Goodbyes have Begun

When I thought of saying goodbye to family and friends what I envisioned in my head was me being a snotty, slobbery, freaky-mascara, emotional mess.

We still have several goodbyes to go. So that will probably all still come true.

But we've said some goodbyes already. When Bek and Kev came to Texas at the beginning of January, we got to spend lots of time soaking up their awesomeness. Our kids soaked up time with Bekah and Kevin and still can't figure out why we can't just jump over to North Carolina to "see them real quick."


Prayers were said.


Then the kids were off to bed...and will sleep many many nights before seeing their Uncle Kevin and Aunt Bekah again.
We hugged their necks goodbye around midnight that night, no tears shed, just looking forward to the next time together.

Then last weekend we had some friends from our time at SEBTS visit us from their new home in OK! Waking up in the same home together, emptying the dishwasher together, and polishing off a dozen donuts together brings true friends even closer! right?!


Eden and Lily have been best buds since they were itty bitty. And my awesome friend is too cool for school and bought them matching outfits. They were far too enthusiastic about their time outdoors for a photo shoot...so here's a not-so-great-but-still-cute picture of the girls being all matchy-matchy.


Then on Saturday afternoon, necks were hugged, waves were waved goodbye, and off they drove. Without even a tear shed.

But the beauty of the goodbyes wasn't the missing sobs or the mascara still in place. The beauty of the goodbyes came hours before any goodbyes were said.
Being encouraged, spurred on, admonished, challenged, and above all, prayed over is what made the goodbyes so wonderful. Perhaps what made them tear free. (well, that and the promise that we'll get to see them on the other side of the ocean!) Because saying goodbye to people that are happy to see us go because they want to see us following after what Christ wants for our family, is so encouraging. It makes it easier to go. It makes us want to go.

Goodbyes are still hard. And just because I didn't cry when I hugged my sister's neck, doesn't mean that I haven't since then!

But I praise the Lord for family and friends that eagerly say goodbye to us because they know who we're following.

Mug Shot

Brandon and I usually aren't total procrastinators. Well, Brandon's usually not. He's pretty on the ball about most things.
But the other night he looked over at me and said:
                   "Oh yeah!! We need to get Salem a passport!!"

Might be helpful if we're moving overseas.

First step: Mug Shot.

Why we didn't take him out of his jammies first, I'm not sure. He'll forever be jammie-fied in his first passport. Guess that's what we get for not totally being on the ball on this one...and for doing our passport photos in our own home.

Second: Head to the local post office to turn in necessary paperwork.
It's REEEE-diculous the amount of paperwork required for that sort of thing. (not to mention the cost!)

Third:  Answer Post-Office-Lady-Stranger's questions about said passport.
I think people think we're weird applying for a passport for our 1.5 year old. When she realized Salem was the only one applying for one that day, she looked at Eden and said, "Wow, little world traveler, huh?!"  Then we told her she was born overseas. That automatically put us in the Big League of Weirdos.

Fourth: Wait patiently for passport to arrive before our moving date.
Really, I think we've got plenty of time before it gets here. They said 4-6 weeks. We're supposed to leave in 6-ish weeks. eh, I'm not worried.

Plus, just makes the anticipation that much more fun!!
oh the joys of procrastination!

Friday Foto

more to come from our winter wonderland...

Learn Something New Every Day

I'm going to let you all in on a little secret. Something most of you probably never knew. Maybe you don't care to know.

I'm not real sure exactly at what age this first happened to me. My parents might be able to say. Although, maybe they've lost track.

The most recent occurrence happened this morning.

I was doing dishes. The kids were playing together without screaming, and I was trying to get a few things done. I was scrubbing away on a pizza pan when I stuck my hand into the water and gashed open my finger on our apparently way-too-sharp knife. When I pulled my hand out of the water I already knew what had happened, but instinctively still looked to examine the damage. (mistake #1) Blood plus watery hands from doing dishes made my cut finger look drenched in blood.
I grabbed the closest dish towel and headed toward the bathroom to keep Eden from coming over and freaking out. The throbbing finger, the blood slowly draining from my body (ok...maybe I wasn't bleeding THAT bad), and the thought of it all got to me before I realized I needed to lay down. Next thing I know, I'm waking up on the bathroom floor.

I fainted.

I'm that mommy at home alone with her two kids, that passed out from a cut finger.

Lord help us if something ever happens to my kids and I'm the one that has to be responsible for getting them to the hospital.

Fainting is one of those things that has happened to me so often that I can usually feel it coming on and can lay down quick enough to make it go away.

Of course there was that one time when I was in labor with Salem and they were giving me an IV and I was laying down ALREADY....and I passed out.

Oh and that time I was getting a flu shot in a room full of people and made it to the bed in time to pass out. Really freaked out all the four year olds waiting for their turn.

And there was that one time where I thought I could be a physical therapist so I interned for a day (yes, only made it the ONE day) and while a lady was explaining her knee replacement surgery for me...I passed out.

And the time that I tore my ACL jumping hurdles during track practice one day...and passed out.

When visiting friends or family in the hospital, it's not uncommon for me to have to leave their room because I start getting queasy.  If I ever visit you in the hospital and faint next to your hospital bed, yeah, don't take it personal. :)

Have I ever given blood? Of course not. Am I crazy?! Though I did have my blood drawn last week for my doc appointment and didn't even get light-headed. I was so proud of myself! :)

So there's no real theme here. It's not just blood. It's not just needles. It's not completely psychological.

.......and on that note...... I better go lay down.  :)