Forever Thankful

One of my favorite things about living in VA this year is getting to experience seasons again. After we left VA, nine years ago, we moved to southern Oklahoma, where you didn't have weather, you just had wind. Then we moved to the coast of California, where the weather was always perfect and never really changed--beautiful, but sometimes boring. From there we moved to southern Texas, where we pretended we were having seasons but knew we were lying to ourselves, and then to balmy Florida, where people routinely come to get away from the seasonal change and the only exciting seasonal change is a hurricane. So getting a year to really experience all the seasonal shifts, from sweltering summer to fiery fall to white winter (hopefully), has been more wonderful than I could've expected.

I say that and fully realize that I didn't grow up with seasons and shouldn't be as enamored of them as I am and will most likely be whining, come February, about how cold I am and how long it takes for spring to arrive. In the meantime, though, I am snapping picture after picture, and saying thank you.

I am especially thankful that we are here with these glowing leaves and chilly days because it appears we are heading to the desert after this, the Mojave Desert, to be exact. I don't think I'm going to be getting fall leaves while we are there. And I am purposefully committing to enjoy every minute of seasonal change while we are here.

With that said, I'm also committing to being thankful where we are going. It's a new adventure for our family--we've never lived in a desert before (though I was born in one, not so long ago). I hope to find myself saying thank you for the cactus and the vivid sunsets and the unique wildlife I would never have experienced anywhere else, just as much as I have said thank you for the morning glories on our back porch and the hill side of flaming trees and the trio of bats who like to swoop over our back porch every night. Just as I said thank you in Florida for the deserted base beach and the occasional thrill of seeing dolphins and the excitement of imagining I might get eaten by a bear while running....and thank you in Texas for the pecan trees and the turtle pond and the breakfast tacos just down the road (oh, the breakfast tacos...still saying thank you for those).

Still, even as I set my mind to say thank you at the next base, I wonder: is it easier for me to say do so in all circumstances because I know those circumstances are short term? You can deal with just about anything when it has an end date. Or am I merely remembering what many of us forget in our more sedentary lives: that nothing is forever?

Because even if you aren't the type to move every two years, you have children who will grow, friends who will drift in and out of your lives, jobs that will change, phases of life that come and go. The truth is that all seasons come to an end eventually, but choosing thankfulness prepares my heart for eternity.

Thankfulness reminds me that there is more to my life than what I see. The leaves change color and drift from the trees, but the One who made them is forever. When I train myself to say thank you, I'm remembering that life is not about my small concerns, but that He still cares for me and He still provides for them. When I train myself to say thank you, I'm recognizing that every good gift comes from above and that there are so very many good gifts. When I train myself to say thank you, I'm choosing not to let the struggles define my life (even when they are very real and very challenging) but rather the celebrations. One day in heaven, I'll get to celebrate the best gift of all--Christ's life given for me--and, after having practiced saying thank you for so many years, for once I will find that it is as natural as breathing because all the tears will have dried and all the brokenness been healed and there will be nothing left but the good for which I have long been grateful.

But until that day, I make the choice to look around with eyes wide open and to take a picture with my mind (and often with my phone too), a picture which will be just a tiny sliver of the glory that waits in forever. And I say thank you.

Friendship Curry

When we left Florida, I made a list of things I was going to miss...and things I was not going to miss. Because sometimes, it really helps to write things out so that later when you are romanticizing the last base, you have tangible evidence that, yes, you really did live in an RV where you thought the floor was going to give way at any moment and the cat litter had to hang out under the girls' bed, but also so that if you look back and start to think that everything must've been terrible (you lived in an RV with five kids and three pets!), you have written proof that you also had a sunrise over the water to enjoy every morning and dolphins who would drop by for breakfast (okay, that part didn't actually happen).

I'm so glad I took this picture back in FL,
so I can remember how wonderful that food was.

One of the things that I didn't expect to miss as much as I have, though, was quality Thai food. I'll admit, I knew our Thai place was good. I mean, it was my comfort food: five minutes down the road from us, it was the Man's best "My wife has had a long day, let me fix this" option. But we were moving to DC...ish. Obviously, there would be good Thai food in DC.

