New Year's Resolution 2015

I realize that it is past New Year's Day, but I have been sick and somewhat out of it lately, so today I will write my letter. My thought is to write a letter each year with my goals for the year and then at the end of the year, read that same letter and see how I did on my resolution. I will try to remember to update this page as the year progresses, but I can't guarantee anything.

Dear 2016 Self,
2014 was a year of adjustments. We are down to two kids at home. (The others have moved on with their adult life.) So, we are in a home that has become too much for us. I find myself frustrated with cleaning. Once I get finished, I have to start all over again. Understand that I have yet to get the entire house cleaned in one day. It just seems that piles of stuff show up to be picked up. So, with my frustration level at an all time high, one goal that I have for 2015 is to down-size. I want to down-size the amount of stuff we have and the amount of space we have in which to hold the stuff. I am not sure where we will end up living, which town specifically, but my goal is to be in a different home. Something more practical and manageable for our lifestyle. In order to accomplish this, there are some tough decisions that need to be made. First, do we buy out-of-town, or in town? If we buy out-of-town, do we rent an apartment here or buy a fifth wheel to live in for 2015-2016? So many variables and so little control. So, I will leave that up to God. Wherever He puts us is where we will be

I hope that in 2016 I have better relationships with my 20 year old. Right now we are struggling with how this new relationship should be. He sees it one way, I see it another. I guess we are learning this new, uncharted territory for us. I just hope that something gives. I pray that I learn how to let go with grace. And I pray that he can hold on with grace. I guess we will have to learn this new relationship together.

I will also be taking steps to continue my personal story growth. I will learn how to let go and let God. I need to continue my healing process. However, I need to make sure that the steps I am taking are the appropriate steps.

Some items that I will be improving on:
- Delivering birthday cards to all family members on their birthdays
- Christmas shopping done by September 1
- Create a savings account (and put money into it)
- Create a producing garden
- Keep up with our household plan
- Be ready the day before
- Have lesson plans ready two weeks out

Now for the biggest goals for the next year... these are things that I am not going to specifically formulate a plan for, but things that I would love to have happen. I would like to be debt-free. By that I mean out of unsecured debt. I would like to have a profitable business. I would like to loose the last 50 pounds that I picked up along the years.

Summer Vacation 2013

Summer has officially arrived in our world. This year will be the last year with all the kids in tow. Now that the boys are adults, they will (after this year) be responsible for their own summer fun. Every year we talk about and plan a lengthy road trip. We scout the maps, use MapQuest to decide the best routes, save up money, and then something happens. There is football camp, or summer camp, or continuing education, or college classes, or other vacations going on that seem to take over the summers and before you know it, the summer is over. So, with diligent efforts, we will be leaving this area for final "whole family" vacation. Pictures to be posted soon!

What are your plans? I hope that you all spend time making those important family memories. May your scrapbook become overloaded with great stories to be told for generations to come!

June 11, 2013        

We left for our six-week road trip today. Finally! It was difficult trying to decide what was important and what was the “fluff”. I guess we will learn what the necessities are during the next six weeks. We suspect that this will be a lesson of various objectives. First, we will be living in a 27 foot fifth wheel. (Did I mention there are no tip-outs?) So, space will be limited and nerves will become very short. The question is, how long will that take? 

We are grateful that we don’t have many definite plans. With the exception that we need to be in South Dakota by the 5^th of July to pick up the oldest boys at the airport, we are on no time frames. I have never been good with uncertainty, so this will be a lesson for me.

As we prepared to leave, the youngest daughter was the proud owner of the flu. She had it two days before we left, then got rid of it the next day (or so we thought). The day we were pulling out, guess who got sick, AGAIN! She was a true trooper. We asked her if we should wait at home until she was completely better, and she said no. She traveled so well, I am a little embarrassed to say, but she probably did better than I ever have!

On the first night we stayed at Canyon Point Campground just outside of Forest Lakes, AZ. We didn’t make it far, but at least we were out the heat! Some of us ate hot dogs and others ate soup. Then after dinner we watched a movie called Series of Unfortunate Events and ate pumpkin bread muffins. The kids and the parents settled in for a nice, cool, long nap.

