is peanut butter on his cheeks. He had just eaten his daily peanut butter fold over, in his words.

With this round of washing, I discovered it must not be just a man thing. While I was taking Evie's car seat apart, she crawled over and was all over me trying to see what was going on. As soon as I got the seat back together, she came over and immediately started trying to climb in it. So I helped her out.
Yes, she LOVED it. What is up with my children? I discovered the very next day that Evie did not need my help getting into the car seat when John Reagan started screaming, "Mommy, she's gonna fall." Evie had climbed the first 3 stairs in the house. The child doesn't even walk yet. She is working on the cruising part, but shouldn't she be able to walk before she climbs stairs? I am a little confused.
Back on track, John Reagan and Evie looked so cute in their car seats, I had to sit them side by side.
You should know by now what is taking place here. You guessed it. Watching TV! What can I say? My children are learning early that practicing safety first really pays off. You never know what can happen while sitting in your living room. It never hurts to be prepared.