A day late and a dollar short

I have been locked in my room and forced to finish this blog post I started weeks ago.  Amber said she would slide some bread under the door.

There was this study I heard about a while back.  Some scientist thought it might be a good idea to see if prayer might have a causative relationship to healing in certain terminally ill patients.  After their double blind, controlled study they saw no such relationship.  But they did prove that God doesn't respond to double-dog dares.  You can't blame the scientists for wanting to check it out though. I don't know which is more peculiar, the scientists or the people who cast their wishes up to heaven to snag the hem of a robe.  This odd group of people, of whom I am a member, has various reasons and intentions for their castings, ranging from saintly to the ignoble.  I have played a hole or two at prayer and here are some of mine.

Some I call the "scratch ticket" prayers.  "Please, baby Jesus, just one more Ace and I promise I'll get a vasectomy." These are usually pretty straight forward, phrased in a simple quid pro quo manner.  But there is nothing REALLY at stake because it costs you nothing and has nothing to do with God, only a winning Ace. 

Another type is the "Beuller" prayer.  "God, we just thank you, God, for your blessings, God, and your faithfulness, Lord, and ...God, we want, Father, for you, Lord, to be our God, God."  Beuller...Beuller...  I don't know why I do this, but it works when my kids do it to me from the back seat.  In my experience these are offered to be able to check the Pray box, but tend to be a bit vacuous; usually requests that will have a redeemable solution whether God "comes through" or not.

Other prayers are expensive, high wager and take a slice of heart to ante in.   

As we were making plans for California I was talking to my mom about all the obstacles we faced in getting out there; there was licensing and housing and getting on with the right agency and the right hospital in the right place...  She cordially invited me to remember I was doing this to myself, no one was forcing this situation on me and my family.  You know that irritating rash that always seems to flare up when your mom says something?  That rash is called truth.  We were putting ourselves through this, none of it was necessary.  We weren't entering a witness protection program, we had a nice set up in Fort Collins. 

There has sat an old doubt rocking on my porch.  I can't name him, though I have tried, but there he rocks and fans himself and reminds me what I fear.

I fear Default.  The Default means gathering the best I can by my own means, on my own savvy and microwaved wisdom.  I default when I can't foresee a Divine plan for my circumstance, when there is no miracle; only the entropic evolution of my own choices.  But the default is sensible.  The default is the practical young accountant wearing Dockers who contributes to his IRA.  He will pacify colic with a warm, sobering bottle of prudence and judiciousness.  But doubt is gnawing, not that God is absent from my circumstances, but that He hasn't invited me into His.  Instead of facing what it might mean if he doesn't come through, I default and fold my hand.  I reel in prayers and desires because the sensible default convinces me they weren't really all that realistic in the first place and probably pretty stupid and naive to ask for and, after all, there is no promise in the Bible God gives you for a specific house or location or job and besides God said he loved you once already in the Bible so just live with that etc. The default wants to abort my hope and faith with sensible plan B.  

 When we arrived in LA we had several days to find a house before I started work.  We shacked up with Jason, Amber's brother, who kindly opened his apartment to us.  My contract is only for 4 months so we tried to find temporary housing.  Which brings me to my first word of advice for all those looking to move to LA: don't try to find temporary housing. Only if you are willing to be propositioned by an eccentric millionaire cougar or live in Dr Dre's childhood home, will you find temporary housing in LA.  

  

We had been praying specifically for an apartment within walking distance to the hospital, in a safe neighborhood, and at an affordable rent.  Which brings me to my next word of advice, affordable rent: If you are from the midwest like us, take what you would assume to be reasonable rent for a two bedroom, add on the cost of a black market kidney, divide by 12 and there is your monthly cost.  Have I crystallized this for you?  But all these prayers, they weren't weren't about the things.  It was a rebellion against doubt and my need for God to be a Father to me.

It's difficult to depict adequately how frustrating and discouraging that month was. Our family unit was suffering, kids were being neglected, school was not getting done.  Exciting new behavior issues cropped up.  We were in a new city, a new job, no place to retreat to. At one point Amber straight up lost it.  It reminded me of that scene in Stephen King's Carrie where she destroys everyone at the prom (see here).  Two or three times these perfect places came up but we were denied.   I walked down the street after being rejected, angry, cursing, questioning, impugning. Just like all the other times, You are going to let me figure it out on my own, an I'll make excuses for you and find some reason why this default is really God's provision after all while never being convinced.  

Then we got our apartment.  I probably could have said that in a more climactic way, but there you go.  It was a relief.  But it was only a relief at first.  It wasn't until the other day, when things had settled, that I realized how specifically God had answered us.  No, that's not what I want to say.  God "answers" Beuller and scratch ticket prayers.  He heard me.  But more than that, even, He knew me; he saw my piece of heart and raised me.  I wept the other night when it had settled on me there was a name tag on that present.  It was no default.  It had fingerprints; strange clues that circumstances had been tampered with.

