...in the six and a half years that we have been married, we have moved seven times. Yep. SEVEN. Every summer we have been married. Absolutely ridiculous I tell you! We haven't moved far some of those times, often I could see the old house from the new house, but still. We are in the midst of unpacking and resettling and figuring out where everything goes and I just keep askin myself why we keep doing this. You know, we never PLAN on moving. Only once were we pretty sure we would only be in a house a year. And yet every summer something happens and we find ourselves packing and unpacking once again. Granted, there is somehting GREAT about always moving...we GET RID OF STUFF. I love it. We get rid of more and more stuff each time and we are really learning to live with only what we USE. If I don't use it, why have it? So, I ask you my faithful blog readers...what do you have that you AREN'T using, that you don't need? Look around you right now...pick three things that you would probably never miss if you never saw them again and get rid of them. Okay, end of challenge.
So, some people have asked exactly where we are now living and what we are doing. Well, we are in the middle of a cornfield! We are in Central Nebraska and we will be living
/working at a small Chrisitan boarding school here. We will be dorm parents, just has we have been doing for the last few years at other schools. We will have 24 teenage girls! Twelve are American and twelve are Asian. We look after them while they are away from home. It is a really neat ministry. As for the specifics of this school, we aren't sure yet. Inservice training starts tomorrow so we will get more info on our specific job description. But, we've already met a ton of our girls and they all seem so great. We are really excited!
Being back in the States has been good for us, but strange. The kids are definately noticing the change. They ask when we are having rice for dinner. Before Sunday School yesterday Alaina told me "In my class there will be light kids and dark kids." Then, after class, she sadly came up to me and sain, "there were no dark kids!" The funniest was last night when we were driving to have dinner with a family we met. Alaina said, "Why are we the only ones driving? Doesn't anyone here drive?" HA! She is so used to crowded Asian streets that seeing about 5 cars in half an hour does not make any sense to her! It is quite a change...a big bustling Asian city to the quiet cornfields of Nebraksa where the population of our town is less than 3,000! Secretly, though, I think I will really like it here. The people are soooo friendly and I actually like the quiet. I like the small town. I like the simple things.
So, question for you...how do you make big decisions? Have you ever heard the question, "What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail? Well, I have an idea. But it is a big one. It's a big idea for something great but I just don't know. I guess it really does come down to a fear of failing. But, part of me says just go for it. It is somehing I would enjoy and although there would be a huge learning curve, it is somehting I *think* I could do. Any secrets for making big decisions? I'd love to hear 'em.
Okay...a few LO's for you. I haven't scrapped much since we've been unpacking but I do have a few.
Here are two I did for the August Challenges at Digital Design Essentials . This first one is for the Inspiration Challenge:
And here is one for the Scraplift Challenge:
Everything from these two pages from DDE . First LO uses mostly Gina's JUBILEE kit as well as the Inspiraiton Challenge freebie. THe second LO uses her Sweet Liberty paper pack and elements from her Bookbag Essentials.
And here is a LO I just did tonight using Meredith Fenwicks new COOL KID mini-kit (at PDW ) and her paint strokes from SBB
And finally, here is an 11x13 print I made for my sister for her wedding. I'm going to print it out and frame it. I used the OLIVIA COLLECTION from the Shabby Shoppe
That's it for tonight...have a great night/day!
Man, oh man--your blog is always such a good read! Fun and interesting:):) Love all the new pages--super idea for your sister too:) Decisions? I'm pretty bad it at but the only thing I know to do is pray pray pray and wait to get an answer. If I don't get one, I proceed with caution and open ears:):) Well, I guess I'll get busy getting rid of junk I don't use now:) HAve a super day!!!!!!!
--Hollie
Posted by: PaulineLucille | August 09, 2006 at 02:22 AM
I love the page you did for your sister, what a great gift that will be. Your small-town living sounds wonderful- as much as I love Orlando, the thought of being somewhere cozy and small is great. I love your kids comments about where they live! I hope your training is helpful and that the start of your year goes well! What will Jason being doing, or are you both DPs like at Dalat?
Posted by: Erika | August 10, 2006 at 08:41 PM