So this past week we had to sort all of our belongings down to only 3000 lbs. Ok, so missionary friends who sort down to 2 suit cases per person, how? How do you sort all of your worldly goods to such small amounts? I am struggling with 3000 lbs! Part of my struggle has been dating back to a conversation M and I had when we were dating and talking about marriage. This is how the conversation went...
B - I love you and want to marry you. This Marine Corps thing can work for me. I do not like to travel (hahahaha because of all the traveling I do) but I would not mind living all over. The military moves our things, right?
M - Right
B - So, as long as I can come home to my things that make my home homey, it will be fine.
M - Nod
Can you tell M was not wordy back then either?
So now comes week before last. We are preparing for our 5th move in 6 years...that is a lot to begin with. Matthew calls to let me know that we can only take 3000 lbs of our allotted home goods because we are doing an overseas tour. That means none of my furniture id going. I cried and cried. This was not what I had signed up for. I thought our moves would look differently. Especially -- USMC -- if you are listening. Doesn't is cost just as much to store our things for 3 years as it would to ship our things? So I struggled...yes I am attached to my stuff. I look at my dining room set and think, wow, we bought that with my first pay check after we were married. Or I look at my brand new living room furniture and think, we took 2 years to find that and we finally have the living room that we wanted. You see, when we married, part of wanting to wait 5 years to have a baby was so that we could work on each room pay check at a time. We would be able to decide what we wanted and have nice things to live in.
We also feel that as a couple, we love to have people over. We love having Bible studies at our house, people for dinner, kids to play, etc. Part of our home being inviting is that we have a homey home. So now that is gone for the next 3 years. Overseas without any of my furniture that makes my home mine.
Then I struggle because Christians are constantly talking about this world being temporary and we can't take it when we go and that being attached to worldly things is wrong. So then I feel guilty about liking my home and the things in my home. Well, you know what, when you want to have a place for other Christians to gather, a comfortable home is better. God has blessed us with the ability to have a comfortable home that we like to welcome others with. Though during the last several years we have not as much because of recruiting, and M being gone for a total of 10 months since 2007, we haven't been able to have lots of events at our house. We have done what we could and I enjoy having a place where people can gather.
I have come to terms with this move not looking like I thought it would and we got to work. On Sat. M and I met up at the storage unit and sorted through all of our boxes, furniture and stuff. We stored away all big furniture. We stored away my books...I love to read and reread books, so this sucks...
We pulled out anything that would help make our home homey:
linens, decorations, wall hangings, Christmas stuff, decorative pillows, and all of L's items. Her dresser, crib, books and toys are going. I hope we have some how sorted our stuff down to 3000 lbs. If not we have to pay $4.00/pound if we go over our weight. YIKES!!! We shall see how this goes.
On a positive note, friends and family have helped me to think of the good things about not taking as much stuff:
* I had joked about going to the beach every day, but now since I may not like our home as much, I may really go to the beach every day
* L can throw up, poop on and spill things on the Gov' furniture and when I come back my furniture will still look brand new
* We are going to a a BEAUTIFUL island where there are tons of outdoors things to do
* We get to be on island with my brother who is stationed there
* We get to take several vacations not visiting family since we have been married 6 years on Sunday and have yet to Vaca w/o visiting family. We love our family of course, but it will be nice to get away just the 3 of us
* L gets to see a different culture, festivals, and experiences
* I might get to sub since the DOD schools really need subs. So I may get a taste of the classroom again
* God will be glorified for all the blessings we have!
* God is teaching me to live without my stuff and he didn't have to burn down my house for me to learn the lesson. He is teaching me the easy way to be more reliant on him
* The best of all...We will be with M on a more regular basis! Even though he will be deployed frequently, we will still see him more than we do now
* We are all healthy and able to go on this new adventure
* We get to think about what traditions we want to start with our daughter. Maybe we can have some cool traditions around moving and starting in new places. Any ideas??
So that has been where I have been, mentally, for the past couple of weeks. We are grateful to family and friends for supporting us through talks, letting us stay with you and just your overall love and prayers!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
June so far
As you can tell by my posts, or lack there of, we have been busy. Of course, not having my own computer cuts out on posting time as well. Here are some key highlights for the last several weeks.
L now combines 2 signs "more bath" on her own! When she wants to go into the pool this is what she signs.
She will tell you what a cat says. She is saying "ba" for bath, "ba" for ball, "oooo ooo" for dog (that is her bark for dogs), "do" for doll, and she will say "mama" and lay her head on my chest. She says "ba" for binky and "aa" for yankee. She says "hello" and once held the phone to her ear and said "hello dada". Once in a while she imitates the syllable and tone for "I love you". She touches her toes, head and tummy, and just beginning to touch nose and ear. The following includes her list of signs she has mastered: more, milk, water, please, food, bath, down and beginning to sign cookie and trying to imitate several other signs. I LOVE baby signing!!!! It is so much better than her screaming at me and me not understanding what she wants. She only walks and is beginning to alternate feet while climbing stairs. She waves to everyone thinking they should all wave back and adore her. She picks any number of things and holds them to her ear and says "hello" as if talking into a phone.