WRONG.

We've tried five different Thai places in our neighborhood now, and with the exception of the curry puffs (which is really kind of a DC specific Thai option, and I do love them), they have all been a disappointment. Every time, I get my hopes up. Every time, my curried dreams are crushed.

So today I manned up and made Thai red curry myself. And it was...okay. At least a little better than the bland, veggie-less sauces we've been getting from the nearby restaurants. The kids liked it (well, all except for Tiny who would survive on a diet of pizza, baby carrots, and donuts if given the choice), but the Man and I agreed it needed some tweaking.

The Man took this fancy photo of dinner in the works.
My wok can cook enough for a small country.
Which means, sometimes we have leftovers.

Part of the problem is that curry done well is a many layered thing. Or at least that's how it seems to me as I've been digging through recipes in search of one that can give me the quality I want for about 10% of the effort that should be required. The recipe I tried was merely okay because if you don't put in about thirty different ingredients and then let it simmer until the flavors meld, you just don't get the rich depth of a good curry. It's fine to feed a six year old, whose tastebuds are still in the developmental stage, but for a woman who comfort-ate her way through a swimming pool of curry last year: standards were not met.

I was thinking about these things while stirring the curry and simultaneously batting texts back and forth across the country to friends in TX, FL, VA, etc., people that we've met and maintained relationships with from our varied bases (and from life before that too). Much like my Thai place, we don't get to physically take the people with us, though--thanks to modern communication--many more of my friendships do get to travel with me, at least to a certain extent. With each move, the people I meet add a depth and richness to my life that I couldn't have anticipated. There was no gap in my friend circle, necessarily, but once I get to know these new souls, I wonder how I couldn't have missed them earlier.

This is the picture the Man sent me
while I was on an out of town trip to prove 
that, if I die, he can probably keep the kids alive.

For instance, our homeschool community in FL was incredible--they held me up during a season when we were all weary and worn, and let me do the same for them. It was hard to imagine that I could luck out enough to land in another great community when we got here, but we did! True, the relationships are not the same (who could expect them to be?), but the joy of getting to learn from the women I'm with now, enriches even further what I was able to gain from friends in FL, who had already added another layer to friends we'd left behind in TX, and so on.

This month, we got news about where we will be heading next. Yes, we just got here. That's how it works sometimes. We still have over half of a year left, but I am so grateful already to see the quality of the relationships that we have been able to build here. I hope I have been a blessing to those around me, but I know I have been blessed by them. They are secret ingredients in my life, helping give flavor and depth that I didn't even know I was missing. And that helps me look forward to the people I'll get to know at the next base too...no matter how exhausting building new community always is. Because when it comes to comfort: curry and community are really the best ways to go. Even if sometimes you really have to work for them.

This kids don't really care about curry
and are pretty sure they should satisfy all
community needs ever. Just saying.

Catching Up (Ish)

This morning, as I was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic waiting to get around a rainy day wreck and running progressively later and later for the class I was about to teach, I noticed that my sister had posted a new blog. Since I wasn't going anywhere, I decided to read while I waited. That was totally safe. 95 was a parking lot. Also, it was a great blog, and if you haven't read it, you should just go read hers and not worry about mine.

It was Character Dress Up Day today for our co-op.
I was Sleepy. Literally as well.

At any rate, reading her blog made me realize that November was upon us, and (behold!) there had been no blog this month. And then, when the traffic finally cleared out and we made it to the house where I was supposed to teach, I put the car in park and Bruiser decided it was a good time to blow some chunks. So, needless to say, we turned around and came home, and I found myself with a little bit of free time on my hands simply because I didn't teach today. Other than my own kids. Who still had to suffer through a shortened and probably not as fun version as what they would've gotten if we'd made it to co-op. Even Bruiser, who has been totally fine since managing to rearrange all of our plans and spent the afternoon outside happily playing football in the mud with his brothers.

