A Year of Change....part 2 & 3

It's been awhile since I have posted. I know that I had promised a finish to our crazy 2015. It had been my plan to do it in 3 parts since we had a couple family vacations mixed in, but I am going for it...gonna give it to y'all at once and then move on. If you missed part 1, here is is Our Year of Change Part 1.  I chose to do this series mostly because I do realize that it may have been hard to figure out exactly what happened last year in our lives (because we were literally ALL over the U.S.)

So we got Mason all graduated and then we had to focus on actually moving. With Jimmy still gone the task was crazy overwhelming. I was done with work but running summer camp so I was exhausted all the time. Washington decided to give us a summer and so it was also quite warm!  Soon school was over for Evan and he sadly had to say good-bye to his friends and his home. He headed off to Montana to visit Nana and PawPaw, then to Chicago with Auntie Courtney for most of the summer. It was bittersweet to have him leave. It allowed me to focus solely on the house but it was a tearful goodbye. It was the going to be the longest I had even been without him.

He had/has such a great group of friends in Oak Harbor

As July approached it was clear that we were not going to find a home to move into by the time we left for Chicago to pick up Evan and  have a little family vacation. We decided to put everything we could in storage and "move in" with my parents until we could catch our breaths. With ONE decision under our belts we took a break to enjoy a great annual 4th of July at our friends house (who were also our neighbors-for a few more days at least).

Meanwhile, Evan was living it up in Montana.....

and catching a train to Chicago.....

None too soon, it was back to business. Luckily we had a great village behind us. I don't know how we would have functioned (especially with Jimmy gone most of the time) without our friends.  Storage unit day arrived and we busted a move to get it all done while we had bodies to help. Like most of my plans.....it was a lofty goal. Luckily we did get most of the big stuff it at least. 

Then one of the many sad days to come arrived. My little Masey Jo moved out. I knew the day would come. For goodness sakes, he was graduated and most likely going to college. It just hit me hard with all the changes. He moved in with his best friends' dad with plans to stay in Oak Harbor and go to Skagit Valley College. It was more than a mama's heart could take. I was happy for his future but sad that he was all grown up!

A few days later with a very sad heart....we left the island....

The sadness was shortly out of our minds as we embarked in a fun family trip to Chicago to pick up Evan and see my sister and her family. I felt soooo blessed to, after everything we had endured over the last few months, to have my entire family in one spot at one time.  We had a fun couple of days where we got to explore Chicago and drive to Bloomington, Indiana to see Jimmy's grandma and Aunt.  

But like all great things, the family portion of our trip came to an end. Jimmy and Mason needed to return to Washington for work. Keaton stayed on to visit with us and of course Evan was "stuck" with mom! (hehe)  Over the next few days Courtney and I attended our Origami Owl conference. We had a great time visiting with our "owl" friends, meeting the founders, seeing new products and getting inspired.

To add to the fun of this trip (AKA....not thinking about being "homeless") my bestie Aubrey flew in from Pensacola and we had another great day in Chicago.

This was just a prelude to the real fun which was a girls weekend in New York City. My other bestie Amy was headed to NYC to meet us and we had a great time despite the fact that Aubrey's sprained ankle got the best of her. One thing I did learn from this trip was, "I never want to go to NYC in the summer again" and "that despite our smiles, NYC is NOT, I repeat NOT wheelchair friendly"

I was so excited to actually visit Coney Island on this trip

That all said, I absolutely LOVE New York and I had a great time with my girls.

But back to real life. Evan and I returned to Washington to live with mom and dad while we looked for a place to live.  That task turned out to be more difficult that I imagined but it was a nice time for me to spend with my mom.  I was able to go for walks with her, watch chick-flicks and learn how to can fruits and vegetables. 

Finally in September we found a place in University Place. It wasn't what we hoped for but we were SO ready to be living together as a family again. (Jimmy still was camping about 50% of the time so he didn't have to commute.) So September was a time of moving AGAIN!  We also were beginning our journey into homeschooling. I have to say that I probably wanted to change my mind several times out of sheer fear of "not being enough for Evan".  My teaching skills definitely helped but I was in uncharted territory teaching a high school level. But I stayed strong and we have continued to prod along learning the 9th grade together.  

We also knew that we needed to explore our new town.  I am not gonna lie, this was a very dark time for me. I struggled greatly with all the changes. On the plus side, Jimmy was very happy with his new job so that gave me the strength to persevere. Jimmy was great about "getting me out of the house" for walks or just to go grocery shopping with me. One of our favorite places that we found to go walking was at Chambers Bay Golf Course. It has a great walking trail and it is also just beautiful! It was good for the soul.

Another benefit of all these changes was that I was able to travel to the south to help my friends Aubrey move from Florida to Texas.....we traveled across those southern states several time and I became well versed in southern culture!! (Big Red, breakfast tacos, Buc-ees, tornado warnings, Blue Bell Ice-Cream, HEB, bugs...did I say BUGS...the list could go on...)hehe!!! I felt very blessed that the Lord put these circumstances in my life (moving, homeschooling, not working) to be available to help my friend in this way. It was also good for me in general. It was fun to be around a friend for a couple of weeks so I could recharge.

Upon returning I was able to go to a fun women's retreat in Seaside with my mom that was actually hosted by the church we used to attend when we lived in Poulsbo.  It gave me another emotional "charge" and then all the kids came home for Thanksgiving....I even got extras (Keaton's girlfriend also came). It was so great for me to have the family all together even if it we were all stuffed in our tiny apartment. Jimmy noted sometime during the weekend that he could "see how happy this made me!"

December came all too quickly and yet too slowly....it had been a LONG year! We had planned a trip to celebrate all the craziness of the year. We wanted to go someplace tropical but dates with the timeshare and cost just didn't come together for us....so on a whim we booked a trip to Las Vegas with the plan to also go to the Grand Canyon. Let me tell you HOW much fun we had, even with Evan in tow. We saw so much and really just had a fabulous trip. The highlight of course was seeing the Grand Canyon....well worth the 5 hour drive from Vegas.  There was still snow on the ground and I think it was something like 10 degrees when we woke up the next morning, but the views were breath taking!!!!

It was a nice break for us but I was looking forward to seeing my big kids again for Christmas. We did our normal rounds for Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning...then we did something different and fun. We headed up to the cabin for a "Sm-eld Family Christmas" (it is mixing the Smith & Feld names that make up the siblings). It was so nice to get all the family together. I find that I have the greatest joy when we can all get together, whether it is our immediate family, extended or made up family. I very much enjoy being together in love and laughter. It was a great way to spend the holiday.  We even got a little bit of a white Christmas.

The year ended with a trip "home", I know that as 2016 grows on, I need to find a way to call our new home-HOME! But for me this was the perfect way to end the year. We went and stayed with our good friends', Mike & Amy in Oak Harbor and rang in what we hoped to be a far less crazy year!

Before I close, I want to note that the main purpose of this blog entry was to sort of explain away my Facebook posts over this last year. I really have been here and there and have had several people wonder exactly where we live (moved to). In general we don't travel this much. It was an extraordinary year for us in that respect. I don't ever want to portray my life as a "highlight reel". We struggle, this year is a true testament to that but I honestly glossed over that in the two blogs about last year.  It wasn't a purposeful thing to do, its just the way the post manifested. My goal in blogging is to actual BE REAL. I want to remind other women that you don't have to live a perfect life, you just need to live the life that is perfect for you.

~S