We finally heard from Margaret! We got the form letter with her address on Friday and then she called on Saturday! It was so good to hear her voice though she sounded weary. She survived the 2 weeks of quarantine and an additional 2 weeks of isolation. She started bootcamp after Christmas and is finishing her third week by now. She was nominated by the RDCs (drill instructors) Athletic Petty Officer for which she was very excited. She has distinguished herself as determined and hard working and the RDCs know her by name. No surprise there. She’s always been a hard worker. The other day we received two long letters from her. It was so good to read her detailed descriptions of what she’s doing and what it’s like up there. Can’t wait to hear from her again!

Brian and I went to Blazer last night. We go there just about every Wednesday night for date night. Brandon and Frank ask about Margaret and we were finally able to give them an update. Nicole made us each a great Old Fashioned and we shared the Big Bend salad sans the goat cheese. I am so not a fan of goat cheese. Bleh.

I repainted the girls’ stairs over the last couple of days. They had been white but that was so hard to keep clean so I painted them Sherwin Williams “unusual gray” and they look so much better! I love that color! I think I might find other places to incorporate it into the house.

My lounge chairs for the pool came in the other day. The cats approve. 

I’ve been keeping up with my 20k steps a day goal. On Wednesdays I usually get more because Brian and I walk to our date then usually walk around town a bit. Last night I got almost 25k. This is without getting any other intentional exercise. I have realized that I just move a lot during the day. I don’t think I sit down hardly at all unless I’m driving somewhere. I would like to start running again to get my heart rate up. I’d just rather wait till it warms up before I start. I so don’t like running in the cold!

 We still haven’t heard from Margaret. I eagerly check the mailbox every morning (our delivery comes early) and still nothing. She’s been gone a month and a half now and the last we heard from her was a month ago to tell us she had covid. I’m sure she’s doing well, it would just be nice to hear some news.

We had snow on Sunday. It was beautiful and such a special treat for us in south central Texas. 

I’ve been trying to keep up with my resolutions. 

* I’ve stayed up with my Bible reading for the past 12 days.

* I amended my step goal to 140k a week instead of 20K a day, basically the same thing just a little more reasonable. 

*I don’t think I got 3 hours outside every day this week but I’m sure it will average out over the year since I spend almost all day outside from March to October.

The girls are getting very efficient with finishing their school work. They get up early and get out the cart that has the books on it and get started on their own. They like to finish quickly so they can go ride bikes. They play outside most of the day since we moved here. 

We are hoping and planning to purchase the lot across from our house soon. It’s a 4 and a half acre field between us and the train tracks. We were told the owner was cranky and would never sell to anyone though many have approached her about this land. She came by to meet us after we’d not been here too long and started hinting at wanting to sell. She’s recently said point blank that she wants us to have first dibs on it ahead of the developers that have been hounding her about selling for years. She has no interest in keeping the field, it’s been in her family for a generation or two and they don’t use it for anything and are tired of paying taxes on it. We would love to have it and find ways to generate some income from it by leasing it for a horse or two or some other purpose. The girls have wanted animals (besides cats) to tend though we don’t know the first thing about animal husbandry. 

We recently purchased a small lot across the road from us that has a manufactured home on it. We intend to sell the home when the tenant’s lease is up in the spring and move it off the lot. Our dream would be to move an old house on to the lot or build something for an investment property. When we were considering moving here our two biggest concerns were these two lots. Who owns the land in front of the house and what would become of it long term, and how can we get that manufactured home off the property across the street or at least clean up the lot? Within a few months of being here both properties basically fell in our laps! We continue to pray for God’s wisdom to know how to best use them.  

The girls are wanting breakfast. I’m off.

1.6.21

We haven’t heard from Margaret yet and it’s maddening not know how she’s doing! She left over a month ago for Ft. McCoy in Wisconsin to quarantine for two weeks before starting bootcamp in Great Lakes, IL. We got a call almost two weeks later from her saying she tested positive for covid (no symptoms) and would have to do two more weeks of quarantine. That was the last we heard from her. I run to the mail box every day hoping for something, even the form letter saying what division she’s in would be wonderful. 

