Posted by Tagged with family, parenting, parenting teens Posted in Uncategorized

My Love For You

My love for you is not dependent on your good grades, how you look, how much you weigh, or what you wear 

My love for you is not dependent on which friends you keep, who you date, or whether you graduate

My love for you is not dependent on your gender identity, your sexual orientation, the state of your mental health, or the amount of money you earn

My love for you is not dependent on if you marry, who you marry, or whether you have children   

My love for you will not change if you get cancelled on the Internet, are suspended, arrested, fired from a job, get pregnant, or get an abortion

You are not a disappointment to me like you may be thinking. I may be disappointed in circumstances or my shattered expectations. I may be surprised by things you say or frustrated with how things turn out 

I may hurt if you are hurting and get angry and want to blame someone. I may say things I regret and may make you feel like you are a disappointment –

But, you are not.

My love for you will always remain

For as long as I breathe, you are my child
You cannot earn this love You cannot change this love or lose it  This love for you is fierce. And it’s never going away

Posted by Tagged with Artists, Family travel, family US roadtrip, parenting, rest, roadtrip Posted in Uncategorized

Thanks for the Memories

A Year of Travel

Ocean waves crash against the towering cliffs                                                                    

Saguaro cacti raise giant arms to thank the setting sun 

Under cold ground, I pause in wonder at cathedral canyons 

Mountain top drives give new perspective and make me feel small 

The Grand Canyon brings tears to my eyes 

What could I have done to deserve such beauty

I have done nothing, for it is all a gift 

Soft sheets, slow mornings, and plenty of time 

Surprises in the form of beach houses and a Marriot vacation club 

Tiny houses, smelly casitas, creaky cabin beds, and deflating air mattresses 

A wide range of experiences made for a most memorable year

Time for petting horses and watching a rodeo parade 

For watching seabirds on the beach and waiting in anticipation for the daily sunrise and sunset 

Painting, journaling, knitting, watching Wheel of Fortune, and trying new recipes 

Learning about time zones, jellyfish, desert plants, aquaponics, civil rights, and redwood trees 

Eating étouffée, beignets, grits, a crab boil, clam chowder, charcuterie, BBQ, and sweet tea

All of the packing and unpacking helped me know the sweetness of a closet to come home to 

Growing up with cold made a winter of warmth feel extravagant 

What a gift to have so many daily walks to cross the bridges we needed to cross 

So many reunions with family and friends on the story hunt of a lifetime 

Sweet souls gave up their beds and their towels; made us meatloaf, and opened their hearts

We took a leap and the net appeared 

A crazy dream to travel the U.S. for six months became a reality 

Now that we are home, it feels like a dream 

An expansive catalog of memories that I never want to forget       

Posted by Tagged with card games, Family travel, parenting, scavenger hunts, travel games Posted in Uncategorized

Ideas for Rainy (or snowy) Days

When you are traveling, there are bound to be a number of rainy (or snowy) days when your outdoor plans don’t go as planned. Here are a few fun things we have done on the days when we need to be inside.

GAMES

Since we have very limited space in the van, we could only choose a few favorite games to bring. Here are our the top 3.

Scrabble – a timeless word game that never gets old. To be fair, we didn’t bring this game along. We borrowed it from people we stayed with. It’s a game that most people have sitting on a shelf, even if it doesn’t get played.

Quiddler – Another word game involving cards. In round one, players get 3 cards to spell a word. In each round, one card is added. By the end of the game, players have 8 cards to make as many words as possible. A bonus is given for the player with the most words and the longest word during each round.

Monopoly Deal – I always hated monopoly because it took too long and involved too many small pieces. This version of the game can be played in less than 30 minutes and all you need is the deck of cards. Anyone who is able to read can play. No difficult math skills required. It helps to have someone who has played the game before teach it to you. It’s worth learning because once you get the hang of it, you will LOVE it.