 

That incumbent, rocking doubt, he hums a dissonant tune under his breath; that I really don't matter to Father; that I am not worth saving.  

  

I know people have different world views, some more thought through than others.  I read this verse the other day in Corinthians 8, "Those who think they know something do not yet know it as they ought.  But he who loves God is known by God".  I think I would paraphrase it as, "Look, I don't care who you are, you don't know crap.  But you are known".  I'd rather be known than know anything.  I wonder how many would give up all their "knowledge" to hear someone calling their name.

-Tim

It has arrived!!!

Yup. The California Nursing License has arrived. What you should know is that this comes as a shock to us as we've been waiting basically since October.
But it's here, it's really here!!!

The next step is finding a placement in the vicinity we are shooting for: L.A.

So if you're the praying type...you can pray to the end that we would end up right where we need to be and find just the right housing! If you know of any housing in or around the City of Angels, feel free to get in contact! (I'm talking to you, family!)

We'll keep ya posted as we know more, but we will aim to be moving mid to late April.
Ahhhhhh!
Here we go on a new adventure!

Wait, wait, don't tell me.....

 Now for a brief update about our lives for our loyal fan base (thanks again for reading so faithfully, mom.) I used to play oregon trail when I was a kid.  I don't know if any of you remember that game.  Even though on that old school computer that measured its memory in tiny prefixes , with its blocky- pixilated figures, there was some tension and excitement.  Will I have the ammo I need to kill a deer?  How do I fix this broken axel?  Will my wife get dysentery? What is dysentery?  Life feels a bit like that.  Like the game, not dysentery, though Im sure I could draw a few similarities.  

  We were originally just planning on being in town til the start of the new year. But as obtaining my CA license became more of an uncertainty, we decided to accept the offer to extend here at Poudre Valley.  We have extended now 4 times, I think.  It's kind of like the fiscal cliff thing, where we extend the deadline at the last second only to face the same situation in a few weeks. 

I swear I'm getting stupider.  Measurably stupider. I will have flashes of great ideas, thoughts to write down or clever ways to teach the boys, then they just vanish from my mind like .  Chances are I have had several ingenious witticisms since I started writing this, but damned if I remember them.  I chalk my widening stupidity to the fact that not many things in our lives are stable.  Thinking is for agrarian societies.  We have digressed to hunting and gathering.  Mostly thinking of where the buffalo will be next.

  If I were wanting to sound platitudinous,  I would insert a big BUT here and say how we are "learning so much" and use lots of cloying Christian vocabulary; paint a word picture in Thomas Kinkade pastels about how everything is really apple red happiness even though I just took such a long time explaining how frustrating a situation we are in.  But the gospel has death in it. I don't want to skip to the resurrection part and how life is all fine. Winter always precedes Spring.  Death before resurrection.  Amber and I are frustrated, in some ways.  Its hard to be in between.  I don't think we are handling it with all-star Christian attitudes all of the time.  There's some death that needs dying to. 

  So I say this with death in one hand: God has been good.  He has bound Himself to us to always do us good.  We have a job, we have a great living situation thanks to the kindness and indefatigable grace of our friends the Jacobsons.  

  So the plan as of today is to see if my license comes from the California Board of Nursing by tonight, which has roughly the same odds as me not wanting to punch them in the face. Like one in a million. The same as me not wanting to punch them. Meaning I do. Want to punch them.  If it does not come, then we will extend through mid April, where we are praying the board of nursing will grant me a license for my birthday. 

  Anyway, I digress.

love, tim

This is what God's faithfulness looks like

And this is what I mean.

We have been looking for an ER travel nursing position in Colorado for about a month now. Tim and I have frequently prayed for something, ANYthing, in the state that might have a contract for Tim to work sometime after this current contract runs it's course on Nov.2nd.

Nothing.

For a month.

There was one in Boulder that opened then closed like a flash pan. It was so popular that Tim's submission was cancelled because there were too many submissions. He called. He left a message in hopes of reconsideration. No news.

You know, God can do whatever He pleases. That could be scary save that He IS love to go with that omnipotence. And He doesn't waste anything. And so we took Him up on His offer to ask Him anything. I prayed for an ER position at PVH, in Fort Collins. Mind you, this being a hospital that doesn't take Travel Nurses. Why not go crazy and see what He can do?

Then this week we got the call saying that our contract here could be extended 4 weeks. We hemmed. We hawed. This wasn't what we'd prayed for but it seemed to make the most sense while we trusted that God had a plan.
We said, "Ok." on Tuesday.

Yesterday we woke up thinking, "We'll be in New Hampshire four more weeks, then we'll just have to drive thru Colorado for a visit."
Cut a few hours later when this email shows up in Tim's inbox.

