Lucky me! I was sent this free T-Shirt by Crazy Dog TShirts. They let me pick one I liked, and naturally anything Tommy Boy jumped right out at me!

You simply can’t go wrong with Callahan Auto Parts. This T-Shirt won’t make you look fat, doesn’t come with a thin candy shell, and won’t call you from a walkie talkie, but it will bring a smile to your face!

I think I’ll get Blake one and we can be a matching set for Halloween!

My thoughts this morning are centered around the time of year. The leaves are turning colors, getting ready for a winter sleep. This process of change, of preparing for a period of dormancy is a pattern in our lives too. A new baby makes me think of spring, a walk in the autumn air with an aged loved one makes me think of fall.

There is something about this turning I can’t quite explain. I think it is because it feels like something of a paradox to me. There is sadness in the knowledge of expiration, of a season’s growth and lifespan being completed and spent. Perhaps even a hint of dread for the quiet that is waiting around the corner. Yet, at the same time there is great joy and satisfaction in the results of a productive and full lifespan; a reminder that after the sleep will come a new season of renewal and new beginnings. It is odd that there can be both conflict and peace within the concept of turning. And yet, these are the thoughts tumbling around simultaneously in my head this morning.

There’s also the concept of clean up of that happens in the fall. The time when you’ve reaped your harvest and it’s time to clear the expired corn stalks and other plants away. This past weekend, I helped work on clearing the corn patch at my parent’s, I also took on getting some of the dead branches out of an old choke cherry bush. As I looked at the results of the work, I was struck with how often I should be doing this in my own life. How, I need to be looking for habits, choices, etc. that are in need of being cleaned out. This process is painful. I came home with many scratches from branches not wanting to be disturbed, and sore muscles from roots desperately trying to hold their ground. And as I look at this picture, I am filled with satisfaction and hope of what the results will bring next spring.

So it is with me. Old habits die hard, but the promise of better ones to replace them are worth the pain and effort. I don’t want to look back on my life and regret time wasted. Perhaps a little less time spent playing games or socializing on the computer and a little more reading, reflecting and writing. Perhaps a little less time worrying about others and more worrying about myself. I’m feeling a sense that I need to follow nature’s lead this season.

I’d be lying if I said these thoughts don’t also cause a slight pang in my heart when I think of loved ones. This picture describes the very visuals and precious memories that I’m trying to describe.

This is my husband walking and talking with his grandpa in his garden. Grandpa Melvin turned 90 this year. How we love this sweet man. This picture sums up his amazing life of farming, teaching, loving and sharing. How can I help but want to keep him with us? Yet, knowing the joy that is waiting for him when he crosses this life’s veil, when he will be reunited with his sweetheart and loved ones on the other side causes me to also want for him to be able to go. I am back at my paradox. Turning is hard. Turning is necessary. Turning is progress. Turning is good.

Transition seems to have become a way of life for us lately. One year ago we were in the process of moving from our AZ home to a condo in the San Francisco Bay. The move was a wonderful one for Blake’s career, and it provided us the opportunity for the next job that would allow us to live anywhere. What we thought would be a couple years turned out to be only nine months. We were moving again, this time back to Idaho to be with our families and to get our kids into an education program we wanted. I’m happy to report that this has been everything we’d hoped.

The summer was full of projects and family time as we mapped out the next steps. We lived out of a few boxes with most of our stuff kept in storage. This past week we have moved into a home only three minutes away from my parents. We feel it a miracle to have found it when we did and are so grateful for it. The only real downsides include the place remaining on the market so if it were to sell we’d have to move again, and it has as much grass to mow as there is at my mom’s. From earlier posts, you can read and see that mowing job is a three hour process. If I were Giligan, I’d be stranded every time I get on the mower! We borrowed my brother’s lawnmower to mow the lawn here Saturday and it took just over two and a half hours. Can you say lawn service?!

Last week at this time I was drowning in boxes and mess. There were times I wanted to just sit and cry. But true to the adage “it came to pass not to stay” I’ve finally gotten everything unpacked and put away, minus those few nasty office boxes that just seem to remain no matter how many moves and attempts to get through them come to pass. Things feels like home more every day. I’m really hoping our transition stage can come to a pause for at least the next year or two. I don’t love moving, and I’m truly tired of it. I’m in awe that even though we got rid of easily half our “stuff” when we moved from AZ to CA, we still have too much. While everything fits nicely in the new place with lots of room to spare, I look forward to a continued lifestyle of removing, simplifying and streamlining.

I took a few pictures for a friend this morning of the new place and thought I’d just post them here. It makes it easier to share with others later.



Dexter enjoys the sunroom at the front, where he can look out the windows. We enjoy the under the ground wire fence in the large yard so we can let him out without worrying. The kids are feeling like ‘the hot tub room’ is a good tradeoff for their pool in AZ.

Enjoying holding my newest nephew and caffeine free Mountain Dew confirm I really am back in Rexburg.