Good Day

 Today was a good day. 5 out of 5. So I am sitting here over-analyzing the "why". haha!

1) Meaningful work. Today I worked a couple of hours on-site at a new client. Just temporary consulting work. But honestly, it feels good to be out of the home office and into an ACTUAL office environment. Not looking for a full-time gig that will dictate my schedule, but I don't mind meeting new people who speak accounting like I do. That was the morning. In the afternoon, I assisted a client out in the islands (in Washington) with some back taxes, and talked to another potential client (also in the islands). Next week I will start training a gal to help me with some of the day-to-day work so that I can eventually pick up more consulting work. It is a variety. I feel useful. It's meaningful to me. Also, I should mention this book: Full-Time: Work and the Meaning of Life by David Bahnsen. I listened to the audio book on a recent road trip. Thoroughly enjoyed! 

2) Boys turning into men. Thursdays are my day without the boys. Keaton is at college from 6:45am until 6:15pm and Cole works at the church from 8am to 5pm. They are growing in wisdom and maturity. It's a huge blessing, this new season of parenting. We laughed one night as they started a fire in our fire pit. I haven't allowed them to do it this entire 2 years we've been here. I was worried they'd need supervision, but they didn't. Keaton even zipped off to the grocery store for s'more supplies.

Unfortunately, Keaton's work has come to an end. The company he worked for decided to close the restaurant. He hung around and helped them clean everything up. And they took one last team photo to commemorate. He will find something else, but no rush. He plans to wait until after the holidays.

And in the spirit of patriotism the boys had their first experience voting this year. In Washington, the ballots are all mailed. But in Texas, it's all in-person!

3) Getting back into worship. This past Sunday was my first one singing with our worship team. The church we attend has 2 services: the 1st is all acapella worship, the 2nd is instrumental. I sang with the acapella team. I was challenged. I don't normally sing alto from sheet music and I didn't know all the parts, but it went fine. I prayed (!!) that God would just do His thing and make me blend with everyone else. It all worked out. The worship leader is gracious and friendly and genuinely thankful that he has so many folks willing to help with this ministry. 

4) Getting back into Bible study. BSF is going really well. We are studying Revelation. I like the book. I like the ladies in my group. And I even made a friend (well, a possible new friend?) that attends church at the same place I do. She invited me to an upcoming women's event. So there's potential.

Speaking of friends, a couple of weeks ago I was able to visit with my friend Jo (and husband Ben) at their new place. Jo and I walked down by the river. It's not the same as living right near the ocean, but beautiful in its own way. She fed me some breakfast casserole and I was on my way. A sweet stop!

Before seeing the Shooks, I had spent the weekend at my brother's house. It was my nephew Dax's 12th birthday. What a privilege to live close enough to pop in for his birthday and hang out with their family. INCLUDING their dog...who hopped up on my bed to read with me. Naughty Buddy!

5) Other Miscellaneous reasons to be grateful. Our pool pump is fixed. YAY! A patio door I'd been waiting for a year to be fixed has been replaced. And thanks to one of my physical therapist clients, I've started up again into a healthy eating/exercise routine. She sent me a special scale and a heart monitor. There's a lot of tracking of food and activity. I am feeling better, more energy, just tweaking some things, nothing drastic. Not a diet, per se. The hope is this will last for a lifetime.

Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

It's a Secret, Shhh!

Buckle up. This may be a long post. Somehow I neglected to post about the 4th of July this year! We enjoyed uncle/cousin time in the pool around mid-day on the 4th. Plus, we also had a lovely time with family & friends in the evening (it poured rain right around dinner time!) But with rain, inevitably comes a beautiful promise. Actually, I hung out with my brothers and their families while the boys spent time with their friend a few blocks away. I know they blew up a lot of fireworks (and I observed many explosions at my brother's house.) 

We each got some new toys in July. I finally have a fitness watch, compatible with my phone, to count my steps and alert me if I'm getting a text/phone call. It's not an Apple watch, but only cost me a about $35 once I paired that with an Amazon gift card from my birthday. It comes with a variety of interesting watch face designs that I've played with. I love it! Keaton bought himself an electric guitar and is learning to play that. Cole bought an inflatable raft and some Star Wars collectibles. I think I was ruined as a child dusting every week around my mother's collectibles such that I did not want to collect anything as an adult. Thus, I think Cole is the opposite, and cherishes his collections: Legos, stuffed animals, Star Wars figurines, etc. 

