I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...in April?

As I’ve been organizing pictures from the last 6 months, I’ve not only realized how quickly my kids have grown and changed, but also how much I haven’t been able to process or reflect upon LIFE while I’ve been in school. So much time was consumed with keeping up on homework or trying to keep my house from falling into utter chaos that I didn’t stop to remember my struggles and joys or reflect on what God has done. I don’t want those moments in time to slip through my fingers. I want to go back and think about our journey as a family and my own personal growth. It goes AGAINST every fiber in my being to be out of chronological order, but oh well! (I am such a CONCRETE/SEQUENTIAL person that I even drive myself a little crazy!)


Going home to ND always brings with it mixed feelings. I love my parents dearly, but I find myself not really knowing how each visit will go. Sometimes it is sweet fellowship with my parents, and other times our time together can be filled with such dysfunction! (I’m sure other families go through the same thing at holiday gatherings.)


Christmas this past year was pretty crazy. My brother and his wife had to stay at home in Grand Forks and study/work (they are both working and going to school full time), but two of my nieces and nephew came to my parent’s house while we were there. The children outnumbered the adults 5 to 4. It was pretty chaotic at times to say the least.


I love ALL of my nieces and nephew, but because we don’t get to see them very often, they often monopolize our time and don’t give us much of a break. So between five children ages 17 months to 11 years and all the cooking and special activities, it was a pretty exhausting time for me and Brad.


But the kids had SO MUCH FUN together! Brad and I even had a couple really good conversations with my parents, and Mom and Dad watched ALL the kids so Brad and I could have a night out.


No matter what “going home” entails, I am always so glad that I do have a family to go home to. Despite the many ups and downs I have (almost weekly) with my parents, God placed me in their family, and I know that He is good, sovereign, and in control. He knows best, and I’m glad I can trust Him in the good AND in the hard times.

Life after grad school...

I have been ignoring my blog for over 2 months now. (If this blog was a close, personal friend of mine, she would have given up on me weeks ago!) There are a variety of reasons for this...grad school, children, housework, grad school, youth group students, trip to Florida, grad school, ministry, house construction, grad school... But I am a short 11 days away from my final presentation in Marshall, and about 3 pages shy of completing my massive action-research paper. The end is in sight! But after 2 years of work and reading and papers, it's hard for me to grasp that I will be laying aside my teacher "hat" once again.

This morning at the YMCA, I ran into a friend who had recently read my blog (from February...thank heavens she didn't realize how long ago I had written that post!). My first thought was, "people actually read my blog?" (and I know this is true, but I've sorta forgotten it since I haven't made the time to update it...and I've sorta forgotten all about it as well.) My second thought was, "what had I written again?" Then I realized that it had been about my on-going struggle to fit in. And two months later, the struggle is still very real. And especially over the last few months, I have not been able to nurture friendships, play dates, or other couple time due to my incredible study load. THAT will change very soon!!!

So what will life after grad school (or LAGS as I affectionately call it) look like? Hopefully I will get back to posting about my life and my kids on a MORE regular basis. I hope to get into a more regular "pre-school" routine and design a curriculum for Sammy. I want my house to be cleaned REGULARLY every week. I want to have more dates with my husband. I want to spend more time with my girlfriends in Brainerd and in the Twin Cities. I want to read FOR FUN!!!

But most of all, I want to be thankful....thankful for a WONDERFUL husband who has been with our children for 20 weekends and countless study nights over the last two years for me to have this opportunity...thankful for what I have learned and how I have been able to pass on that knowledge to so many others...thankful for a place to be a "teacher" again and know FULLY that God is NOT wasting this time I am setting aside to be at home with my children...thankful to know that I CAN be a student again...thankful that I haven't lost my desire to learn and grow as a professional.

And after being thankful, I hope to wildly celebrate my graduate experience and LAGS!