Happy Birthday, Steve!

My dear Steve had a birthday two weeks ago...January 15th.

He turned 41...it was a great day :)  


It was quite different from his birthday last year...when he turned 40 and we cut his birthday cake to learn if our baby was a boy or a girl.  That pink frosting...what a delight she's been!

This year...his first birthday in Texas.  It was a beautiful, windy Sunday here in Frisco.  We had just signed the lease on our rental home the day before and were coordinating the arrival of PODS and setting up utilities.  It was our first visit to Grace Church.  We had a great morning :)


Then it was off to La Hacienda for a special birthday lunch.  New friends of ours, the Mayfields, (who used to live here in Frisco and now go to our church in PA) suggested it.  Word has it that they make the best steak fajitas...word was right on!  It was a great lunch...oh so yummy and the atmosphere was so fun :)

Birthday Daddy!

The Girls and the Grizzly~

Happy Birthday, My Love!

After lunch we stopped to admire some stampeding cows...

and help round them up :)
 

Later we enjoyed cupcakes at a cute little bakery in Frisco.

YUMMY!

Baby Gray was pretty mad that she didn't get a cupcake!

It was a nice day...a good birthday...a great start to a new year in our new home~

God bless~
Rach

Poem and Pictures~

Ode to Moving

We packed up our home, loaded two PODS;

all because my husband got a new job.

Yes, grad school was over, he finished his degree;

now I'm married to a PhD.

The job God gave him was far away,

so we had to leave our dear PA.

Huge thanks to my Dad and brother Chris who helped us move,

driving from NC to PA and back;

special thanks to so many dear friends who helped us clean and pack.

From PA to DE, MD, and VA...we traveled through many states,

stopping in NC for an extended Christmas break.

Celebrating Mom's birthday was fun,
 on Christmas Eve she turned...sixteen?

A quick trip to New Bern to see family was fun for all,
babies playing, late night singing, outdoor games...we all had a ball!

Selling our home did not go smoothly,
a few times we lost our cooly.

Thankfully, the deal still went down,

we were finally Texas bound!

Two loaded cars, Opa, two cats, and our family of five,

set out for our "Southern Tour" drive.

Driving cross country can be interesting and neat;
we saw a water tower shaped like a peach :)

From NC, to SC, to GA we drove,

and found sweet rest that night in the Glasgow home.

Then through AL, MS, and LA we cruised, stopping near Shreveport for the night;

I can count this as Geography, right?!

Texas was close, the next day we arrived;

the trip had gone smoothly, we all had survived :)

Except my Dad got a bad case of pink eye,

so back home to NC he had to fly.

Finding a home to rent was kinda hard, we think;

we were all cozy as we lived in a hotel for over a week.

Gracia especially had a hard time sleeping;
maybe it was the pack-n-play, maybe it was the teething.

Steve began his new job, it's great...a blessing for sure;

drug research is his calling, he's looking for a cure.

House #1 did not work out,

I was discouraged and proceeded to pout.

But the Lord had a plan, a better design;

a new home we surely did find :)

We visited the Sovereign Grace church here in Frisco,

not much rhymes with Frisco...other than disco.

Worship was wonderful, the sermon was great;

we were very warmly welcomed to the Lone Star State!

The PODS arrived and moving-in began,

new friends from church showed up to lend us a hand! 

The girls miss their friends, but they're enjoying sun,
playing outside, and having fun!

 The PODS are empty and gone, chaos abounds;

there are so many things that need to be found.

Oh, these boxes...there sure are a lot;

it took five days to find my coffee pot!

 Our unpacking progress is slow but steady;

give us a few weeks...your guest room will be ready :)

And that's all I have to say,
hope you enjoy the rest of your day!


Rach

Living in Limbo...

...it's an adventure, right?

Oh, I have so much I want to record and blog about, but also want to wait until I can get to "my" computer and share pictures as well.  

And why don't I have access to "my" computer?  Because it's still nicely packed in a box because we are still living in a hotel...Extended Stay something or other here in Plano, TX.

It's a fine hotel room...a king bed, a pull out sofa, a small kitchenette, a huge recliner (we had removed b/c we needed a place for Gracia's pack-n-play).  We are packed in and surrounded by suitcases and other assorted belonging of ours...including our cats...but I guess they aren't really belongings...they are our sweet animal companions, right?

