Vacation!

We just got back from a week-long vacation in Southern California and it was glorious.  Relaxing, fun, and filled with awesome family bonding.

When you haven't taken a week-long vacation in almost 9 years, it makes it that much sweeter.  I'm feeling incredibly thankful for the privilege of being able to get away for an entire week this summer. It's not something that everyone gets to do.  But, I really wish it was, because it's a darn good thing.

Thank you!

Oh my goodness, you are the best!  Thanks so much to everyone who visited Jonah's blog last week and left him some love!  We were gone all last week so we just logged on to his blog tonight and saw all the comments.  He had a lot of fun replying to all of the comments and questions.  He's looking forward to getting back to blogging again tomorrow.  Thanks again!        

The Life of John Balooge

Well, apparently I don't blog anymore.  Sigh.  I really do want to.  I just can't find the time or energy.  And now I have 3 little monkeys with me all day, everyday so that doesn't bode well for summer blogging.  But guess who is blogging these days?  Jonah!  He's just started a blog called "The Life of John Balooge."  Don't ask.  I have no idea where that name came from.  He just likes it and you know Jonah when he gets an idea in his head.  It's looking like the blog is going to be all about video games.  Not sure that will be of much interest to you.  But, I do know that he would LOVE it if you visited his blog and he would be OVER THE MOON if someone actually commented on his blog.  So go check it out and leave him some blog love.  You can find it here: http://johnbalooge.wordpress.com/

Crack

And...now we can add "accidentally throwing a baseball over the backyard fence and shattering the neighbor's bedroom window" to our long list of Little Boy Shenanigans.

The sound of glass shattering outside is NOT what you want to hear while you are making dinner.  I was scared to look!  I really didn't want it to be a window!    

The culprit this time was Riley who immediately burst into tears because he was convinced he would have to somehow pay for a new window with his own money.   

Instead, he and Steve went next door together to tell our neighbor about the window.  (He will also be writing them an apology letter and doing some extra chores around the house to work off his "debt.")

Thankfully, our neighbor was more than gracious. 

Never a dull moment around here. 

Overheard in our House

Last night when I was putting Jonah to bed he said something about how awesome it would be if we had a bunch of money and we could buy a mansion.  I told him that I actually would not want to live in a mansion because it would be more than we needed.  I said that I'd rather give all the extra money away to someone else who needed it.  That got him thinking and suddenly he became an amazing visionary with a plan for the future.  It went something like this....

I'm going to be in a rock band, called Peace.  The lyrics will all be appropriate and positive.  With all of the money that I earn from Peace, I am going to start a home for homeless people called Peace House.  It will be right next door to our house so when people want to come and stay at Peace House, they'll come over to our house to get the keys.  Peace House will have some really big rooms upstairs that have lots and lots of beds in there.  There will also be a kitchen (with lots of food), a dining room, and a room for a TV.  If any kids come to Peace House they will stay in a room just for kids so that they can make friends.  That room will have lots of toys in it.  We should put all of our toy cars in that room because we don't play with those anymore.  When people come to Peace House, we will give them $100 per week for the first three weeks to help them out while they look for a job.  Then, after that, they'll have to pay $1.00 per week to stay there.  Hopefully they will have a job when they leave and won't need to stay at Peace House anymore.

What do you think of Jonah's plan?  Sounds like a kingdom playground to me!  

Unrelated to that, this afternoon, Nicolas and Riley told me what they are going to do when they grow up.  I loved that their future included one another.  Those boys have a pretty spectacular bond.  I hope it never goes away.   

First, we are going to go to Hawaii to hang out on the beach (and in the hotel).
Then, we are going to go to Colorado to practice snowboarding for the Olympics.
Next, we are going to go to Nevada so we can visit Jalon (a kid who was in their class last year and moved).
Then, we are going to go to St. Louis to play on the St. Louis Cardinals for one year.
Then, we'll go to Chicago and practice snowboarding some more.
Then, we'll compete at the Olympics in snowboarding.  If we don't win a medal, we'll practice some more and try again at the next Olympics.
If we do win a medal, we'll move to where Notch lives (the guy who started Minecraft) and we will be video game nerds for a long time.
When we are old, we'll watch football and baseball and movies until we die.     

