Matlacha Island

Two weeks ago we visited my parents down in south Florida. We visited Matlacha, a beautiful little fishing village about 20 minutes away from my parents' house. I love visiting this island because while it is so close to my parents, it feels like you have been transported to a completely different place. The clock seems to slow down as you drive over the bridge and enter "island time". Quaint little shops splashed with vivid colors. Shell driveways. Fisherman perched on the many bridges hoping to bring home a fresh catch for dinner. We toured a few galleries to view the work of the many local artists. When it came time for lunch we stopped in at a local fresh seafood market and ordered the absolute best lunch--oyster, shrimp, and scallop po-boy sandwiches. I had these native New Orleans' sandwiches all the time when we lived in the Big Easy...but these were amazing! The outing was a feast for my camera. I couldn't resist but snap some shots of the colorful island shops and scenery. Enjoy!

A typical Matlacha shop.

My beautiful sister thinking deep thoughts at breakfast.

Mom introducing Karis to the north coast of Pine Island.

Enjoying...

...a lazy Sunday afternoon on the dock, my favorite crocs, a cup of hot coffee, munching on a cookie delivered by the welcome committee from the church we visited this morning, and meditating with these prayers while the other three adults and babe in the house snooze. Mmmm, alone time.

Daddy's protege

This is the scene I found on the sofa last night, in the quiet of the evening, by the glow of the computer light. Dad was searching the web and Karis was simultaneously checking her email or perhaps her daytrade stocks. Either way, Daddy's got a new little pupil, and with the way technology is today, Karis will likely pass me up in her techy knowledge by age 3. In fact, her first few words may be something like "email" or "internet" or "world wide web" (ok, that last one is a little far-fetched). Anyhow, I thought this cute father-daughter moment must be shared on said web.
P.S. Sorry for the lame-o, short posts recently. I promise to give you a meatier post soon. It is proving challenging to post these days, as life is full of changes and a lack of schedule. Until then...

We're raising a hillbilly...

She's only has two teeth, she babbles on without making any sense, lives in the backwoods of Florida, and loves the music of Allison Krauss...a hillbilly, maybe? Nope. Just our 6 month old daughter. We've discovered that our kiddo is a bluegrass lover at heart. Whenever she is fussing and ready for bed, we put on the "magic music" of Krauss and the Union Station band, and almost instantly Karis is quiet. Whether she is mesmerized by the strumming banjo, the melody of the mandolin, or the sweet vocals, our little one knows the sound of good bluegrass music when she hears it. Now I just can't wait for her to fit into these adorable boots that were given to her. (Have no fear, folks. Funky hot pink boots and Allison Krauss are about as hillbilly as I'll let her stray!)

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.

Feeling like a total jerk

Yesterday I had a phone conversation that I never thought I would need to have. I have to give you a little context for the conversation. I woke up to Karis' typical morning cries letting me know she was ready to greet the day. I picked her up, took her into the kitchen with me, poured some water for myself, grabbed a banana, and headed into the living room. Just a few seconds after feeling proud of myself for such amazing multi-tasking skills, I sat down and DID IT. Did what, you ask? I poked Karis in the eye with the banana! I must let you know here that she is fine! No real harm done. She started crying right away and I knew I had poked her. I felt HORRIBLE!!! Any parent who has mistakenly hurt their child (i.e. bumped head, stubbed toe, poked in eye with fruit) can attest to the absolute cruddiness of the feeling you have. The eye looked ok once she stopped crying. But just to be sure I put in a call to the pediatrician. The conversation with the nurse went like this:

Me: Hi. This is going to sound strange, but....um....well, I accidentally poked my daughter in the eye....[I start laughing here] with a banana.
Nurse: [Silence. Absolute, deafening, "what kind of parent are you" silence].
Me: I am sorry. It is NOT funny. So what should I do?
Nurse: [In a professional tone she proceeds to tell me what to do].

Once I got off the phone I went and told Matt that I was pretty sure the woman put a note in Karis' file red flagging us of potential parental neglect of our child. Not only did I hurt her, but I proceeded to laugh about it. I half expect the Department of Social Services to give us a call. Thank goodness she is ok...and if she ever asks me if I ever poked her in the eye with a banana, I can say, "Sit down, Honey. I have a story to share."

From this coast to the other coast

If you read the side bar entitle "Why from Coast to Coast" you will read that my life has always been lived near water. Large bodies of water (whether oceans, gulfs, rivers, bayous, lakes) have always been a consistent factor in any place I live. I love the water, and my living by water reflects that love and need to be by a coast. Well, after living nearly two and a half years in the land of big skies, rolling hills, and gorgeous oak trees, we are packing our bags (and entire house) and heading back to more familiar waters. Yep, you read correctly. We are moving and, quite fittingly, to the other coast, the east coast. In fact we are planning on living on the east coast of Florida. [Insert author's deep sigh of sadness, trepidation, and excitement here].