The Man lugging our pumpkin.

The kids checking out some pigs at the farm we went to
with awesome friends.

The reason it is the last week of October and I am just now trying to hammer out a blog is simply because I am lazy. And also because we moved here less than four months ago, and we have already managed to do four out of town trips (three of them out of state) as well as joining a church, jumping into a co-op, meeting our neighbors, trying to do cool sight seeing homeschool mom field trippy things, and generally running a family. But mostly because I am lazy. And have been using my writing time for other things. But it could also be the lazy thing.

We got the kids over to the Marine Corps Museum
for some history!

Autumn happy.

Speaking of Marines, the Man brought me home this coffee.
I drank it and yelled, "Come on, you sons of Frizzells,
do you want to live forever?"
Then made the kids do PE with me.

Now, however, I find myself with too much stuff to jam into one blog. Do I tell you about shark teeth fossil hunting on the Maryland side of the Potomac? Or tracking down Indonesian food in downtown Philadelphia after standing in line for an hour and a half to see the Liberty Bell? Or the gorgeous fall leaves outside my bay window and the fires that have been cheering up our fireplace as the weather has gotten colder? Or how surreal it was to actually get to go in a library (by appointment, with masks on, after our temperature had been taken and we had been warned not to touch anything EVER unless it was coming home with us)?

Introducing the kids to Indonesian food.
It was a total win.
Tiny's yard long mie ayam noodle was his favorite.

That bowl was licked clean before she was done.
Metaphorically. She wasn't raised in a trailer park.

I was in my happy place. And so was the Man.

Or maybe I won't tell you about any of those things as the couch cushion covers (say that five times fast) just finished in the dryer and I have to figure out if I shrunk them too badly to put them back on?

This is us at Independence Hall.
We opted not to wait half a life time in a socially distanced queue
in order to go in.

We did wait forever to see the Liberty Bell though.
Kids said it was worth it.
Evidently they are highly motivated by history.
I'm highly motivated by coffee. And books.

Proof Twinkle and I were there.
Her permanent attachment to me was due to
a security guard who made the critical mistake of trying
to befriend her. Never make that mistake.
She is cute but terrifying. And also easily terrified.

Now that all the couch cushions have been put back on, I will answer the burning question you all had: no, I did not wash them due to barf. They started to inextricably smell like urine, which could be because we've had those couches for nine years and they sat in storage for a year and a half after a hurricane. Or it could be the five kids and three pets. Who knows! Such excitement in our home!

Incidentally, we didn't take the kids to a racist pub.
They were at Snow White Bar-B-Que.
Promise.

Getting to see my mother-in-law
is always a win in my book.
And worth every hour of driving,
even the one stuck behind a tractor going 3 mph.
Luckily, I had a book on me.

Also, getting to see my brother-in-law same same.

And my sister-in-law. 
Said bro-in-law got way better pictures that day,
but now I can't find them.

Here's my oldest sister
preparing for her future as an instagram influencer.
#cutiewithacremepuff

And Twinkle... because autumn...and boots.

And now I have just fifteen minutes left before I have to start churning out tacos for my horde (this blog was written in shifts, which makes it really confusing to read), so I think I'm going to slap some pictures in this blog so you can see what we've been up to...and call it a day. Blog check mark for the win. MOVING ON. Well, after I give you three more pictures. 

Shark tooth fossils.
They are small but mighty.

Best company for shark tooth hunting.

Intrepid paleontologists.
Also, proof this totally happened.
Who knew the Potomac River had shark teeth?

Are you not entertained?! Or merely overwhelmed by all the pictures... 

And now, since the kids have inhaled all the tacos (3 lbs of beef, 4 dozen taco shells/tortillas, and 2 cans of refried beans plus all the toppings--I kid you not), I think I'm going to go chuck their adorable selves in bed...and pray that our food budget can hold out for another few years. Here goes nothing!

Never mind, the Man chucked the kids in bed. So I'm now going to sit on my clean couch cushion covers (eat that alliteration) and revel in the quiet.

