- Spring and a few warm weather nearly 70 degree days (we even got to take the top off the Jeep!!)
- An all natural mail order pet supply company that carries wonderfully sturdy chew toys for the puppy... (Maybe one day he'll leave our shoes be)
- A couple date nights/days/breakfasts for just Abby and I to be - well, Abby and I (Skep and Skein, Wallys, The Bearded Ladies and breakfast out... just a few reasons to love Olympia)
- A couple wonderfully planned weeks of homeschool that went off without a hitch - yay for the power of pre-planning, Netflix and the public library
- Vacation and spring break (a staycation for us, a Midwest tour for Beckett)
- Family time and down time
- An amazing opportunity to move our family (New Mexico, here comes the Coles)
- A birthday - complete with a pretty awesome outdoor BBQ party
- Wildlife in the backyard (the dogs were not amused with the duck couple who took up residence)
- Countless socks (thanks Porter)
- A few single shoes (thanks again, Porter)
- Another year (here's to 38)
- Wonderful neighbors who became great friends (lucky for Stanwood, sad for Olympia)
- A week without Beckett
- Pneumonia (for Beckett, on vacation. Poor kid - and poor grandma and Papa)
- Gluten (you know what beer's made out of?? Yeah, GLUTEN!!!)
- Facebook (well, not really God, but me - I took away my Facebook)
And to top it all off we're moving to New Mexico?!?!?! Its a once in a lifetime opportunity, and one I don't intend on passing by. Its terrifying and overwhelming and exciting and brilliant all at the same time. Our income will be about a third of what we have now - and times are thin already! We have to find a place that will allow 5 people, 3 dogs and 2 cats to move in. We have to figure out a way to get said people, dogs and cats to town - including 10 years and a 3 bedroom house full of stuff...
During our week off, I got sick. Sick enough that I didn't eat for a couple days. While looking into what was making me feel bad, I decided to cut out the usual suspects - meat, dairy, processed wheat foods... Then I got some test results back... Putting together the test results with the omitted foods with some random symptoms i'd been having, we decided to keep wheat (gluten) out and add everything else back in. It was fine - I was fine. Then I tried wheat again. I wasn't fine. So I took it back out, and again I was fine. So I kept it out, and here I am a couple weeks later, still fine. So there went gluten - and with it bread, pasta, cakes, sweets, BEER.... What have I done??? But ya know what?? I don't have a stomach ache - and I've evidently had a stomach ache for years - long enough that I don't remember the last time I felt good.
So God gave me sunshine and 75 but took away wheat. He gave Beckett a trip back to Iowa, but gave him pneumonia. He gave Abby the opportunity she's been waiting for, but is asking her to teach a subject she's completely uncomfortable with. He took routine and replaced it with fumbling. Comfort and knowledge for unknown and unexpected. Green for brown. Trees for cacti. Mountains for red rocks.
They say April showers bring May flowers... The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away... Tit for tat... What goes up, must come down... For every action there is an equal and opposite - well you know the rest. So I guess, after all this rambling, I'm here to say - bring on the flowers May... We're ready!
