It's funny how we can make plans for our life, and all it takes is a few minutes to unravel it all. I have been working on some things to kind of shift my focus away from the Blogger platform, but I think I will stay here, at least for now.
Last year I was diagnosed with a blood disorder... a blood cancer called Polycythemia-Vera. I had my 1st phlebotemy (blood dump) last May. Since my body makes way too many red blood cells, one of the only ways it can be treated it is by going in every few weeks and having a liter of blood taken out. I suppose I was trying the method of "ignore it and it will go away," because after that appt I just never scheduled a follow up. To be fair, last June Norman and I both had spinal cord stimulator implants, and that device gave me a lot of relief in my legs. Fast forward to this May; however, I realized that I couldn't wait and needed to get an appointment. I was hurting pretty badly, and my stimulator was not giving me much relief anymore. My blood cell count ended up being really high (again), and the pain I had experienced previously was back and it had gotten progressively worse. I did a phlebotemy in May, and my follow-up was scheduled for mid-September. My doctor cautioned me that my hematocrit level had been way to high, and if I started hurting she wanted me to come in as soon as I needed to. Along with this, though, she warned me that at some point we may need to discuss treating this with medication. I really did not want to deal with a daily med, but I was in so much pain that 3 weeks ago I broke down and went in to have another phlebotomy (which took my leg pain away in just a couple of hours). As much as I knew it was coming, I still struggled to wrap my head around the fact that I was sitting in front of my oncologist discussing chemotherapy. I'm not sure if I just detached a little bit, but I was sitting there, staring at her, looking as if I was paying attention, but my brain had checked out. Thank God for Norman being there, because he remembered everything and asked the questions I would have wanted to ask.
I have only taken the medication for a few days now, and so far I have not experienced any bad side effects(whoops...spoke too soon). I started writing this over a week ago, (here I am again...the 3rd try at getting this thing written), and I am struggling with a few things now that I didn't early on. I just pray these won't be long term side effects. I have had to take a slower approach to starting this, because the first problem I encountered was the feeling of being completely and utterly sloshed. At first, I thought it was a completely hilarious side effect. I mean, a pleasant buzzy feeling with no hangover is not the worst way to feel considering this is the warning label on my medicine bottle...
So I stopped taking it for a couple of days to clear my head, (which also included me realizing that I was sick sick. Not med related sick.) So last Sunday I ended up in the ER with pneumonia. Fun. Supposedly this chemo won't make all my hair fall out, but it can thin your hair a whole lot. I'm trying to stay positive and look on the bright side, but it's pretty freaking difficult sometimes. I haven't told anyone outside of my my kids, my mom, my brother & sister-in-law, my best friend Misty, and then I think Norman has told his best friend. And that's it (except for me talking about it here). I guess we shall see how this turns out, huh? The very odd, very non humorous thing about all this was when I went to my 1st appt last year, I had been a bit taken aback when I realized that this was the office of my dad's oncologist. And then when I realized that my doctor had actually been my dad's doctor... that was a bit overwhelming. All I could think about was how this doctor wasn't able to help my dad...I just hope I have a better outcome.
So yeah... here I am trying to finish up this blog and I don't even know how. I woke up this morning starving, but food is not an option right now because I am so nauseous. I remember one of the appointments I went to with my dad, I remember him saying the worst part about his cancer was the nausea and inability to eat. I felt so badly for him to miss doing something that we all do without even thinking about it. But now I get it.
Back in the summer I had been going to the snowcone stand every time I went anywhere, and I asked Eli and Norman to pick me up a couple for me when they were out. Let me tell you that $5 snowcones can add up, so my precious husband bought me a whole snowcone maker for my birthday. But let me tell you that the irony of this is wild. What was purchased as a way to give me snowcones until I got tired of them, has turned into a necessity. I don't even want the syrup. But that ice...it's saving me. It helps me get water in my body that I can't stand to drink. And I eat a ton of it when nothing sounds right.