Scavenger Hunts

Most kids enjoy scavenger hunts. Especially if there is some type of prize at the end. I created these two and used them with the kids on the trip. One is for the grocery store and the other for the library.
I’ve included links below to the printables I’ve created. If you have trouble getting to them, just send me a message and I can email them to you.
Free downloads below ⬇️

Grocery-Scavenger-Hunt-Download

Library-scavenger-hunt-Download


A few other little activities we have done almost every day rain or shine are:

Wordle – the online daily game put out by the New York Times. You have 5 guesses to figure out the chosen 5 letter word of the day.

Marco Polo – a great free app where you can send videos to family and friends and they can watch them on their own time and return videos back.


License Plate Search – when we are traveling, we are always on the look out for new license plates. When we find a state we haven’t seen before, we take a picture of it. Here are just a few.

Feel free to share your favorite games and travel activities in the comments. We still have 2 months left and could use some fresh ideas!

Posted by Tagged with Family travel, familyroadtrip, Florida, Floridakeys, parenting Posted in Uncategorized

Christmas in the Keys

Our daughter Tabby arrived in Florida at midnight on the 22nd of December. We were so, so excited to see her for the first time in 4 months.

We stayed with our friend Greg Blake in Key Largo for the 9 days between Christmas and New Years.

Packing and unpacking are some of the hardest days of life on the road. Adding a 5th person in the car with Tabby’s arrival was a challenge, but we managed to squeeze in for the 2 hour drive from Naples to Key Largo.
🌴
The first few days in the Keys were cold and rainy. We didn’t have internet access and the kids were sad about being away from family at Christmas. It was one of the harder transitions of the trip so far. Thankfully, by the 27th of December, it warmed up and the tropical climate of the Keys returned.
We started our days with coffee on the porch and a slow wake up for the kids while Mark went to the local Starbucks to work. Then in the late morning or afternoon we swam in the neighborhood pool, played tennis, and explored the area.
🌴
One of the interesting things about the Florida Keys is that even though it is surrounded by water, there are very few swimming beaches. Most people enjoy the water on boats.
One sunny day, Greg treated us to lunch at The Pilot House, and we got an up close look at some of the gorgeous boats docked in the harbor.

Another new experience was being near the Everglades and seeing so many water birds, alligators, and iguanas. We stopped along Hwy 42 at The Oasis Visitor Center where we saw about a dozen alligators taking a nap in the swamp.

We also visited the Laura Quinn Wild Bird Sanctuary for injured birds in Key Largo. Many of these birds had been hit by cars or shot with pellet guns. They were brought to this bird sanctuary to be rehabilitated and returned to the wild when possible.

The Florida Keys is home to dozens of State Parks. We went to several. My favorite was the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo. They had a visitor center with an aquarium where we saw some beautiful fish and coral.

The park also had kayak rentals, snorkeling, and glass bottom boat rides for an extra fee. We rented two double kayaks for an hour. I am not proud of my kayaking skills or teamwork skills. I was partnered up with Malia and we argued with each other the entire hour. Tabby said we could have been a model of how NOT to kayak.

One of my favorite days was when we visited the Theater of the Sea. We saw giant turtles, sea lions, parrots, and our favorite – the dolphin show!

On New Years Eve we made the long drive (2+ hours) to Key West. There are 42 bridges connecting all the Florida Key islands. The longest bridge, Seven Mile Bridge, connects the mainland of Florida to the Florida Keys. Driving over this bridge was a highlight for me. We hesitated to make the drive because of all the complaints we had heard about the traffic and crowds, but I’m glad we did.
🌴
Key West is a charming place. There are walkable streets with cute little shops, art galleries, coffee houses, and unique restaurants. Popular buildings include the home of Ernest Hemingway and Harry S. Truman’s Little Whitehouse.
We were only in Key West for a few hours – long enough to walk around the downtown and see the sunset along with a huge crowd of New Years Eve partiers at Mallory Square. I would have loved to have a few days there. Maybe another time.

