Finding My Way

Well we have officially been Arizona residents for 1 month.  We are now in that process of "digging in" and finding our place out here in the desert.  I think this week has really been a boost for me on many fronts.  The biggest of which has been finding a MOPS group to be a part of.  I cannot say enough about MOPS.  It is a life saver, life giver and life empowerer (yeah, that's not a word).  You get the picture, it is like the life blood for a SAHM. You never know what you are missing until you go to a playdate with a bunch of kids running around (just like your kids) and wrestling with obedience (whew my kids aren't the only naughty ones) and their mothers attempting conversation while changing a diaper with one hand, nursing with the other and having a debate with their 3 year old in between asking you about your day.  Its Glorious. Yes........these are my people!  Real women in real motherhood really doing it together.  Such a needed place for me right now.

Having IRONMAN to focus on has also been such a life breather for me lately.  I have gotten involved with the Arizona TRI Club and have met so many awesome people. Triathloning may be an individual race, but it is most definitely a team sport!  Last weekend I did and open water swim and a 4 mile run with a lady I had just met! Last Monday I did a bicycle ride with another wanna be triathlete that I met at the open water swim.  The community is huge and I LOVE that I am a part of it.  I will do another Journey to IRONMAN post soon, but I am ready for my 70.3.  IRONMAN....I'm coming for you!

My photography business has been on a bit of a hiatus as I begin again the process of being known.  I trust that the Lord will bless it and am using this time to focus on building my Jamberry team and spending the time I am not training with my girls.  I inevitably will get myself busy again and so I am trying to embrace this time of semi quiet and accept it as a Divine blessing.  The bills will get paid, the finances will even out and I will find my busy, but for now I will love on my girls.

 And good thing too because this little thing?  She is TROUBLE.  Capital T kind of trouble.  That great quote about being little and fierce?  Sums up Evie Frances quite well.  Good Lord if she makes it to adulthood and I'm not crazy it will be a WIN!

Evie was so proud of her picture......on my wall.

Its a new day, a new week and about to be a new month.  Maybe just maybe its time for a new me.  A me that's more joyful and less melancholly, a me that's more hopeful and less cynical, a me that embraces the excitement of the future rather than wishes on the past.  I'm finding my way and maybe, just maybe this month of May is for me.

My Lily Lu photographed this one!  She has potential!

Waiting on the Lord

Have you ever found yourself in a place of expectation?  A place of waiting and hoping and wanting to believe in something great?  This expectant place can be one of really pure joy or it can be laced with a thread of doubt.  I have found myself in both places and I find myself there again.

I think at one point or another we all have joked about wishing we could look into our future to see what lies in store.  We don't really want to do that, cause lets face it, some futures are far better off not knowing, but the waiting and wondering and being expectant thing is sometimes a rather big burden to carry through life.

The weight of life right now is really stretching us and challenging us.  Especially me.  I miss Colorado, I miss Memaw and Papa, I miss my running buddy and my MOPS group.  I miss my photography clients and the booming business that I was just beginning to step into.  I miss knowing where the mall playground is (and not having to traipse all over the place to find it).  I miss my playdates and my friends, the people that know me by name and call me or text me to get together.  I am very grateful for the few friends I still have here in AZ and for the new friends I am slowly making, but everything is new.....again. Even the grocery store is overwhelming right now.  It is laid out all different.  I have missed so many things on my list because I don't know where it is and my child or children are "all done" with the grocery store.  Frankly after 10 minutes searching for lemon juice I am all done too.

Its hard to uproot and reroot......again.  It's a process and its hard. I don't care who you are, change is difficult.  There are so many metaphors and fabulous ways to look at change, but no matter how you look at it, change causes growth and growing pains can be really painful.

I admit it.....I am waiting for the Lord to show up.  To add to all of our moving is the reality of financial burdens we really were not planning for.  Remember that hospital visit?  Our insurance company is refusing payment.  Or how about taxes?  This year we owed.  How about having to pay 3 school registration fees between Lily's old school, new school and enrollment for next year?  And new permanent health insurance?  Ouch.  I dread going to our mailbox lately.  Bob and I concur....being an adult stinks.  It's so expensive.

