Wednesday December 5, 2012
Me: “Knock Knock”
Xanga: “Who’s there?”
Me: “Smilesbymiles”
Xanga: “Who is that?”
Me: “I don’t know either.”
Seriously. How do you re-enter after having been gone for so long. It’s the strangest feeling … like you jumped off the carousel and everyone else learned three new songs to dance to while you were gone. Or like someone said a joke and you are just way too blonde to get it and the party goes on. It’s just strange. And too difficult to figure out … do I try to catch up on four months worth of blogs (up until today I have probably read a total of five blog posts in the past five months. Posts, I said, not blogs.). This certainly sounds wierd to non-bloggers, but not to friend bloggers. Because they’ll get it … it feels like you haven’t talked on the phone with a friend for months. And if I write, do I try to recap a little of what’s been happening? Do I just randomly pick a subject? Or is it time to formulate a whole new kind of blog?
And I don’t know the answers to any of it so I just stay quiet. But staying quiet means I keep missing everyone and I’m done with that now. Right or wrong, I’m plunging back into the mix. Nothing stellar. Nothing earth shaking. But at least it’s an attempt.
A little of what’s been happening:
WE’VE MOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I cannot even begin to tell you how phenomenally awesome this is. We moved the end of October and every week I started feeling a little more energy. A little more normal. And a LOT less depressed. Our house has WINDOWS. Lots of them. Every single day I drink in the light. In the morning, it mysteriously plays hide and seek until the sun burns away the fog.
In the middle of the day, it is brilliant and warm.
And in the evening, it gets all warm and glowy and just delicious.
We love living here. The house is small, but we mostly fit. 
Best of all, we are alone. By the time we were here a week, we started functioning much more like our family again. It all just feels like a huge gift from God. We’re not far from camp so David can still bike to work most days and yet we have our own space. The yard is big and open (thank you, God!) and there is plenty of room for a garden (Did I ever miss that this summer).
I have pictures from before we moved. Pictures from getting ready to move. But sadly, almost no pictures since we moved. So here are a few befores ….
The outside:
What the inside looked like when they purchased:
We had so much help getting ready to move, we actually got to move a day earlier than planned! It was unreal. I felt terribly overwhelmed with trying to move in the middle of school. The house was in decent condition for being nearly thirty years old, but by the time we took all the old stuff out and off the walls, there were a lot of holes to patch and a number of places were missing baseboard. For eight days we cleaned out, patched, repaired, painted, cleaned, painted, shampooed carpets, painted, and cleaned. And packed. And unpacked. And did school. Although the school part went a little MIA the last two days. There were three ladies who were going to come help me on Wednesday. I knew we’d never finish, but I was like, “Ok, somehow God is going to figure this one out.” Tuesday morning someone called me from a town about 45 minutes from here and said, “We have eight ladies who want to come help you tomorrow.” It was almost surreal. In four hours, they whipped out what would have taken me a week alone! Jo let her girls come every day that week and they worked like girls twice their age. Sometimes they played with the boys. Sometimes they cleaned. And when it came to packing and unpacking, they whizzed through boxes and loaded things that should have been too heavy for them. It was soooooooooooooooo much fun to work with them. They’re 9 and 12, but something about working with girls always makes me nostalgic about working with my own sisters!
{Proof that grey is a *very* hard color to choose}
We didn’t paint the kitchen area yet because the cabinets are due to be replaced. It’s kind of funny when you can just pick up part of the cabinet and rearrange it. And a removable counter top might be reason enough to stop crawling up onto the counter to reach the top shelf. And the appliances … well, let’s just say I’ll be really happy to see them upgraded. In the short term, I’m most excited about the water treatment system getting hooked up so that we can quit hauling drinking water and the water heater being replaced so I no longer have to heat water on the stove for baths on laundry days.
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School is slugging along. Some days we’re plowing through math like a tractor in knee-deep mud. Other days we zip through the entire day like it’s a relay race. All I can say is this,
Dear Mom,
I am so sorry that I was such an undisciplined student the entire way through high school. But don’t worry. It passed right through the genetic code and I am fully understanding all the misery you went through.
Love, Michelle
If I could invent two things, it would be this. 1. Motivation for a day dreamer. 2. Indestructible pants for an eight year old boy.