I'm not sure why I'm writing about this. Maybe it's a way of helping me process everything. I don't know. Maybe because I'm not ready to disclose this experience to people I do know. Maybe because this is a way for me to come to terms with things without having to hear the, "I'm so sorry, what can I do for you?" messages. For whatever reason, some people need the constant prayers and attention, but here I am wishing I could just be invisible and move about my life with nobody noticing.
I suppose I will go ahead and post this... otherwise I'll let it sit here another 6 months requiring change after change. For anyone who still reads these, thank you for sticking around and not bolting.
**I finished this last week, but I couldn't bring myself to actually post it. This week has been a crap week with crap feelings, crap nausea, and a crap outlook. But I'm going to post this, bc I'm alive and sometimes I suppose that has to be enough.
I have been struggling to decide what I wanted to do with this blog, because I have been pretty unmotivated to keep up with it as it is. But after a lot of thought, I have decided on the direction I want to go. Several years ago I started working on my Master's degree in psychology and marriage and family counseling. It was about that time that I received my diagnosis of POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). That started to really affect my life, and it wasn't too much longer before I was also diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos, and a probably/likely form of blood cancer called Polycythemia-Vera. Between learning how to navigate the challenges that these diagnoses created, I also was realizing that traditional therapy/counseling was not something I wanted to take on. For a huge part of my life I have been able to read people and as a consequence of that, I have been absorbing the feelings and emotions of others. I finally realized that this is too much of a drain on me physically, spiritually, and mentally. I'm sure everyone has at least some sort of understanding of what an empath is, as the term gets tossed around pretty liberally. But for the true empaths out there, you understand what it's like to be absorbing so many feelings and personalities. It is exhausting, and it takes a huge toll on your body. I have always prioritized my alone time, but for several years I have honestly loved being at home with my family, and I have made a conscious choice to keep being a homebody.
But that decision didn't take away my desire to help others and do something meaningful in my life. So what I have decided to do, is develop courses, write articles, and offer remote sessions that focus on all things boundary related. I am just now starting on my first program/course, and I am really excited to have found a way for me to do something I love. To be able to help others without the enormous drain on me physically and mentally is just the perfect direction for me to go.
I will be sharing my progress as I go along, and although I will be creating a classroom type portal where all of my courses and other materials will be listed, I will be cross posting a lot of that stuff (early release!)in here, as well as continue blogging about my family.
My oldest kiddo graduated last May, and he just started with a company this past Monday. So he is on his way to being a full fledged adult! And my baby is going to be a Jr. in highschool in August. So as our kids get older and do more things out on their own, and as Norman and I kind of do some slowing down, my personal blog posts will only be occasional. Of course I've been pretty bad at keeping this blog updated the past few years, so I suppose that part won't change much.
For anyone reading this post who is interested in boundary setting, please follow my blog, as I will post some things here first, before I post them on my education platform. Please leave me comments with any boundary setting questions you have, and I will happily cover the reasons for boundary setting for your specific situations. Whether it is parent/child, sibling, friend, dating, marriage...I will be covering all types of relationships. I look forward to digging into this topic with you all! Have a wonderful weekend!
I can't believe we have been in our home for 3 weeks now; today is actually 3 weeks since move-in day. What have we accomplished? Absolutely nothing. 😂 When I look at how much we have moved around and figure that this finally is our last move, I figure I will have plenty of time to get settled. Of all the things I planned to do as soon as we moved in and didn't, I am regretting that I waited too long to get ahold of someone to put up Christmas lights, because now it just seems like a waste of money since we would have to pull them down January 2nd. We haven't even gotten our Christmas tree up yet. I am pretty decided that whenever I get around to it, I will just put it up and call it early prep for next Christmas.
We had a nice Thanksgiving with all of our Oklahoma and Texas family. Well, not all our TX family...just the Brinson side. We haven't seen Norman's side of the family for a while. Several years in fact, and I can't believe it's been as long as it has.