Just the Right Amount of Time

There were 6 months between the day we accepted Steve's job offer in San Francisco and the day we loaded up the moving truck and drove away from our community.  I think God knew we need that much time to grieve, process, pray, narrow down neighborhoods, and prepare our family to move to Oakland.

Next, there were 8 months between the day that we moved to Oakland and the day Brian started as the new ED of The GreenHouse.  I think God knew that I needed that much time for my very raw heart to be able to hand over such a special gift.  It was such a slow and gentle loosening.   

Then, there were 9 months between Brian's first day at The GreenHouse and my first day at Aspire Public Schools.  I think God knew that I needed that much time and space to heal before I could open my heart up to something new.  I think He also knew that The GreenHouse needed me to be available to answer questions and provide support any day of the week by phone, text, email, or in person.  What a gift it was to have that time and to be able to share it so freely with the people and the organization that I love so dearly!   

So, it was almost 2 years exactly from the time I knew I'd be leaving the GH to the time I started a new job in Oakland. 

It was just the right amount of time.

And, you know what?  God provided just the right job, too.

When I began to think about going back to work, I knew I wanted three things: 1.) I only wanted to work two days a week so that I could maintain some semblance of order around our household.  2.) I wanted to work at a school (in Oakland) so I could have summers off with the boys.  3.) I didn't want to start until January.

Well, the first job I applied for, I got.  And it met all of those criteria.  What's more, it's in my very neighborhood of Oakland, exactly one mile from my house.  If you know me, which you do, you know how much I value neighborhood.   

I am now a Speech and Language Pathologist at ERES Academy, a charter school within the Aspire Public Schools system (a system of charter schools that operates in low-income neighborhoods).  ERES Academy is sweet little K-8th school in which 94% of its students are Hispanic and 94% of its students are on free and reduced lunch.  In so many ways, it feels like home.  I'm really enjoying all of my students and the satisfaction that comes with teaching.  (I also really like working.)     

I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I am.  God is STILL, two years later, giving me a giant hug throughout this whole transition. I can hear Him saying, "I know this is so hard for you.  But, don't worry.  I'm going to take care of you - again and again and again - so that you know that I am real and I love you."   

14 Goals for 2014: One Month Progress Report

I started off with 10.  But 10 soon became 11.  And I couldn't have a list of 11 because that seemed like an odd number.  So, here are my 14 goals for 2014.

I fully intended to post them at the beginning of the year, since that's when I wrote them.  But who has time for blogging these days?  Since I'm posting them one month+ late, I'm giving myself a one-month Progress Report to see how I'm doing so far in each area.  

In no particular order....

1.  Eat less (sugar, carbs, etc) and move more.  I know this is the obvious one that everyone does.  But I would really feel much better in my body if I could lose 5-10 pounds.  My goal is to exercise 3 times a week and to make better food choices.    
Progress: I started doing an exercise dvd on M, W, F (I'm two weeks in).  So far, so good.  But, I have almost no discipline when it comes to exercising so please feel free to ask me how I'm doing with this one especially as the weeks turn into months.  I have also started eating more salads, avocados, eggs, etc for breakfast and lunch and less breads.  Hoping I can keep up with this goal.            

2.  Limit facebook.  I was one of the last people I know to join facebook and now I act like I can't get through a day without checking it 5000 times a day.  My goal is to limit it to just once or twice a day and to not use it on my phone.
Progress: So far, I'm totally failing at this goal.  There are other ways to get on facebook from your phone even when you delete the app.  Dang.  Help!   

3. Figure out church.  There are many things that we love about our church.  But after a year, we still don't feel like we have "community" there and that's an odd feeling.  I want to consider if it might be time to make a change (or not).
Progress:  We visited a different church two Sundays in a row last month and it was really positive.  We'll see!  Time to pray for discernment.    
   
