Christmas with a touch of tears

It's the second day after Christmas and I'm feeling a little sad. Not just because another Christmas has come and gone but because in just a few days we will load the car up and drive back to Illinois. A few days that will pass much too quickly. Coming home for the Christmas holiday only confirms my feeling that we belong here and not there. We miss out on so much being so far away. Watching Noah play with his cousins is so bittersweet right now because I know soon we will leave and who knows when we will be back. We still have lots of things planned with family and friends before we leave. I know I'll enjoy every moment but there will be this underlying sadness that I will suppress until we're on the road home. I expect many many tears will be shed on that long drive away from my true home.   

But for now I need to go start packing boxes to take to the post office. There is just no way we will fit all of this stuff in the car. 

This has been the best Christmas. I have lots of photos to share but unfortunately my moms computer isn't really set up to edit anything so I'll wait until were back UP there...in the cold. =)

Merry Christmas Eve!

We Left our house in IL at 6pm and arrived at my moms house at 9am. That is 15 hours of driving overnight. I do NOT recommend it. Joey drove for a little bit while I slept and then we switched...and switched again. It was a very long night and we were exhausted when we got here. 

I am so happy to be back in Louisiana! I want to hug random people and tell them that I love this state. But I don't. They would probably think I was a wee bit crazy. We've only been here a few days and we are having the best time. I know when the time comes to leave I am going to be very sad. For now I'll just enjoy the time I have, take lots of pictures, and of course share them with you later.

I hope all of you have an amazing holiday!

Merry Christmas!!!

Friday's Letters

Linking up with Ashley from Adventures of Newlyweds.

Dear Louisiana,
HERE I COME! I can't wait to be back in your glorious state filled with my family and friends. I know our time there will go by way too quickly but don't worry I plan to come back this summer for a much longer stay!

Dear Winter,
You are definitely here...
The snow outside is so pretty. Noah had a blast playing in it yesterday. I could do without the insane wind though. I can't wait for school to be over today so I can play outside with Noah and Bella. Bella actually seems to love the snow. She likes to run around in it and looks like shes smiling. She doesn't like when the wind blows though. As soon as that freezing wind starts she's at the back door ready to go inside.

Dear Fellow Drivers,
I apologize in advance for my driving. Yes we get ice on the roads in Louisiana but I'm sure that the icy roads here will be in a whole different league of danger. Therefore that lady driving 5 miles an hour, gripping the steering wheel, and praying loudly is probably me. 

Enjoy these quick pics I took this morning. Happy Friday everyone!

Packing...made a little easier

I am beginning to pack for our trip to Louisiana. I can not wait to be back home again. It's only been about six months but it feels like much longer. I'm excited to see my family and spend some much needed time with friends. 

I hate packing. It takes forever. I always feel like I'm forgetting something even though I'm a HUGE list maker. Everything gets crossed off the list but it never fails that as we pull out of the driveway I have a nagging feeling that something was left behind. I quiet this fear by telling myself that IF I did forget something I'm sure Walmart has it and there are Walmarts everywhere. 

The hardest part of packing for me is deciding what clothes to bring. We all have outfits that we love. So naturally I want to take my favorite outfits with me but when I stand in front of the closet staring at my options my mind goes blank. To make the process easier I made a clothing album on my phone. Every time I picked out clothes for the day and really liked the outfit I laid the outfit out and snapped a quick picture. When it came time to pack I could just open that album on my phone, scroll through all of the outfits, and pick the ones I liked the best. It made it easier because I could see all of the pieces I needed and quickly pull them out of the closet. In fact all of my clothes are already packed for our trip. It took me a total 20 minutes to pull it all out, fold it, and put it in the bag. Fantastic!

Happy Birthday!

Today is my mom's birthday! I love my mom and I miss her very much. We talk on the phone and text a lot but it's not the same as seeing her. I'm so happy that in just a few days I'll be back in her house again. My mom is crazy. My mom is funny. My mom is full of love. I can't wait to give her a big hug!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Sadness

I started a post last night to wish my mom a very happy birthday. I'm still going to post that birthday wish but I needed to post this as well. This morning I dropped Noah off at school and had all these thoughts running through my head and I just can't keep them in. There were police officers parked in the parking lot. I don't know if they were already scheduled to be there for something or if this was to make us parents feel a little better. It did make me feel better. At Noah's old school you could walk into the office but you could not go down the hallway unless someone buzzed you in through the bullet proof doors. At Noah's new school you can't enter the office. You have to be buzzed into the office and then you can enter the school. They keep the other school doors locked. I like that. I remember one day in Louisiana we were driving to school and the weather was pretty nasty. Noah said to me, "Will there be a tornado?" I said, "Probably not, but if there is your teachers know what to do to protect you. You guys practice tornado drills right?" He replied, "Yep! And fire drills and emergency drills."
Never having heard of an emergency drill I said, "What is an emergency drill?"
The horror that consumed my body as he explained to me that an emergency drill was when the teacher turns the lights off, locks the door, and gets all of the kids to stand away from the door against the wall. I didn't really know what to say. I was glad that if something ever happened they would be prepared but deeply saddened that there was even a need to prepare kindergartners for a school shooting. I still cant wrap my mind around what happened on Friday. It brings me to tears when I think about it even for a moment. It is moments like this that shake our faith. Moments when we question and cry out for answers. We either turn from God or cling to him and ask for peace and guidance.  I have such a deep ache in my heart for the people taken that day and for the ones left behind. 

Prayer of St. Francis

Reviewing- East of the Mountains and The Key to Rebecca

Image via GoodReads

This book fulfilled the "choose a book set in the state you were born in" category for the Winter Book Challenge

East of the Mountains is a story about a man dying of cancer. He doesn't want to wait for the cancer to kill him ans decides to take one last hunting trip. At the end of the trip he plans to kill himself. He has everything planned out. On his journey to end his life his plan gets messed up more than a few times and he finds himself questioning his decision.

This book was hard for me to really get interested in. I was of course interested in whether or not he would go through with his plan. That's what really kept me reading. He used a lot of hunting, physician, and hiking lingo that I was not familiar with. I would read several pages and then go back and re read them because I had no idea what he was talking about. I think that's what kept me from really enjoying the book. 

Image via GoodReads

This book fulfilled the "choose a book that was written in the decade you were born in" category for the Winter Book Challenge

The Key to Rebecca is set in 1942. The German Marshall Rommel seems to be unbeatable. His secret weapon is a spy named Alex Wolf. Major Vandam has been tracking Wolf for quite some time and would like nothing better than to stop him from helping the Germans. We meet Sonja a sultry belly dancer, Elene an Egyptian Jew who uses her good looks to get men to provide for her, and lots of other sneaky backstabbing characters. 

I really didn't expect to like The Key to Rebecca as much as I did. I don't normally read mystery books. At first I was a little overwhelmed by all of the characters in the story. After I was able to keep everyone straight (who was good, who was bad, and most of the time who was supposed to be good but turned out to be bad!) I couldn't stop reading. One minute Vandam is so close to catching Wolf and the next his efforts seem hopeless. The story really picks up near the middle and keeps throwing twists and turns at you until the very end.

Maybe now I like mysteries?