If anyone could ever get a patent on the latter they’d become a multi-millionaire almost overnight.
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We got to experience our first “turkey-in-the-hole” at Thanksgiving.
The party started at 2 a.m. when the Pioneers (one of the groups of campers) lit the fire and started piling on wood. From then until 5, it was noise, singing, flame-fanning, wood throwing, flame-fanning, apple fritters, hot chocolate, and more wood throwing. The Woodsmen (the other group) joined the party around 3 and the Pioneers left soon after. The fire went from close to knee high to well over an adult’s head and flames shot nearly as high as the trees. Talk about a Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego sized fire! I mean, we weren’t quite falling over dead when we got close, but it was H.O.T! After the fire died down, the turkeys went into the hole of ashes and roasted.
{the woodsmen’s grand entrance and their crazy plot to “put the fire out”}
{getting the turkeys ready for the fire}
{the little guys made it their responsibility to take care of the hot chocolate fire}
And the party night after:
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Traveling
We’ve been in Maryland approximately 23 weeks and between David’s meetings with families and a few weddings to photograph, we’ve made at least eleven out of state trips. We’ve been out for the day (think leaving at 5 a.m. coming home between 11p.m. to 1 a.m.) for at least four more. I absolutely love getting out and I love both types of work; but actually counting the trips is making me realize why it feels like I am always packing or unpacking … working ahead or trying to catch up. Mostly, it’s a huge plus. David needed to do an interview in DC so the boys and I went to the zoo for a school field trip. My one and only Black Friday purchase was tickets to see Jonah at Sight and Sound for half price and luckily, David already had two family meetings lined up in the area. SCORE!
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The first day of Thanksgiving vacation, we went ice skating about an hour from here. Wait. That’s not we. That’s we went. They skated. I staggered for a few minutes. It was Adam and Liam’s first time on the ice. Adam was thrilled! 
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Visits from friends
Several friends have come to visit for the weekend and it has been so much fun! When we go home, we have an absolutely delightful time but our visit is always shared with so many people it feels as though we are always pulling ourselves from one place to the next. But when friends come here, it’s just them and us. We get to spend so much more time with them ……… I never thought quantity time was on my love language list, but I think it’s there now! Visits from friends are like a gift!
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Homeschooling means you can’t stay up til 1 a.m. without getting really grouchy. Morning will be here way too soon to suit me. Happens every time. 
Goodnight.
OH MY!!! Reading your post gives me even more reason for that sit down face to face chat. i could comment on almost everything you said. But i’ll save it for the visit 🙂 and it’s past 1:00 am, yup, i homeschool. lol
Loved your post and pictures. I never heard of roasting a turkey like that. I wonder if it has a special flavor? Seems like it would be delicious. I have a sister-in-law that lives in Maryland. They’re coming to visit today. Welcome back to the blog world. Doesn’t matter if we’re here or not it goes on.
Great job! I totally feel like you brought your blog up to date from the past four months. So thankful for God’s blessings in your life! A house with windows is most excellent! 🙂
It’s good to have you back. Please say you’ll blog more often!! I have read plenty of posts in the last 5 months, but I have greatly struggled with being able to write. And when I do, it sounds pathetic, even to me!
And may I say, I am SO happy that you guys get your own little private house with WINDOWS! I can almost feel the panic of living without natural light.
And yes, grey is a very hard color to choose. We painted the girl’s room grey this summer, and i tried everything in my power to have it be a completely neutral grey grey (just a blend of black and white) but somehow it ended up looking like it has a tinge of blue in it. Which makes it hard to find the right pink as an accent color. I am still looking!!
Welcome back! Your school area looks awesome! I dream of having a room just for school. Not happening so far, but maybe some day. Love all your windows!
I’m glad that you’ve got a house with windows! Still in my dreams, since we are basement dwellers and have only four windows on one side. The pants??? My son looks like a ragga-muffin some days. Even his black dress pants have a small tear at the bottom, presently hidden by a fold up cuff since they were a bit long anyway. 😉
And all those ladies that helped you out, what a blessing.
I haven’t been through half of what you have been in the last few months, but I don’t think I’ve blogged at all since you’ve been gone.
