2011 - A Look back...for Posterity and my E-Journal

2011...WHAT A YEAR in our lives... God has carried us through it. Hands down. No doubts.

Many changes. Many events. Many trials. Many triumphs.

Through it all, both the good and what "looked to be bad"....God worked all things for best, as is His never changing providential will and nurturing love over His own.

It is with a grateful heart that I speak for our whole gang and say:

God is good... all the time....God is good.

And so I look back with that in mind and heart ... {{{WARNING: LONG photo post to follow with entries for each of the 12 months...you might just want to exit here, and that's just fine...}}}

JANUARY 2011 Jonny travelled to Africa and returned with much insight and eyes opened wide to many things, not the least being that GOD is everywhere with His people spread across this globe...and worship spans the continents in many cultures and languages, and America is a land of plenty .... a "taken for granted" plenty.... We are truly ALL family when united by one Heavenly Father.




On January 19th the BJ's Club 140 near our home closed its doors, leaving Kat and Jonny unemployed!! This is also where Justin had worked.

I believe at this point in their lives, they were grateful to still be at home with us and not responsible for rent and bills with no income! God would prove faithful to get Jonny back into a nearby BJ's Club north of Charlotte, and Kat was hired at Target. Thankful that they both have jobs for income...as they continue to pursue their individual and independent futures God has planned for them...

FEBRUARY 2011 blew in and for the first time since October 3rd 2010 when my dear man flew out of Charlotte headed for Iowa and a new job, he was coming home for an entire WEEK...not just a short weekend...It was a thrill even to think about it. Work to do around the house, A warm body to sleep with at night, hugs to "stay strong" and words to motivate to "keep on" - keep our eyes on the goal...to live together again...and, tokens of love...


sigh...

MARCH 2011 My beloved Marine shipped out on a US warship to the Mediterranean for a short - on call mission in back-up support for the crisis in Libya...these deployments weigh HEAVY on a military mom's (family's) heart. Hard days to walk through and endure....patience - prayer - and postive heart attitudes carry us through with them as they go...

Da Man found this on line...Our Marine helping pack the trucks to head out to the ship...the unmistakable Dimple in the back of his head! {{ mama smiles}}


On March 7th, my middle son Jonny went and took his exams by the National Council on Strength and Fitness (NCSF) to become a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT). After a year and a half of studies and learning, he has reached THE MOMENT... I am proud of him. He passed all the exams and is officially now a CPT, and I for one am going to use his knowledge and skills to help me in my weight loss goals this year! RAH to you my diligent son!

March 11th, my dear youngest son turned 17....oh my


Kurt's first truck, bought new in 1985, was sold...not intended to make the trip to Iowa... a sad day to see the empty space in the driveway after all those years....a faithful, tough "keeps on going" little truck.. .many memories it made.


APRIL 2011 Once again, sadly for mama, her Marine was not home to celebrate his birthday. Uncle Sam had him occupied in more important duties...birthday 20 he was training away at Parris Island, SC. Birthday 21 he was far away in Afghanistan fighting injustice and continuing the battle against terrorism rising up against others in this world. Birthday 22 he was on the USS PONCE ready to be called upon for help in the Operation Odyssey Dawn mission...


a phone pic sent from the ship in lighter moment of fun...Ninja Turtle Marine...so thankful for Justin's sense of humor and ability to bring fun and laughter to others in dull dreary and boring moments in his journey in the Corp.




The reality of what was the beginning (finally) of the end appeared in our driveway...changes to our cottage on Woodberry to get it ready for market...oh - such a long time in coming, and so welcomed






MAY 2011 On the 12th of this month our Marine returned back home ...putting those boots firmly on American soil...RAH! so thrilled to have him back!





Another first because of the Iowa job separation...my man and I were apart for the first time in 29 years on our Anniversary... a hard thing.

May would be the month that the MAJOR changes on the Cottage would be finished. This involved MUCH noise, MUCH change in routine, and MANY bodies swarming in and around the little house for weeks.











When all was said and done...the Little Cottage on Woodberry had transformed from this:




to This:





I fondly called her the Grey Lady...

The kitchen had been updated. Every room, door and molding had been freshly painted. Furniture had been moved OUT or rearranged in order for the house to be shown. It was a monumental task, and at times I felt I would NOT be able to do it...but GOD truly was my source of strength on those days, and all other days, thinking of being with my man again kept me revved up to KEEP ON!

JUNE 2011 Kurt was flying in for his final week of helping finish the details and to meet with realtors. He got to be here for Father's Day.
As it turned out, we were NOT ready for the realtors and had to postpone.