When we moved here we excitedly packed our bags after seminary and decided that California was about as far west as we could go. We were thrilled with the prospects of adventure, the thrill of the unknown, the courage to actually do it (not just talk about it). We moved into our life filled with instant family and friends here at our local church. In those relationships we found healing from our battle wounds from prior years and relationships. We also found community and acceptance. California was the land of opportunity and we struck gold in many ways. As our time here progressed we knew that there were challenges to living here. Cost of living is incredibly high. We lived soooo far from family (all on East Coast). Travel time and costs alone were so expensive. It was easy to overlook these obstacles because we knew God called us here, and, if He wanted us here, those issues would be worked out. But when our daughter entered the picture we felt the weight of the distance. She is also a granddaughter, niece, and cousin to many people (many of whom have yet to meet her). So after much prayer and consideration, we decided to pack our bags, again. At first I struggled with the decision. Was the adventure over? Were we losing our "get up and go" spirit? Instead of looking at the move that way, Matt and I both feel we are going back to gain so much. We desire more consistent relationships with family. The thing that was hardest for me about being out here was the idea that my nieces would only know me as "that aunt that lives in California". So here we go. A song we really love is "Satellite" by Counting Crows. It is about going back home to reclaim your relationships. It isn't that we don't have relationships with family right now. Rather we are excited to deepen them. That is our new adventure!

A little experiment
To change the subject just a little bit, I started thinking about who has been following our journey the last couple of years through this blog. I hear bits and pieces from you guys who comment and then from word of mouth and emails. In celebration of our move and the two year blogiversary, I'd love to hear from you readers out there. Drop a line in the comment section and let me know what body of water you live near. I think it will be interesting for me and you all to see how many oceans, rivers, lakes, pools, and puddles are represented here.

To finish, I thought I'd leave you with some pictures of this past weekend's trip to Yosemite and the Sequoia National Forests. We did a "drive by" visit--you know, the kind where you want to see it to say you've been there but don't have the time to stop and linger more than 20 minutes! It was amazing!!! One thing I love about California and will dearly miss is how BIG everything is. The oceans, mountains, trees, hills (I call them mountains), rocks, sky. To most Americans back east we haven't seen the likes of such big and grand acts of nature. To Californians, they are an everyday fact of life. It's just pure beauty. Enjoy the pictures!

Speaking of Big trees...here is the General Sherman, largest tree in the world! It was, um...big. Matt is standing next to it to give you an idea of it's size.

View of the Sequoia National Forest

Morning fog settled on Hume Lake, Sequoia National Forest.

Karis and I standing on Glacier Point in Yosemite. Behind us is Half Dome.

Our own little natural wonder!

Morning sun shining down on Tunnel view in Yosemite.

Me being a dork and loving the vivid green moss on the forest trees.

This was the coolest moment for me in Yosemite. We witnessed the bobcat (in the middle of the picture sitting on the log) trying to attack a fawn. A bunch of adult dear charged the bobcat and kept it from getting to the fawn. Here you can see the stare down between the deer and bobcat. It is a little fuzzy but you can actually see the deer has her tongue sticking out. Interesting method of intimidation! It was such a cool experience to watch it all happening a few yards in front of us. I felt like I was in the middle of a nature show.

Happy Blogiversary!

Dear Blog,
Yesterday marked our two year anniversary of knowing each other. What an adventure it has been. You have been there for me through many life changes. You have cataloged many experiences of my life out here on the west coast through pictures. In a few years I will be able to look back at my life and read about my thoughts and see the changes in me and my family. Speaking of family, you have watched us grow from two to four. Wow! Hasn't it been exciting? Thank you, Blog, for being the connection between me and loved ones dear and far. You have been unwavering in your support of me, never questioning my posting choices. Thanks for serving me well! Another two years...shall we?

Sincerely,
California Momma

Just for kicks, I thought I would post these two pictures of our family. The first was a picture taken last year at this time. We took this second one today. Besides the obvious growth in family size, I think we are also looking more like parents (tired!!...even Keller looks tired!).

What I love...

1. This smile. I just can't get enough of it. Fortunately, now that she has mastered all the skills needed, the smiles are available in abundance for an occasion such as: mom laughing, dad singing, feeding time, me walking by, life itself. Yeah, her smile is freely given. She never runs out of them. And I love her for that. (And worry not Grandmas, she is not walking yet. She just loves standing on her toes).


2. Cooking. One of my daily pleasures is creating tasty treats in the kitchen. I have made a few foods lately that are worth noting. First of all, this soup recipe is fantastic. It is a rustic, Tuscan bean soup that has a delicious smoky flavor because of the bacon used at the beginning. I found this recipe incredible, but I knew it was a keeper when Matt (a vocal antagonist of soups) made many comments about its deliciousity and even ate it for leftovers! My, oh, my! What a feat.

