In Transition: Synopsis

My life is in transition.

There are two experiences I'm having in the transition and some stuff I want to share about both. So before I begin, let me give you the synopsis.

For months, I'd been praying and contemplating the idea of resigning my position at Northview to focus solely on my duties as a wife and mommy.

Some of you may not know that I work at Northview, but I do. I love it and I'm completely passionate about working in the local church. My favorite part of my job as Communications Director has been to help create experiences for our people to engage in relationships with each other and to experience God in new ways. I get an inside look at our leadership and get to contribute to their passion, by offering insight on how to share the heart of their ministries with our attendees.

I've been able to sit in on lead staff meetings and represent my voice as a woman, mother and creative thinker. It's been humbling and so cool.

I'm a such a passionate girl. And during my training for my half marathon (which I'll blog about later), I had a lot of time alone with my thoughts. One thought that I kept having was wondering what God could do if I were able to focus all my passion on my family. And I got really excited.

For the past two years, Northview has been gracious to let me do the job that I love on a very flexible, limited schedule. But, because I love it so much, I always felt frustrated by my limitations. There wasn't enough margin in my life to dream big for Northview in the way that I knew I could.

In the same way, I haven't had the margin to dream big for my family in the way I've wanted to, either.

Now that Andy is settled into his new venture as a self-employed web experience designer and developer (And doing AMAZING, I might add), our family has settled into a new normal, as well. One with many new exciting opportunities and challenges.

Andy has never been more fulfilled professionally. I remember thinking when we dated (and when my dad would bug me about considering my financial future), that this guy is so talented and I won't ever have to worry that he will provide for me and our future family together. I was right. It's almost too good to be true to watch how this whole thing has unfolded.

So, he's super happy. And super fulfilled. But, now running his own company and having the weight of all family provisions based entirely on his ability to seek out and secure projects, he's also super stressed. And in the 10 years that I've known him, I've never seen him stressed.

I've always been the one to have my hands in hundreds of pots. He's always been my easy-going, super-mellow, go-pursue-your-dreams-and-I'll-do-whatever-you-need-me-to-do-to-support-you kinda guy. And he still is, but his new reality has challenged his margin in new ways, too. His "supportive margin".

So, it's my turn to be the cheerleader. It's a new role for me. But, one I'm pretty excited (and also scared) about. I'm afraid and thrilled that God has a lot to teach me. I'm afraid and thrilled to have my margin back. I'm afraid and thrilled to stay home and use my passion to open the door to God to reshape and grow my family.

I think afraid and thrilled pretty much sums it up.

Come Here Goat!

We weren't sure if we were going to make it to the pumpkin patch this year! But, we did with only 3 days before the end of the season.

The girls wanted to feed the goat a leaf.

Big girls turn 3!

This year we had a big Dora backyard camping theme to celebrate the twins 3rd birthday. It was so much fun. I tend to go a little overboard with these things, but I believe in celebrating birthdays BIG!

We set up tents and picnic tables in the backyard, the big kids roasted hot dogs in the fire pit and the adults ate chili. The kids had a ball playing in the tents, we had a make-your-own trail mix activity for the kids and a bug/candy hunt.

The girls (and mommy) were overwhelmed when it was time to open gifts. That's what you get for having two birthdays in one AND both sets of grandparents living in town. We're blessed (and spoiled). Lobaby said her favorite new toy is her vacuum cleaner (if only it really cleaned!) and Jilligirl's fave is a Strawberry Shortcake doll that you can style her hair.

The Dora cake was a late night labor of love, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. It was my first ever star-tip cake, with 10 colors of icing! A little over the top, but I always wish I had more time to decorate cakes. It's so fun for me.

Many thanks to our AMAZING family and friends who came to celebrate our girls! You mean the world to us. Nothing makes me happier than my house full of the people that I love. We are so blessed!

Indiana State Fair 09

We took a trip to the fair with my parents last week and had a really fun time. I don't have any pictures of the baby, but she was the MVP and endured about 6hrs of fair fun and was such a trooper.

