We're back!

Greetings all! With all of the hustle of the move and bustle of the holidays, there has been little time or energy to visit my old friend, the blog! But as the phone calls and emails started trickling in asking how we are doing and why haven't we blogged about our travels, I knew it was time to log in and start writing away. The move was very challenging. Karis and I flew out to Florida on a Tuesday, and then we boarded a flight two days later, bound to my good friend's wedding in Columbus, OH. After four days battling the cold and stress of the wedding, we headed back to Florida where we met up with Matt for a couple days of relaxation. No sooner did we begin to feel relaxed than did we receive a call that my grandmother was very ill and might not make it through the night. Thus began the scramble to get down to Miami the next day.

We spent a couple of days in Miami, and out of sheer exhaustion and the need to stay in a home and not a hotel, we headed towards my parents home on the west coast of Florida. The next day the rest of the family joined us for a couple days of Christmas festivities. It was so wonderful to spend that time with my brothers, sister, the spouses, and the neices in the family. It was a sad time in some ways as my mom was unable to join us because of the poor condition of her mother in the hospital three hours away in Miami. But we made the best of the situation and had a marvelous time laughing, watching the neices play together, and enjoying relaxing together. On Christmas night the journey began again as we scurried back up to Matt's parents' home five hours away so that we could spend time with his sister before she left. So in that two week period we mostly lived out of our suitcases, slept in unfamiliar beds, covered thousands of miles, and spent about half of the nights sleeping in a hotel. Needless to say, we are exhausted. Karis deserves a major medal. She has been a happy, giggly baby during all of these ventures. In fact, she discovered her laugh last week, and for about two days straight she spent most of her awake hours giggling and listening to the sound of her own voice. It was priceless and it stood as a good reminder to Matt and I to laugh and be thankful amidst all the uncertainty and craziness of our life right now.

We have been enjoying relaxing and unpacking our bags from the move here for the last couple of days. As crazy as it sounds we are actually headed out on the road again on Monday morning. We are planning on visiting some cities in the Southeast to consider as potential places to move. If any of you have Charlotte, Atlanta, or other southern city jobs and/or contacts, we are all ears. It is crazy being on this ride. At times it feels like marvelous adventure, and at other times sheer stupidity. Are we crazy? Irresponsible? Impetuous? To these questions I conclude "No". We are acting upon what we feel called to in our hearts and desire for our lives. We pray that God will open doors as He desires and close them likewise. We are aware that we are taking a risk in all of this...a calculated risk! Life does contain risk, we are finding. It's exciting and exhausting all at the same time. We would love your prayers!

To all of you loyal readers keeping up with our journey we are glad you can follow us on the ride. To you new readers from California, welcome to our blog. Unbeknownst to most of you I have kept this blog going while living out in California in an effort to keep in touch with loved ones from all over the United States. Well, as you know, things have obviously changed and we no longer live on the west coast. You guys now join the ranks of those keeping up with us from a distance. This blog is a great way to follow our lives. We hope you stay tuned. Drop us a line in the comment section every now and then so we know you're around. We will miss you dearly.

There is so much more I could and should say, like how Jessica's wedding was so precious and filled with heartache and heavenly promise. You can read some about it from friend's blog here. I would also love to talk in more depth about all of the crazy events, fun stories, and good laughs I have had. I would love to journal about how hard a move is. But alas, you'll have to make due with me just mentioning them, for the night is late (here on the East Coast...I am still getting used to the time change!) and I am beyond tired. I'll leave you with some photos of Jessica's wedding and the visit with my family. I hope to keep up a little better with the blog, but I won't make any promises as transitions are rather hard on me (and my blog time). Goodnight!

Brooke and I were so blessed to be at the wedding and had an incredible time with all of our college friends.

Jessica, Aaron, and her parents. What a beautiful bride she is!


Karis having a good time with grandma at the wedding.


My brother Andrew and neice Camille.