We have a TV and so the girls enjoy watching HGTV or the Food/Cooking channel...remember, we don't have TV programming at home...so they think it's great fun to watch Cupcake Wars and other "fine programming".  However, they no longer think it's great to share a pull out sofa...but, in all honesty, they are doing well and have done a great job being flexible and going with the flow.  We have visited the library in our new town and they loved it...wow, Mom, it's so big!  They creatively use their imagination to keep themselves occupied when stuck in the hotel room and those Nooks that my brother gave them for Christmas have come in mighty handy :) 

Gracia, however, is another story.  She's actually done pretty well too...but she is teething and she's pretty much done with her pack-n-play...I guess I would get tired of sleeping on a cushioned board too.  We've tried to make it more comfy, but sometimes she's simply not having anything to do with it.  And, so, horror of horrors :)  she sometimes sleeps with us.  Yep, in an effort to not wake up the rest of the hotel with her screaming (and all of you who know her as a quiet, mellow kid...well, let's just say that she has found her voice) and to get some sleep ourselves, we have allowed her to sleep with us.  I don't know...we may be setting ourselves up to have to break a bad habit...but for now, we are going with the flow and just trying to survive hotel living.  I am hopeful that she'll get back into her better sleeping routine once these teeth finish popping through and once she's able to sleep in her crib again.  Those teeth, though, sure are cute :)  Currently, her two bottom teeth are coming in (they popped through in December), one top tooth broke the surface last week (somewhere in Mississippi), and the other top tooth is right there, very close to coming through...maybe I'll get my mellow baby back again after that ones shows itself :)

Steve started his new job on Monday and it is great...we are very, very thankful!  So far so good...he's already up and running with chemistry and has made some compounds...I don't exactly know what that means other than he's happily "cooking" in his lab :)

So, back to the hotel situation.  We knew the general area we wanted to be in here in TX, so we began working with a realtor checking out rental properties via the internet.  Circumstances did not allow us to travel to TX ahead of time to find a rental, so our plan was to look at  some houses we had already previewed via the internet once we got into town.  We thought it would be fairly simple to pick one, sign a lease, and begin getting moved in.  Well, it hasn't exactly gone according to plan.


The rental market is tight here and properties often have multiple applications on them...so you fill everything out and hope you get picked.  We lost the contest on the first home we applied to.  It was very frustrating because it was a three day process and by the end of it, I felt like we had just wasted time.  So the process began again, Steve and I reviewed a bunch of places online, and then the girls and I went to see some of them yesterday.  So, today we have an application going in on another home.  Supposedly, this one does not have other apps on it currently...I am hopeful that they will give us an answer today instead of making us wait through the weekend.  If you think of it, please pray for this to go smoothly...thanks so much!


Ultimately, I do believe God is in control of where we live and I do believe that He has all this figured out...and we do desire to be right where He wants us...but we have been discouraged and frustrated by the process.  I've had to really look at what it is that has fueled those feelings in me.  Some of my "reasons" are legitimate, I believe...I do want our family to get settled in our new home, I do want to get back to school with the girls, we do want to begin meeting people and making friends, etc.  Some of them, however, reveal "issues"...I really value a plan and knowing what the plan is, I value feeling like I make the plan, and I don't like it when "the plan" does not go as I planned...wow, that a lot of "plan" :)  I value security and comfort...I do not like feeling unsettled...some of these are probably simply our human nature and condition, but they are still "issues" for me, nonetheless.  They are things I am thankful that our Lord lets me see...thankful that he puts up with me anyway...thankful that He cares and loves me and my family...thankful to know that He forgives me...thankful to know that His ways and plans are the best.  He has been reminding me to look to Him, rest in Him, trust in Him...and He's been reminding me of this post.


So, here it is, Friday the 13th...and it's going to be a good day for my family :)  The girls and I are off to find a laundromat...did I mention that I'm looking forward to getting settled?


Have a blessed day and a blessed weekend~
Rach

Happy 11th Birthday Elijah~

Today, my family is preparing to continue our zoom across the south...it's an exciting time for us :)

Today, our son would be celebrating his 11th birthday.  I always have lots I'd love to share, but time simply does not allow for that at this moment.  

So, here is a blog I wrote a couple of years ago after attending some precious teaching at our church.

I pray you have a blessed day~


Rach