I read the most interesting book in July. Recently I'd read a fiction book where the main characters end up in Italy tracking down some stolen art. And that got me on an Italy kick. I started day-dreaming about traveling to Italy someday. So I went to the library and picked up several books on Italy. One was a travel guide, one was a geological guide to Rome, and the 3rd was Two Nuts in Italy by Sue Ellen Haning. 

This is a non-fiction travelogue of a 50-something mom who traveled to Italy with 2 of her adult children. Her daughter had just turned 21 and wanted to go to Italy, so the mom (Sue Ellen) said she would go too. Her 24 year old son also tagged along for awhile, then split off and went to Paris, and eventually came back to Italy. At one point, mom and daughter also split up as mom went to Switzerland and spent a couple of weeks there. Yeah, yeah, just a travel memoir, right? NOT AT ALL! This is the interesting part. Well, two things: 1) This lady Sue Ellen Haning happens to be from my hometown, where we are living now, and homeschooled her kids for a time. I did not know that when I grabbed the book from the library shelf. ha! and, 2) They went to Italy without cell phones, without credit cards and only a limited amount of cash. They did not have set places to stay. They would just end up at the house/apartment of generous locals who, obviously thought they were nutty, seemed impressed by their bravery enough to help them out. I think it also helped that her 21 year old daughter was an attractive, extroverted, red head. They each carried all of their belongings in giant backpacks for the 3 months they traveled the country. Nuts. For sure. Very zany read.

Here's one more thing I wanted to share about Sue Ellen Haning. No matter where they went, what predicament they ended up in, what joy or disappointment they experienced, she carried this quote on a 3x5 index card to remind her who was really in charge.

CTS (changing the subject, kinda, but not completely). This blog post is titled "It's a Secret, Shhh!" so I want to get on with that story. The last week of July I went to California to spend time with my in-laws. I planned to stay a week or two. My mother-in-law, broke her wrist really good (or really badly?) about a month prior, so I figured since I can really work from anywhere I would go and check on them and see if I could help with anything. The first day my sister-in-law picked me up from the airport and spent the day with us. A couple of days later, Mom/Carolyn and I boxed up unwanted books and games to give away. One day I drove Mom to a doctor's appointment. One day I drove Mom to the coast. Okay, yeah, mostly it was I who wanted to see the ocean because it's been awhile! But generally speaking, my in-laws and I just spent a lot of time together chatting, watching TV and sharing meals together. I took out the trash, fed the hummingbirds, walked the orchards, and (drum roll) shopped for a 2nd vehicle.

I tried to walk the orchards every morning BEFORE it got over 100 degrees!

some items for donation

at our favorite beach

Had to stop at In-N-Out

A Tesla Farm behind In-N-Out

Widely known to those on the Neufeld side of the family, my father-in-law Roger is a car hunting expert. According to him, he has made some mistakes over the years. But the way I see it, he's purchased and sold so many vehicles that his track record is really pretty solid. He had in mind a Ford Escape for the boys and had offered to let me drive it, check it out, and then take it back to Texas if it suited our needs. I never told the boys about this when I flew to California. I had only purchased one-way airfare, so I really hoped the car thing would work out. Turned out to be a little more complicated. There was some soul wrestling, prayer, and hard decision-making. I decided the Escape was not the car I needed to take back. I was so sad. I really wanted that car to be it! But I continued to pray something would work out. 

NO, not the one

If you ever doubt the Lord will provide, I hope this story encourages you...please re-read the above quote that Sue Ellen Haning carried around with her through Italy...!!

When I told him the Escape was not going to work, Roger offered his own pickup truck. And I drove that around a few times too. But lo and behold, he also had another car to choose from, a little Mazda CX7. After getting the seat set up so I didn't hit my head on the ceiling, the Mazda seemed the better choice. It had also driven to Oregon and back, so I felt safer taking it on a long trip. In my mind, if Keaton was too tall to drive this Mazda, he could use our other car for his weekly commute to work and school and I would drive the Mazda. We agreed on a price and Roger transferred the title to me. After he had the tires checked and added some gifts for the boys (golf clubs, binoculars, a portable air cooler, and various awards their dad had won over the years) I set out for home. After a minor hiccup in Albuquerque (the car was broken into that night at the hotel, binoculars and air cooler stolen-- though it is possible I did not lock the doors because no windows were broken??) I made it home and texted Keaton and Cole to come outside to help with my bags. They assumed I had someone else pick me up at the airport. HERE IS THE VIDEO LINK to see their genuine surprise. It is a HUGE blessing. And Keaton does fit. He loves the car. Drove it to work the next day. THANK you Jesus. THANK you Roger & Carolyn. THANK you boys for holding down the fort, feeding the pets, washing the dishes, keeping the house clean, and tending to the pool chemistry. 

