Leg Surgery Update

I just wanted to thank everyone for their prayers regarding my vein surgery.  I had my appointment today and it was very encouraging.  They did an ultrasound and will be resubmitting all of that to the insurance company.  I should hear within the next few weeks if it is approved.  My surgeon wants to do the laser surgery first and if that doesn’t take care of everything then he will do a second procedure called a phlebectomy.  They are optimistic about the approval going through.  On a very fun note, my surgeon asked me to be a “vein model” for a conference coming up in June for Cleveland Clinic.  I guess I have an unusually bad vein, broken valve and really bad reflux in the veins.  And it is something he wants to show off at his conference to his colleagues.  So we will wait to have the surgery until late June or July....pending insurance approval.  I am very excited to be chosen to be a model….even if it is to show my ugly leg.  I am cool with that=) But if it helps other surgeons with fixing veins then I am all in.  I am very excited!

"Home"

Yesterday was one of those "perfect" days for me.  I know there really aren't perfect days, but it was pretty close.  I started with the race in the morning, breakfast with my family, spread mulch with Dan, got my hair done and went on a date with three other couples in the evening.  The date night was like no other.  We went square dancing!

When we came back from California we joined up with a new Sunday school class.  We really enjoy the class.  From day one we have felt very comfortable and we enjoy the couples in that class so much.  A few weeks ago one of the girls in class sent an email out inviting us to try square dancing at Malabar Farm.  So we joined up with some couples and ventured into a new experience.  We ate at Malabar Inn for dinner and then promptly arrived for our 7:00 square dancing session.  The barn was full....and luckily it was full of inexperienced dancers.  The lady singing and calling the moves was wonderful with us.  She had a great sense of humor and enjoyed watching all of our mess ups.  As the evening progressed we started to call ourselves experts.  Once we got the promenade and swing move down we were good to go.   Last night we did something new and fun and exciting and it was so good for me and Dan.  It was a time when we laughed for the evening and forgot about all other stresses.  We simply enjoyed each other's company.

But here was the best part....sort of a lesson for the evening. I made an observation that just warmed my heart.  As we did the dances we would start with our spouse as our partner.  But as the dances progress you often switch partners around the circle until you return to your original partner.  One particular dance had one girl swing with each man around the circle and then she would return "home" to her spouse. And then the next girl would do the same thing until we each had a turn. I watched as this was going on.  I watched as the girl would dance with the other men and find her way back to her spouse.  I watched the body movements and facial expressions as she found her way back to her spouse.  And when she finally got "home" and made physical contact with her spouse, you could see her relax and become herself again in his arms.  As couples, they each had a unique way of fitting together.  You could see that she felt like she was finally "home."  It was the neatest thing.  And I experienced that too.  Each time I found my way back to Dan I felt like I was where I was supposed to be.  His smell, his physique and the way he held me told me that I was back in my comfort zone.  It was good to feel that and know that God uniquely designed marriage so we can experience that with our spouse.

Correction

My pace was actually 7:07 for a total time of 22:03!

First PR Ever!

Recently I have been training to run faster for my 5K races and the training has paid off.  I will say that diet plays such a big part in that process.  I have increased my raw vegetables and decreased night time eating and that has made me faster.  I was the top female to win the race today...came in 5th out of 200 people.  But before you get all excited about that I must mention that all my fast running buddies in my age group weren't there today.  I will thank them for that!  There is a half marathon and full marathon in Toledo tomorrow so they are gone for that.  I ran at a 7:18 pace today, which is awesome for me.  My last 5K was 8:00 pace so I certainly knocked some time off.  The weather and temperature were so perfect for running. And after all of that....they forgot to announce me as a winner at the awards ceremony.  Bummer!  But it was all good because Dan surprised me by bringing the girls to the race so they were there at the finish line when I came in.  Pure fun! And then we enjoyed a large breakfast at Bob Evans after the race.

Mya....isms

Mya does some pretty cool things sometimes.  She was at a friend's house the other day and I got a text from the mom telling me what Mya had said to her.  Mya asked the mom if she knew her daddy.  The mom said that she did not know him.  Mya said, "Well, he is very handsome."  

And yesterday Mya decided to surprise her dad with a note on the front door when he came home from work.  In case you can't read it, it says, "Good job for working so hard and making money.  Love, Mya."  Notice the beautiful family picture at the bottom=)

Do You Ever Just Want to Know???

Do you ever wonder what path God is taking you on?  You know that something big might be coming, but you are just not sure how it is all going to play out.  I have been wondering that a lot lately.

It all started with a flyer at a Starbucks in Porterville, California.  I went to get my once a week hot chocolate and noticed a flyer inviting me to a free healthy cooking class.  So I wrote down the date, time and address and showed up to the class that next Saturday.  I met a girl who was going to school at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition to become a health coach.  This cooking class and meeting her was the start of my journey to becoming healthy with food.  Don't get me wrong....we still have a long way to go.  But it triggered something in me and made me want to research and learn while we were in California.  Fast forward to now and I had another neat thing happen.  About a month ago, my sister asked me to attend a green smoothie/essential oils workshop with her and a friend in Columbus.  So the three of us left that day to attend the workshop and found ourselves stuck in traffic for hours.  We eventually made it to Columbus just in time to have lunch and drive back home.  We had missed the workshop.  I decided to send a text to the presenter, letting her know that we had missed the training due to traffic.  To my surprise, she texted back and said that she would love to connect with me about other trainings.  So we emailed the next few days and talked on the phone and decided to have her do a workshop in Ashland.  Monday was the training and my head has been in the clouds since then.  I am trying to come down.  I fell in love with the essential oils.  I discovered that the presenter graduated from the same school as the girl in Porterville.  And I was asked to consider joining the essential oil team.  So now I sit and ponder where God is taking me.  Health/nutrition/fitness.....these are all things that excite me and I can see myself pursuing.  I am just not sure in what capacity yet.  Homeschooling will take priority next year, but in the meantime I will enjoy experimenting with essential oils with my family and becoming an expert in that area as much as I can.  So if any family members are reading this....you might be asked to be my guinea pig on a few things!