Even though I was working hard on the house, I did not TOTALLY give up on my fun stuff...that is what kept me sane some weeks..This headboard redo for the master bed in June was just one of many this year...*transformed from garden arches. :-)



JULY 2011 July became the final showdown for getting ready for meeting with two realtors. Paper work was done, figures and amounts were bounced around, pictures were taken. All was submitted to the Relocation Company. Then we waited.

In the mean time, life continued. Got my Marine home a few times...Jonny made his annual trip to Camp Hope in Clemson to work and counsel with Mentally Challenged kids, one of his most favorite things to do...


and the grind and DAILY task of keeping the house in SHOW condition began... (with three dogs, this is no walk through the tulips) The check off lists for "NIGHT-time tasks" and "MORNING tasks" were set in place.

By the end of July Another HUGE change took place. My dear daughter Kat and my middle son Jonny MOVED OUT!!! They were NOT moving to Iowa, and were taking the big step OUT of the home nest...on their own. It was a SAD day for mama, but very healthy for them.

Emptying Kat's room. July 30th...WHAT A HOT DAY I recall...


Loading the BIG items in the truck...Kat was DETERMINED for them to be out before the FOR SALE sign went up in the yard.


Bubba's Moving Service...Jonny waiting on Kam to hop in and take off for the apartment. While he and Kam did the UN-loading, Kat and I stayed back at the house loading up our vehicles with all the smaller stuff and supplies and electronics...Between the four of us..it got done. When we moved to Iowa, these two were promised the washer and dryer set, so in the meantime they came back home to do laundry...YAY!! suited this mama just fine!!!

AUGUST 2011 On Thursday, the fourth day of August, the ALLEN TATE For Sale sign went up in our yard.


And so it began...what I thought would be a long and miserable season of many showings and driving around with dogs in the van... GOD HAD BETTER PLANS!!

On Sunday, the fourteenth day of August, the contract that would seal the purchase of our home was presented.

In 10 days, our little cottage on Woodberry was sold. God is good. I cried.

It was a loooooooooooooong time coming, and God had so much more in mind than the sale of a house. But when it is time for God to do something, He doesn't dawdle...

GOD IS NEVER LATE, AND VERY SELDOM IS HE EARLY.... (my dad's encouragement to me throughout all this)

At this point in my blogging ritual and routine...the blogging basically shut down. There is nothing entered again until I resurface in Cedar Rapids, Iowa ...moved - settling in - and finally up and running with an internet server again. But I know that much was going on.

SEPTEMBER 2011 This became the 11th hour month for many things and events, proving and reinforcing God's overseeing in our lives as much and more than ever. We still did not have a house to move to in Iowa...Kam still had not sold his car....We still had NOT found a school for Kam to go to....oh my...living on the edge... Freefalling into FAITH, believing that though you can see nothing...all the details WILL be worked out by GOD...and WORKING with ALL your might to do your part to FIND what God has not yet Revealed.... a Delicate balance.

On Wednesday, August 10th, as school systems were revving up to start the school year all over this country, and Kam was starting to sweat about his future and where he would be and what schooling he would be doing, I located a school that had never popped up before in our extensive online searches. I sent it to Kurt to check out. We got all the paperwork and records and transcripts filled out and sent to Kurt to deliver to the school for review. Kam was accepted at Cedar Valley Christian School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Kurt immediately switched from searching for houses in and around Iowa City where he works, to the Cedar Rapids area.

Kam kept posting his car for sale, and began packing all his worldly belongings into two carryons and a honking huge checked bag...getting ready to fly to a new life in Iowa. I am proud of him. He walked away from his lifetime in Charlotte... 17 and a half years of all he had ever known. Leaving behind forged friendships, committed work at church, a homeschooling background his entire educational years, familiarity with a city he could get around and knew where to go, and also selling his black beauty Honda Civic.

As God would have it, on the eve of Kam's flight out, Thursday, August the 18th, a family came and purchased Kam's car On The Spot...cash in hand...took all the paper work with them to get notarized and completed. Kam was paid and free to go. The eleventh hour miracle.



At 1:55 on Friday the 19th, my youngest peep took off on a plane by himself, to tackle an O'Hare International exchange, and keep on going til he got to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and joined up with his dad. Now to live in a condo with his dad and another gentleman kind enough to rent to Kurt and allow Kam to be an add-on. Kam shared his dad's room and slept on an airmattress for almost 6 weeks. DO HARD THINGS INDEED, my youngest brave peep. You da Man...

While at a wedding reception for my cousin's daughter on August 27th, I received a text from Da Man that he believed Kam and he had found THE HOUSE. Yes, my husband picked out our next house...sight unseen by me...a measure of confidence and faith that I chose to carry. God would lead him to it, I was sure. Kurt was RIGHT! God had finally delivered our next nest just in the nick of time. Thank you Lord.