 

June 12, 2013

So, we were up bright and early this morning. Mady was feeling much better, but now Naythan was taking his turn with the flu. Poor kid, he really had a harsh case, worse that Mady. He too was a trooper! We continued on with our trip and he rested (with the help of Dramamine).

We didn’t have plans for where to stay tonight. Actually, the original plan was to stay the night in Oklahoma, but with Naythan sick, we didn’t want to push traveling too hard. Dad recommended we stay at a truck stop, said it was cheep and they were everywhere so we wouldn’t have trouble finding a spot. So, we found a spot just outside of Santa Rosa, New Mexico. 

June 13, 2013

The truck stop idea worked well until a semi parked next to us. He/she blocked our air flow and the air brake was beyond annoying. I barely slept because of the consistent air brake release and the sweltering weather. So, dragging ourselves out of bed at 5:00am, we set off for Oklahoma. Next stop would be Amarillo, Texas.

 

In Texas we stopped to eat breakfast because it was 11:00 in the morning. We ate at Panda Express (healthy breakfast, right?) and went across the street to Wal-Mart and got some stuff for the trailer. After Wal-Mart we stopped off at a laundromat where we had some laundry to wash (from the sick ones) and we needed to eat. We met a nice lady there who said that she had visited Phoenix and really liked it. Makes you wonder if she visited during the summer? She told us about her son that lived in Clinton, Oklahoma. She said we should be in Oklahoma in about three hours. She was close on the time estimate, and maybe had we not been pulling our fifth wheel combined with the high winds, we may have been close. About three and a half hours later we arrived in Foss, Oklahoma. That was of coarse after our traditional stop at the state sign for our picture ops.

It has been a long day, but we finally arrived at camp (Foss Lake State Park). According to the park information, Foss Lake is the largest lake in Oklahoma. There weren’t that many people here, but maybe that is because it is a Thursday? I made a simple dinner of frozen lasagna. The park host was kind enough to tell us about an ice cream shop in town, and everyone knows how my family LOVES ice cream, so after dinner, we were off!

 

It was a beautiful drive through Clinton, OK. Farm fields everywhere! Some gorgeous houses! We had the most delicious ice cream at a restaurant called Braums. It wouldn’t take long for this to become our new favorite place. J

June 14, 2013

The day turned extremely muggy, humidity is obviously high. No use in showering, while you stand here dripping. We looked for some type of water activity. We did find a water park, but they obviously really like their water park, as it was ridiculously overpriced. So, we started to use our noodles and found a city pool (via the assistance of a nice clerk at the convenience store). While the pool wasn’t resort worthy (the AJ city looks like Scottsdale compared to this one), it did have a slide that everyone partook of. Thankfully, the pool cooled us off and we were able to make it through the day. We prayed that the air conditioner on the trailer (we borrowed from my sister) has cooled off the trailer enough to be able to stand it.

When we arrived at the trailer, we found that the a/c had really cooled off the trailer (PTL). The dinner menu consisted of steak and veggies, however tonight there would be no ice cream trip. Instead I surprised the kids with banana cream pudding (a treat that EVERYONE of my kids has loved since the first time I have made it). We ended the evening watching a movie called Flight Plan, and then we were off fish. Mom and dad spent a few hours relaxing and fishing (we both caught some fish). It seems strange that at 9:30pm it is still light outside!

July 15, 2013

Well, today was the day we planned to move on to our next location, but where? Well, Lloyd found this website that listed free RV spots all over the United States. I know what you’re thinking, dumps, but I am just cheap enough we gave it a try! We made our way to El Reno, Oklahoma. We figured this was close enough to Oklahoma City, Ok that we could easily get back and forth between the two towns for sight seeing and all. The RV site was in the parking lot of a casino. I know, I know, it sounds horrible, but look at the pics, it’s really not bad! We even had full hook-ups! Plus, they gave us credits to use in their establishment. So, in reality, they paid us to stay here. The weather is warm, and a little muggy, but we will march on through this!