"Hi Tim! Happy Accident!... PVHS, COLORADO wants you back as a traveler!!!!!"

WHAT.

I have a feeling God is creating a pile of impossible situations just so He can show Himself able. There is no reason why the hospital should open up a Travel Nurse position in the ER when it has never done so, and when they didn't advertise. This is what God's faithfulness looks like to us.

And so, Ft.Collins. We shall meet again. Nov. 11th.

We're coming for ya!

Quotable quotes-school edition

I thought I'd share some of our more hilarious or quotable moments in this adventure of homeschooling!

Last week at Classical Conversations I had (finally) prepped the boys for their "presentation" for the morning (much like Show-n-Tell but with a bit more teaching). The boys had chosen some favorite toys of theirs to share about. We had been absent the week before and hadn't gotten the memo that the theme for the day was to share your favorite Bible verse or story. Woooops.
Disappointed and confused, we tried to quickly re-prep both the boys for what they might like to share. Tim talked to Vrai, asking,
"Hey buddy, what do you think you'd like to talk about? Do you have a favorite Bible story or verse?"
Vrai cooly answered,
"I'm just gonna make something up."
(WHAT!)
Trying desperately to stifle his laughter, Tim recouped and asked again,
"Well, what are you going to say?"
"You'll see."
----------------
GAH! We DIED. Thankfully Vrai didn't say anything heretical and made it short and sweet. We were covering our faces to try to hide the fact that we wanted to fall down in tears of laughter. (whew! I'm cracking up just thinking about it!)

Here's another gem for those of you not on social media. Wyatt has started some really interesting and awesome historical revisions in his cursive book. He's got an historical image to color after each practice letter. Well, being Wyatt, simply coloring will just not do. Here you can see his mind at work.

Joan of Arc becomes Joan of Shark with a light saber

King John signs the Magna Carta while a knight casts a spell ala Harry Potter style on the Monk. 

In other news, I currently know all my 1st person Latin endings for present and imperfect tenses. Look at me, so special, woo hoo hooooo! :) Actually, I can't get the songs out of my head. They're super catchy almost to the point of annoying, which I think is a good thing.

It's never a dull moment at our little Travelers Homeschool. Pray for me.

30 days

Posted by Tim-

I was listening to the traffic report the other morning and the lady with the view from heaven said there was an accident on 1

-93 heading North just past exit 18 and that if I wanted to avoid timely delays then I should take route 132 or route 3.

Then I thought of the panicking shaky phone call someones mother received or the grave voice of the ER doctor's apology of his best efforts as he divided the timeline of a spouse between wife and widow.

Someone's tragedy is anothers timely delay on a morning commute.  Southbound traffic is moving right along.

Amber said it was strange how we scroll through blogposts so quickly.  Titles like "Starting third round of chemo".  Some we read.  Others we scroll past.  Somehow it seemed the same as the lady with the view..  Not that other's tragedy is an inconvenience to us, or that we don't care, but just the point that scrolling is so easy to do.  Many have scrolled past this.

Thomas Jefferson was a deist. God got the ball rolling, as it were, then he's pretty much hands off.  Please move your accidents from traffic so others may scroll by.

My point is this: who cares about this blogpost?  Then my point is this: God. 

God is.  He is working.  Jefferson's dumb.  Whatever fresh dystopian hellscape  has opened in a humans life which has prompted a blogpost, God has not scrolled by nor does he reroute his GPS to avoid a timely delay.

He is at work to reveal His Son inside of me.  Working, not like a manager, not like an engineer, but on a cellular level.  The work of making Life. 

The revealing of the Son is the purpose behind the blog posts.  The hidden purpose, God's purpose. 

We have 30 days before our contract ends, which is cutting it close, even for us.   We don't know where we are going yet.  But God is working to reveal Jesus in and to us through our waiting. Our circumstances are apple-red happiness compared to the other blog posts, and I know that.  But time and opportunity happens to all and this working is at the back of this blog and what is happening in the life of our family.  And in yours, whoever you are that has taken the timely delay to read the accident that is this blogpost.

Big and little

I may or may have not been scolded by a few of you.