As far as how we celebrated Christmas itself, the 24th and 25th were kind of like any other day and it felt strange seeing photos of a snowstorm and record below zero temps back home. We opened gifts and called family back in Minnesota and Elliot in Boston. Grandma Karen sent a box of cookies and other goodies in the mail, so we enjoyed those. My Aunt Lea from North Carolina surprised us with an Instacart delivery of food which included lasagne, bread, salad, and a beautiful cake.
We had gifts for the kids to open and I made a ham and mashed potatoes on Christmas Day. We also went to church and worked on a jigsaw puzzle.

Looking back, we really had so many great experiences in the Keys in such a short time. It was different than the rest of Florida and I’m glad I got to experience it. I’m grateful to Greg for giving us a place to stay and also so thankful that Tabby could join us for the week. She spiced things up and made it more fun for Malia and Ivy.

We may never experience a Christmas break quite like this one. I will remember this Christmas as the year we broke the mold and escaped the cold.

Posted by Tagged with Christmas, family, Family travel, parenting Posted in Uncategorized

How much is “enough” at Christmas?

I don’t know about you, but for me Christmas stirs up feelings of not having enough to give.

I want to enjoy going to the stores and filling my cart with the perfect gifts for everyone on my list.

Wouldn’t it be great if I could make some of those perfectly decorated cookies?

Maybe I could snap my fingers and have a pile of cute Christmas cards with our family photo on them addressed and ready to send?

Maybe this will be the year we finally have matching PJs and stockings with my childrens’ names on them?

Wouldn’t it be great to be invited to a Christmas party where we sip mulled wine and listen to live jazz while the kids are at home with a babysitter who volunteered their time to give us a night off?

OK – Stop the Daydream already.

I had forgotten these sentiments since being on our road trip and away from the usual December crazy.

Today, I went into Hobby Lobby and the feelings all came rushing back. I saw the crowded aisles of shoppers filling their carts with wrapping paper, ornaments, and craft supplies. The stress and overwhelm of December wrapped me in its grip.


As a mom, I feel a lot of pressure to give my kids a great Christmas.
I want them to be happy. I know that celebrating Jesus’ birth was never intended to become what it has in our American culture. I’ve tried the advent devotionals and simplifying mantras, but the feelings of inadequacy creep back in so easily.

I’ve made room for the little voices in my head.
“Your kids will never have as good of a Christmas as their friends because you can’t give them ______________” (name the things you are missing)

This year, my Christmas will look very different. We will be in the Florida Keys. I have no idea how to plan for it or what to expect. We will be missing Elliot, our oldest child who will be in Boston (our first Christmas without all 6 of us). We won’t have snow, and we may not have a tree or the usual gifts. My kids are not happy about “missing Christmas” back home.

I am amazed at how we can be in a tropical paradise and the kids can still find things to be unhappy about.


The reality is that Christmas is a beautiful mess of wrapping paper piles, burnt cookies, and crying children.

Along with the crazy, we all hope for moments of wonder sprinkled in. These moments help us realize that we are ALIVE and BREATHING, and that is a miracle in itself. This beautiful and weird life we are living is ours. We don’t need to be like the others.

LOVE cannot be bought.
It is freely given and can be freely received. That is the best news for those who don’t feel like they have done enough to deserve love and don’t have money to pay for it.

I AM looking forward to Christmas in Florida. It will be different, but different isn’t always bad. Look at Jesus. He was very different. He chose a group of rag tag followers that were rejected by the rest of society. He did not have a home. He was not born under a beautifully decorated tree. He was born in a barn. It smelled. It was uncomfortable. His parents felt alone and probably didn’t fit in with their friends or family.


My Christmas wish for you is that you would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are enough.

You don’t need to try harder or spend more money or do more things. Your gift to those around you is being comfortable in your own skin and loving the best you know how.

Merry Christmas from the Sunshine State!

Posted by Tagged with Artists, family US roadtrip, familytravel, Georgia, Macon, parenting Posted in Uncategorized

Macon Memories

We spent a whole month in Macon, Georgia. We decided that staying somewhere for a longer period of time would allow us to settle in and live more like locals than tourists.