We are enjoying our new home, to the extent that it's almost weird. The kids' bedrooms are smaller, but even despite that, they both have expressed many times how happy they are here. And even though there is no logical reason for why, I feel safer here. Maybe because this house is smaller, and we have a good feel for the entire space? It's not big enough for someone to be hiding upstairs or something. Regardless, I am so thankful to be in a one-storey house and to have eliminated the stairs and the risks associated with them for both myself and Chase.
This week the boys will be getting new beds that will fit their space better, and we will get their desks assembled. I also have a standing locker plus standing dressing mirror with makeup and jewelry storage to get set up in my bedroom. Organization is the goal for us, and we have a lot to get put together and set up over the next week or two...or however long it stretches out for us to get things assembled lol. Have I mentioned how lazy relaxed we have been in getting settled? 😆
Well, I suppose that's all for now. We have been spending this chilly Sunday in bed, snuggling with our kitty cats and getting caught up on our shows. We finished The Crown, at least we got caught up until they drop the next 6 episodes. And now we are getting caught up on For All Mankind. Next up is Bass Reeves; basically we are being bums today, and we are enjoying every bit of the lazy day. So we don't have a lot of news worthy info, but I'm attaching a quick video that has just a very few clips of our new home. The furniture is not ours; I took the recordings when we had gone the day of the inspection. Eventually I will post pictures when we get it settled with our things. I hope everyone has a fantastic week! Ciao bebes!
**For my regular readers, this is not my normal content. Feel free to skip this post, as it does not contain any family news. I am following the crisis between the Israelies and the Hamas/Palestinian people, and I want to organize some information in a place where it won't get lost. Thanks!!**
The events of October 7th, 2023, have thrown not only Israel and Palestine into the worst conflict since the Holocaust, it has shocked and horrified the entire world. Protests have been happening all over the globe, and there is a huge outcry for the people of Palestine. Cities have been filled with protests on both sides of the issue, and clashes have ramped up all over the world.
It seems as if every publication or network has a slanted opinion, and they masterfully push their agenda through their reporting. Before I was married, I was a journalist, so I absolutely understand the necessity of unbiased reporting. What I will attempt to do in this post, is lay out some of the context that has been missing for a lot of people. I am not going to give my opinions...I will only be discussing the facts and then provide links to different media organizations who have reported on what I discuss, to provide a better, more complete stance.
The fact is that I am a stranger to most people who will come across this blog. I have wanted to gather some resources and have a comprehensive list that I can come back to and keep updating over time. I had thought about a separate website, but this blog has kept track of everything my family and I have experienced for the last 15 years or so, and given the magnitude of this crisis and how it has touched my life, I want to have this record here. We all know how the internet works...you can have a deeply convicted belief about something and do such intensive combing through the web and gather sources to back your beliefs. Anyone can do this about any subject. Scholars do it to drive a point home, religions do the same with the Bible to justify their beliefs. I am a stranger to most of you, so you will either read this and listen with an open mind, or you will sort through these sources solely to try to catch me out on something to discredit me. I genuinely love intelligent discussions with people who hold different beliefs, and I feel that it is so important to have conversations with people who disagree with us...so that we can learn empathy and study our beliefs in light of new information. By doing this, we will be able to find out if we still believe the same things we once did, after we hear additional information. If we aren't checking ourselves and continuously looking to understand situations in light of additional information, then we will only be deceiving ourselves, thereby becoming an untrustworthy source. It is true that there are three sides...his side, her side, and the truth, that lies somewhere in the midst of that. All I ask is that you respect this blog and understand that a lot of work and research was put into this.
I will be continually adding to this, and if you have any particular questions, disagreements, opinions, I am happy to kindly and civilly discuss these things in the comments and search out more information. I will not reply to anyone who is mean, aggressive, or rude. I understand this is a very charged topic, but we must remain civil.