Last night Brian went over to Block 16 where they gather on Tuesdays to “pick” and sing. So this guy about our age bought this old brick school building and made it his home. The place is massive and takes up an entire city block in the historic residential area. He hosts a pickers night every week on the property and in winter months makes a roaring fire in a big fire pit. I usually walk over to watch at some point. It’s been a great way for us to meet the neighbors and Brian likes being stretched a little  in his guitar and singing. 

The kids start back at school today. I had better get going.

Resolutions

 While I have a moment I want to jot down the New Year’s resolutions that I’ve committed to though I briefly listed them in another post the other day.

1. Read through the entire Bible. 

I have been using R. M. M’Cheyne’s method for about 25 years now. I don’t usually make it through the whole thing every year, but I try. It has you read through the Old Testament once and Psalms, Proverbs, and the New Testament twice. It is quite a lot to keep up with and sometimes I have to listen to the audio Bible when I fall behind, but it is the best method I’ve come across - not that I’m an expert at Bible reading plans. This past year I made it through the whole thing and I was so blessed to spend so much time in the Word getting to know the Lord! 

2. Get 20K steps a day.

I haven’t been running much since we moved. I hurt my foot and that put me out of commission for a few months and then I just got focused on other things with the house and homeschooling, etc. You can only have so many interests and hobbies and running became less and less important to me, especially since there aren’t any races anymore due to covid. I’m not as motivated when there’s nothing to train for. So to keep me in shape I set a goal of 20K steps. Some days this is very easy and doesn’t require much effort outside my daily tasks. Other days I’m asking Brian to dance with me at the end of the day to get in 4K more steps. Brian got me a 20 lb. weighted vest for Christmas so when I go for my 4 mile loop walk I usually wear that for an added workout. In addition to that I’ve been working on hand stands for core and upper body strength. 

3. Get 1000 hours of outside time this year. 

#3 and #2 go hand in hand. I love being outside so this one shouldn’t be too hard.

What I like about these resolutions is that they’re very measurable. I’d like to set a goal for book reading this year but I haven’t sat down to think of how many is a realistic goal. I read so many in 2019, and started out 2020 reading but got too busy with home projects when we decided to move. I very much prefer paper books to E or audio versions. We have a lovely little library I can walk to on Main St. so I’m all set up to read a bunch this year. I just have to do it!

Not sure if I have any readers of this blog, but if I do, did you make any New Years resolutions? What are they? Are they different than what you resolved last year? Do you have a strategy for how to stick with them? 

Hindsight’s 2020

 1. What did you do in 2020 that you'd never done before?

Ran a sub-3:50 marathon. Wore a face mask.

2.  Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Yes, I read through the Bible using R.M. M’Cheyne’s method. I think that was the only measurable resolution.

I have 3 for this year: read through the Bible again, get 20K steps everyday, and get 1000 hours outside.

3.  Did anyone close to you give birth? 

No one very close, but two of my cousins and Brian’s cousin all had babies around the same time.

4.  Did anyone close to you die? Yes. My cousin, my grandfather, Brian’s aunt and uncle.

5.  What countries did you visit? None

6. What would you like to have in 2021 that you lacked in 2020?

Chickens and a pool

7. What date from 2020 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

March 13, the day the world changed

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? 

Doing so much on the house mostly by myself because Brian was working. I learned how to install lights and bathroom fixtures among other things.

9. What was your biggest failure? 

Getting impatient and annoyed at Brian. I took a lot of frustration out on him.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I got plantar fasciitis in the summer and had to stop running for several months. I also got an upper respiratory infection in December that knocked me down for awhile.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

An old house 

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Brian. He continues to love me. 

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? 

