What it looks like

So we have gone to pick up Mitch's parents a few times from their trips to Mexico. I remember seeing the entire flight of people coming through the arrival gates looking tanned, sun bleached, and in unbelievably good moods for just having come off of a 6+ hour flight. I remember wondering what magical place they had just been to, which seas they had dipped their feet into, and what the beaches smelled like. I stared at them in jealousy and wondered what it would feel like to go to a place like that.

Well...

it feels like this:


and this:




and this:




We spent an amazing 7 days in the Mayan Riviera which I will never forget. The beaches were divine, the sun shone bright every day, and the fresh salsa did not disappoint.

Now back to reality...

when...

You know you've been doing a lot of house budgeting in Excel when...

I was trying to decide which necklaces to buy from a website I like and the thought crossed my mind "I should make a list in Excel. I bet that would help".

Stressed but blessed

"Jos, I can't talk you down from the ledge every single day of this process" is what my husband said to me the other night as I was stressing out of my mind over yet more building issues. Point taken. I aim to be cool, calm, and collected until the house is done. Everyone who knows me knows that this is completely and entirely realistic.

ahem.

We are in a whirlwind of activity right now. We are getting our house ready for sale, which means keeping it clean at all times. Everyone who knows me knows that this is completely and entirely realistic. I'm trying so hard not to stress about the sale, knowing that we just have to give this one over to God. We have also been given a pretty huge opportunity recently that we have to decide if we're going to take. I can't say details right now, but it would be a pretty major life change. Life feels so up in the air right now that I keep glancing warily upwards in case it all falls on top of me. We are moving forward hanging onto phrases like "I hope", "probably", and "maybe this will work out". At least they're all positive, right?

Oh, life. Thanks for never being boring.

Pardon the memories

One year ago today I woke up from having maybe 3 hours of sleep all night, uncurled my stiff self from the cot on the hospital floor, and comforted my sad hungry boy all covered in wires because he wasn't able to nurse before his surgery. I handed my son over to surgical hands promising to be capable to fix what I could not. I watched them carry him into the first of two surgeries to mend his heart. I sat in a fog in the waiting room for 2 hours with my husband and mother in law. I was the first one in the recovery room to see Tyler still unconscious and quiet. I held his hand as he woke up and prayed over him constantly. I sat in his hospital room in tears of confusion waiting to hear if we would be air lifted to Edmonton. I heard the doctors say "successful procedure" and tell me we could go home for a few days before the open heart surgery in Edmonton. I prayed desperate prayers alongside my husband that we would survive this. One year ago today I placed Tyler in God's hands promising to be capable of fixing what I could not.