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I may end up moving the order of things around, but for now, I am going to start where this truly began...at least for the world outside of the Middle East. People have come out saying that it wasn't true that Hamas went door to door...that they didn't search out women and children, and that the beheading of babies was a hoax. The videos below are interviews with members of Hamas, with them discussing what their mission was on October 7th, and what they personally did.
Accounts from 6 activists
Source - Times of India
Accounts from Hamas, who say their instructions on 10/7 were to kill, torture, rape, and behead Israelies.
More interrogations. This Hamas operative explained how his orders from Hamas differ from Muslim religious beliefs. This highlights the mindset of extremists.
It's important to understand the mindset of the Hamas leadership, & hear from them what they expect from their own people. Ismail Haniyeh, a leader of Hamas
explains why Gaza needs the blood and sacrifice of the Palestinian people, specifically women and children.
Something that has been an enormous source for outrage, is the claim that the Israelies (IDF) attack, bomb, and/or kill indiscriminately. What people must understand is that Hamas imbeds its members within the civilian population of Palestine. Instead of trying to protect the Palestinian people, they store their weapons and make their staging grounds in civilian areas, such as schools, churches, hospitals, etc. The clip below is of a member explaining that they use ambulances to move around in the area, to set up ambushes, and to transport any materials they may need, for the sole reason that Israel will not fire on ambulances. They use the conscience of the IDF against them, taking advantage of the fact that Israel purposely will not fire on an ambulance out of a desire to not target civilians. This clearly goes to show how if the world didn't know that, and intelligence informed IDF that Hamas would be moving into place in an ambulance, and if Israel acted on that and struck the ambulance, all Hamas would scream out to the world that the Israelies are targeting the civilian medical population. Context is critical in understanding all the details.
The next videos are focused on the extensive tunnel system underneath Gaza, and the purpose and importance of them. Two of these clips include interviews from sons of Hamas leaders and one is the son of a co-founder of Hamas. Source - Deep Journal Globe.
Another thing that is reported, but then discounted, then reported on and discounted again is the reports of Hamas storing weapons, contraband, uniforms, go bags, intelligence via laptops, communication equipment, and medical supplies (which the Palestinian people say they are out of, but Hamas actually has because it stole it from the civilian population).
Another disturbing thing, is that schools are used to not only store weapons, but they use classrooms as a staging ground. I am only attaching 1 video dedicated to this, but I highly encourage you to research this for yourself.
Even when other nations provide materials to the Gaza Strip and West Bank to help ease the burdens on the Palestinian people, Hamas spits in the face of such kindness. In the clip below, Hamas brags it will use the gift of water pipelines provided by EU to build bombs for the sole purpose of attacking Israel.
This is an intercepted call of Hamas, discussing the acquiring of fuel from the public.Keep in mind hospitals are out of power, & the blame is going to Israel, but Hamas is using the fuel to keep electricity & ventilation going deep in the tunnels below the hospital/Gaza.
There are I think three more points I would like to include below, because it is honestly imperative to not just Americans, but other countries as well. I am including this for context, because not only do we need to understand their history, we need to understand the ideology they hold tightly to. A big movement that we have seen, that has touched many people around the globe, are the Pro-Palistenian protests by the LGBTQ+ community. It only makes sense that this group would feel a kinship and solidarity with a group of people who are seemingly being attacked, persecuted, and killed. The issue that we have got to understand is that this particular group of people have extreme religious convictions that are in direct contradiction with the LGBTQ+ community. It is common knowledge that people who are a part of this community are not just outcasts to them...they have a deep hatred and an inability to agree to disagree. It is not an exaggeration when you hear people talk about Palestinian people being murdered by being thrown off tall buildings, an being dragged behind vehicles until they are dead and dismembered, simply for wanting to live authentically. In some of the interviews I watched, Palestinian people, when asked how they feel about having the support of the LGBTQ+ groups, actually laugh, call them infidels, and express that they don't want their support. There are some people who are happy to have the support, but the vast majority of people not only explain that they don't want any support from that group, but they call those individuals all kinds of names and exclaim how stupid they are. This is the religion who justifies honor killings of their own children. It is of no consequence to them to kill a stranger. The irony is that they believe so strongly in their faith, that if a person from the LGBTQ+ community visited Palestine, there is a very real possibility that they would be murdered because of that belief. What Americans get wrong is believing that there is a mutual respect and support for each other, because of the shared feelings of oppression. But you cannot ascribe those feelings of kinship to a people who do not see any similarity when they look at you.