First off, may I say that it's always surprising to me when people are riled up because I haven't updated the blog. You have asked to know what's going on in our little traveler world and I am kinda surprised anyone is keeping up on it.
Secondly, I'm sorry that my jacked up belief has kept me from putting time and energy into this blog! We really do love you! I also have realized that because this is a 'personal' blog, I get overwhelmed at the thought of really putting some emotional energy into it. It's easy to post things about my businesses, quick "stati" (plural for status?) and my daily little stuff on social media because it does not require me to sit, ponder, assess, and delve deep.
Doh.
So, there's the honest truth. I have a hard time sitting still and focusing my brain. (wonder where Wyatt gets it?) That's not an excuse. Just how I currently am. I haven't made the time for it. And I don't like it. And I don't plan on staying there. And really, it's not about me.
Here's what we ALL have been up to here in New Hampshire!
My sweet mother-in-law had shoulder surgery this summer and it has been a pretty big deal in the household. Not just because it's a tough surgery and recover period, but because she's been independent for the past five years, doin' life on her own. We are forever indebted to her kindness in getting to live with her these past five months, and it's been a great opportunity to get to help her out in whatever way we can. We've joked that for those first several weeks that she was my best 'child' :) She's doing well and making progress every week in PT! Pray it continues!
Tim is working it like he do' at the hospital in Concord, NH. We are so thankful he's been able to be on the mid-shift and not have to do full nights! 12 hour shifts can be brutal if they are 7p-7a. He's gotten along well with the staff and it's so funny to have him working in the same ER his own mom used to be charge of! It's circular. We are wrapping up our 2nd contract with them and just signed an extension to stay on until Nov. 2nd. We are so glad to get to be here for more of the fall.
'Dos KIDS-
We JUST started homeschool last week for those not on social media...here are the obligatory first day of school posts complete with my ghetto-fabulous signs. (you're welcome for making you feel better about yourself)

We are all easing into the idea that this is really happening. Yes. As if doing it last year didn't make me realize that before now. Consider it my denial coming to an end that we are really a homeschooling family. By necessity and by choice now. Not that it looks like what you might imagine. Think a pinball machine with children as pinballs and our house as the table. If we get them to stay in the school room for the majority of the time, it's a win!! Let me just say that I am really thankful for Classical Conversations this year too. We didn't participate in this once-a-week program last year and I am really grateful to connect our everyday learning with something more than my fly-by-the-seat of my pants style teaching :)
In other news the kids are adjusting and proving more resilient than we ever imagined. Not that there aren't the tough days, but we are proving God's faithfulness to provide every place we go. The boys miss Colorado and mention it often. They miss their Marmie and Papa in Florida and some dear friends we made there too.
Just the other day, Tim asked the boys where they missed most. They both answered both Colorado and Florida. Tim told them that we'd probably be missing NH as well when we leave here, and Vrai piped up excitedly, "Yeah, we'll miss it. But we're TRAVELERS!" That boy. He's such a tender heart and an encourager. We don't know where God will have us plant our roots eventually but we are confident that it will be good. :)
So, the latest is that we will be in NH for the next two months, ending Nov. 2nd. After that we hope to find a placement in CO for about three months. We have some things on our to-do list, among which is just get to BE with some of our dear friends. We'll keep ya posted on how things shape up but we may need help celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas if we're there! :) After January, we hope to get out to CA for a bit! That's as far as we know now, but anything is possible!

I was just pondering here (ha-progress!) and realizing that it's not that we have things easier or harder really...we all take ourselves with us, WHEREVER we go. We all have to confront the same ole' struggles, baggage and history that we have had for ages. I have found that this traveling experience has caused me to be able to see those things more clearly and I'm less afraid to confront them now because there's a major hurdle you cross when you make a big, brave decision. The littler issues seem more conquerable. :) Little by little, state by state, we are learning big things and seeing God come through. Thanks for caring about the journey. Stay tuned and we will do our best to update more frequently!
MUCH LOVE!
Am for
The Constants

Next stop....

These are the faces of a family that just found out they have a placement in New Hampshire! A miracle!

Packing again...so much LUV for our sweet family and friends here in FL!

 You're going to want to read this one from the Travel Nurse himself-

During a lull at work, I typed in our old address on Erin Court into Google/maps and peered into a frozen history. Our little home tucked at the end of a chip-sealed cul-du-sac, hidden by overgrown elm trees; two graffitied dumpsters standing sentinel at the entrance to the parking lot, waiting to ingurgitate themselves on the next piece of dead furniture.  If you zoom in far enough you can see two pixelated, white, plastic lawn chairs problem solving over an apoplectic kiddie pool in the back yard; a wire fence still ajar from a foregone small figure in search of parking lot adventure, the ground missing grass that laughter trampled bare. 

Such a strange happening that a photograph can fumigate the past.  Judging by the still life of our house in what looks like the convection of July heat, we hadn't a care in the world and were probably down at the creek chucking rocks at ducks.  Life always seems simpler in pictures.  The pictures taken today will be simple in a year from now, though I wouldn't call my life simple now.  The thing missing from pictures is the future and its the future that steals the simplicity from the now.  

  

 In that dormant picture off stage there is a man not wanting to go to work and wondering how he can pull his family out of debt and lead them spiritually and raise his kids to be anything but what seems like the inevitable sociopaths they are destined to become if he can only restrain his temper that bays like bloodhounds on a scent.  And a woman with fingers chapped from changing diapers and suffering multiform toddler abuses, with a heart that beats to sing the world a new song but the blood shunting towards keeping kids from dying every moment of every day, choking herself out with Pinterest expectations of what motherhood really is.  

