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. 

April 5, 2020

I haven't been blogging here much, but I have been journaling during this crazy time. We have been in quarantine since the week of Spring Break. Brian has been working from home since March 12th. Everything has closed so we stay at home. Brian's work hasn't been impacted. He continues to work from home out in the garage. He has all his monitors set up on the ping pong table. So far things have actually been pretty pleasant. We get out a lot for exercise. I've been taking the girls hiking in the Steiner Trails. We've done a lot of art, we're making our way through Anne of Avonlea. I print off work sheets as I find them to keep the girls busy. The school district has only provided enrichment material up until this week, but from here on out it will provide assignments and work on a pass/fail basis.
I've enjoyed having Brian home. We have learned to love each other in a deeper way and we deal with each other's annoying habits and learn patience. I am so grateful for him.

Well, Sam entered the fleet as a US Marine yesterday. He was very apprehensive about starting his new job, but ended up being pleasantly surprised at how accommodating the officers and NCOs were and how thoroughly they explained everything. He now has just one roommate instead of 2 or 30 or 80 as he's had, well, his whole life. I think he'll like 29 Palms. The desert seems to suit Samuel.

I watched Sawyer yesterday. Brian worked from home so we could put out fires, so to speak, around here. So many parenting issues to deal with! Margaret was having a breakdown because she's had too much on her plate and school has been neglected leading to a full on panic attack last week on her way to class. She wanted us to whip her back into shape and help her reorder her life. William was struggling emotionally and making statements that greatly concerned us and friends and that needed addressing ASAP. John is still struggling with anxiety and is missing classes. Sam was stressed about his transition to 29 Palms and needed lots of reassurance. It was a lesson in dependence on the Lord. We spent a lot of time in prayer and God graciously answered! By the end of the day everyone was in a better state, except maybe John, who we never got around to talking to.

I have Bible study this morning. We're studying 1 Thessalonians. It's been good to get together to look into God's word, but I've been a little disappointed with the amount of time spent chit-chatting and wish we'd spend more time digging in. Tasha is attending and we're in the same group. So fun to see her weekly! Even though we're besties and live about a mile from each other, we rarely see each other because of our busy lives. The Bible study group is meeting for lunch at Galaxy Cafe afterwards but I think I'll pass. Since I work Tuesdays-Thursdays-Fridays, I really need Wednesday afternoons to run errands before I get the girls at school.

I ordered a new bed for Brian and I, a mid-century style platform bed. It is supposed to arrive today.

I've grown a little lazy with my running lately. I've been getting in a lot of walking though. I walk the girls to and from school every day and then get in extra walking or running after I drop them off. On the days I watch Sawyer I also take him walking, so I'm averaging about 27,000 steps a day. I'd really like to get back to running so I don't lose my stamina and have to start all over once it's time to start marathon training again. We're planning to run the Vern's 5K next weekend.

Brian and I still struggle with whether we should continue to worship at Hill Country Bible or find another church. There are several things we find disturbing about the way they do things, but we aren't sure if they're grounds for leaving and either returning to Redeemer or finding another body of believers to worship with. Hill Country has been a blessing and it is the only church that meets within our neighborhood, and they do preach the gospel, even if we may disagree on whether or not they rightly divide the Word of Truth. William is going to start attending Austin Stone with Margaret. He much prefers it to HCBC.

I'm off to make lunches for all these people.

Thursday, March 5

My habit is to run after I drop the girls off for school. I was on my merry way when William texted me that he had missed the bus. Instead of my usual fives miles, I turned back toward home thinking I would have just enough time to drive him over to VHS and get back for my day job. When I came in view of our house I suddenly remembered that Brian had take my car over to Firestone this morning for an oil change and I wouldn't have it back till the evening. Thankfully Jana came through and said she could take William. It sure is nice to have Brian's sister and her husband nearby. I never dreamed we'd become so close to them. Most of the time I've known Jana and then Michael, they have lived far from us but about two years ago they moved to our neighborhood when Michael was hired as the worship pastor at our church. We spend a lot of time with them now either serving in ministry together or just hanging out.

My house is clean today. I've got all the shades raised and I wiped down the windows yesterday. The sun is shining in and all my plants are saying hallelujah!