Weekly recap

A brief look at last week....

1) We decided to go ahead and tackle another home renovation project: this 1920's farmhouse in Crownsville, Md.  I already think of her as home:)

2) I spent a delightful morning baking bread with my sweet little helper.  Little man was also involved briefly, before he was summoned outside to ride bikes with his new favorite buddy from next door.

3) We spent Saturday morning washing my Grandma K's house with several other family members. Gus was very excited to be part of the team and spent his time collecting all our used sponges.....which are now part of his burgeoning "treasure" collection.  One man's trash is another man's treasure, right?!

 

4) Had a picnic lunch at the farmhouse after church .

5) Scored a FREE kids ATV for my little farmhands:)

6) Spent a morning at Sandy Point State Park.  Beautiful.

I'm afraid tomorrow will not be quite as exciting.  It looks like grocery shopping and getting a Maryland driver's license are what's on the to do list:)

Strange New World

Well, in the month we've been here, it's become obvious that we are no longer living in the South/Bible belt/Dixieland any longer.

Not only are our children doing curious and unusual things, such as eating strawberries and whipped cream directly off the plate...

 or requesting that their toenails each be painted a different color,

but the culture is different too.

Here are a few examples we've noticed over the last couple weeks:

1. Instead of using the weather to make small talk here, people discuss traffic, or, alternatively, the tick population.  Seriously.  This has happened on multiple occasions.

2. Rather than secretly seeking out friends with access to cabins on the mountains, you start to look for people with boats.

3. No one calls you "Honey" the first time they meet you.  In fact, I think that may be a term of indearment that takes months or possibly years to earn.

4. Finally, someone, such as myself, may be forced to wear a light sweater, in the evening, on JUNE 2nd, whereas, back in Chattanooga, they would probably be camped out inside with the AC on.  Am I right?

We're adjusting and getting acclimated to this new normal. Although, Scott and I each had a moment of nostalgia this past week; once with a man in a pickup & camo and, later, listening to a woman with a very familar drawl.

Fortunately, our children are as doggone cute as ever....so we're staying very grounded:)

Wisdom for the day

"If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable; think of it as a place of training and correction and it's not so bad."

~C. S. Lewis

"Time is a relentless river.  It rages on, a respector of no one.  And this, this is the only way to slow time: When I fully enter times' swift current, enter into the current moment with the weight of all my attention, I slow the torrent with the weight of me all here....And when I'm always looking for the next glimpse of glory, I slow and enter."

~Ann Voskamp

" 'Wherever you are, be all there' is only possible in the posture of eucharisteo (thanksgiving). I want to slow down and taste life, give thanks, and see God."

~ One Thousand Gifts

Oma saves the day

So lately each day at the Noll household has seemed like an exercise in simply making it through.  Work has been tough and long for Scott (10-11 hours a couple times), the kids, understandably, have been incredibly out of sorts (and sick), and I've been missing friends, our church, our home and normal routines.  

But the other day, 4 simple things brought us moments of pure joy...all provided by my mom.

#1: the sprinkler

 

#2: toenail polish

#3: the chance to garden together

#4: old Psalty tapes, put onto cd, which prompted a pre-bed, whole family dance party

anyone else remember this guy??

So, a big thank you to Mom, for getting us through the day!

Although it is tough now, we know that "this too shall pass" and we are leaning hard on the Lord for encouragement, fellowship and the attitude to look for and be thankful for these joyful moments.

New digs

Enjoying Mom & Dad's generous hospitality at Hotel Deterding.

Beforehand

Before leaving Chattanooga, we tried hard to hit as many of our favorite places as possible: Niedlov's Bakery, the Wednesday market, the aquarium and zoo, Ben & Jerry's free cone day (OK, so that's not Chattanooga-specific, but it IS yummy!), Coolidge Park, Rembrant's, etc.

On one of our last days, I took the kids for a ride on the Incline.  That was Gus' special bucket list request.  I'm really glad he asked, because it was gorgeous and something I'm pretty sure we won't find anywhere else!

Gus really did have a blast....but I think the view down was a bit scary for him!

 At the top!

On Thursday night, our awesome friends, the Keans, hosted a going away party for us.  It was perfect.  I managed to only take a few photos, but a huge number of our friends and neighbors were there and we enjoyed every minute of it!  We miss you all!!

Then, we spent Friday packing up the truck.  Basically, it turned out to be a HUGE ordeal and once we get settled if I have my way we will not move again until it's time to go to a nursing home!

We ended up having to get a second truck to fit all of our stuff (where, oh where, did it all come from?!).  God was so gracious, and we were able to find one available in time.  I spent the night at the house cleaning and then we finished up the last of the packing Saturday morning, with the help of Mark and Peter Slavovsky.

We finally pulled out around lunch time, made it about halfway, stopped at a hotel for the night (where we ran into a couple who lived on our street!) and then made it to Annapolis by Sunday afternoon. My mom was a-maz-ing, driving the whole way with the kids!  Then all that was left was the insanity of unloading all our stuff into two storage units.  But let's not think about that too much....it involved a lot of time, several instances of backing into or over things in the moving trucks, and general exhaustion for all:)

We miss our home, church, neighborhood and friends a lot right now, but are resting in the knowledge that the Lord has plans for us here, too, and we are excited about the coming adventures!