Protesters, the Austin City Council, friends filled with hate,  the media...I could go on and on

14. Where did most of your money go? 

The house and an investment property across the street that we bought soon after moving here

15. What did you get really excited about?

Getting to see Sam. With covid travel restrictions we were sure we’d see him again before he deployed.

16. What songs will always remind you of 2020? 

“A Life Where We Workout” - Flatland Cavalry

“Mendocino County Line” - Willie Nelson

“Starlight” - John Pardi 

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder? 

I’d say happier. Being out of the city has given me room to breathe and experience peace like I didn’t have before. God has answered prayers about many things regarding church, kids, family, etc that has brought a greater measure fo happiness. Covid has revealed that I can’t take anything for granted. 

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? 

Drank more water, read to the girls 

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? 

Look at nonsense on the internet, drink so much, nag, heat style my hair

20. How did you spend Christmas?

Had a long weekend in Burnet with my mom and stepdad and all the cousins minus Margaret and Sam. We hosted our usual Christmas Eve party. We had a quiet Christmas Day at home and then went to New Braunfels to spend a few days with Brian’s family.

 21. How did you spend New Years?

I made finger foods. Brian and I danced in the kitchen. We watched “Singing in the Rain” with the girls. We went to bed around midnight. It was a quiet evening.

22. What was your favorite tv program?

I didn’t watch a single one this year 

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? 

Hate is such a strong word. There are individuals that I’ve chosen to distance myself from and institutions that I have no respect for anymore after this year but I wouldn’t go so far as to say I hate them.

24. What was the best book you read? 

I enjoyed “Somerset” and the sequel, “Roses” 

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? 

No one new, but I really enjoyed both Eric Church and Cody Johnson this year.

26. What did you want and got? 

Another day....but also a house I’ve always dreamed of living in, an old fashioned garden, a church that preaches the unadulterated gospel and uses historical liturgy, a swimming pool, kittens, friends in a new town, a husband who works from home....

27. What was your favorite film of this year?

I didn’t see any. I just don’t sit down and watch tv or movies.

 28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 

I turned 45 and we took Hazel and Olive over to Honey’s Pizza (owned by Steve and Amy of Amy’s Ice Cream). Our meal took so long that Steve came over and brought us a bunch of cocktails and comped our meal and sat and visited with us a long time. That was pretty cool. I can’t remember what else happened. 

29. What one thing would have made your year 

immeasurably more satisfying? 

Not having Margaret and Sam so far away

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2020?

Comfy. Retro.

31. What kept you sane? 

Spending time outside 

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

This is not really a public figure but I so enjoyed following Katie at florencerevival as well Lauren Leiss.

33. What political issue stirred you the most? 

Which didn’t? Ugh. There was so much ugliness this year I prefer to not rehash it.

34. Who did you miss? 

The Momfia, Tasha, people in general. Social distancing was hard!

35. Who was the best new person you met in 2020?

Jeannie Ralph! She’s a godsend!

36. Tell us some valuable life lessons you learned in 2020.

That’s a tall order! Enjoy the little ordinary things. These will one day be the things you miss most.

Happy New Year!

A change of plans

A lot has happened since I last blogged seven months ago. Soon after I wrote the last post Brian and I began talking about the idea of moving. William and John were struggling in the high pressure environment at VHS and we had some other concerns with the girls growing up in the community. The Lord had been so good to us in our time in Steiner and brought us so many dear friends ago help us out during some difficult times. We were also stretched to step into leadership roles in church. Even so, we’ve always felt that Steiner was not where we’d live out our days. It was just a stopping point. We had a ten year plan with the idea to reevaluate once John graduated. Here we are seven years in and starting to wonder if God was having us make a change sooner than expected. 