Here we are taking the oh-so-challenging baby and toddler shot. This was the best one we took.


Karis meeting her cousin Evie for the first time. It was so sweet, because Evie sat there and rubbed Karis' head.

Prayers for Uganda

Amidst all the packing and moving details, I have been praying and mourning over the Ebola crisis in Uganda. You can read updates from a missionary who is documenting a lot of the happenings on her blog here. The country has suffered a great loss yesterday as one of their physicians who investigated early reports of this illness has died. I share this so that more prayers might be offered up on their behalf.

On packing and friends...

What a strange mixture of joy, suspense, anxiety, and sorrow do fill these last few weeks of our California life! So much to process, so much to do and say, so little packed, and not enough time for any of it. I am moving ahead at a steady pace, made possible by the regular demands of a young baby, and yet I am watching my life here come to a close in disbelief of the reality of it all. I finished my job this week, and what a sweet departure it was. Some kids expressed sadness, one shared he was deeply sad, others showed in their eyes but not their words, and a few could probably care less. I, on the other hand, will miss the kids but am so glad to be simplifying my life. I came home from work and looked into Karis' beaming face and thought, "Yay, I can spend more time getting to know you!" I am glad to have worked, but I need the simplicity of being solely a stay at home mom for a while. The babe and I are leaving on a jet plane in 11 days exactly. I have four boxes packed. My house is empty save two wingback chairs, our dressers and beds. All other remnants of our life...gone. It has been oddly freeing to let go, and it certainly did help that we sold a lot of the furniture for quite a bit more than what we paid for it (thanks to awesome Craig's list finds over the years). The act of letting go reminds me of a book I read as a child. The main characters would make dough and then cast it off on boats, letting the dough travel around while the yeast would rise. The dough would return doubled in size, ready to be baked. It is a sacrifice to let go knowing that what God once provided will again be provided in due time. He does promise that His mercies are new every morning.

Packing has been a strange new element to fit into my day. I dread anything having to do with organization (i.e. cleaning drawers, putting away laundry, keeping my office clean). So, packing? My arch nemesis! Can't stand it. So what's a girl to do? Put on a little Ray Charles on Pandora, make myself a cappuccino, put Karis in her chair near all the activity, and have a party. Before I know it, even a non-packer like myself can find myself making some decent progress.

In other Karis' news...she has discovered her hands. What's more, she has discovered what can be discovered with those same hands. Lately, those hands have been caressing the faces of mom and dad. I watched her the other day gently run her fingers all over Daddy's bristly beard, the rough edges of his face. She sat there touching and, by the look on her face, marvelling that his face which has for months been simply an image in the distance, has texture and substance. It is truly amazing to watch another's discovery and first time exploration happening right in front of you.

Our college friend Ryan has stopped by to visit for the weekend, rounding out our weekend of back-to-back social activities. We have been to three get togethers in the last 24 hours and we are on our way to the 4th. Believe it or not, this is exactly how I wanted to spend our last couple of weeks here, with friends. We took Ryan on the usual tour of the coast (by usual, I mean we take all visitors there. The views, rather, are anything but usual!) The sun was setting as we hit Ragged Point at the base of the mountains overlooking the Pacific. He snapped the beautiful sunset shots in this post.

Off I must go to start some more packing...I mean, partying. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

***Update: After posting, I realized I forgot to share the story of a recent minor miracle. We were coming out of a building yesterday when we noticed a bird was banging against the window trying to get out. Upon further inspection Matt realizes it is a humming bird and it is banging its tiny beak over and over into the glass. In true Ace Ventura/Dr. Doolittle fashion, he stretches out his hand, captures the bird and brings it outside. As a crowd gathered around to look (complete with two German tourists filming the whole thing), the bird sat in his hand for about a minute. We think it had completely worn itself out trying to get out of the building. Matt felt the bird re-energize and a few seconds later it flew off. Introducing my husband, the bird whisperer.