I also believe it is important for younger American citizens to have a glimpse of how Palestine reacted when we were attacked on 9/11. There are conspiracies galore about the cause of the attacks, but we need to take a real look at who mourned with us and who celebrated in that terrible loss of life. I was a senior at university when 9/11 happened, and I will not waste your time with information you don't care about, but 9/11 set the course of my life on a trajectory I wasn't prepared for, and everything has been shaped by those attacks ever since. We have to look at this with clear eyes, and know who our allies are and who they are not. The entire world watched Palestine celebrate the attacks. There was dancing in the streets, and the joy and jubilation they expressed toward the loss of life in the U.S. is still something those of us who lived through it will always remember. While Americans are gathering in protest for the Palestinian people they feel so much sorrow for, the Palestinian people look at us in absolute amazement that we are so dumb. Do some searching...they think Americans are fools, and they laugh at our ignorance. While we are raising their flag and our hearts are breaking for them, they have nothing but contempt for the American infidels and the members of the LGBTQ+ community, that they would kill without a single care or concern. That is not my impression...my opinion...it is based on the hours of footage and hours of written materials the Palestinian people have taped and written. These clips show a tiny bit of that belief.
Another part of this difficult topic, perhaps maybe even more controversial than the subject of how Palestinians view the LGBTQ+ community, is not just the ideology, but just how young they start teaching these beliefs to children. Coming from a culture where we shelter and protect our kids, it seems almost impossible that this is happening. But it is, and although it is so difficult to see, we need to understand that these beliefs are what they believe in completely.
Most of the children we know, are not singing children's songs, with Mickey Mouse, that includes the subject of AK-47, death, and war. While the U.S. continues to struggle with differing beliefs regarding gun legislation, in the Middle East, children are attending summer camp to learn how to wage Jihad. This first clip is an interview by a mother who gives great insight on how they view this loss of life in relation to their faith.
The cartoon below is especially unnerving.
And I will wind up this first round of videos with the interview of a Palestinian peace activist: This is a pretty good overall summary of the Palestinian authority and Hamas conflict. (Forbes)
I have stayed away and not posted in awhile, because I had been so worried that if I spoke too soon about how the sale of our house was going, I might jinx our luck! 😂 However, things went so beautifully, and we are on the downhill slide now!
On August 22nd, the 4 of us drove two cars out to Branson, MO, to get set up in a temporary condo. On the 26th, Eli and Norman drove back home to Yukon to oversee the move, so they were there to direct the packers, movers, handyman, have new carpet installed, and then finally to hand the keys over to our miracle worker of a realtor. The house went on the market on Tuesday, September 12th, and we officially closed on Friday, October 19! That has to be a record of sorts, because everything worked out amazingly. We listed the house for $600k, and sold it for $630k, which still has me floored. God had his hand over the entire situation, and we are just so very thankful for how this turned out.
We had originally planned on staying at least 8 weeks in Branson in the timeshare, but the boys asked to come back to the Oklahoma City area the first of October. For the last two years, they have worked at a Halloween Haunted Trail, and they loved it, so they wanted to do it again this year. So we have rented an Air BnB, we put in an offer on the most beautiful home (that is smaller, more easily maintained, and so much more well suited to us and our needs at this point in our life). The sellers accepted our offer, and the inspection and appraisal went off without a hitch. We are so incredibly grateful for how this entire process has gone. We are so ready to get settled and have this all behind us, but we know we have been blessed throughout this entire process, and it could not have gone any smoother. So many times Norman and I catch ourselves being so overwhelmed by how beautifully this has gone, and we know without a doubt that God has been guiding our steps at every single turn.