I have a hobby of looking at old homes for sale in Texas and dreaming about what we could do if we owned one. Brian and I enjoy staying in bed and breakfasts and every time we stay in one we look at each other and say “we could do that!” It’s been a little dream of ours for a long time to one day run a b & b or an event venue. Last year I saw a place in Smithville that looked perfect: a large home with five bedrooms and 5 1/2 bathrooms and a separate building with another bedroom and a shop as well as ample attic storage space above the shop. The old house had been moderately updated, at least more than most houses of its age - a hundred sixty years old. The price was high and we weren’t thinking of moving and Smithville was too far for Brian to commute from every day. So I slammed my laptop shut and forgot about it.

So in April Brian has been working from home for a month, the kids have been sitting at home waiting for the school to begin dispensing assignments. Even Margaret is home doing online college classes. My nannying  job that I’d  been holding since August has been suspended due to Covid and we’re all getting a little more than stir crazy at home in our house in a neighborhood full of Karens.  Brian and I began to wonder if we should jump ship earlier than we’d planned. Real estate in our neighborhood is hotter than ever and we’re seeing houses on our street selling for much more than we ever dreamed. One morning out on a run together Brian mentioned he’d been thinking we may want to look into moving sooner than later. As soon as he said it I felt a sense of relief. As much as we’d been blessed in our years of living in this beautiful neighborhood, in many ways it was like a pressure cooker for us. We could never keep up with the Joneses though the pressure and standard was ever present. 

Brian and I both started searching. We knew what we wanted: we’d always dreamed of fixing up an old house, preferably in a small town. Many of the close in towns had been discovered since we’d last looked and we had sticker shock. But also at the same time we began to realize that our home was worth quite a bit more than we’d been thinking and homes were continuing to turn over quickly despite the pandemic. One day a large house popped up that was at the top end of our price range. It looked familiar and as I scrolled through the photos I realized that it was the same one I’d shown Brian a year or so before. Why was it on the market again, or still?? The price had dropped considerably since I’d seen it before and although it was still expensive I determined to take a look at it. 

A week or so later Margaret and the girls and I went to visit some friends out in the country and as we were leaving I told them there was a house I wanted to look at. We drove over to Smithville and found the place. Things are always different than how they appear in real estate listings, and the house both impressed and disappointed me. But no denying I was intrigued. Margaret almost immediately said, “Y’all need to buy it! Do it!” 

I came home and sheepishly told Brian that we’d gone to look at a place and showed it to him. He spent the next week eyeing the lot and surrounding area on google maps and scrolling through the photos. He made an appointment for us to go look at it the next week. 

It was cold, wet, and gloomy the day we drove out. Brian thought the house was interesting but wasn’t sure about the location. It was set on a hill away from the historic downtown and there were some unsightly houses around it. The house itself also had some oddities. We went home a little deflated. 

But I kept feeling that this house was to be ours. I couldn’t quite explain it. It just seemed like God had been keeping it for us for the last year and a half to two years. We made a few  more visits out to view the house before we contracted with a realtor. God began opening so many doors for us from this point on that I am still amazed when I look back. We kept praying through the whole process that if it wasn’t to be God would show us clearly. Instead it seemed that He kept saying “yes”. 

We listed our house May 22, William’s 18th birthday, and had a ridiculous number of showings (20+?) and five offers in the first weekend. We closed on the Smithville house right after Independence Day and moved in the next week. It has been a whirlwind of activity since. We painted most of the interior, we replaced a large window in the girls’ room. We removed carpet on the stairs and in the girls’ room and replaced it with wood-look tile. We replaced bathroom fixtures and toilet parts. We repainted all the exterior lights and metal work flat black (the previous owners had painted everything silver). We planted five pallets of grass. We gutted and remodeled the kitchen. We hung new lights throughout the house. John got a new door. We fenced the whole property with a privacy fence and picket fence. We began stripping the old paint off the porches. We had some trees removed and we put in a pool. It’s hard to believe that we accomplished so much since July. 

God has brought so many new friends into our life that we already feel more connected in this small town than we did after seven years in the other place. We miss our old friends and many things about our old home but it has been made abundantly clear to us that this is where we are supposed to be right now. 

I could say much more, but that’s the basic (unedited or proofread) story of how we got here.