My husband met Aaron, who works at Visit Macon, through a Minnesota connection. Because of Aaron, we met Paul, who manages Airbnb properties. Paul got us situated in our airbnb when we arrived and made sure we had everything we needed. He brought us some extra household items that one-night guests don’t usually need such as a card table, larger pots and pans, and a crockpot. We settled in and made it “home”. Our favorite TV shows to watch in the evenings were Wheel of Fortune and America’s Got Talent. Living in a small space made for a lot of family bonding time. Since we weren’t busy with homework and regular activities in the evenings, we were able to play scrabble, do puzzles, watch movies, and just talk about life.

Macon is a home to Mercer University. I came to realize while staying here that I love a college town. I saw students everywhere we went. The first weekend we were here was homecoming, and the campus was buzzing with excitement. The pep band played as the football team paraded through the crowds of fans, tailgating before the football game.

There is also a strong arts and music presence in Macon, which you pick up on right away when walking through the downtown. Famous artists who came from Macon include Little Richard, Otis Redding, and the Allman Brothers. You can tour the house where the Allman Brothers lived and the studio where their records were made. Mark dived deep into music history while we were here, taking several tours, and doing a lot of reading.

Here are a few of the places I remember visiting this month in Macon.

The Tubman African American Museum

Amerson Park

Ocmulgee Indian Mounds

Wear Thrift Store

Seussical the Musical performed by Miller Fine Arts Middle School

Reboot Retrocade

Macon Bagels

H&H Cafe (trying grits for the first time)

Fall Line Brewery – great outdoor seating with fire pits

Each weekday started out at the Washington Library where the kids and I spent a couple hours doing our homeschool work. We felt so welcomed by the staff in the children’s department of the library. There were days when the girls were not happy to be on the trip and feeling homesick for their teachers and classmates. I think the routine of going to the library everyday, sitting in the same spot, and seeing the same librarians working was therapeutic (at least for me!)

A few surprises in Macon were finding out Malia could play in a tennis tournament, getting complimentary tickets to a Mercer College girls basketball game, and attending a free Middle Georgia University choir concert. Another great surprise was being invited over to the home of a local family, Joey and Sherry, after visiting New City Church. After our visit, Sherry and her daughter asked me to teach them piano lessons while I was in town.

I didn’t know what to expect of Macon, but I can honestly say that I grew to love it. I know I wasn’t here long enough to learn its downsides (every town has downsides), but I don’t have a lot bad to say (other than the stop lights take a REALLY long time to turn from red to green. Also, I can’t get used to being called “Ma’am” and seeing everyone where jeans and sweaters when it is 80 degrees outside. They all say it’s “because it’s fall!”


Enjoy a few more photos of our time in Macon below.

Posted by Tagged with curiosity, Georgia, Macon, parenting Posted in Uncategorized

Becoming More Curious

What does it mean to live life with curiosity?

Does your curiosity lead you to ask more questions?

We were curious about the life of Harriet Tubman. We asked the children’s librarian for books and then were directed to visit the Tubman Museum to learn more.

Is your curiosity about other people, places and history strong enough for you to approach someone to ask a question or do you resort to asking Google? It’s so easy these days to find a quick answer on the Internet to the questions that pop into our heads. What would it take to go out of your way and ask another person your questions?

Reaching out to a real live person to ask a question is more rewarding because:

#1 – A person provides examples from their life and learned experience.

#2 – We are offered human connection and allow the person answering the question an opportunity to feel needed and knowledgable.

#3 – A conversation may lead to more questions and other rabbit trails that are just as important as the initial question.

Here are some examples of Living Curiously from our trip so far.

We found out that our airbnb host, Paul, also manages the Burke Mansion, a historic bed and breakfast in Macon, GA. Mark asked if he could show us around. Not only did he give us a tour, but also told us about his experiences living in Macon, gave us a list of places we should visit, gave the girls game tokens for the local arcade, and offered to bring us a few things that we were missing in our airbnb. This is an example of how a simple question, “Can you show us around where you work?” led to making a new friend and more.

Playing chess in The Burke Mansion.

