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First and foremost we have some very BIG and exciting (and scary) news!
Jeff's last day at CJ, will be Thursday the 19th. He has been with them for 9 long years!
While it's a little unnerving to say the least... we both feel it is more than time to go!
As many of you know, he's been looking for the right opportunity to leave for some time now.
Discontentment is the first step of any great man or nation.
So, for this reason... I am grateful things have been as challenging as they've been or we may not be moving on to bigger or better things now! Everything, is a blessing in disguise... even when it doesn't feel like it!
I need to remind myself of that now more than ever, as I now need a platter not a plate... I have so much stuff piled on! But good things, I hope... in the long run! It'll just be tough in the meantime!
Jeff got the job (Congrats Jeff! :) )with a new up and coming company that is a little outside the box to his norm and is relocating us to Dallas, Texas! As many of you know, it's been a long time dream of mine to raise a family there!
Not only is my best friend there, but it really is a reasonably priced place to live, has a strong economy, good education, agriculture, industry, culture, sports, central to anywhere in the states... closer and easier drive home (year round without weather to deal with).
All in all, I believe it will be a very good move for our future!
And Jeff, is very excited for this new opportunity. Hopeful, he's found the one he'll retire with, God willing!
He's heading for Dallas the 23rd and the kids and I will be hanging back to get this place rented out or sold, whichever comes first! I have a lot of cleaning, packing, repairing and organizing to do in addition to caring for three kids, cooking, shopping, school stuff, medical stuff, etc... and I am supposed to be doing this all alone, with no help. To say I am overwhelmed is a serious understatement!!
It's a good thing I really want to live where we're going or I would have zero motivation and nothing to look forward to.
I know it's not going to be easy. And honestly, I have no idea how it's going to all come together.
But if history is any indicator, somehow, it just will. This is not our first move across country... but it is our first move across country with three young children.
BUT, somehow, God and/or the universe has never let me down! My prayers lately have been something to the effect of, "Dear Lord, please keep the tears to a minimum today, lift me up and keep me moving with your strength... and please Lord, when I feel hopeless... please give me a nudge... be it a sign or a solution of some sort!"
And you know what, the good Lord has not let me down!
I kid you not, just the other day I was cleaning out my kitchen cabinets and pulling out all the things I wont be needing and it was all over my counter when I realized, 'oh shoot, the kids are hungry and I have no space to fix anything... and I have no boxes yet, so now I have to put all this crap back in the cupboards, what a waste of time!' I felt so defeated!
I was fighting back tears, when it dawned on me... Craigslist... used boxes, I threw some quick frozen packaged food at my kids... something they'll be eating a lot of in addition to take out and delivery for the time being... and we ran out to Lou's house, (less than a mile down the road) who had a whole house hold worth of quality moving boxes, he gave to me for FREE! Thank you Craigslist, thank you Lou, and thank you God!
If that isn't a nudge and a solution by the grace of God, I don't know what is!?
Lou had no idea he was an Angel to me that day! Which reminds me again, how much we need to take care of one another and be angels ourselves! It goes a long way in lifting spirits and keeping people going and it's easy to do... plus it's contagious! I in turn had a family come to me off craigslist who had just lost everything and I had plenty to give them! A blessing for us both!
With Jeff's final days with us quickly disappearing we've been doing a good mix of making things happen off the 'To-Do' list and making memories with the kids!
We had our annual 4th of July party with our good friends! We've spent almost every 4th of July together for the past 6 years we've lived here! We had a lot of fun! It was bitter-sweet as I think we all realized it would probably be our last... :(
We grilled steaks as usual and the kids played in the swimming pool, jump house and did their usual show with popcorn. Although this year, we added sparklers to the mix as they are finally old enough (we felt) to do it! The plastic cups with the holes in the bottom to protect their hands from flying sparks were helpful too! (Pinterest is just full of great ideas!)
Happy Birthday America and farewell to our friends who have become like family to us! :(
We will miss them so much! And we will be bugging them to follow us to Texas! :) I might have a chance since her best friend lives down there too, and also her brother! ;)
AJ giving the girls a boat ride
Jump House Fun!
Fun with Sparklers!
OH, and Mom,... before I forget, we finally opened and played with Jack's Birthday gift!
It was a hit, thanks again! :)
As if we didn't have enough going on, I've got this 10 mile race I signed up for 4 months ago coming up on the 21st! I'm nervous because I've had a lot of setbacks and I haven't been able to train as well as I wanted to!
I've been doing a lot of running at one park in particular that I really love, called Veteran Acres!
It has a lot of great trails that resemble the park I'll be racing in... and a great park with splash pad for the kids! So Jeff's last day off, we thought it would be fun to take the kids hiking back where Mommy runs and to the park and splash pad for a picnic. It was a great day in a gorgeous park!
I'm going to miss it there when we move, I hope Texas has something comparable!
After the park we took the kids to the Huntley Dairy Mart... I've heard rave reviews about it almost the entire time we have lived here and I've been meaning to go, so we figured we better do it before we leave town!
Honestly, and I hope I don't offend any locals when I say this, but... I don't get it?
It's been around since 1955 which is kinda cool, so maybe it's a nostalgia thing?
We only had the ice cream and it was just your typical soft serve??? And, TMI here, but it went right through us... if you know what I mean!?! :/
What'd I miss? Is there some great food item or something?
OH well... I'm glad I wont have one more thing to crave and or miss about the area... there's the positive! ;)