  

 Yet when I gold pan my memories, pleasantness and grace remain and the dregs and silt of the anxiety I carried like a passport sifted away.  Because we are all right. And back then, we were going to be all right.  God promised to preserve us, and He has preserved us. In this moment I am kneading and rolling the mass of things that I need to accomplish with the ending and beginning of contracts, the moving of my family, the emotional tectonic activity rumbling in our souls, and the myriad other duties I wish I could subcontract out.  Even as I write this I can feel this acrid leaven rising in my soul.  But when I Googlemaps this moment in my life in a year, I will know then what feeble faith struggles to see now: that come what may, it will be all right. And there is a host of saints with severed heads that say the same.  The only  functional difference between the tranquil past and tumult of the future is the promises of God waiting in the queue. 

  

 I'm thankful for the nascence of our family in that fair city.  I don't know if we will play our game pieces back on that board. I don't know where we will hang our trellis and let life grow all over it. But for now we are on a ship with full sail, the tell-tale pulled stiff, a landless adventure off the bow.

   We will have been in Orlando 8 months by the time we leave in two weeks, a near full term pregnancy.  And if I may extort the analogy a bit farther, it didn't take long for us to implant our life into the fertile and wombish community here.  We were able to spend both Christmas and Thanksgiving with Phil and Cathy, Amber's parents, which was such a rich and valuable time; mostly for Cathy, I think, who would love nothing more than to roll around in a bin of grandchildren, like a kid in a ball pit.  We owe a great deal to them for the life changing trajectory this time has had on our lives, and we thank them for a little borrowed time. As to the other mischief that was done in Orlando, are they not written in the annals of the Book of Face? (Ha!, a 2 Chronicles joke)

   Our next stop will be in Concord, NH and, as we have seen God's providence carving out a path for us so clearly, this is evidence to me of his preparation.  As far as I could tell, this was the only job for an ER travel nurse in the state of NH.  I wasn't qualified for it, nor did my start date jive with the facilities.  I was initially rejected for the latter reason, but they reconsidered, I interviewed and the job was offered to me. I could take from this one of three things: 1) The hospital manager was so awestruck by my composure and articulate answers she immediately shredded the rest of her applications, fanned herself, and bequeathed the job to me 2) The other applicants were a scurvy lot of opiate addicts and misogynistic inbreds, against whom, my interview was passable. 3) The Lord worked some butterfly effect that mazed its way down, starting in the stratosphere, one consequence agitating another, like a raindrop on a window, to His intent.  He blows me away. A God with Whom it takes no effort to know the location and future of every thought, molecule and electron position in the universe; and sovereignty over their outcomes. I will take # 3.  Even if He used #3 to make #2 happen.

   We miss you, all of our friends and family, and a special preemptive 'miss' to the friends and family we are about to leave.

The surprise of my life!

Some of you may have caught my social media posts when Tim completely surprised me last Monday with a 4 day/night cruise to the Bahamas.

To understate, I was completely FLOORED.

The big reveal...he straight up handed me the receipt to the cruise! AHHH!

I have never been on a cruise, or to the Bahamas or had four whole days and nights just with my husband (since we became parents)! I can say that living with your parents/in-laws totally paid off in this one week! A HUGE thank you to my mom for not just keeping my kids alive, but very well and to all the family that contributed to this extravagant gift!
Some of my favorite highlights were finding a giant sting ray while wading out in the ocean; snorkeling with tropical fish and sharks (they were at least 6-8 ft!) and dancing the night away with my personal Dance instructor hubby on the ship! Here's a few photos for those who aren't on facebook, etc. A picture's worth a thousand words so, Enjoy!

Are you ready for this!? Best President's Day, EVER!

So stately in our state room :)

Excited much?

We've got a ticket to RIIIII-HIDE!

Waiting to set sail!

Second day, taking the boat out to our own private island-Coco Cay!

Found this sponge on the shore.

This sting ray was at least 6 ft. across, and two yards from my feet!

Chariots of Fire anyone?

Soaking it up at Coco Cay!

Our table mates all the way from China!

I love it when they do this. So easily amused, am I :)

Formal night!

Our cruise liner! Apparently, she was small for her kind...go figure!

A little scooter ride to start the day in Nassau...it's actually quite terrifying to drive here. Kudos to Tim.

We swam with reef sharks!

Snorkeling adventure in Nassau!

Tim won the rockwall climbing contest-Big surprise!

Last night on the Monarch of the Seas. It is simply breathtaking.