The last couple of weeks have been crazy. I went up on the train for M's graduation for TBS and he and I drove down to SC for Memorial Day. We had a great 4 days and 5 nights together! Then on May 30, L and I flew to Bermuda for M's sister's (L's Godma)wedding. The week was wonderful! L got to meet one of her aunts she had not yet met. L swam in the ocean, went swimming in a pool, and we celebrated my 30th bday while there. M's family had a party for me and it was fun. Matthew flew in on June 5 for the wedding on June 6. L hardly let go of him all weekend. She is now at the point where she realizes that he is coming and going. So when he is here, she holds on tight so as not to loose him. L was the mini flower girl in the wedding and she laughed out loud when she realized that everyone was looking at her and stopped walking so she could take it all in. With some help from mama she did get down the aisle and enjoyed the wedding from the sidelines.
We are so excited for M's sister who just got married. She has chosen a fabulous man who will stand beside her on her journey to Heaven. They will be a happy couple with many many years of marriage ahead. We love you R and M!
When we got back to Sc, we had great grandma, great grandpa, an aunt and 2 cousins visiting. We were excited to see them! L loved all the craziness in the house but also was ready for peace and quiet. She would go lay in her crib for up to an hour, just to hang out by herself.
That is about it for our most recent activities. I am excited for the day when people ask me what we are up to and I say "oh, you know, same old same old"
We are trying to get ready for our big move to Japan, filling out medical screenings, shipping out household items (which I just found out we can only ship 3000 lbs, do you know how not a lot of stuff that is!!!). I am a little overwhelmed by what we have to do and by how not smoothly it is going. But, we just hammer one thing out at a time and know that we will eventually be in Japan with M and that will be so worth it! L and I are so excited to get to see daddy again and actually be living in the same place as him (at least the same place when he is not deployed)!!!
What are you up to lately?
L now combines 2 signs "more bath" on her own! When she wants to go into the pool this is what she signs.
She will tell you what a cat says. She is saying "ba" for bath, "ba" for ball, "oooo ooo" for dog (that is her bark for dogs), "do" for doll, and she will say "mama" and lay her head on my chest. She says "ba" for binky and "aa" for yankee. She says "hello" and once held the phone to her ear and said "hello dada". Once in a while she imitates the syllable and tone for "I love you". She touches her toes, head and tummy, and just beginning to touch nose and ear. The following includes her list of signs she has mastered: more, milk, water, please, food, bath, down and beginning to sign cookie and trying to imitate several other signs. I LOVE baby signing!!!! It is so much better than her screaming at me and me not understanding what she wants. She only walks and is beginning to alternate feet while climbing stairs. She waves to everyone thinking they should all wave back and adore her. She picks any number of things and holds them to her ear and says "hello" as if talking into a phone.
The last couple of weeks have been crazy. I went up on the train for M's graduation for TBS and he and I drove down to SC for Memorial Day. We had a great 4 days and 5 nights together! Then on May 30, L and I flew to Bermuda for M's sister's (L's Godma)wedding. The week was wonderful! L got to meet one of her aunts she had not yet met. L swam in the ocean, went swimming in a pool, and we celebrated my 30th bday while there. M's family had a party for me and it was fun. Matthew flew in on June 5 for the wedding on June 6. L hardly let go of him all weekend. She is now at the point where she realizes that he is coming and going. So when he is here, she holds on tight so as not to loose him. L was the mini flower girl in the wedding and she laughed out loud when she realized that everyone was looking at her and stopped walking so she could take it all in. With some help from mama she did get down the aisle and enjoyed the wedding from the sidelines.
We are so excited for M's sister who just got married. She has chosen a fabulous man who will stand beside her on her journey to Heaven. They will be a happy couple with many many years of marriage ahead. We love you R and M!
When we got back to Sc, we had great grandma, great grandpa, an aunt and 2 cousins visiting. We were excited to see them! L loved all the craziness in the house but also was ready for peace and quiet. She would go lay in her crib for up to an hour, just to hang out by herself.
That is about it for our most recent activities. I am excited for the day when people ask me what we are up to and I say "oh, you know, same old same old"
We are trying to get ready for our big move to Japan, filling out medical screenings, shipping out household items (which I just found out we can only ship 3000 lbs, do you know how not a lot of stuff that is!!!). I am a little overwhelmed by what we have to do and by how not smoothly it is going. But, we just hammer one thing out at a time and know that we will eventually be in Japan with M and that will be so worth it! L and I are so excited to get to see daddy again and actually be living in the same place as him (at least the same place when he is not deployed)!!!
What are you up to lately?
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