Mark was curious about the history behind the band The Allman Brothers who lived and recorded their music in Macon. He was so curious that he took a deep dive into the history of the band, arranged personal tours, and has been talking to people in the area who knew the Allman Brothers. In the last week, Mark has toured the Big House where the band lived and worked and visited Duane Allman’s grave. The grave site led him on a rabbit trail when he noticed the angel statue at the foot of the grave with the name “Galadrielle”. He went to a local bookstore and found the autobiography Please Be With Me by Galadrielle Allman. Finally, he took the kids and I to H&H Restaurant where the Allman Brothers ate and became as close as family with Mama Louise, the owner of the restaurant, who they invited on tour with them as the band cook. Mama Louise just passed away the day we arrived in Macon. The restaurant continues in her memory.

I am particularly curious about the lives of other people. I tend to look to Instagram or Facebook to learn more about people instead of asking them directly to share about their lives. I want to get better at asking questions and have been looking for creative ways to do this and involve the kids. I created a board game called Story Hunt that will encourage the telling of life stories. Players will move around the board, asking each other questions and telling stories.

Examples of some of the questions are:

“Tell me about a time when you were surprised.”

“What was a day in history that stands out in your memory?”

“What makes a good friend?”

“Tell me about a time when you got lost”

I found a fabulous article called 38 Ways to Lead a More Curious Life by Ian Sanders. This article offers some great practical ideas for living curiously.

Here’s the Article

Here are a few more photos from our first week in Macon, Georgia. Thanks following our journey. Feel free to share this blog with others that you think might enjoy it!

Swipe Left to see the photo slide show

Posted by Tagged with family, family memories, Family travel, family US roadtrip, familybonding, parenting Posted in Uncategorized

Daily Life on the Road

In this post I will be answering some commonly asked questions we get about our 6 month road trip.

How can you be gone from home so long without an RV?

The way we get around not having an RV is by staying with people that we know. We sent out a letter to a bunch of people that we hoped would host us about 6 months before the trip started. Based on those who responded, we planned our route. We knew there would be a few places would settle for a longer time in an airbnb, but for the most part, we wanted to stay with people.

This was not only a financial decision, but also because it aligned with the vision of the trip. One of our goals was to step into peoples’ normal lives and to see friends and family we wouldn’t normally see.

How is this trip different than a vacation?

We are staying with people we know instead of in hotels. We keep eating out to a minimum and pack drinks and snacks in a cooler when we are on the road. We have a daily routine that includes school, work, and alone time. Each day, the kids and I do school in the morning while Mark does DJ work. In the afternoon we go exploring. It’s not constant excitement. There are plenty of boring days and quite ordinary days.

What does homeschooling look like?

I would say my homeschooling style is “eclectic”. I draw from a wide range of different resources and educational methods My comfort zone leans more towards unschooling, but my kids have come from traditional school and will return to traditional school after this year, so I’m trying to keep the subject content similar to what they are used to.
I carry all our school books and supplies in this one bag. We started with a larger tote, but then realized it needed to be small enough to carry in and out of a the van, a library, or a coffee shop.

This bag was originally my piano teaching bag, but now has morphed into my homeschool bag.
A normal day of homeschool includes

✍️grammar from a textbook

🟰math from a textbook

🇺🇸 study of the state we are traveling through (the girls love to guess the state bird, state tree, population, year of statehood, famous people, rivers, lakes, and mountain ranges)

📖read aloud

✍️Spanish.

🩻Science – the human body

If we do all these subjects it still only takes about 2 hours, so we have lots of time for exploring or visiting with friends we are staying with. Malia enjoys looking for tennis courts to play on and trying new recipes.

You must really like each other?
This question cracks me up. It IS a lot of time together in tight spaces. By the grace of God, we are getting along so far. We have been bonding as a family in a way that we wouldn’t if we were back home. I’m grateful for this time to get to know my husband and kids in a new way.

