2 Month Hiatus: Benefits of Field Traveling

I still wish he was home.

I wish we had a normal life where we ate dinner together, went for walks, exercised, did yard work, cuddled up and watched TV on a Thursday night or something.  I'm excited for the day when we will be able to do those things.  For now, I appreciate it when he IS home on the weekends.

There are, however, some benefits to field traveling. :)



Companion Passes!  David flies so much that I get to fly for free.  Our trip to Florida for Amy Lo's wedding?  Free.  His ticket was free too since he used frequent flyer miles.  And on the way back?  Our flight was over-booked, so we opted to take a different flight (which got us home earlier!) and Southwest gave us $200 each for giving up our seat.  $400 total and a ticket home to arrive even earlier?  Not bad!



Sweet hotels!  I grew up staying in modest hotel rooms and am certainly not afraid of a motel or a stiff bed.  But I have to admit.... It's really nice to get upgraded or stay in a super fun nice hotel.  If we were footing the bill on our own, there's no way we would pay those dollars to sleep!  Not when we're mostly out of the room anyway.  But hotel points are dripping out of David's rear (okay that was a gross analogy) and so we were able to stay in a sweet hotel in Florida.  Lazy river.  Water slide (legit too!).  We loved the pool so much we decided to skip out on Disneyland and just veg in the sun!

A man who loves to be home.  I hope I can still say this even when he's not field traveling one day! :)  Right now David loves to be home.  We have such a nice time together on the weekends, which is why it's so hard when Monday rolls around and he has to leave again.  I love his face. :)  Sure, we have our moments.  It takes some time getting used to each other again after 4 days apart.  But I love the fact that he loves to be home.  He demonstrates that to me by helping me with laundry, mowing the grass, washing dishes, and listening to my week.  Drinking wine with me.  Telling me stories from the road.  Bringing me  peanuts from the flight (did you know Southwest now has honey roasted peanuts?!  They switch off every year or so between honey roasted and dry roasted.  We're on the honey ones again!).  I love this man.

I long for the day when he'll be home every night.  But for now, I'll rest in where we are be grateful for hotel points and free flights, and a man who doesn't take this home for granted one bit. :)

Ah! You're traveling AGAIN?!

2 Month Hiatus: Out on a Limb

Over my 2 month hiatus, I got an email from a gal I didn't know.

She was interested in starting a young married's group with couples at church, and were we interested?

Um, yeah!  David and I had talked about this with some other friends of ours at church but never took the plunge.

So she invited a few couples over, without knowing any of them.  Talk about going out on a limb.  Talk about being intentional to abide! 

I love meeting new people, and am excited any time I make a new friend.  But she cooked us a hot meal and invited us in, and now we're getting this married's group off the ground starting next week!  She went beyond saying hi and sending an email.  I want to be like that.

How can you bless a stranger?  How can you be intentionally hospitable to someone you don't know well? 

2 Month Hiatus: Birthdays and Soon-to-Be Weddings

Over my 2 month hiatus, I flew out to California and Florida.

Grandma's birthday

California for many reasons:

• It was my Grandma's (in-law) 70th birthday. It was a gorgeous weekend.  Grandma Nancy was surrounded my her entire family, which was beautiful.  It was special to have our family come together and celebrate.  I feel so connected and a part of my husband's family, I love them so much.
• It was Mother's Day!  I miss my mom all the time so it was so nice to go home.  It was a quiet afternoon of a BBQ and wine with my parents and brother and sister.  Going for power walks on the beach.  Driving around Long Beach and looking at real estate for when we move back. Coffee and long chats with my mama :)
• My brother recently got ENGAGED and I was DYING to meet my new future sister-in-law!  Jenny fits perfectly into our family and I can't wait to be sister's for real. :)  Like officially sisters.  I always wondered who Jake would end up with.  She's perfect for him!

A couple weeks later, we flew out to Florida.  We extended the trip to make a vacation out of it, but it was really for one main reason: Amy Lo (one of my best friends from Florida State) got MARRIED!!!

Amy was the friend who I called in the middle of the night when my roommate was sick after a night out and I didn't know what to do.  She slept on my air mattress with me while we took care of my roomie.  We made sushi together for the first time.  We stayed up LATE wondering who our future husbands would be and what they would be like.  We baked.  She became a soul sister.  We started "tastes of heaven"-- sharing with each other moments that felt like heaven was so close we could taste it.  I loved hearing her tastes. :)  We read the bible and studied together.  And now she is MARRIED to a wonderful man and I couldn't be happier for her!