Squashing in a Book Blog

There is not enough time in my days right now, but it appears that there is always enough time to read. When we first got to Virginia, our local library had not yet reopened, but I was so happy to be back with my own books, to have old favorites to reread, and I was so busy getting the house set up, that I didn't really mind. And about the time I was really ready for new reading material and considering panic as a legitimate life choice (or possibly blowing the Man's salary on books and more bookshelves), lo and behold, I met an awesome neighbor who told me that our library had just started back curbside pick up. Perfect timing!

My face with books is about that content.

With that said, our library books have come trickling in so slowly that it's kind of felt like we are men dying of thirst on a desert island trying to drink dew drops off leaves in the morning. The kids and I saw a woman returning a huge stack of library books the other day while we waited for our two that had come in, and we were practically salivating as she put them in the return box one by one for a solid five minutes. From the back row, plaintively: "How come she gets so many library books?" 

When your ten year old leaves The Goblet of Fire
outside and it gets rained on...

It becomes fodder for the fire pit
and your loving husband buys you a new copy...

With that said, a few books that we've been reading!

First up, after many long years of hunting, I finally tracked down Julia Stuart's The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise. This has been on my To Read list for years, but none of my libraries have had it. Finally, the Man moves us to a library system where it is available! Which just proves my point that the military is not helping me break my reading habit. Though I still prefer Stuart's Pigeon Pie Mystery, The Tower (etc) had Stuart's signature quirk that made for some fun reading. All the historical information she included about the Tower of London was utterly fascinating, and there were some truly moving moments that left me a little choked up. I can't give it a 100% recommendation as there are a couple inclusions I could've done without, but I am finally glad to have scratched an itch I've carried with me for years, and any book that can make me both laugh and nearly cry while reading about accidental pig theft feels like a win in my book. No pun intended.

I was so excited to finally find this,
even if it wasn't as good as her other novel.

On a very different note, the Man handed me a copy of Dan Crenshaw's Fortitude earlier in the month, and, wow, we had some great discussions from that. If you are married and don't take the time to occasionally overlap books with your spouse, you're really missing out. I found that Fortitude was really worth a read as we look at our current culture and ask hard questions about it. Also, when you're thinking about skipping a run and your husband looks at you and says, "Crenshaw would not approve", you know he's probably right and you get your rear in gear and go get it done. Politics aside, Crenshaw speaks to some areas we all need challenging in. It's now the Man's current favorite book to give away. 

This is the Man's picture, not mine.
I didn't ask his permission to use it because
I feel like he gave up that right when he married me.

At the same time that I was plowing through Fortitude, I was savoring a gift from one of my favorite people. Opening my mailbox to find Refractions by Makoto Fujimara was the best "Welcome to a new home" present I could ever get. Written by a Japanese-American artist whose studio was right off Ground Zero, this book encouraged and challenged me so much as an artist, as an American, and as a Christian. Beautifully written and with so much food for thought, I was constantly texting the Man quotes from it until he finally just asked to borrow it when I was done. Then he got derailed by grad school reading, but that's another story. I will say, though, that when my friend Marianne sent it to me, I did wonder briefly if she thought I was smarter than I actually am. But pushing myself to read something that truly engaged my mind was really wonderful and made me wonder if I'm finally exiting the blurred mind years of babies and YA fiction.

A fantastically beautiful book, and not just aesthetically.

Speaking of YA fiction (except not, because this is really Middle Grade), for yet another win by Gary D. Schmidt, First Boy is my new reading suggestion for your middle schooler, especially as we head into election season. With political shenanigans threaded throughout, First Boy asks what truly matters to us as humans as well as citizens. I told Littles this was required reading for him as I want him to learn things that the main character, Cooper, can teach him. I want him to ask what he's willing to fight for and why. And I want him to see that, while the world will not always conspire to help him fight for those things, there are good people out there who will come alongside him to encourage him...though it may not always be the people he expects.

Library propaganda--the kind I can get behind.