What has been hardest so far?
The kids have been complaining about missing their friends and schools (especially the first week). I worry about if we are doing the right thing and whether we will regret any of this year. I have felt like I am letting down my piano students by leaving them this year. Not having a regular community of friends and jumping from place to place can be challenging. Being away from our families and older kids, especially on holidays is hard.

What are you most looking forward to?

🌊Being by the ocean in Florida and California.
🏠Seeing friends we haven’t seen for a long time.
📚✍️Extra time for daily reading and writing

🙏🏽Time to focus on God with fewer distractions.

Join our Postcard Club
Posted by Tagged with Family travel, family US roadtrip, Midlifecreative, parenting, traveling homeschool family Posted in Uncategorized

3 Week Countdown to Travel!

I wanted to give you a quick update on our trip. It’s really happening, and after a year of this being an idea, it’s coming up in just 3 weeks! We leave November 1st.

Here are some of your most asked questions answered:

Did you buy an RV? Nope. Our vehicle is a Honda Pilot. We are traveling light.

Where will you go first?

We plan to take about 9 days to get to Macon, Georgia where we will stay in an airbnb for a month. On the way to Macon, we intend to stay in
🏠Madison, WI
🏠Normal, IL
🏠Indianapolis, IN
🏠Cincinatti, OH
🏕Cumberland Falls State Park and
🏠Chatanooga, TN

We have planned the trip intentionally so we only drive about 4 hours in a day. (This is a marathon, not a sprint 😁) If you want to know if we are coming through your state in the next 6 months, send me a personal message.

I’m not going to list the whole trip’s itinerary in this one post. You’ll have to follow this blog (or personal emails and texts are always welcome) if you want to keep up with us. You can also sign up for our Postcard Club. It’s a simple way to support our adventure in a small way with $6 a month and we will send you postcards from the road.

Learn about the postcard club

https://www.patreon.com/midlifecreative

(If you can’t swing the $6, but still want to get postcards, just send me a message with your mailing address)

What do the kids think about the trip?

“I feel more and more everyday that this is the best decision for our family, but what if I can’t get the kids to see it?”

Both girls have struggled with switching to homeschooling this year and all of the life changes we’ve made (including having both older siblings move away to college). We have had some great days and some really hard days. I have seen our relationships grow closer these last few months and we have made so many memories together through simplifying our life and routine. Its amazing how much time was spent doing homework, packing lunches, and rushing to get to school in the mornings. Now, our days feel unhurried and more restful.
Our older two kids, Elliot and Tabby, are practicing their ”adulting skills” at college in Massachusetts and NYC. They just spent their fall break together which made me very happy.

Will Mark be DJing on the trip? Will you be teaching piano lessons?

Mark will be booking weddings and events for summer of 2023 and 2024 and overseeing his other DJs from the road. He will be flying home for 3 weddings during the trip. I will be taking a complete break from teaching, but hope to connect with some piano teachers in other states during the trip.

What are you most looking forward to?

ANNA –

  • I’m looking forward to seeing new parts of the country, especially National Parks. I look forward to being near the ocean in December and missing out on the MN winter.
  • I’m also really excited to meet new people and bring attention to seemingly “ordinary faces” who don’t get noticed, but are really quite extraordinary. I want to inspire others to become Story Hunters looking for great stories from people in their everyday lives who have been overlooked.

MARK –

  • I’m looking forward to walking about the United States to discover fresh purpose for the 2nd half of my life.
  • Making memories with Anna and the kids.

MALIA – I’m not looking forward to the trip much at all, but if I had to say something –

  • the dogs and
  • the ocean.

(if we could send her home with a dog (or a bunny), it would all be worth it 😂)

Ivy is the one who is always saying, ”Take a picture of me!!”

IVY –

  • I’m looking forward to eating Asian food.
  • I’m excited to play in the ocean, see dolphins and dogs, ride horses, see cactus, and hike in mountains.

What are you hoping to gain personally from this trip?

I want this trip to stretch and challenge me (Anna) to grow in several areas.

#1. My willingness to ask for help.

#2. Boldness and confidence in speaking to people I am meeting for the first time.

#3. Courage to speak up about things I care about that may be controversial.

