Today is an emotional day for me. My youngest son headed off to the first day of his Senior year of high school, my middle son who is making plans to join the Air Force is already at work, and my oldest son starts his Sophmore/Junior year of college. As I write this, My Princess is still sleeping and so the house is quiet, I’ve had my quiet time, devotions with my son, and am sipping my coffee.
I thought I would take this unusual quiet time to get back to blogging…something I haven’t done regularly in a while, and so I started looking through my pictures to decide what subject my next post should be about (No, I don’t have a blogging schedule, I actually have a million posts started but none ready to publish). As I looked through my pictures however, I noticed something has shifted over the past year, it is something I believe to be a very good shift. While browsing through my pictures, I quickly noticed that they were not of recipes, projects, or crafts. There were very few staged photos. In all honesty there were only a handful of pictures I could use for blog posts.
Initially, I was a little shocked by this. “Don’t I have anything new to post, what have I been doing lately?” Then it hit me and my heart smiled… I’ve been too busy living life and making memories with my family and friends to even think about blogging. I know many of my fellow bloggers seem to manage life, memory making, and blogging all at once…me? not so much.
So, with all that said, I’m gonna give you a life update. If you don’t know me, this will give you some insight into my life as a wife, mom of four, daughter, lover of Jesus, friend, and many other untitled roles. If you know me, you’ll just get an update of what’s happening in my life.
I decided to started way back…June 2016 – My middle son graduated from our home school high school and we threw him a graduation party. Having family and so many precious friends attend a party to honor your child is such a precious occasion!
Two weeks later, My Better Half and I left on a missions trip to Spain for almost two weeks. This trip was a little different in that we were ministering to missionaries. We cared for their children and provided the music for their corporate worship times at their yearly conference. It was an amazing trip…one I will always be grateful for.
The rest of our Summer was filled with football practices, a trip to visit my parents in WV, lots of time at the pool, and other fun family memories.
The fall of 2016 brought lots of changes as my two oldest started college and my youngest son headed off to a brick and mortar high school, leaving our home school behind. My princess and I adjusted to the quiet house and had a good, very profitable school year. Having so much one on one time with her was such a gift.
Friday night football and the practices and dinners filled the family’s fall schedule. In October, I was gifted a 10 day trip to New Orleans and a Riverboat Cruise with some friends. I can not express to you how AMAZING this was!! I love being a wife and mom and wearing all the hats I do BUT, it was SO relaxing to go away and just be Carrie and get pampered the entire time. There is no way I could ever repay the gift giver for such a generous gift, but I am forever grateful!!
Winter brought a new experience to our family…wrestling. My youngest son asked if he could go to wrestling practice and see what it was about. When he came home I asked what he thought. He tossed a singlet on the table and said he had taken team photos, he was on the team. WHAT!?? Anyway, the next three months of weekends were spent at wrestling tournaments. He did pretty well for his first year and came in 5th at regionals.
This winter/early spring brought some disappointment as we dealt with parenting issues and made difficult decisions in regard to some things we believed God was leading us toward. Thankfully, the storms don’t last forever and we rejoiced as My Princess went in for an MRI and found that the brain abnormalities that were causing her seizures are gone. She is now seizure free!!!
In May, my dad had knee replacement surgery and we had the privilege of going down to love on him and my mom shortly after the surgery. Despite some pretty crazy allergic reactions, he is doing very well.
This summer I’ve spent time at the pool, helped prepare and decorate for a precious friend’s wedding reception, spent three weeks with my parents, had countless campfires, went camping with 45 church friends, dated My Better Half, participated in Beach Body Bingo at Jazzercise, went on a road trip with my oldest son, dealt with life as a Type 1 Diabetes mom, and did all the other fun and not so fun stuff that life holds in this season.
Now, I’m ready (or not) to start this new season. Life is busy but good and I’m super grateful for the ups and downs. Without them, life would be pretty boring!
Love this blog! It’s real life 🙂