Sometimes, taking a hiatus to abide is worthwhile.  :)

2 Month Hiatus: Abide

I know, I'm totally copying the Nester and her chalkboard featuring the word abide.  There is something that I just love about that word.  It insinuates relationship, community, conversation...  Warmth, giving, receiving, taking pleasure in...  Abide.  Maybe that's why God calls us to abide in Him.

"I will abide in your tabernacle forever.  I will trust in the shelter of your wings. (Psalm 61:4)

"If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed." (John 8:30-32)

"As the Father loved me, I also have loved you; abide in my love." (John 15:8-10)

"If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love has been perfected in us." (1 John 4:11-13)

We cannot abide alone.  The word in and of itself beckons us to enter into something great.  When we abide, we spend time.  We learn and give.  We enter into a two-way conversation that goes beyond words and gives us... Joy.   On my 2 month hiatus, I enjoyed a few moments where I slowed down enough to abide:

A hug initiated by the husband I just snapped at.
Content silence on a plane ride.
Deep conversation moments later on that same plane ride.
Girls from all over the world giggling and painting toes- celebrating a common friend's wedding day.
Sinking into Genesis- reading its stories.
Designing a cork board with the husband who is happy to help.
Morning walk with a dear friend.
Sushi rolled by fabulous friends.
A gentle affirmation to return to God's word.

I want my home to reflect a place where we all may abide.   A place that beckons us to sit, to be, to rest...  To abide in the One who knows and loves us.

"And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." ~1 John 4:15-17

2 Month Hiatus: Kitchen Re-do

During my 2 month hiatus, I finished painting the cabinet doors.

Yes, I finished!!!

Here's what it looked like prior to the love we washed it in:

Before the paint!!!

I went online to Younhouselove and they recommended oil based primer which made things go by way faster.  And I mean way faster.  My Kiltz water based primer was seeping into those doors, and 5 coats later I was still left wondering if it needed another.  The oil based counterpart?  Two coats of primer and then I was able to move on to paint!  Wahoo!  I felt  like a speed demon with that roller!

I told David that by the time Michelle and Kevin came out to visit us, I'd have the cabinets done.  He smiled his "riiiiiiiggggghhhht," smile indicating he didn't believe me.  Did I ever mention I'm competitive and looooove a challenge? 

So I called her up.  "You're my inspiration," I said all dramatically. :)  "I have to have these done by the time you come up!"  Michelle was, of course, super encouraging and motivating.  I love that girl.

So I painted.  And painted.  And PAINTED!  David was gone one weekend climbing in a glacier.  I was... Painting.

I counted 39 cabinet doors total.  39!  All painted by yours truly.  When David came home from the glacier and noticed I'd actually made progress, he went online to amazon.com and picked out knobs.  I was all stressed out about picking the right ones out, so I asked him to decide.  A couple days later we got these on our front door...

  

He knew I was serious.  And getting the knobs in the mail made me even more motivated.  I finished spraying the hinges.  I spray painted the old gold hinges black and let some of the gold seep through to give it that rustic oil rubbed bronze look.  Then David got out his drill and at attached some of the new knobs onto the newly painted cabinets. 

Oooooh.  Aaaaaaah. :)

It came together!!!  So now here's a before and after:

And another since David just installed our stove and he finished the floors!

I happen to love the blue island contrasted with the dark floors.  David worked hard on those floors and I love them!

And I adore the new stove.  It works like a charm. 

Eventually we'll install a new fridge (the old one now looks yellow against all that white!!!) but the one we have now functions.  Even though we were tempted to just replace everything, we're trying to slice it thin.... And stay within budget.  I'd say overall, we've only spent about $850 (plus flooring- which we bought for the entire first floor of the house and covers much more than the kitchen.  We spend about $2200 on flooring for about 1400 square feet of our house) and we've totally revamped our entire kitchen.  People spend tons of money on new kitchens.  I spent a weekend away from a glacier with my arms up in oil based primer and new shiny semi-gloss white paint.  Time really is money... Money saved.

