Dave and I like to “name” our years. Last year was the “pivotal” year. We made some huge decisions and landed in California. New side of the country, new home, new neighbors, new school, new work location, new church, new friends, etc.
This year is our “investing” year. We are focusing time and energy in a few areas:
- Getting ourselves in shape. I’m going to the gym 3-4 times per week, working my butt off, to get out of the funk of lethargy and unhealthiness that I sunk into after having kids and losing a child. Dave has been running up and down the hills around us. We are both tracking what we eat. We’ve both got some pounds to lose and some energy to gain.
- We’re trying to get more rest. Dave and I are both night owls but mornings come early no matter how late we stay up! Going along with # 1 above, we’re going to bed earlier at night so we’re a little more rested — and hopefully less ornery.
- Daily devotions and Bible reading. Dave listens to the Bible while driving to and from work and I’ve been reading through a daily devotional book. Lauren also listens to the Bible on her iPod. Hope prays at night: Dear Jesus, thank you Mommy, Daddy, Lar-Lar, Carmey, pretty kitty (not ours…the neighbor’s cat statue that Hope can see out of her bedroom window), toys, baby doll, slide, hamburger. AMEN!
- Memorizing Scripture. Dave, Lauren and I are memorizing verses together.
- Renewing our passports. We let them expire after we brought Carmen home. I picked up the papers to renew them. If God sends us on mission trips, we might just need those passports.
- Building relationships by meeting our neighbors, joining a small group, volunteering at church, going to MOPS, attending ladies events at church, inviting friends over for Lauren to play with, etc.
- Practicing photography and film making. Dave and I both keep working on learning new camera skills. Lauren loves to carry around her Canon 20D so Dave is teaching her the basics.
- Daydreaming about becoming a professional surfer. Dave is scheming on ways to become a surfer and never have to work again. He found the following description of the Evolution of a Surfer: It all starts out innocently enough. A surf lesson, a rented board, just trying it out. But the more you do it, the better you get, the more you like it. Finally, it gets to the point that when the waves are good, you’re calling in sick to work. Then it all depends on the waves. Good Waves = Calling in Sick to Work. Finally, you lose your job. You get fired. The wife leaves you, because you’re a no-good dead-beat beach bum surfer. You move into a VW van, because the house has been foreclosed on for failure to pay the mortgage. You go to Mexico, in your van, because it’s cheaper to live, and the waves are better. It’s a downward spiral, but you’re the one who wants to surf.
- Using our 8 year old as the excuse to surf ’cause it makes perfect sense that the little girl who loves Bethany Hamilton might become the next great girl surfer, right??? So, we signed Lauren up for swimming lessons to make sure she is competent in the water.
- Looking around for a house for Wes and Karen to rent near us. Cause we would love to do this next great adventure together.
We want to bloom where we are planted.