So, you haven’t missed much from me. 
LOVED hearing from you again, and seeing all the pictures, and hearing the positive notes back in your voice……….and seeing all of the beautiful light from heaven that pours into your home now!! Praising God with you!!!
Oh, welcome back!! And yes, I can well understand the feelings of not knowing how to get back into blogging again after taking a longer break. You feel like the new kid on the block again, even though you’re not!! So here’s to hoping you soon feel right at home! 🙂
And I’m SO glad for you that you are in your own house! For real, especially with kids, it seems like even a little bit of not-normal to just make everything feel a bit out of control. And you and your camera make your house look like a dream of light. 🙂
I hope we’ll be hearing more from you! 🙂
Loved hearing about your life again. Glad to hear you are in your house… it is just nice to have your own :).
So great to hear from you again! And I am very happy for you that you got your own little place now! Also, taking all of those trips, even if they were short ones, sounds so exhausting to me!! Looking forward to hearing more from you in the near future!
I just love it! From reading what you write, I hope that one day I get to meet you in person! I love it.
good to hear from you michelle and it was fun to read of the adventures in your life.
the turkey in the hole was a first for me last year and it was yummy. yours was truely a group effort and looked really fun.
I’m really happy for you! I certainly can relate how great a little home like that would be so nice after something you didn’t like as well. The yard would be wonderful too! LOVE the family picture, looks like your little guys are getting big~
Good to hear from you again… anytime I read about your life out there, I just imagine those boonies that you live in! 🙂 -Having my own house would have been huge for me too. I don’t do well when I have to live in close quarters with others for a long period of time.
I loved your pictures, especially the ones of your house! It’s so cute! 🙂 I’m so glad you’re enjoying your new house, and the nice, open land.
welcome back beautiful lady! ** Big hug **
Glad to see a post from you again, I enjoy them! The last pic brought a smile, it’s good to know that other peoples children like the kitchen counters too!! For some reason that seems to be “the place to be” when someones working in the kitchen.
So happy to see and read a post from YOU!!
What a happy post! I’m smiling. 🙂 Motivation? Sometimes “beat-the-timer” works. Sometimes. Your school room picture is lovely!
crazy…the other day you popped in my brain and I was just wondering what you guys were up to. Sounds like a lot of fun times! What fun creative Thanksgiving decorations! Love it! That last picture too, is awesome! Glad things are going well! From the pictures, it looks like your boys have grown up so much!
I love hearing about your life again. Your family photo is beautiful. You sound busy and happy. SO happy with you for LiGhT!
the first picture is beautiful!
i like the mjb watermark. I think it fits you better than the whole name.
your school area is super cute. the bookshelves look great, as does the lamp I’ve been coveting. 🙂
Perfect gray. Which one did you use?
gorgeous light. happy for you.
beautiful family picture!
I have so overextended my “10 min.” hardy harhar.
It’s really good to hear from you again. I gave a happy sigh for you when I read about the move to a lighter house.
i could just stare and stare at that family pic. and i was. it’s beautiful in every way. i have missed you around here…even though i’ve been so hit and miss myself.
i was beyond excited about getting to see you…having you here at my house…and meeting your family! your boys are awesome, just like i had them in my head. 😀 if you invent those things, let me know. we are dealing with daydreamers and boys that are hard on pants too. thanks for catching us up on your world michelle. love ya.
@mcbery – The turkey tastes pretty much like turkey to me. 😉
@richlyblest – You should post pictures! I’d love to see the girls’ room. But I know already, colors look even more odd in pictures than they do in real life sometimes.
@Carsonsmom2 – ME TOO!!!!!!!!!!!! on the dreaming of having a room for homeschooling. It would be so nice to shut the door and forget it’s there when you’re not doing it.
@madisonsmom2 – You have to actually be here to realize how “booneyish” it really is. My friend’s face was priceless when she got here ….. 🙂
@burtndeb – I love the second sometimes in your sentence. 😉
@twofus_1 – I think it’s called stonington, but I’m too lazy to look it up right now.
Wow, so many reviews. Smilesbymiles, I’m glad to find your blog via search engine. I’m appreciate with your design, photos, words. They are great! Yes, this give me a reason to leave my comment.