SEPTEMBER 2011 On September 3rd another birthday came and went for me without my man...The previous year, he had been absent, on a whirlwind trip to Iowa City to interview for the job he would eventually accept, that started this whole life change for ALL of us...

On September 21st the moving vans came in and in three days of solid work, had packed, boxed and moved everything in our cottage into the biggest moving truck I have ever seen...and away they went...leaving me and three dogs in an empty house with an air mattress on the floor.



Late on Friday night September 23rd, my man flew into Charlotte - swooping in to get what was left of our family moving to Iowa....(me and the dogs)...and what a sight for sore eyes. On Sunday we said Goodbyes to many...My brother and my sister had BOTH driven in to give me a BIG goodbye hug. Goodbyes are HARD, sisters....I know YOU know...WE girls are so attached to the loved ones who are woven into us through days and months and years of loving and serving and cherishing...
**God is faithful to not give us more than we can handle.... amen.

On September 26th, we got up, packed the van with what was left, vacuumed the house, locked the doors, loaded the dogs, sat in the van, and said our last prayer in the driveway of our Woodberry Road home...and drove slowly away, giving her one last long, slow look of gratitude and remembering...



On to closing, without a hitch...out on to the open highways, no looking back...and beginning the 1000+ mile journey to our new location where God was sending us, no doubts. Sad to leave my others behind....especially my Marine whom I had not gotten to see and say goodbye to. ..but joyful to know I would see Kam again in a few days.

The trip was trouble free, thank you Lord...amazing, a gift from God.





And my goodness, I end September with the 28th, where we had closing on our new home, and began the process of settling in and unpacking boocoodles of boxes...a new life begun...God was with us.

OCTOBER 2011 WE GOT INTERNET HOOK-UP!!!

My first post from the new nest in Cedar Rapids...a view from my Kitchen window.

I continued to unpack, my goal to have all of the boxes unpacked in 3 weeks and cleared OUT of the house, along with removing every little blue inventory sticker attached to every article and item we owned in this house...(moving company) :-)

My middle son Jonny participated in the 2011 Marine Corps Mud Run and thoroughly enjoyed it all - planning to do it again.
Before:


After:


My Marine was busy, busy in West Virginia, in a 6 week long training course he was chosen to be a part of.... to become a certified United States Marine Corps Assault Climber.



He survived it and graduated the course October 31st...along with some sprains, bruises, frostbite, and lots of pain, but endured, and tested his limits, I do believe... stretching them to new heights and depths...I am so proud of him.

NOVEMBER 2011 This entire month has been a continuing of finding my way around this city...feathering and tweaking the new nest - attempting to get everything in it's place...dealing with new routines and schedules...for the first time in years and years I am home alone, because I homeschooled our kids, and now Kam is going OUT to school... adapting and overcoming emotions of being happy to be HERE with my man where I belong...but also being sad and missing WHO and what I left behind in Charlotte.

On the 9th, we got our first snow...melted by the end of the next day...



Just beginning to fall in the morning hours...

Thanksgiving was celebrated quietly here with just the three of us...Kurt and Kam both fighting off sickness...

DECEMBER 2011 Missing family much during this holiday "season" between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Keeping it a quiet celebration and thinking a more simple celebration with way less shopping and fewer decorations out this year.

On the 5th of December, Kam once again took the plunge and invested his savings into a sweet little red convertible. It is going to need some work, so he will be fixing her up and learning more about cars, even as he did with his first one in Charlotte....



Kurt and I made a short road trip to see one of Kam's Saturday basketball games and enjoyed being on the road and with each other, IOWA is cornfield country..stretches out flat in some places as far as the eye can see....


watching Kam and the game...joy.






Kam finally fought off the cold/flu...bless his heart. He stayed hunkered down and on Prednisone for his lungs over the Christmas School break...(what a way to end the year)...gave us more anticipation for the NEW year to begin...

We received a video of "The Unboxing" from Kat and Jonny with a few gifts we sent to them for unwrapping...








And I close my LOOOOONG e-journal entry for 2011...only a short summary of many many things that occurred and changed in our little corner of the world. Simply a post to help me remember this particular year. It's good to record...so many times we forget the small things.. God has blessed us immensely in both the hard, drawn-out, trying times and in the joyful gifts and revelations He has graciously dispensed to us! Through it all, we grow and learn, and lean in closer to Him. WE look at 2012 with grateful hearts and with much HOPE that HE will continue to do great and mighty things in us and through us. I will say again....

GOD is good....ALL the time...God IS good...

Blessings for 2012 to any and all who may pop by and visit...and who were patient enough to read through my personal entry of my memories of 2011!!!!