Ha! Tim sneaks a peek away from our romantic sunset kiss :)

Chocolate chips for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Wyatt is wiley.
 He is beyond capable and smart as a whip. Now that he's learning to read, he's also figuring out how to use all the electronics, and get whatever food he wants out of any storage spot. And so his latest has been sneaking food in the wee early morn and hiding it under his bed.
Needless to say, his room gets a prison style shake-down every day.

So, this morning, like any other, we get up, and shuffle down the hall to the boys' room. The boys have chocolate on their mouths. It's 7 freakin' AM, guys. What the what.

My precious husband and I have been trying to figure out a consequence that fits the crime. We've tried talking about stealing, making good choices (ha, ha. Reasoning with children=funny); we've tried getting up before them so they don't have a chance to do it (but they still find a way to sneak it earlier or other times in the day!); we've tried setting a good choice out on the counter for them; we've tried setting an alarm for when they are allowed to get out of their room and we've tried more traditional methods of discipline. Believe me, we have tried. And we are not seeing a change.

So, this morning, at our wits end, God gave us a gift. A consequence that is a natural one. If he wanted chocolate chips for breakfast, then chocolate chips it is! And for lunch! And for dinner!
If any of you know the Wy-guy, he has an appetite the size of a grown man. And he burns energy like nobody else. It's only for one day, but man is he madder than a wet hen! I'm praying that WE make it through today without our heads exploding.

Chocolate in the mornin', chocolate in the evenin', chocolate at supper time....

November was fatter than a stuffed turkey.

(SIGH)
I know in the course of events this last month I have been pretty lax in my family blogging updates! Sorry! I'll own up to the fact that I do life better in short bursts of information and in the moment! I apologize for the lack of information here as I have felt so far behind that I get overwhelmed trying to update anything that I give up before I even get here!
Let's see...Since the end of October, life has clipped along at a swift pace!
SCHOOL-
The boys and I delved full speed ahead into homeschool as I realized I have MUCH to learn about what I'm doing and how each of them learns SOOO differently. Wyatt is reading everything these days and I'm encouraged that I got to play a small role in that magical miracle! Seriously watching the gears shift and the ideas click inside a small boys brain is amazing. Wyatt is smart as a whip. I'm thankful for God's grace in that since I have felt as though I'm stumbling along in my first attempt to be his academic teacher. Wyatt is also loving gymnastics, increasing his balance, strength and agility even more! Look out Cirque du Soliel!

The 3 Muskateers, just messing around.

Ah, and then there's Vrai. Vrai is a creative and right brained wonder. His mind is full of color, form and pareidolia images. He understands life in creativity and relationship. I've tried some fun ways to get him to remember his letters and numbers. He's drawn all his letters in a flat pan of dry rice. He's made pictures out of each individual letter or number. He's doing better at recognition but still tends to draw sting rays all over any worksheet I have for him :). Vrai is also in gymnastics but prefers to make friends, and enjoy his imagination while he plays on the gym equipment.
Hazel's favorite part of any school day is holding the flag and pretending to say the Pledge of Allegiance and doing our ABC Bible verses. She's also the singer of the fam and yells loudly at Wyatt and Vrai if they don't sing along with her song ideas. She's starting to potty train herself (hallelujah!) and is a busy busy little toddler, chatting it up with anyone who will listen!
WORK-
Tim took a work trip to Ft.Collins at the beginning of November for about 10 days. If none of you heard from me during that time, there was a reason :). Tim's first contract with the hospital here in FL ended the first weekend of November after which he took off to complete his relief hours in Colorado at PVH. He had a great time getting to be in Fort Collins and see a few friends in his free time. Thank you to all who hosted him for meals and the Jacobson's for being a great bed and breakfast! We started our 2nd three month long contract with the hospital here in Deland, FL after Tim got back from CO. We are starting to look at our options for the next assignment. Maybe New Hampshire (we definitely want to be up there sometime soon!), maybe somewhere else until NH warms up a bit :) I think we've gotten a bit soft since living in these FL temperatures!

I have been hard at work figuring out networking here in a new city for my two businesses. Strictly business-wise, it has been a new challenge to start afresh and engaged my mind in a new way to figure out what exactly I want to grow and focus on. For my Mary Kay business, I've joined a networking group of other direct sales women to help each other grow and learn. It's been fun and a cool way to branch out. I've wanted to maintain personal integrity and purpose with the personal stylist/image consultant business that I've started and I'm honing in on my main goals. I want to work with women to uncover their own authentic beauty and style for their encouragement and helping them better bear the image of beauty they were created to portray. And lastly to have confidence, fun and ease in getting ready! You can check out my personal blog at The Closeteer or my facebook page to get an idea! Like any client based business, it's the building stage that is hardest and takes the most patience. So here I am. :) I certainly know that I love doing it and that I believe I was made to encourage others, so I press on! If you're the praying type, you could pray that I would work diligently on what I know to do, balance it with my first job as a wife and mom, and let God show me what He has for me in this endeavor!