I have found myself daily saying, "Lord, please show up.  I don't know how exactly, but this is one of those times where I need to see you and know with confidence that we are not alone."

And He Does.....

In this time of transition with my photography business I have been really working my Jamberry Business.  I am in the beginning Fast Start period and can make bonuses if I hit certain monthly milestones.  I have been praying for help to make it happen this month and yesterday morning, I hit it!  God showed up and I am so grateful.

My heart will continue to wait on the Lord hoping and praying for abundant life in Arizona.

Journey to IRONMAN: 8 more weeks

It's in 8 weeks people!  My IRONMAN 70.3 is less than 2 months away and while I am so excited and ready, I am still a little overwhelmed with the reality that it is HERE!  IRONMAN is becoming more and more popular these days so you have to sign up for these events almost a YEAR in advance.  It's funny how easy it is to sign up, and how hard it is prepping yourself to actually do it.  I'm gonna do it......and its in 8 weeks.

Moving threw a monkey wrench in my training schedule.  There are only so many things that a person can stress about and the perfect training regimen had to take a backseat to the all consuming task of moving our household to another state.  The Colorado weather was also a little tricky to navigate as well considering the cold temps and on and off snow.  As of a week and a half ago I was back at it and in full training mode!  My biggest concern to date has been the cycling.  Its the longest event and I am just not completely comfortable on a bike.  I am happy to say that after a 54 mile ride, 45 mile ride and a 30+ ride I am feeling more and more confident.

Now I am working on getting the nutrition thing nailed down.  I will admit, I tend to be an emotional eater and with all of the changes and the fact that I miss my extended family and my running buddy, I have been consuming many a cookie and a plethora of Easter candy.  It's not been my finest hour and the other morning I woke up feeling horrible because I had binged on Runts (anyone remember those?) the night before.  I refuse to come down on myself too hard though, because lets face it.....moving is hard, but I have got to get back into healthy fueling if I am going to keep my body going full speed for 6+ hours in June.

I am so glad to be in AZ for this training time though because I get to workout early in the morning without having to worry about my girls.  It has taken some getting used to, but I love rising around 5 and being out in the city at 5:30.  It is hopping at that hour especially for athletic minded people like myself.  I am growing my confidence on my bike and am now trying to master how you ride and eat/drink all at the same time.  I was going uphill the other day and I needed fuel.  I swerved into the sand on the side of the road while trying not to litter and within 2 seconds found myself tipped over.  Thankfully I was going slow already and it wasn't a big issue, but really?  This cannot happen in my 70.3.  I'd be laughed off the course!

I just finished my first big brick workout where I combined all 3 events!  It was really fun to connect with other triathletes and finish our training courses.  I really felt accomplished today when I finished all my events feeling awesome!

I am so glad that I still have 8 weeks of work left, but I am getting excited for this race.  Just think in two months  I will have done it and will then have my sights set on the 140.6.  One step at a time.....I will be IRONMAN.

22 Months

Oh Man everyone, she's growing up......FAST.  Evie is 22 months today.  I thought I had all of this time right after we moved to get this blog together.  I finally had the presence of mind to get my big camera out yesterday for some shots and am overwhelmed that the 11th is here.....and leaving quickly.  Our little Bee is growing up.

And look how beautifully.......

Our little Evie Frances is unbelievably joyful.  It's practically measurable.  She wakes up, eats, plays, hugs and giggles with her whole body.  Right now she loves to give "skishy uggs" (squishy hugs).  These hugs are a happy place for me.  Evie literally wraps her arms all the way around my neck and squeezes with all her might.  All while making this little grunting sound.  I cannot tell you how much they delight me!

Evie has been such a trooper through this moving process.  She is so flexible and remains the ever willing one.  She loves to play in the car (go figure) and I couldn't help but capture her little ragamuffiny self while she played last night.  She crawls all over with her sister, pushing that button and turning that knob.  I am confident that I am going to wake up one day to a dead battery because one of my girls has left a light on.  Evie also knows where I keep my special stash of emergency animal crackers and oh you should see the pride on her little face when she discovers them and I quite literally find her with her hand in the cookie jar.  She sqrunches up her nose and makes the most mischievous Evie face I can imagine.  Makes me want to smother her in kisses.