While we're talking about the kids, we are currently plowing through The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander together. These are books that stand the test of time. My mom read them out loud to my sisters and me when we were kids, and now I'm thoroughly enjoying reading them out loud to my own kids. There is humor; there is conflict; there are life lessons to be learned. Most importantly to me, there are characters who change and grow. Also, there are witches who lovingly threaten to turn you into toads, and Bee may have been a little too excited about that part. If you're looking for a new series to enjoy with your kids: these are a win.

Including this picture because I want to know how the words
are reflecting onto the table. Science minds, teach me.

Another series option, though not in the continuing plot line sense, is the Trailblazers series. You know you've landed yourself in the right church when your pastor provides reading material for your ten year old. Littles has really enjoyed both of the books he was given and is asking for more. He started with The Girl Who Loved Mountains about Francis Ridley Havergal, but then raced through A Slave Set Free about John Newton, which definitely captured his adventure loving mind. He's also liked the books he's gotten to read from the Christian Heroes series, so if you're looking for historical reads for your kids that will teach them more about history and hopefully also encourage their faith, both of those series appear to be wins.

Reading makes for happy kids.

But, if you're needing something on a younger level, I can help you there too. I had a friend suggest Trish Cooke's work, and I am so glad she did! Twinkle has enjoyed Full, Full, Full of Love this week, and I have too. I want her to read books where she engages with cultures that are not the same as hers and people who look differently from her. This applies to all of my children really. And Trish Cooke does a great job of presenting family from a different perspective. We read So Much! at our last library, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else we can find of hers.

Included because, come on, that is adorable.

The last two books on my list are impactful reads for very different reasons. First, I finally got a copy of Myquillin Smith's Cozy Minimalist Home (new libraries that have books I've been wanting are my favorite). As a constant mover of homes, I fully admit that I love Myquillin Smith (otherwise known as the Nester) and pretty much anything she writes. I don't read a lot of decorating blogs/books, but hers have been worth my time. Honestly, I wish I could've read this before we moved in, but a lot of the principles she'd shared on her blog, so I was able to implement more than I realized. With that said, the book was definitely worth it. So much so that I completely moved my living room around (the living room that I just set up two months ago) last Tuesday morning--and I am so glad that I did. Even the Man has commented on how much better it feels. This also involved rehanging a set of pictures that I didn't manage to get perfectly straight this time because by the time I got around to the rehanging, I was feeling more than a smidge guilty about making my kids "homeschool" while I moved furniture around them. If you are someone who moves often (or just someone who doesn't feel comfortable in their own home and isn't sure how to fix it), this is a great book to grab. Smith breaks down the how to of setting up a room into accessible steps that made an immediate difference for me.

I meant to give you before and afters of the living room
after it was Cozy Minimalized. I forgot.
Somehow, we will all survive.

Finally, though I was making YA fiction jokes earlier, that genre will always be near and dear to my heart. One of the YA authors I keep an eye out for is Sharon Cameron who recently released The Light in Hidden Places, which is based on the true story of a young Polish girl who sheltered thirteen Jews in her home while simultaneously being forced to provide housing for a pair of Nazi nurses. Cameron tells in the afterward the handful of things that she tweaked to make the narrative run more smoothly, and I could not believe how little she had changed because I could not believe that anyone could survive what Stefania Podgorska survived. It was hands down Cameron's best book to date and well worth the read. I tell the kids often that we study history so that we can see our present with clear eyes. Without the bigger perspective of history, we miss out on understanding our now. Find a copy and let me know what you think.

Such a good read. Highly recommend!

Honorable mention goes out to two excellent books that I'm enjoying during my morning quiet time. The only get honorable mention because I'm not quite done with them yet, not because they aren't great books. First up, Andrew Murray's Abide in Christ. The chapters are short and the writing simple, but the eternal truths so necessary for my soul. If you are wanting more from your relationship with Christ, this is a good place to start. My brother-in-law gave it to me when I was still in college, and I was so glad to rediscover it on my bookshelf.

Globe, white board, and squashy bean bag in the background
clue you in to how this room is used when the kids are up.