HOME-

Mom's birthday breakfast in bed!

Mom's great displeasure at my brothers' Movember Mustaches.

Mom's another year more awesome!

In November, home schedules kinda flew out the window with Tim gone the first half, then ALL of the Thompson side of the family coming to visit for the week of Thanksgiving! We had SO much fun celebrating Thanksgiving and my mom's birthday with the whole fam! Per my mom's request, we put on a "Talent Show" in her honor. Talent is putting it loosely. :) The last of my dear siblings and neices and in-laws left this last Wednesday. We are still reeling from taking in that much fun and busyness with 15+ people under one roof. Perfect example; as I write this, I am half in my pj's and just ate my fourth meal of leftovers this weekend. I don't think I want to eat or cook for another week.

My sweet Grannymaw-Blanch Branch!

As a family we have been checking out a church with some of our new friends here (brother and in-laws of some of our dear friends in Ft.Collins) called Mosaic. We've enjoyed the teaching, worship and sense of community here but are still very much in the beginning stages of getting our feet wet.
We dearly miss our church home in Colorado but see God providing for us while we are miles and miles away!

(SIGH)
One last thing! If you are sending Christmas cards to us, we'd love to get it here! You can mail it to:
4363 Tidewater Dr.
Orlando, FL 32812

We miss you. Please know you are on our minds more than we can ever express and we love you.

Vrai's own invention-he's a stuffed turkey!

Picnic fun with the deluge of family!

The WHOLE fam, actually smiling even!

CONNECTION-
We'd love to hear from you! You'll find us on social media connecting with family and friends who are scattered all over the world, so, I sometimes forget to compile news of the fam here! You can also email us anytime or call us on our cell #'s (they're the same as before!)

Holidays are a slight bit different here...

We've been so busy with Fall, the holiday season has completely snuck up on me. I haven't even bought one Christmas present, which for me, is totally out of character. Since this is one of many firsts for me, it only follows that the holidays would just be...different.
With Halloween rapidly approaching, I find myself quite stunned to realize that my kids will actually get to wear their costumes WITHOUT coats! What?!?
While this is exciting news to any kid who's spent the majority of their young life dressing in their favorite costume only to be bundled up and covered over to go anywhere, it's weird! I'm glad, but it's weird!
 When I think about Halloween, I think about Thanksgiving, which makes me think about Christmas...my brain just jumped holidays faster than the seasonal section at Kroger! So, I was looking at my favorite site for holiday cards (I know, I'm a photo-card geek) I was putting together a little "inspiration board" for our first Florida Christmas. This is funny. People put flamingos in Santa hats on their lawns ya'll. Funny.

So, in the spirit of good fun and trying to go with it, this is what my board looked like:
Our First Florida Christmas!

My Designs board by Amber. See more Minted.com

I'm looking forward to this week, because of all the mommy-tax candy I'm going to eat and because it will actually hit 65 degrees! That's the coldest it's been the entire time! I'm so giddy, I might bust out my Snuggie!

Geeeesh, has it been that long?

Well, I am tryin' my darndest to do my thang style-wise and if it's not one thing it's another...a girl's got some balls to juggle, ya know!
So, in my attempt to balance, I am back. We are back. We never actually left.

We've been right here. Plugging away at having a life :)
The BIG news tonight is that we are RE-signing here for another 3 months! This will bring us all the way to the end of January/early February. I'm excited to have a familiar home for another few months! This has been a great starting point for our adventure. It's like training wheels. We have family and a few friends so the transition blow has been softened, though not absent.
The homesick blows have hit hard in the last week for me (Amber). You don't realize how important time/experience/history is with people. I am getting more used to feeling like a stranger and the odd woman out. It's not pleasant, but it's just where we are right now. I'm getting over my stage fright of bothering people and just jumping right in where I can. The social waters are chilly and unfamiliar, but I'm learning to swim all over again.
Home has been a very current theme for us lately. Here's a few of our car ride faves as of late:

Well, that's all for now. Talk soon? We really miss you.

Announcing....

The launch of my very own new image consulting business!

Yup, you heard right...a new adventure to be sure! Check out more of the details at thecloseteer.tumblr.com. It's a "style blog" I've had for a couple years but it has lacked focus and purpose, so now, I have a vision and I'm really, really excited about it!
My goal? To work with you to unveil your own authentic beauty and style. Let's make the most of what we have!

I am thrilled to be starting something I absolutely love and can't wait to work with you!
Offically introducing-
Amber Constant, Personal Image Consultant :)

Sea World and priorites.

