There's Something Very Familiar About Today's Date...

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary. It's amazing for Sara and I to think of all that's happened in our lives together over the past 9 years!

First, I bought the framing business, then we bought a house, then we got our dog, Lizzy. During this time we spent ridiculous amounts of time and energy (& money) trying to make our 1940's house (that was decorated like a 1970's house) seem updated. Eventually we painted every room in the house (some of them several times, different colors), put lots of new carpet in, new kitchen flooring and counter top, new windows upstairs, new storm windows, new roof, a half bath, and several other things.

Once we settled on some of our house updates, we started filling the place with kids. Lizzy definitely got less attention once this phase started. This led to other house updates like childproofing doors, cupboards, outlets, and other things. We also began to get rid of furniture that we unsafe for young children. We soon started realizing how small our closets are and how impractical of a house setup we have for young kids. (One bedroom on main level and two on the upper level) Determined to make it work, we added a wall (which added another bedroom on the main level), and seemed to rotate bedrooms every few months to best suite our specific phase of life at the time. We're now also finishing the basement, and getting a new central air unit and furnace.

So now, we have three beautiful (and strong willed) children, two exhausted parents, more expenses than income, and a house that is finally "updated" but has very little room for positive equity. It's makes me kind of ill to think about all the wasted time and money we spent on our "things", our furniture, our house, etc. It's time to make a change.

We have now entered the biggest transition we have attempted to go through. We are selling the business and our home. Where are we going? Not exactly sure. What will I do for a living? Still narrowing that one down. There's something incredibly freeing about the thought of being able to pick up and go where ever God wants us to go. We will hopefully soon be in that position.

I'm beginning to look into a career in 3D CAD modeling. I will probably always lead the music at a local church on the side as well, since that's such a big part of who I am (and what I love to do). It's difficult to predict if we'll stay in the area long term, though. Some thing's really been drawing me away for the past couple years, but I'm waiting for the right doors to open and a more specific direction.

It will be interesting for me to look back on this blog a year from now. I can only imagine that many of the question marks in my head today will be answered by then. We will seek the direction that God has planned for my family and I, and we will trust that He will provide what we need along the way. It's hard to let go completely... but it's time.

Doctor Visit

Today we had to bring the two older kids in to the doctor for a checkup, among other things. Gavin had to get his pre-kindergarten shots and get his vision and hearing tested. He did pretty well, but couldn't read the smallest letters on the eye chart.

Aubri had a vision test too, but she had to name the shapes instead of letters. She had some funny responses to some shapes. She called a circle an "oval", she called a cup "a teapot", and the shape that looked like the red cross symbol she called "Jesus died on the cross". :)

In Gavin's Words

In the van Gavin said to me the other day, "I want to be too many things when I grow up, I'm in such a predicerment." :)