Evie is talking in full out sentences these days.  She says her please and thank yous.  She is still quite accomplished in her No usage, but these days we occasionally get a "No Kank You!"  Hey, I'll take it.  

Lily and Evie are LOVING sharing a bedroom and Evie is thrilled to be in a big girl bed.  We have a new policy in our house now that at night time the girls get 10 minutes to play before we turn out the lights for bed time.  Just last night Bob turned off the lights and an hour later when he went in to check on them found them sound asleep together on Lily's top bunk.  It was precious.  Oh how I wish I could be a mouse in the corner of their bedroom and hear the sister conversations that happen.  I pray daily that these two will discover a friendship like none other and hope fervently that those little bunk beds will be a catalyst.  

Evie loves to ride horses and talks about Bom Bom (Bon Bon) all of the time. The biggest item of note this past month is that Evie had her first tumble off a horse.  She is so cute because she will tell you, "Ride Bom Bom, Fall off......Bonk Head."  And when you ask her "Oh you fell off of Bon Bon?"  She will reply, "Uh huh, back on!"  She is so proud of herself for falling off, bonking her head (she had a "hemet") and getting back on.  Every day she asks me about Memaw, Papa and Bon Bon.  We miss them......so much.  I tell her daily, don't worry Evie, you will get to ride Bon Bon again....and SOON! 

This little girl remains my fearless wonder and is still an absolute social butterfly.  She loves new people and goes so willingly into new places.  This week I introduced her to our new gym and while she was willing to go in, she did scream, "Mommy UGG! Mommy TISS!"  I came back, got a squishy hug, kissed her on the lips and off she went.  She is so big and brave.  My little busy Bee.

I feel as though in some strange way I lost this past month with her.  Between going to Hawaii and moving she has become a new little girl.  I am so grateful to be settled and able to be with her more fully now.  She is simply so fun and so life giving.

Evie Frances, you are a true treasure little girl.  You have so much love to give and you make those around you joyful.  I see Jesus shining through your life already and I look forward to watching to grow in grace and beauty.  I hope I will always remember you like this...........that fierce little lady with sand up her nose and popsicle on her cheek.  

All My Love

Mom

Welcome Home

This post is a major milestone for me.  This marks my 500th post for the Longmire News Blog.  I know!  WOW.  When I noticed that our move was going to coincide fairy well with the arrival of this milestone I had a moment where I smiled.  I have written about a lot of life here in this cyber book.  I do think it highly ironic that I started this blog when we lived here in Arizona.  It has come with me to North Carolina and to Colorado.  It has weathered 2 pregnancies and having 2 babies.  It has been through several wedding anniversaries and is now going to start documenting this new chapter in our life.  The one we start right back here in Arizona.  Sometimes its funny how things work out.

The past 3 weeks have truly been a whirlwind for us.  Every time you move there is so much to do that doesn't necessarily have to do with emptying boxes.  It is amazing all of the things you have to change, the new places you have to find and the local discoveries you have to make.  I can say with certainty that I have found several running routes ranging from 3 to 10 miles so far, 20-60 mile bike routes, 3 grocery stores already, 4 Starbucks, my favorite gym, a Target, a Walmart and a Kohls.  Come on, what more does a girl need?  Oh yeah, a pool.  Would you believe it, Arizona has very few indoor pools, and many of the outdoor ones are only open for certain months.  Not very convenient if you are a Triathlete with a long race to do in 9 WEEKS!

I will do another Journey to IRONMAN installment soon, but for now I would like to welcome you all to our home!  Bob and I bought a neat little 4 bedroom home in Northeast Mesa.  Our home buying process was well.......a process, and I am so thankful that the Lord lead us to this place.  It is perfect for us and has just the right amount of TLC that needs to be done.  We both were very serious about not wanting to be house poor and our home is absolutely perfect.  Thank you Jesus for this blessing.

