I'm Shipping up to Boston

Come June 2nd of this year Keith and I will celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary. Our first summer married we lived in Amarillo before heading to Lubbock. We came back that next summer for Keith to have an internship at Utility Engineering. So, basically for the last nine years minus around six months we've lived away from family. We've come to learn to appreciate and enjoy our independence. We've relied heavily on having God lead our paths to where we are now.

We've always considered Texas to be home but here recently Massachusetts seems to be our home. Perhaps it happened after our flood. We were able to witness how great of a foundation we have here. We have an awesome group of friends and church family. It's been difficult being away from family, though.

We've got great friends that always include us. There have been many holidays spent with our friends and their families. I wouldn't trade it for one thing. I know this is where God has placed us, but it does get lonely and disappointing knowing I am missing so much. I wasn't there to help celebrate my dad's 60th birthday or Mona being elected class president. I wasn't there Bree's last months.

Though, my kids are now of age where they remember family I don't feel like they have solid relationships with each of them. It was very disheartening the other day when I bought our tickets to Texas. I told Joey we were headed at that specific time for Aunt Terra's wedding. It about broke my heart when he told me he didn't know her. Terra has been such a big part of my life for the last twenty plus years. How is it someone so important in my life doesn't have a relationship with my children?

I feel a bit better today knowing that things could be changing. Two weeks ago Debbie placed her house on the market and yesterday signed a contract for the sale of her home! Her original plan was to purchase Nanny's house, but has felt that she is a point in her life where she could make a big move. She is seriously considering a move up here. Yesterday Keith, the kids, and I went to look at a condominium for her and have appointments for two other houses to be seen. We're excited at the possibility of having family here.

It'll be a big adjustment of having family near us, again, but we are certain God is in charge.

Here are a couple of pictures of the kids while we were waiting for Bob, our Realtor friend, to show us the condo yesterday:

Again

How is it that winter seemed relatively free of viruses here? It seems like the last month has left us in a constant battle of illnesses. A stomach bug circulated its way through our house over the last couple of weeks. Today Clarissa woke with a fever. Ugh!

Other than being sick, our days have been pretty uneventful. I have one week of school left for the semester and I'm really excited for a number of reasons. Summer break will soon be here and that means next year I'll probably start only taking classes related to my major.

Speaking of summer, we've bought our tickets for our time in Texas in August. We're excited to see family and friends.

Oh my . . . how could I forget to mention this? Clarissa has officially started potty training and has done awesome! After just a weekend I'm tempted to call her "potty-trained."

Popular

We had a great visit with Cindy and Mark. It was really great seeing them and the kids are already counting down the days until they can see them, again. We packed in as much as possible while they were here. We were able to visit Boston for a day, spend a weekend in New York City, and accomplished a lot on our house.

I think my favorite part of the trip was seeing Wicked. The musical was phenomenal. Keith and I loved it so much that we're considering seeing at the Opera House here in Boston when they come in the fall.

Mark really helped Keith with the house while he was here. Together they built a new entry way and it's gorgeous! I haven't taken any pictures, yet. I'll post them as soon as I do. He also helped with so much that I'd bore you listing everything. I'm most excited about the entry way, though.

Thanks, Aunt Cindy and Uncle Mark for your visit! We had a fantastic time with you and love ya'll!!!

My Redeemer Lives

I hope each of you had a wonderful Easter. Living so far away from family is really tough on us, but luckily we have a great group of friends here that always include us into their families. If we didn't have our wonderful friends here, I'd be bugging Keith and hounding him to find a job closer to home.

Dirty Water

Keith called me on his way home from work today wondering why the small airport by our house had hundreds of people surrounding it along with dozens of police vehicles. I was surprised to find that President Obama was rumored to be landing there. We decided to head over to the airport just to see if we could see him landing in the helicopter. We were unfortunately unable to drive to the airport because the roads were blocked. We decided to head back home when we noticed that the end of our road was also blocked. We were hopeful that perhaps he would drive by our house. Moments later we were able to see his limo (along with his entourage). It was really exciting being able to see! Obviously, you all know my political beliefs, but it was still something that we're going to be able to remember forever and share with our kids. By the way, the kids were really excited, too. They just thought it was a mini-parade.



We decided to drive by the airport later to see if we could see his helicopter. Thankfully, they were both still parked there. Sorry the picture isn't that great. I kind of felt like a stalker with my window rolled down snapping pictures.



In case anyone was wondering, President Obama is currently in town surveying the recent flooding. Also, some of you have been asking about our house. Thankfully, our house has stayed dry.