4.  Make a family budget and track our expenses this year. 
Progress:  I started working on the budget.  Does that count?  It's about half way done.  Would like to finish it by the end of Feb.    

5.  Continue with counseling.  I began counseling last fall and I'm starting to make some good headway.  So, I want to keep those appointments a priority - 2 times per month.
Progress:  Yep.  Still going.  

6.  More communion with God (through prayer and other spiritual disciplines).  Since starting Community Bible Study last fall, I've been studying the Bible more which is great.  But now I find that I'm praying and journaling less.  There's got to be a good balance to be found. 
Progress: This is tricky now that I've added a new job to the mix and all of the other things I'm doing on my days "off."  Feel free to ask me how I'm doing on this one. There is definitely room for improvement.  

7.  Plan times with the college-aged girls from The GreenHouse and figure out what those relationships might look like moving forward.  Since ending my position at The GreenHouse last June, I've been trying to figure out what my role/involvement at the GH would look like moving forward.  In the fall, I decided that I would not remain on the board of directors.  It's just not the right time for that.  So, that leaves me with some freedom to pursue something I've wanted to do for a long time....a discipleship group with young women from The GreenHouse.  My goal is for us to meet together every-other month.   
Progress: Check!  We had our first Young Women's Life Group meeting last weekend.  It was a long-time dream come true and it made my heart very happy.  We meet again in April but will be checking in with each other regularly until then.  Stay tuned for a blog post with more info about this exciting new group.         

8.  Be prepared for an emergency.  That might sound like an odd one for the list, but it's something I've wanted to do for awhile.  We don't even have flashlights that work in our house!  And even if I wanted to call 911 from our land line, I couldn't because the batteries in our home phones are all dead.  My goal is to have a kit with flashlights, batteries, and whatever else you need in an emergency.
Progress:  I haven't started on this goal yet.  I think this might be a one or two day project so I will set a deadline for the end of March.  

9.  Start photo organization projects.  I've got photos coming out of my ears.  In boxes.  On various hard drives and computers.  GreenHouse photos.  Family photos.  Childhood photos.  I dream of having them neatly organized into photo albums or computer files.  This also includes keeping up with blogging, since that's the only real "photo album" my kids will every know.  I'm thinking 1 day a month while my kids are at school (and on days that I'm not working or volunteering at the school or at CBS or at counseling, etc, etc) I could work on photo organization stuff.
Progress:  I haven't started on this goal yet.  There just hasn't been time yet.    

10.  Date nights with Steve - once a month. 
Progress:  We went on one day in January - yay!  We saw a movie and got ice cream.  

11.  Learn (and use) a new vocabulary for parenting and discipline that doesn't include words of shaming.  Learn to stay calm and understanding when dealing with extremely difficult impulsive and hyperactive behavior.  Take a Positive Discipline class with Steve in the Spring so we share a common vocabulary.
Progress:  The progress here has just been in making the goal and being more aware.  We are hoping to take a Positive Discipline class in the spring.  

12.  Develop a new friendship with someone that is different from me and go out more with the friends I already have.  My goal is to plan a fun girls night out once a month.  I need to accept that people might not be able to go (and not take it personally).  But I can at least try to plan them and see what happens.
Progress:  Needs work.  

13.  Start a new job.
Progress: Check!  Started four weeks ago!  Perhaps this could be another blog post as well.   

14.  Practice contentment, particularly with our housing situation.   I'm not sure how to measure contentment but I think I'll start with giving thanks for the house that we are in and remembering the story of how God provided it for us at just the right time.  (and then remembering that again tomorrow....)
Progress:  I'm doing better.  But I still check the MLS for houses that are for sale and get depressed when I see the quality of houses here that are in our price range.  I am not exaggerating when I say that I feel like I am living in a war-torn land when I drive around Oakland looking for houses in our price range.  It's really quite depressing.  

I am clearly going to need to keep these goals at the forefront of my mind this year if I am going to keep at them.  Thus, the blog post.  How about you?  Any goals for 2014 that you'd like to share?  I'd love to hear and help keep you accountable!