YES, this is it!

One final photo. My new favorite screen saver from my friend Steve. The verse speaks for itself.

Easter Gathering 2024

This Resurrection Sunday we gathered at our home for a meal, including lots of laughs, great stories about turkeys, skunks, and awesome strawberry cake and chocolate pie. What a special time. Happy Easter y'all! God loves you and He is powerful.

Drawn by Keaton

Over the last several days Cole has been researching how to maintain swimming pools. He realized how much we are paying someone to come clean it each week, and thought he could probably take care of it himself. Super excited about his enthusiasm. He got several compliments today (as we had our lunch outside) about how clean the pool looked. Words of affirmation. Music to his ears.

My little brother and me

Hope you were also able to gather with the Saints, friends or family today. Blessings!

John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." and John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave us his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Before We Close

Before we close out the year I just wanted to share a few highlights from the holidays and my recent trip back to Washington. Also, I want to share that there's been a shift in my thinking -- so many clients and friends have asked me lately, "How is Texas"? In all honesty, even though I'm back in my hometown, I feel displaced somehow. Like after 20+ years in Washington and the fact I buried my husband there, our little island which was just a ferry ride away from Canada, feels more like home. In a lot of ways, we feel like visitors here in Texas. I've talked to other transplants from Washington who miss the scenery and their church and friends just like we do. Several folks mentioned that it takes about 3 years to feel like a new move is truly "home". So I've decided we need to keep working at this. In fact this last week, I met with a group of neighbors in an impromptu holiday gathering in my next door neighbor's driveway. I was able to meet several new people and learned more about others that I had previously met.

pens I gave away on my trip

That said, my recent trip to Washington state was amazing! I saw about 6 different clients and numerous friends throughout my 10 day trip. I was mostly working, but had a chance to spend weekend time at a Nutcracker ballet performance, visited our old church, ate great sushi and Thai food, and I'm pretty sure I gave/received more hugs in one stretch of 48 hours than all of last year. 

Also, this holiday season was even better than last year! Ethan again came to visit at Thanksgiving. He fixed the light in my closet, sorted out the lights on the pergola, washed windows and helped the boys clean up leaves. The 3 of them even cooked burgers on the grill one afternoon. I know the boys appreciated having their friend here for the week.

We also had family stop by for Thanksgiving dinner. 12 total including my dad, brothers, sisters-in-law and all of the kids.

my bros, me & Dad

cousins

For Christmas Eve we drove down south and had a lovely day with the Shooks. Just like old times! I love hearing my boys chatting with their friends and laughing, really laughing with glee. We built gingerbread houses, broke bread together, the girls went to the riverwalk, the guys played board games, we had scripture readings and all sang Christmas carols, ending with our candles lit, singing Silent Night.

CLICK HERE for a quick video of our hostess leading us in carols

Christmas Day was equally fun as we were able to spend time with Danson, Rachel and Dax. Somehow I missed getting many pictures from the day, but here is Cole learning to play darts under Dans' tutelage. We also played a lot of board games and basketball. Okay, I personally did not play board games (that detail is for Ellen, who absolutely LOVES board games, but knows it's not my favorite thing). And we didn't play basketball, but simply shot hoops. Danson smoked a delicious beef tenderloin and Rachel, her mom and her friend Steph cooked up other scrumptious sides and desserts. We also learned that Cole actually likes deviled eggs (look out Uncle Dusty....) 

Now - if you ask me about Texas - here's what I'll say: I absolutely LOVE the sunshine and wearing short sleeves in the winter. My overall mood is much brighter just being able to step outside, even if it's cold, and feel the sun on my skin. It is also wonderful to be around my dad, and my brothers and their families. We are all getting to know each other again and that has been amazing. 

When I was in Washington, I woke up early on Sunday morning, was drawn to read Psalm 103 and then pulled up on YouTube, a song by Matt Maher. CLICK HERE for the song. Then, like only God can do, both of these were also included as elements of the service I went to later that morning. The scripture Pastor Les read before communion was from Psalm 103 and the song from Matt Maher was the first one on the set list for the day. No coincidences. Feeling so blessed. Hope you and yours had a blessed holiday as well. See ya next year!

Psalm 103:22 Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion; bless the Lord, O my soul.