Five years ago I embarked on one crazy journey! 2010 I married my favorite man of all time. He is my sanity, my adventure, my love, and my life. 2011 we lived in a precious little lake house in Conway. That precious little lake then flooded our little house and everything in it. So we spent a few months stranded and then we bought our first house! 2012 was pretty normal, possibly even boring, well right up until I got pregnant and began puking every 20 min! 2013 our sweet baby boy joined the world. We found out I am not so good at pregnancy and learned what it was like to parent a preemie. 2014 would have been a normal calm year but then we decided to move to Seattle and get pregnant again. 2015 we rediscovered I'm not so good at pregnancy, we had our new baby boy, learned about life with two kids, and then decided to move back to Arkansas. 5 years of adventures. 5 years of hardships and five years of overcoming. 5 years of salvation, 5 years of grace, 5 years of learning and love. I can't imagine anyone else in the world that would love this roller coaster as much as I do!
I am beyond excited about our next adventure. Arkansas is in our blood. I guess its hard to describe unless you are from there. Statistically it is literally the worst in everything. They say our schools are failing, we are all obese, and poor to boot. Not to mention our dang football team! They keep telling us this but we just turn the music up a little louder. Oh how my heart beats for my home state. Ask any of us ,we will talk about it like its the next best thing to the pearly gates. I know a big part of that is the people but I tell you when I'm away from Arkansas the moment the plane lands in Little Rock I want to go make angels in the grass. It is my first true love and coming home is easy.
And then again its not.
Seattle will now and forever be so special to me. I'm starting the water works just thinking about it. Before we came here we were very specific with our prayers. We prayed for good neighbors,we prayed for friends, we prayed for a baby, we prayed for happiness and adventure. When I think about our time here all I can say is our GOD is SO BIG!
Oh our neighbors! We have the best neighbors in the entire world. I'm not even kidding if you think yours are better call me and I'll tell you about the girl scout cookie cake and then I will tell you I win! From the day we moved in we have had the best times in our backyard. Every afternoon has been spent with the kids. Seven at one house, two at the other, and one more just beside us. We had enough kids to play real baseball and football games. We made boo boos all better, we made bad days turn good, and we conquered the world one feisty political convo at a time. In turn I found one of my best friends. April was there for me when I didn't even know I needed her. We were two peas in a pod from the get go. She made sure we were taken care of and went the extra steps to show our family we were cared for too. She has loved my babies like they are her own and leaving her and the kiddos has made leaving Seattle far harder than I could have imagined. Its not every day you meet some one who is as exceptional as she is. I wish I had half of her joy and strength. She is a one woman crew! She manages her house and then makes time to come over and help me manage mine. I prayed for a friend and God went above and beyond with her. When I was homesick she made it better. When I was afraid to get around the city she pushed me out the door. I can't imagine how different this experience would have been without her. She made me happy and she made me strong. I pray no matter where I am in this world I have April on speed dial and someone just like here near by.
Our baby! I mean of all the places in the world we get moved to where there is a doctor who not only specializes in Preeclampsia/HELLP but also founded the foundation for researching it. Only God can make things like this happen. So we had a baby and he is perfect. He is big and I am fine. Seattle made our family complete. That's something I'm not sure we could have done or would have done anywhere else.
We have had the absolute best adventure here. We spent every weekend here exploring this area. From the Canadian border to the Oregon coast. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I am so grateful for our time here and all it has given us. I love you Seattle. I adore your strange people, your tall trees, and your peek a boo mountain. I hope my visits here happen as often as possible.
But its time to go home. We miss my grandparents and the boys miss theirs too. I miss my MOMMY, I mean I miss her so much. But don't think the adventure stops here! Our motto for next year is "See Arkansas First". I can't wait to explore my home state. I also can't wait to see what and who God brings into our life.
Alex my dear I'm grateful we don't know whats in store for us next. Living life a little on the crazy side has always been our thing and I fear it always will be! I absolutely love doing life with you and I know you are the only person crazy enough to enjoy it as much as I do! Cheers to our next big adventure!!