Yay for a new kitchen!

And we had a blast with Kevin and Michelle.  :)

2 Month Hiatus: Oven Adventure

I'm almost halfway there to 40 comments on this post about getting my hubby to write for one month!  If you haven't said yay or nay yet, click here to do it!  40 'yay' votes and I'll get to read about what my husband thinks about wine. :)

So...

During my 2 month hiatus, while one of my very best friends was visiting from socal, in the middle of making my friend who'd just had a baby dinner, while the pasta was just supposed to start boiling-- our oven broke.  Like broke in the sense of a big "POP!" and then suddenly just turned off.  Pasta didn't boil. I was microwaving things like a mad woman.  Homemade mac & cheese doesn't really do well in the microwave.

We went online to craigslist, found this shiner above in Battleground.  Drove 38 miles in the rain to get it, only to realize we didn't bring anything to cover or protect it for the ride home.

No, I didn't strap myself to it in the truck bed but I sure thought about it.

Instead, we went to a gas station and looted their recycle bin like it was our job.  Some twine, a few boxes and cardboard pieces later, we were ghetto fabbing our way home (in the rain no less).

No dents!  What a bonding experience. :)

2 Month Hiatus: I'm Conflicted

flannelphotographer.com

As I shared yeseterday,  I'm completely conflicted on how to manage my career and home-- to have balance and peace between the two.

My work is something I don't really like to talk much, because it's way more fun to talk about houses and homes, projects and cooking and friends and the man. :)  But if I'm totally honest, it's something that I struggle to keep boundries with in my personal life.  My job is something I really enjoy and want to excel in, but when I'm at the empire state building on vacation responding to emails, something is out of whack.  And that's a personal decision; no one is making me respond to emails on vacation.  I'm kind of married to my iPhone if I'm real with you.  Not proud of it, but admitting it finally.  It's hard for me to separate work from life.

During my 2 month hiatus, David and I went on vacation.  Before we left, I made a decision to take a break, a real vacation.  I will admit, I checked my phone... But I didn't send emails and I often left it back in our hotel room so we could enjoy the pool or have a quiet dinner.  It was a real vacation.  And you know what?  The work was still there when I came back, so I was glad I didn't worry about it while I was away.



I have this internal conflict because it's hard for me to keep up.  But I want to.  I want to excel in everything-- in my job, in my marriage, in  managing our home, in my friendships, with my family relationships, in my bible study, in meeting new people, I could go on forever.  And even though I have no kids, my husband travels and I really only have to care for myself-- I struggle.  I feel like I'm always behind.  The laundry needs to be done.  The house is a mess and I'm the only one who's lived here for the past couple days.  I need to go to the gym.  I come home from work and I'm exhausted.  I've been "on" all day.  And I think... This shouldn't be so difficult.  You just need to be more disciplined, Rachel, and it will all come together.  Or will it?

My 20-year old self was dead set on having an amazing career, one day having kids and doing it all.  Putting a gourmet meal on the table while giving slam dunk presentations during the day.  My almost 30 year-old self is slowing down and wanting to taste every moment.  To be like Anne instead of Ivanka.  To drink in each mundane task and give thanks for the opportunity to give of myself-- to the people I love.  And I struggle because deep inside, I don't know if I can do it all and maintain my sanity. 

I was sharing this with Krista a couple weekends ago.  "I forget to include God in this struggle- to pray about it and lay it down before him," I said.  "I need to talk to him more."

"Prayer is good," she responded.  "But don't forget where you will truly meet him.  I know it feels good to tell the universe what you feel and lay it before Him, but you will truly receive Him when you meet Him in His word.  Being in His word is where he promises we will find Him, and where he will speak.  Go back to the word, Rachel." 

Did I ever mention how amazing Krista is?  I am thankful for her Godly heart and that she shares it with me. 

I don't think this is a struggle I will overcome immediately.  I don't think God's asking me to either... But I do know that he's convicting me to meet him in his word every day.  It's a goal of mine over 2011 and I've definitely fallen short these last couple of months, but Krista is right.  His word is where He will meet us. 

Every. Single. Time.

Let me see these things through your lens, Lord and guide my steps as I mitigate through this balancing act.  Direct my heart and focus my mind.  Prepare the way for me and keepn my eyes on You.

***As always, thanks for reading.***