 

Because we arrived so late in El Reno (we really had to go slow with the winds pushing us all over the place on the interstate) we didn’t have time to go do a lot of sight seeing. We did however, travel down to Moore, Oklahoma. As we drove through the town, we were left speechless. The damage is indescribable! Here we were in the middle of this tornado destroyed zone. I can only imagine what the people were thinking/feeling as they hunkered down in their storm shelters waiting for the storm to pass. As we walked the site of the second school (we learned later that there was a different school that was hit first, but because there were no deaths, there wasn’t as much media attention given to it), the mood was somber. There were seven crossed on the site of the elementary school, one for each one of the children who perished that fateful day.

As we walked around, we were able to look inside of the storm shelters. We were able to

 see the houses, some of them were merely the concrete foundation and others there were some walls still standing. The most amazing part of this walk was the fact that not all the houses in the path were gone. One would be nothing but the foundation, but the house next door would just have roof damage (or so it appeared). Cars were crushed, laying in the middle of a living room. Glass and debris were everywhere.

We wanted to volunteer, but there was a bunch of red tape that we would have to go through first. The town was having issues with people digging through the rubble to find treasure that they would steal in the hopes of selling for a profit at a later date. I can’t imagine the thoughts of someone trying to profit off of another person’s misery. (But this is America, and I guess in more ways that one we do that on a daily basis.) The worst part for our family is that because of someone else’s bad choices, we are not able to help in a timely manner.

As we left Moore, the lesson that became very clear to me is to not attach yourself to things. Those things can be gone in an instance. Attach yourself to the memories, keep those in a safe place in your heart. When the day comes that you must face your own storm, you won’t have to worry about loosing them. Think about it, what would happen today if you house literally blew away? Instead of leaving this work with a bunch of stuff, leave a legacy that can’t be destroyed by weather (or anything else). Leave a strong, faith-ground family that will leave the same (or even stronger) legacy of their own.

July 16, 2013

Today was the day that the kids were overly excited for. We promised them an amusement park, and so they got their wish. They had two choices. One was an amusement park with roller coaster rides and a small water area, The other was sickly a water park. The kids chose the first. So, we headed off to Frontierland, a Six Flags park. I think the park left a lot to be desired by all of us. There weren’t a lot of rides, and the water section was small. We did ride some roller coasters (even I did, and with my habit of getting motion sickness easily, I did well). The kids had a good time, they seemed to enjoy the park. They even enjoyed the water area. It was a great way to cool off when things got too humid!  

 

June 17, 2013

Today was the day we set aside to view the Softball National Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma City Memorial. Our first stop was at the ASA Softball National Hall of Fame, the place where all the rules of the little league come from. I learned today the difference between pitching when I was in high school and pitching for today’s high school girls’ team. It was amazing to look at the last 100 years of softball (ok, maybe less than that). Mady was really excited to see memorabilia from players who we have watched play on TV.

The last stop for today was at the site of the Oklahoma City Bombing. While this site was somber, there were some amazing features. First, what was the street where the bomber drove up is now a pool of water. At one end of what was the street, there is an archway (where you enter). On the arch, there is the time stamped 9:01. (The picture is the back side of the arch. For whatever reason, I forgot to photograph the other side of the arch.)

 

On the far end of what was the street is another arch, and stamped on it is 9:03.

According to the park ranger, the bomb detonated at 9:02. So, 9:01 represents what was, For instance, people getting ready for work, driving into work, dropping off their kids, etc. At 9:02 their world would change forever. There would be nothing of the “normal” from 9:01 or earlier. At 9:03 the new “normal” began, and more importantly, the healing began. So, as you leave the last arch, you go into a new world, with a new understanding, to create a new “normal”. How unthinkable that is just a few short minutes, lives would be completely and forever changed. To me it is unthinkable. There are so many questions. Why? Why didn’t one of the conspirators stop this before it was too late? Why didn’t he know that he parked that truck right under the daycare center? Seems like someone as a society we missed the ques. Maybe there were none to miss. Whatever the case it, April 19, 1995 will forever be one of the events that will forever be remembered in American history.