This year, the girls really surprised me (especially my timid Lobaby) and wanted to ride the real ponies AND the kid rides, including the little kid roller coaster. They had a blast and it was really fun to watch their faces.

We walked around and ate a little. And then walked around and ate a little more. We tried the deep fried Snickers (delicious) and the deep fried Twinkies (not a fan). We gnawed on a couple turkey legs and drank some yummy Sweet Tea and Lemonade Shake-ups.

Until a couple years ago, I had never been to the fair. Each year gets more and more fun. Maybe I'm a country girl at heart. After all, I did wear my hair in pig tails for the occassion. Or maybe I just like fried food. Come to think of it, we didn't even make it into the livestock pavilions. Maybe next year.

I love Jilligirls face in this one.

She's a Keller. Can't wait to see her next time we visit North Dakota with Uncle Doug on the BIG tractors.

This is a cute little video of the girls on the motorcycles.

Ah - Wedding Bliss

While we were in Missouri, my cousin Travis got married. It was such a fun celebration. Travis is an amazing guy, with a great heart. It was the first time I met Britney (his bride), but she was gorgeous and they seem like such an adorable, like-minded couple. I was SO happy for them.

They both like to dance and their reception had a live band. I don't know what got into Andy, but he was in the mood to get down. So we watched all Travis and Britney's friends and their fancy swing dance moves and did our best to copy them.


Their first dance was completely choreographed and really elegant.
This boy can sing. He surprised Britney and serenaded her with "Fools Rush In" - too cute!

I was sitting alone during a slow song and one of the band members came out and asked me to dance. It was nice of him. A tad awkward. But nice nonetheless.

The wedding was really close to the Plaza in KC. So they did a really smart thing and invited their guests to get dinner on their own between the wedding and reception. We went to Cheesecake Factory.

This is my Grandma Joyce. I love her and I'm really proud of her. My Grandpa is really ill and together they are showing tremendous faith and strength. It's neat to see them live what they say they believe, even when they're being tested so intensely.

Daddy and Little Toothache. She's getting too big, too fast.

This is my Aunt Cheryl (my dad's sister) and Uncle Gary. Parents of the Groom.

Grandpa Sonny and Grandma Joyce with their great grandkids, minus LT (she was taking a nap).

Travis and Grandma on the dance floor.

Adorable couple.

Baby's First Corn

Needless to say, she LOVED it :)

Trip to Joetown!

My whole family went back west for my cousin Travis' wedding, but it also was my best buddy's 30th birthday, so I went a few days early to celebrate with her!

All our family lives in the Kansas City area, so I don't always get to spend much time in St. Joe (my hometown, 50 miles north of KC). So, feeling sentimental, I had Cassie take me to some of my favorite spots.




This isn't a favorite spot, but since I'm ca-razy about Farmer's Markets, I had to get a shot of the Pony Express Farmer's Market (plus Cassie with all her loot).

This was my dad's restaurant, The Salad Shoppe, in the 80s. When he felt called to ministry, he also felt called to sell all his businesses. We talked to the current store owner (now a bakery) and she said she found all the old accounting records in the attic, she asked me "Why did he ever close this place? They were making money every month!" Obedience, baby, obedience.

I didn't really say that. And unfortunately the guy that bought the restaurant from my dad killed it in the first year.

It was bizarre to be inside. I probably haven't been inside since I was about 3 or 4 and I have some really vivid memories from the restaurant.

Of course, we had to taste the cupcakes from the cute bakery that's housed there now. It's called Delish.

For Cassie's birthday, we went to the Plaza in KC. Had dinner at a yummy Italian place and dessert at The Melting Pot. We went with great friends from high school (from left) Beth, Sarah and Cass and me.

BFFs.

Just about every HS memory I have includes Sarah. We were in every activity together from 7th grade until we graduated, including 1st and 2nd chair flute in the band. Awe-yeah! You're jealous. And guess who was 1st chair? Hint: It wasn't Sarah. That's right. Yours truly.