A second recipe I have stumbled upon is a little less fancy and not quite my style but oh so fun to make. It is called breath mint pie. I needed a dish to make for youth group girls coming over. It is basically an ice cream cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream (I used Breyers), Oreo cookies, and Junior Mints. It was a snap to make, and it delivered major flavor rewards! I was thinking this would actually be a great model for making other fun desserts. Basically you layer some crushed cookie on the bottom of a pan (I omitted the butter included in the recipe), follow up with ice cream, repeat those two layers, finish with some crushed cookies on top for decoration and finish with a coordinating candy. I can imagine ginger snap cookies with pumpkin or butter pecan ice cream and candy of choice, oreo cookies with coffee ice cream and candy, etc. Could be fun to experiment with.

3. Photography: My job as a school counselor is fulfilling for me. It also brings with it an enormous amount of grief and responsibility. Sometimes I wonder how I can keep doing it, and yet I know God has given me this responsibility, as long as I am able (i.e. time and mothering constraints). I have found photography is a really good balance to counseling. When I am behind a camera lens, I feel freedom and not responsibility. So this much I know is true: I must make time to be creative and indulge in photography. I also must continue my work as a counselor. Interestingly enough they need each other. The responsibility and freedom go hand-in-hand, and when I neglect either one I feel it.

I love the combination of food and photography. I follow this website where Jen photographs her breakfasts every morning and shares it with the web. I and thousands of others are hooked! Such a fun and simple concept.

Here are a few results of my recent moments of freedom. These first two are from some senior pictures I took of a friend.

Here are some of my favorite shots taken over that last 2 years here on the West Coast. I love the silhouettes and bright colors, bold contrasts. Enjoy all, and have a great week!

Learning to Praise

Life has been pretty busy, filled with lots of activity and decisions, and the processing of those decisions. I will write more about those decisions and their transitions soon. I have found myself both exhausted and excited all at the same time. As life brings transitions and changes I usually revert to my cowardly stance of despair and depression. Recently I have been been challenged by the Holy Spirit to cling more dearly to His side as I take this wild ride of life. No matter my circumstances in life I must praise the Lord. Reading through the bible I am amazed at how much we are told to praise God. Praise should always be on my lips regardless of my life circumstances. Sometimes I think about the old hymn that reads "Oh for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise..." 1,000 tongues just to sing praises to God?! I seriously struggle to make this one ragged, sinful, and hateful tongue praise God. I am embarrassed to admit it but sometimes I wonder, "Why so much praising?" My prayer this week has been that God would enable me to praise Him...to really understand the enormity of God's glory, leaving me astounded with nothing else to do but say, "I praise you!"

On to the updates....we had our dear friends from New Orleans visit. What a reunion! So much fun as we gave them the Central Coast tour. The kids have grown so much since we last saw them but they are still as precious as we remember them. They were a big help to me during their stay here, keeping Karis company and loving on her as I got ready for church. I guess it is true what parents of multiple children say...when you have more than one child it is easier because the kids will entertain each other. Here are some of the shots of our time with them. (Check out the our friend's daughter's face in the second shot! She totally knows how to flirt with the camera!)


We didn't want our visit with our friends to end so we did what anybody in our position would do... followed them back to their hotel where they were staying in Palm Springs. Perhaps a little stalkerish, but they were ok with it (at least they said they were!) It gave us a chance to check out some different parts of California we haven't seen including the Joshua Tree National Forest. For all of you U2 fans you will remember their Joshua Tree album. A Joshua tree is this cool looking tree (picture to the right) which lives in the desert of California. We traveled through the forest (for you East coasters read desert instead of forest) which is a protected state park. We saw some incredible sites. Here are just some of the cool views we saw from our car as we drove through. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

New Wardrobe

I first embarked on this blogging endeavor two years ago, and since that time Blogger has come along way in the features they provide and the usability of its blogging features. So today I took the plunge and upgraded to the new and improved format. This opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for me regarding blog style changes, or as I like to call it "a new wardrobe" for my blog. This is what I came up with in just a few minutes between Karis' cries and demands. Any ideas, comments, suggestions? In theory I like having the choice to change colors but when it comes to actually picking it all out it can become overwhelming. I am sure I will change my mind many times over as my preferences for colors often change with the wind. I am open to any and all comments.

I have also been meaning to send out a big congratulations to my beautiful sister Jenny on her recent engagement to Brent. I love you, Jenny, and I am so excited for you! Brent...what can I say? How about we meet?! Seriously, Brent you are getting a great girl, and we are excited for you guys to start your life together!