Okay, okay...

...I didn't actually get out of my blogging rut.

I have to say that the reasons have been many and happy for which I am tremendously grateful. After feeling so isolated last summer (when I started this blog), I confess to really dreading what this summer would hold for me. I am a compulsive calendar keeper as it is, finding great joy in seeing days, weeks and months pass away (analyze that if you dare!). So I decided, after a few words from my husband and my mother, to tame this habit over the summer and work hard at finding joy in my daily life. But my Heavenly Father made it easier for me than I could have wished. Mom and Dad have been in and out of St. Louis three times since May (!!!); the Moons and the Wykoffs have both been here once; Charlie and I have had a few moments of calm reprieve together; Rob and Jordan moved in for the month of July; I have had the incomparable pleasure of watching my son discover, learn, grow and enjoy; Charlie got a job as a chaplain at Barnes Jewish Hospital; my mother-in-law came to stay with me for the first week of Charlie's annual training with the Air Force; and once the weather cooled (Praise be to God!) being at home, taking walks, running errands, living daily life became pleasure as opposed to chore (God did not make me for hot weather. Sorry, Mom and Dad!). And here we are mid-August already looking back over the summer and forward to the Fall with a store of happy memories!

My view of our life has shifted in starts and fits over the last few months. In May I had hopes of Charlie finding a job in the Northwest; then it was Chattanooga (!); then it was anywhere; then it was here. God has provided. What a pleasure it is to see my husband's gifts recognized and put to good use, not to mention the bit of financial ease that comes with that. Yes, I have had to adjust my thinking about this city, its weather, our church, our house, our relationships. But the more I invest with my imagination the more I am rewarded. I love the Autumns here. I can't wait to take a trip to Eckerts Farm to pick apples and then return in the winter to get our Christmas tree. The international markets and the farmers markets in town are more accessible than I used to think. I want to take advantage of them! I want to repaint our nursery. I'd like to see my cousins more often. I'd like to finally have our neighbors over for dinner. I'd like to continue to improve my baking skills. I'd like to invest in several peripheral friendships, and enjoy the ones we have already worked so hard to maintain. Oh yeah, and all this while figuring out life with two kiddos. Think I can do it? That's not the point! The point is that God is giving me so much to look forward to and the mental freedom to pursue it. And for this I am so grateful!

So, farewell, scary St. Louis summer! I'm not afraid of you anymore!