After renting for 5 years it has been wonderful to own something again.  Of course we have had to deal with a few issues ie a swarm of bees that decided to move in, but having the responsibility of ownership is actually a delightful thing.  Don't worry, the bees were fumigated and successfully removed, but I can say now with confidence that I can imagine what the Israelites saw and felt when the swarms of locust came in.  I have never seen so many bees.  Wowza!

The girls are sharing a bedroom right now and loving it.  Before we left Colorado we sold all of Evie's nursery furniture.  The poor thing would go  into her room look around and say "All Gone, no bed!"  She was such a trooper and we kept encouraging her that she was going to get a new bed once we made it to Arizona.  When we got to our home Evie squealed with delight, "New bed, new bed!!"  So far they are doing really well in their bunk bed set up and I am excited to see the relationship that will blossom between them.

I must confess that this move has been the hardest one for me to date.  I'm getting too old for this moving stuff.  Its hard when everything is new again.  I miss a lot about Colorado, but trust that the Lord will bless our life here and make it rich.

Welcome Home

That Time We Moved Back to AZ

Moving.....I think it is safe and effective to say it.  I AM OVER IT!  We have moved so much in our marriage and this is truly the first time that I am really over it.  I have kept a stash of moving boxes in my life over the past few years.  This time? They are going Bye Bye! And it feels so good.  But before I usher in the AZ chapter, let me debrief a wee bit about the week that was last week.  That time we moved back to AZ.....

Last week was quite honestly the most stressful week of my life to date.  That might be a slight exaggeration, but not by much.  I started off the week with a horrendous coldsore on my lip.  I am prone to the miserable little things and have been since I was a child.  They are induced by stress.....and sunshine.  How ironic that I had a week of sunshine followed by a week of stress.  Perfect conditions, and I got the biggest one I have ever had.  It was excruciatingly painful and affected my entire face.  There were 5 days of absolutely nauseating pain.  It was horrible and yet, I had SO much to do.  To say I felt overwhelmed is the biggest understatement.

I am so grateful that we had several grandparents during the moving process which helped tremendously.  Quite honestly, I don't know how we would have managed without them.  Moving sans kids?  Easy Peasy.  Moving with 2 children.  Its like brushing your teeth with Oreos. On top of trying to completely vacate our house was the looming issue of our check out.  Leasing is so great on one hand and so awful on the other.  We had to put down a significant security deposit so getting it back has been critical.  Moving is so expensive......every dollar matters.  The weight of our move out checklist loomed over my head all week and I so desperately wanted to be with my husband in AZ, not cleaning for days and days.

The truck arrived on Thursday last week and with some help from some amazing people we got the entire truck loaded by mid afternoon.  We spent the entire evening and well into the night cleaning and scrubbing and painting.  My children were exhausted, I pushed them so hard.  My Dad and Hubby left Friday morning to begin the drive and I headed back to the house to clean and polish before my 4PM checkout.   Bob called me in the morning with the news that the Big Truck carrying all of our stuff had completely broke down.  I was shocked.  Oy.  I have never prayed so hard over  a truck and a checkout!  Thankfully, my prayers were answered and we effectively checked out with our security deposit in tow, and after a 3 hour delay, the guys got the truck fixed and were back on their way. Praise the Lord!

After another short night for us, Memaw, Me, Lily, Evie and the 2 dogs started our journey to Mesa.  I was nervous about road tripping with my girls, but they did AMAZING.  I could not have been prouder.  Our trip took an overnight stay in Holbrook, AZ, and poor Evie got sick.  With my coldsore I wasn't surprised, but she went all in with fever, cough, runny nose, goopy eyes and just feeling yucky.  Poor baby.

We pulled into our new abode on Sunday morning with two tired girls and two exhausted adults.  I am so thankful that we are here, but so overwhelmed.  It's all new again.  We have to start over.  And that cold sore?  It turned into a full fledged nasty bug complete with loosing my voice, stuffiness and generally feeling awful.  Moving is hard.  I am most definitely over it.

Thank you Lord for going before us and behind us.  Thank you for safely getting us to Arizona.  Give me peace to not eat all the elephant at once.  Your mercies are new every morning.  Thank you for your goodness.