Well, it's been a full last week to say the least.
Dear friends from home (I say that, because Colorado is just home in my heart) came to have a family vacation and do the Disney experience. Lucky for us, they got to stay at the Thompson Bed & Breakfast for the first few days. Wyatt and Vrai had a sweet reunion with their buddies Sydney and A.J. Needless to say, it's been a full and busy house with lots of happy squeals and wild running :)
Today we had the pleasure of going to Sea World with the Steins, my mom and all the kiddos.

Looking at the Dolphin Nursery!

What a wonder and glory! Seriously guys, I teared up the moment that Shamu jumped out of the water. I'm either a really big softy or there's just something glorious that is reflected about the Creator in such an amazing underwater giant! Could be both. Anyway, I really loved it. That and I loved that my sweet mama took Hazel home halfway thru the day since she has an annual pass. Best Marmie ever! The boys had a blast freaking out over the sharks, feeling the rays, riding the kiddie roller coaster and climbing on the world's best play place (crazy high and a dream for Wyatt), and watching the new 360 3D Turtle Trek.

Sweaty and soaked from the Shamu show

This cracks me up...I told them to act scared.  

Going anywhere public with kids is always a challenge, much less trying to stay with another family. But it became so clear as we spent the morning trying to decide when and where to meet up and what to do with the limited time we had with our sweet friends. The choice is always to put people first. Dropping our own agenda so that we could make the most of time with people we love made the world of difference. We have been learning how to (try) do this with our kids in this new place. It's easy to try to jump into life head first when you know you have very limited time. You won't get anywhere socially or emotionally healthy if you don't just get out there and try to meet people, try to make connections and find community. But trying to balance that with making sure our kids know they have a safe haven with us is the real challenge. You can pray for us in that :)

Now, off to bed, off to bed...


Tomorrow, I call about a Classical Conversations group in our neighborhood, try to get together with a new friend here and finish some more research on my up and coming NEW change....to be revealed soon! Keep posted, my friends. I can't wait to share it with you!
P.S. We love you, Steins! Miss you already!

Habituating

What have you been up to?

At the Lake lot playground in our neighborhood.

You mean besides polishing off a half gallon of half&half in two and a half days? (That's a lot of halves, ya'll) I'm not gonna lie, we drink A LOT of coffee here. Weeeeeell, let me catch you up!

Swimming.
Lots and lots of swimming. Thankfully, Marmie (my mom) has been around the block a time or two with small children and decided that the pool doesn't open til 10:30am :) Much better! Both boys have made amazing strides in their confidence and ability in the water. Vrai was the first to do a flip into the water! Amazing! And unexpected. Wyatt can now dive to the bottom of the deep end and retrieve a dive stick. That kid. While we feel somewhat spoiled rotten to live in a home that has a built in pool, it comes with it's cons...re:I'm the new lifeguard in town, and it's just too bad if you didn't want to take up swimming as your new hobby. :) I guess I have a chance to perfect my Marco Polo game and shark attack moves.

Apparently, it's hurricane season. Rain, rain & rain! Good thing I married a man who likes long walks in the rain. 

Sorting.
While it takes an incredible amount of energy to pack up an entire family into two vehicles, then it takes an army to keep a single room in this house from exploding with toys, mardi gras necklaces, tiny shoes, and forbidden objects like glass jars, pet snails and waterballoons.

Toddler proofing.
Or maybe I should say toddler PROVING. Most of the things in my dear parents' home did not pass. :)

Hey Sister Hazel!

I'm proud to say that at least now the electric outlets are interesting to uncover and the cleaning product cabinets are a constant source of 1 yr. old frustration. Hazel may be tiny, but she's incredibly strong and wily! Truth is, she doesn't actually realize she's barely 20 lbs. at 17 months. She has quite the spunk (I have no idea where she gets it, right?) and is already saying/screaming things like, "I ALL DONE!" "I WANTA BIIIIITE!" Her shrieks of displeasure are heard loud and clear anytime someone gets in her way or touches something upon which she has ever laid eyes. Predictions or prophecies for her teen years? Keep it to yourself. :)

Gymnastics!
Wyatt started up classes this last weekend and simply LIGHTS UP when he's in class or whenever we talk about it. I bet he wishes we lived in a gym. That boy is a muscly, flexible, fearless gymnastics ball of fire. We'll see if Vrai takes it up soon. When asked what activity he might like to try he replied, "a dance class" even though we know he'd be perfect at professional snuggling, or stand-up comedy.

Another morning coffee time with my sweet Vrai :)

Wyatt reading the paper and drinking a mug of joe like an old man. Ha!

Napping.
Let's just say that moving across country takes it outta ya. In more ways than one.

Speaking of bedhead...Did I mention that it's (VERY) humid here? Move over Lyle Lovett!

Let's see...what else...

Planning.
Driving.
Grieving. Celebrating.
Adapting. Resisting. Changing.
Growing. Being still. Laughing. Crying.
Holding on tight...

 Habituating.