I've Been Thinkin......

I think.  That is what I do best, but sometimes I find myself over thinking.  And that is not a good thing.  Recently, I have been learning so much about myself.  I have learned that I don't have a ton of confidence in my decision making skills. I tend to make a decision and then regret it or question it.  I doubt because others have differing opinions and share them with me. There is scripture telling me that I need to work on this! ("But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind."  James 1:6) I have learned that I don't always listen to myself or my heart.  I have learned that I don't wait on the Holy Spirit to speak to me.  I have learned that I like to control things.  And I have learned that understanding my wants and needs is important and healthy in my life.  I have been meeting with a wonderful Godly woman recently and she challenged me to be more intentional with my "quiet" times each day.  So I have decided to commit to carving out that time for me and the girls in the afternoon.  I might read the Bible, pray, journal or listen to sermons online.  All of this allows me to learn truth, build a stronger foundation with my faith and become reacquainted with my heart's desires.

So my latest "I've Been Thinkin....." time is about home schooling........again.  I have mulled over it in my mind and discussed with Dan multiple times and am coming close to decision making time.  I started to feel anxiety because I really needed to search my heart on this topic before I could make any kind of decision.  I have to question what is driving me to home school.  Tuition at the christian school is something to consider, but can not be the reason to home school.   And I was letting that be the reason and that didn't feel right.  So I had to be honest with myself and Dan about that.  Dan has made it clear that money can not be any reason to make me feel like I should home school.  So I am working through that one in my mind.  I have anxiety about my happiness at home all day every day.  Will I be content?  I have to explore those options.  Can I handle schooling and get all the jobs done around the house like laundry and dishes and cooking.  Dan and I discussed that too and he offered to take over laundry and other things that would help me.  But that is still something big to consider.  It is no secret that I am Type A and like to have things structured.  Will home schooling stress me out even more or will it grow and stretch me to be more laid back?  That could go either way. I could continue listing my anxieties because I have had many of them.  And I have explored all of them.  But this past week I have had opportunities to talk to a variety of people (home schoolers and public schoolers and christian schoolers), explaining my fears and just being verbal about it all.  I have given myself permission to take my time.  I have realized more than anything that I must be true to myself with this decision.  Yes, Dan is along to support me, but I must be okay and I must make this decision for very good and right reasons.  Looking at each child's strengths and weaknesses and desires helps as I consider what next year will look like.

I am excited to school Sara.  This statement might sound surprising or out of sorts, but I am going to school her with the intention of working on social skills and confidence.  I am excited to not only provide the academics for her, but hand tailor her experience so she can be working on social skills often.  I am going to be part of a group called Classical Conversations.  Just this week I was invited to be a teacher for the younger group.  I will take a 3 day practicum this summer to be trained to teach.  And the girls will be in my class.  So every Monday morning we will be with other home schooling kids in Mansfield.  Mya is my child that I just am not sure about yet.  The tough thing about doing this for the first time is that I don't know how any of us will like it.  Mya is structured like me and I expect her to enjoy the academics that I can provide.  But we might try an eclectic approach with her where she can attend elective classes at the christian school and still see her first grade friends.

Funny thing is.....next year at this time I will most likely look back on these decisions and realize how it was not as big of a deal as I have made it to be.  But I want to be sure I have heard the Holy Spirit loud and clear.

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 states, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Dating

We have embraced "dating" and recognize how important it is for our marriage, kids and friendship.  So tonight we went out for a relaxing evening.  My middle daughter, Sara, literally pushed me out of the door so I would leave them alone with the babysitter.  We haven't had a date in weeks so I guess it was due time for all of us.  I met Dan in Mansfield when he got off work.  It was kind of fun to meet up that way....gave me some butterflies in my stomach.  We had dinner at Red Lobster.  We narrowed it down to Red Lobster and Olive Garden and I decided I was in the mood for the cheesy biscuits.  When we sat down to look at the menu, Dan decided it would be fun to try and order for me.  I left to go to the bathroom while he ordered and came back wondering if he would get it all right.  Amazingly I discovered that he pays attention to the details more than I think he does.  He ordered me a salad with ranch dressing on the side (that detail really surprised me) and lobster and pasta.  It was kind of fun to do something different like that...added some spice to the evening.  We had a pleasant dinner with good conversation...trying very hard to talk about something other than the kids.  After dinner we had some extra time so we went to a furniture store and "dream" shopped.  Then we went to Barnes and Nobles, found a comfy couch and looked at magazines.  I got caught up on the celebrity gossip.  Without cable I tend to miss the news.  We ended our evening with a nice romantic comedy movie.  We saw the movie Admission and it was clean and fun.  We came home to two girls sleeping soundly in our bed.  I took the babysitter home and when I returned I found Dan added to the crew in our bed.  He was snuggling away with them.  Dating is good!

Riding Horses

The girls are on spring break this week so I wanted to make sure we did some fun things together.  We went to the Carousel today.  We had to ride six times!  I feel a little nauseous, but it was worth it.