June 18, 2013

Today we landed in Marion, Kansas. Quaint little town, with buildings that are older than any I have seen around home. This has to be where The Andy Griffith Show was taped. Well, maybe that isn’t the most historically correct statement, but this place is a close look-a-like!

 

We stayed at Cottonwood Point Campground. This is a park developed by the CORPS. It is a nice park, with hookups, facilities with running/flushing water, and a great view! Check it out!

We spent the next five nights here. We had only planned to stay four nights, but due to an unforeseen accident, mom was not ready to travel until a day later than arranged. You see, my wonderful husband tried to give me a gift. I have always wanted a hammock that I could lay in when we were camping. What a great place to lay are read and enjoy the coolness that is the forest. Well, he found a hammock, found two perfect trees, and arranged it so that I would be able to lay for hours in silence. When he (and the kids) got it done, I proceeded to lay it in. Needless to say, that in a matter of seconds, the plastic ring that held it to the tree and the hammock broke. The board to the hammock slammed me in the head and the entire contraption went straight to the ground. My back, which up until this point has been doing remarkably well, went into spasms almost immediately. So, unable to travel, we postponed our departure for a day. I guess this is one of those times that you need to be thankful for not having definite plans. 

Right now in Kansas it seems to be wheat and corn season. Everywhere you go this is plenty of both. Today, June 22, 2013, we were able to watch some farmers as they began to harvest their wheat. Talk about work-a-holics. It’s Saturday for goodness sake. I guess for farmers there must be no such thing as weekends off. Wonder if they take Sunday off?

 

While we were at Walmart (needed to replenish our supplies) we were soon aware that it must be the shopping day for the locale Mennonite families. The kids were excited to see “Amish people” walking around Walmart. Funny, I had just done some studies on Mennonite versus Amish so I was able to enlighten them on the differences, or at least the ones that I knew about. Many times I have wondered if that is the life we are suppose to lead. I tell you, with this road trip, I am learning the difference between necessity and indulgence. I think that the Mennonite (and even some Amish) may be living right. If only we could rely less on the indulgent things in our world. I wonder how long my kids could go with that lifestyle.

We also had a movie date with the kids. The boys went to see Man of Steel and the girls saw Monsters University. It was fun to break apart for awhile and let each of the kids pick their own movie.

Kansas is really a beautiful state. The humidity I could do without, but I suppose if I had a house here, with real A/C, I wouldn’t really care about the humidity. We did find a house here that we love. Too bad there are too many things that hold us to Arizona. Maybe we could look at retiring here? Who knows. 

Tomorrow (June 23, 2013) we will travel to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This will be the longest part of the trip (the most miles at once). Praying that the kids will handle it well, or at least not kill each other on the way there.

 

We arrived in Lenox. South Dakota. We were blessed to be able to be “put up” for the night at a cousin’s cabin. Now, every time they talked about putting us up at a “cabin” they made it sound as though it were a little shed type building, nothing spectacular. However, when we arrived here, we were in for a huge surprise. This place is amazing!

The kids have enjoyed hanging with their cousins, James (4) and Ashton (3). They have had movie nights and have spent time swimming in the pond. They have also learned all about paddle boats and floating docks. It has been an amazing time for them!

We also had a family outing to the Falls. These falls were once used to power Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Many, many years ago.

The next day we had the opportunity to surprise my grandpa at a local restaurant. He was speechless. Actually, at first I was wondering if he recognized me at all. It was awesome! He had no idea our family was in town. The waitress at the restaurant took their drink order and I delivered the drinks. He was totally surprised. 

During dinner we made plans to go to the Sioux Falls Zoo with my grandpa. It has been years!!!!! The kids made friends!

 

We had a great time. This was definitely a time I will always remember. How often does your 90 year old grandpa go to the zoo with you????