1 Year . . . Can you believe it?

Today, 1 year ago, we closed on our house here in Wheaton and started the next adventure in our lives. Wow, has it really been a year? In some case, I say it seems longer than 1 year, and then in other ways, it has flown by so fast. Here is a review of our lives this past year. Our boxes were delivered on November 4th (Tuesday), also known as election day. Word to the wise, never move on election day if you actually want to watch the election - TV is not hooked up on day of delivery. The weather didn't bad here until the middle of January. All I can say, I have never been more cold than when it hit -26 degrees, folks that's cold. Snow stayed on the ground for 6 weeks, you didn't see anything but white everywhere. It was bitter cold outside. The cold stayed around until April. I have to say, January thru March seemed to last a LOOOOONG time. It gets dark around 5:15 and the sun comes up at 5:30 in the morning. That means that during this time, the boys get up by 6:30 - YUCK! They would burn off energy by running around the house, I don't recommend this, but we were needing something! April started with promises from other people that it would warm up. Well, it did a little and then the rain started to come down. The only thing I remember about part of April and May was lots of rain, I mean LOTS of rain. Everyone told us it was the coldest winter and wettest spring they have had in awhile. Thanks, but it doesn't help us get used to it! We left for Texas for 3 weeks in June and when we got back, we had a little warm weather. I remember a man telling me it was going to be a really hot day - it was 90 degrees, only 3 days in the summer got over 90. The rest of the summer was really pleasant outside. We rode bikes daily and played outside all day long. The fall hit very quickly and the jackets came back out. I have to say, I am really not looking forward to the cold weather yet, I don't think I have thawed out from last winter.

In some ways this has been the best experience for me and our family. I stayed home with the boys which is something I wouldn't have done before the move. Getting to experience this time with the boys has been challenging but awesome! Staying home with children is the hardest job EVER! I didn't realize this until I did it. We love our neighborhood and have met friends in it with children the boys age. We plugged into a new church. This fall I started a ladies bible study, another thing I would never have done before. I feel the Lord has stretched me this year with patience, reaching out to others, and being okay at being alone. I have had the hardship of miscarrying a baby and then the long months of getting over it, and we have met wonderful people here that will be friends forever. In some ways this has been the best year with more time with my boys (2little, 1 big) and in some ways in has been the hardest year.