I'm also only part of the way through Francis Chan's Forgotten God (another early morning quiet time and coffee read), but was informed by the library that it's due back tomorrow and someone else has requested it so there's no fudging by continuing to renew it endlessly. it's been so good that I may try to really plow through it today at intervals between giving spelling lists and picking up groceries. Again, along with Andrew Murray's book, this is for the Christian asking for more from their walk with Christ than just check marks in their day. It has been excellent so far.

Yes, I took most of the pictures sitting in the recliner.
Sue me.
But they were all on different days, so be impressed by that.

And for now, that's it! May your reading time abound, your book choices broaden your mind and enlarge your heart, and your library allow for curbside pick up, which right now seems the biggest book blessing I can pronounce.

Seeds and Surprises

A little over two months ago, we were in the middle of our move. One of the things we couldn't bring with us was our little pallet garden (though I did manage to bring our potted lemon tree, which rode shotgun from Florida to Virginia, scraping its spiky arms against the dashboard through four states). We are only here for eleven months (ish) unless the Powers That Be decide to keep us. One of the casualties of being somewhere less than a year is that I'm not trying for another garden. I did, however, buy some indoor plants and a handful of herbs (that I'm already killing).

The lemon tree has really liked VA.

So, I've been missing playing in the dirt a little. Also, gardening is like outside the house decorating, and if you like that kind of thing (which I do), it's kind of fun. Also x2, it's more fun to eat something you grow yourself. And then my sister sent me a picture of her wall of morning glories that she planted this summer which are now a riot of blooms and leaves. I'm not saying I was jealous but I definitely wondered how it would feel to be able to plant seeds and then actually see them grow and thrive. That doesn't often happen for us simply because we move too quickly. Our pallet garden was primarily starter plants.

With those thoughts in my mind, I was astounded to look outside early one day and see a vine tapping its way onto our back deck. We haven't purchased a weed eater yet, so I went out to investigate, wondering what I would need to pull up by hand, only to find that it wasn't a weed--it was morning glories! Someone must have planted them at the house before we even rented it, and here we get to enjoy the blooms for which we didn't even work.

I benefit from someone else's planting.

This felt incredibly significant to me in light of all plants that couldn't come with us. Their roots were too deep. They stayed behind to be enjoyed by someone else. The strawberries and lavender and bell peppers we left behind are hopefully being harvested and enjoyed by someone else in the RV park we called home for the last 18 months. And that is good, but seeing bare garden patches at our new home (bare patches that I am resisting the urge to fill in) can be disheartening. But I am realizing that, while it feels like we move and have to start all the way over each time, I see more and more that this is not completely true. Though certainly the seeds I may have planted can't necessarily come with us, there are some left behind by others that we can then tend into full growth. 

Happy surprises

Naturally, this applies to more than just gardening. I see this in our homeschool community, where I benefit from a community that is already set up and structured, which allows them to let in our transient family and enjoy us while we are here. I see this in our church, where we can be blessed by people who are already growing in the Lord and seeking to support and encourage other believers. I see this in our neighborhood where we can benefit from programs that are already in place, using the library, going to stores, picking up food at restaurants. These are things that someone else has worked for, and we get to step in and be a part of them for a little while. Just like I get to enjoy the morning glories I haven't planted. 

Photo credit for this one goes to my sister.
Genetic credit goes to my mother-in-law.

So as I watch morning glory blooms opening their trumpets to soak in the early morning sunlight, I find myself praying:

May I be brave enough to keep planting (whether flower seeds or seeds of truth and encouragement) what I may not see bloom, knowing that someone else might be blessed weeks, months, or years later because of it. May I keep my eyes open to see beautiful surprises for which I can take no credit. And may I not be afraid to let my roots sink deep, even knowing that some may not come up the next time we move, knowing that there is the possibility of a painful uprooting or a severing of one part of myself from the other, because what I leave behind may be just what someone else needs. And may you be encouraged to keep planting the seeds God has called you to plant, not knowing how they may benefit someone else along the way.