During this entire time, we have had friends excited for us to find our "dream house". Because that is the American dream, right? Most people keep going after more. More house, more amenities, etc. What we learned throughout this process is that the home we sold, in every possible way, was our life-long dream house. That house had everything and was the ultimate "we made it, life is perfect" home. Almost 4,000 sq ft. 5 bedrooms. We even had a designated cat room. We had a laundry room downstairs...and upstairs. Everything was custom made, our saltwater pool was heated, and we even had our own pool house. It was literally the home that people dream of having, and we decided to let it go. Throughout this process, we have realized that we don't want "excess". We are a family of 4, and we are incredibly happy to downsize to a more manageable space. The young woman who was living with us for over a year has moved out, and we just really have needed to get into a home without stairs, which is super important for Chase and me. Our POTS and Ehlers-Danlos make stairs tricky, so thankfully the home we are buying is only one floor.
I have the photos from the home we have sold, plus the listing photos of our new home, and I will be making a couple slideshows of them, because I want to always remember this process and know beyond any shadow of a doubt, that when you do follow God...when you seek him out and wait for guidance through prayer, it will come. Because one thing I have learned is that there is no such thing as no. When you think you are getting a no, what you are actually getting is a "not yet" or maybe "something else entirely is planned for you". At 44 years old, I am still learning that I have so much work to do on myself when it comes to patience, among other things. But we are all works in progress, and I am just realizing that I have so much more work to do in that area. 😅 So until next time peeps...ciao! 🥰
Today the packing/moving company came out to evaluate the house and give us the estimate for the cost of the move. Next Tuesday we will be leaving for Branson, MO, and Norman and Eli will come back here to oversee the packing and the few small repairs the house needs a few days after we get settled in our temporary home. We are really happy to be making this move, but I would be lying if I said we weren't having some anxiety about all of this. We are just so broken, that the physicality of the move worries us. We always get through things alright, so this will be no different.
Norman and the kids attended the Lariat Creek 50th Anniversary celebration last Saturday, and although I was not up for going, I was happy to have Norman and the kids represent me for the family. The coordinator had found a video of my dad talking about his love of the camp and our family's tie to the land, and they ended the program by playing that video. It was so out of the blue, my mom and brother were so taken aback that the tears really hit hard. I know for my mom, especially, it was terribly difficult. In the end, I'm glad I didn't go. I wish I was stronger sometimes, but I know that would just be too much. That place...the loss of my dad...life can be so brutal and exhausting, and learning to live with indescribable losses is so hard. You never fully recover...you just learn to live with the void as best you can and move forward by whatever means necessary. The kids have been having friends over quite a bit to eek out every last bit of summer fun out in the pool. I really hate giving that up. The lady we bought the house from put in a $90k+ pool and pool house, and she took a major loss when she sold it to us. She is just so wealthy, that it didn't phase her at all. We will be putting in a pool, but it won't be anything near the $100k system we have here. That is the saddest part for me and the kiddos; however we will figure it out and enjoy getting to design it the way we want it. 🥰
So...I have completely neglected this blog, and I'm accepting of the fact that every time I write about being better with my consistency it just backfires on me 😂. Our family has been going through all the things, and honestly I need to just buckle down and bring this blog back up to date.
Norman and I finally had our Medtronic Spinal Stimulator surgeries on June 19th, and the recovery has been difficult. Norman is really struggling to get relief, because he still has some swelling, but all of my healing is pretty much complete. I feel an enormous amount of relief from the device, and the two times I have had my settings adjusted, they have been able to zero in on where the device is most needed. This 2nd adjustment was the biggest help for Norman, and I do feel that he has some relief, but it isn't as much as he had hoped. We will keep working with the settings, and hopefully he will eventually get the results he wants.