A few more thoughts

Do you have a dream of trying something out of the traditional box that scares you? Do you hold back because you are afraid of what people will think?
Maybe its not travel, but a business idea or a new life direction, a parenting idea, or even something that seems small to most people, but is really a big change for you.

Encourage your Midlife Creative self today to see how far you’ve come and ask yourself, ”What small changes can I make to become more fully myself”

Posted by Tagged with familyroadtrip, familytravel, lifetransitions, moving, parenting, Stpaulfamily Posted in Uncategorized

Saying Goodbye to Juno Avenue

In a little over one week we will be moving out of our house of 10 years. How can I sum up a decade of memories in a few short paragraphs?

Here’s a fuzzy photo from our move in day on September 1st, 10 years ago. Finding this house to rent was nothing short of miraculous We knew the moment we walked in the door that this was what we had been waiting for. It was after a summer of the kids and I living in Marshall with my parents while Mark worked to make enough money for us to move to St Paul. Fast forward 10 years and so much has changed.

We had a 4th child who is now 8. – Ivy!

We got to see our oldest two graduate from highschool at St Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists.

After several job changes, Mark re-branded his business as Mark Haugen DJs
and is finding great success in officiating and DJing weddings and other events.
I, Anna, have continued to teach piano lessons all these years. It is something I love and will probably never stop doing.

We are fairly certain we will be coming back to the Twin Cities at the end of our trip, but it may not be to the same neighborhood, so we are saying goodbye as if we may not come back to West 7th.

Here are a few things I will miss

The Parks and Trails we have grown to know like the back of our hand
West 7th Community Center, Adams, Palace, Edgecumbe, Mattocks, Wabun, Crosby Farms, Hidden Falls, and Victoria Park. I walk the neighborhood streets everyday and go on a longer nature walk at least 1-2 times a week.

School

We will miss the schools my kids have grown to love and the teachers that invest in them. We will miss the playdates, and parkdates, and birthday parties that come with staying in one place.

Neighbors, neighbors, neighbors!

We have gotten to know many neighbors through the years. I never knew a city could feel so much like a small town in how friendly everyone is. Art House (a renovated church that hosts concerts and plays and is the home to Humble Walk Church) is just down the street. Businesses like Tavial, Mojo monkey, Colossal Cafe, and Cadenza music are regular weekly stops.

We have hosted a few neighborhood bonfires which gave us a reputation as ”the bonfire people.” Halloween and National Night Out as well as the neighborhood square dance at Art House are anticipated gatherings.


Hard days

No, not everyday was smooth sailing. There was the year of the mice, the head lice, the traumatic dental visits for teeth extractions and root canals. There were seasons of anxiety and depression, online school and teaching during Covid, two surgeries, marriage challenges, questions over faith, politics, and wrestling with the changing times.

This was the burning of our couch which finally did get rid of our mice.

A lot can change in 10 years. My biggest change personally has been learning to love myself. I have always put my family and church family’s needs before my own. Because of this, I was living with a lot of bitterness. My need to please people began to come in the way of my ability to enjoy life. I was constantly worrying about whether I was DOING enough instead of asking myself who I wanted to BE. It has been a long and slow process of unlearning some beliefs that were hindering instead of helping me. I am now in a much more joyful place with boundaries set that help me ask myself some good “why” questions before saying yes to things. I know the world won’t fall apart if I step away for a few days or weeks. Speaking of stepping away, we are about to take a giant leap with this roadtrip around the U.S. We will be homeschooling and staying with a combination of family, friends, and airbnbs from November-May. Our travels will take us across the Southern coast from Georgia to Florida to Texas and then West to California. It is going to be a great season for our little family of 4, now that Elliot and Tabby are at colleges on the East Coast.

This quote from one of my favorite authors seems fitting for the start of our next season.
It is scary to take a leap like this, but those who have done similar crazy things have all said things like “Its the best decision we have ever made” or ”you won’t regret it”

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Here are a few more of my favorite photos from our Juno Ave house in the form of a photo slideshow. Enjoy!