The kids went to church camp last week; it was Eli's last year to go, since he graduated from high school in May, but Chase has 3 more years he can attend if he wants to go. He had a difficult time managing the heat because of his POTS/EDS, but he made it through. Lariat Creek is such a precious place to us, and next month we will be attending the 50th anniversary of the camp opening. My grandfather gave the land and helped build it from the ground up. I grew up on those 80 acres, riding with my dad as we plowed the fields surrounding the camp, drinking from a natural spring that is Lariat Creek, and I rode my horses out there so much. Our family home was a farm of 180 acres just 3 miles east of the camp, so often times I'd get my horse from home, and I would ride Harlan out to the camp to go visit with the camp grounds caretakers. In the summers, the caretaker's grandkids would visit from South Dakota, and I enjoyed spending time out there just playing in the creek and jumping on the 100 foot suspension bridge. I always felt so much love and pride in that place, and I have always been so thankful for the family I was born into and the legacy behind my name. That place is such an intrinsic part of who I am, and to have the boys now be proud of the link they have there, my grandpa, their papa, and me, it just makes my heart so happy. It is also where we held Norman's retirement ceremony from the Air Force, so yeah...that is a precious place to me for many, many reasons. I am feeling a little nostalgic, so I'll post a few of my favorite photos of us and the kids at camp. 😍
The boys at Lariat Creek, 2010
Niece Hailey & me
My dad baptizing Chase
Sweet brothers 2018
My dad & neice Cam
Last day of camp
Jordan & Cam
I turned 44 on July 16, and I have officially been married for half of my life. Married 22 years and 44 years old. I don't know where the time went. Norman surprised me with the most beautiful cake. It's no surprise that my favorite animal in the whole wide world are sphynx cats, and so my precious husband got ahold of our cake lady, and she completely blew my mind with my birthday cake. She told Norman that creating the sphynx took SIX HOURS!!!! 😍 And just as a side note, for some reason or another, when Norman and I got serious early on, we intentionally started saying, "I love you today". It is important to us that we not fall in a rut, we acknowledge that this is a choice we make every day, to tell each other I love you today. Him putting that on the cake meant so much. I love him with my whole heart, and I don't know how or why God chose to bless me with a lifetime with him, but I am so thankful that He did.
Emma has lived with us for an entire year now, and the time has flown by. For Eli to be graduated now, have Chase be going into 10th grade, and Emma have 1 full year post graduation, time seems to be flying.
My medical stuff has been kind of off the wall, and I don't even know how to write about it at the moment. What Norman and I have been doing over the past few weeks is pretty much mapping out our life in terms of our future, our health, our kids, Norman's job, all the things. We have decided to downsize to a home that has no 2nd floor...we have to get rid of stairs. I don't ever go upstairs, and Chase, who has the same issue I have with stairs, is needing to be on the ground floor. Also, given that 2 out of our 3 kiddos are graduated from high school, we really can downsize and get a more manageable home. A few of our friends have been asking what our wishlist is for our "dream house", but honestly in terms of a perfect home, this house we are in is my dream house. I think it is like 3500 sq feet, large in-ground heated saltwater pool, separate laundry upstairs for the kids, and an entire extra bedroom we converted into a room for our cats. We all love it here, but as crazy as this sounds, with all of the health things, plus the fact that Norman will be retiring in about 6-7 years (and he may cut his hours down to part-time) we are just wanting to get in a smaller, cozier, more manageable house. Truthfully, I'd like to pay the least amount we can for our house, because putting in a pool is a necessity. So yes, I absolutely would be insanely at peace in a small home, as long as it has room for an awesome pool. 😍
That's all I've got for now. Please feel free to catch up with our vlogs! Ciao!
