A.B.C. Easy as 1.2.3 - Campus Tour

 As previously mentioned, Stacia has been debating a college change. We have continued trying to gather info from Global University and Liberty Online, but it became apparent the personnel at Alaska Bible College are quick and responsive to questions, the others not so much.  I still have several emails and phone messages out to both online colleges. 

While Stacia is most comfortable in her isolated educational style...she began to wonder if the next step in dealing with her personal trauma from the big quake/tsunami might be to stretch herself outside of her safe bubble and attend classes with other students and real teachers. She arranged for the family to tour Alaska Bible College today. 

Stacia & Allie 

Did I say family? The girls, Michael, GG and I all went on the tour. I thought of calling the siblings but figured if we showed up en masse it would feel like an invasion...maybe a friendly invasion, but an invasion, nonetheless. Although she IS our baby - so you know....what's a little invasion?

Michael, Allie, Stacia 

We enjoyed each staff member who gave their time to answer our questions and share about the college. We asked all our questions, enjoyed the tour and were WOWED by the Christian library. Y'all its the biggest in Alaska. I'd forgotten such places exist. I made up my mind right then SOMEONE was enrolling so I could have access to the library. Just KIDDIN! Or am I?

Stacia may be a tad bit overwhelmed by how fast things are moving since her calls on Monday.  

📷by Allie 

No, she is really o.k. 

📷by Allie 

Michael had an appointment and jetted off. We decided to head over to DQ for a late lunch/early dinner...a college campus tour celebration. 

Back at home the girls and I continued to discuss options. I asked Stacia what she was thinking...and just like that...as Easy as 123...She sent in the initial application to ABC. It seems appropriate for her to send in her college application from this position as she and Allie spent much of their Junior/Senior years like this. LOL 

We are waiting for the Certificate of Eligibility from the VA. She will qualify for Dependents Educational Assistance - Chapter 35 due to Michael's VA Disability rating of 100%. It would have covered everything with a nice lump left over at Global. ABC is over twice the cost of Global - but we think it is going to be money well invested... We're all singing this tonight....

Bikes, Potty Training and More

We spent much time on Monday gathering information for Stacia so she can make some decisions about college. She is thriving at Global University...but we are not sure they accept Chapter 35 VA funds.  We've been paying her classes out of pocket. There are many things she LOVES at Global. She can see a social benefit to moving school to an in-residence location, especially as our church only has 3 or 4 college age adults.  She is used to a rather isolated life, but youth group has provided social interaction. She will be leaving youth group on her 18th birthday. While we wait to have the VA issue cleared up (and there have been numerous calls and emails) we began to explore other options. We've looked at Liberty Online and Alaska Bible College...both confirmed they accept Chapter 35 benefits. 

After an early a.m. call to Global (back East), I left home for CoRielle's. 

It became apparent rather quickly the boys need to be outside running off some energy.  Someone gave them a second balance bike; Arielle said bike rides are now fast and fun for all. I tested the theory - she's 100% correct. 

Danny, Little Buddy, Benny 

Their new neighborhood has LOTS of little dead ends where eventually there will be homes...but for now there are paved roads with no traffic. It's a young bike riders dream. 

Very fast with the balance bike

Little Buddy did great

The fields around the street were covered in wildflowers. 

The other new obsession at their home is POTTY TRAINING. I tried to explain to the boys this is NOT the way things are supposed to go. They were very interested in watching spit be flushed away.... eventually they both had a bit of "success." 

Benny patiently explained but they had their OWN plan

Michael remembers crawling through the bottom portion of this table when he was 2. Arielle is refinishing it for their continued use. I'm watching as we have the rest of the set here and I may attempt refinishing...but we have a table, hutch, end tables, dressers...that's a lot of redoing. 

We read books, played with trains and discussed how fun adoption month is. I tried to convince Benny I should call Little Buddy a name that ends in "e" after he is adopted. We had fun coming up with silly nicknames.  He thinks Little Buddy's dignified name is the best choice. 

I went from playing with the boys to the Wholesome Food Co-op. Below is a photo of my take for the day. Really yummy produce. 

Stacia had salmon pot pies in the oven when I got home. We sorted and put produce away and wala...dinner was on the table. After clean-up she and I went to surprise Allie at work. We didn't realize the lobby would be closing at 8 and we ended up in the drivethru. This gave Stacia lots of practice stopping and starting with the manual transmission in the Vibe. She is doing great with the car. 

It was a LONG day....every other Tuesday is simply LONG. 

A Very Full Sunday

We had a very full Sunday. 

Stacia worked with children. 

Allie and I prepared/served drinks and greeted people before and after service.

Michael did things. ::snort:: 

After church we had a member's business meeting. Some of our favorite people. 

#girltribe

We had just enough time for lunch at a local diner before we needed to be in the next town to watch Sound of Freedom.  We had made arrangements to watch the movie with friends. We added more friends for lunch. 

Front table: GG, Mike, Krista, Danny, Scottlyn, Rachel, Jennifer, Ed

Back Table: Korbyn, me, Jenni, Stacia, Noah, Allie, Jess, Scott

Man! This gal loves her popcorn. ::wink:: 

It's hard to SEE who is here...but envision 10 faces in the dark. LOL   This is nearly the same group as our Chosen outing. We thought the theme of the movie would be a bit much for a couple of folks who went with us last time as they have younger children. 

Sound of Freedom. WOW. This is NOT a feel-good movie. It was well done, moving and is an important story to tell. The move centers on Tim Ballard, a federal agent who resigned to rescue children from sex trafficking. It packs a punch.  It is really good. I was prepared for the theme...I was surprised at how much the little children and jungles were personally triggering. I thought I was prepared, but I wasn't. I actually felt nauseous through much of the movie and was wondering WHY I didn't think of how this would impact me.  Stacia said she heard my breathing shift and wondered if I was going to make it. I did. 

Two lines from the movie that stayed with me: 

"God's children are not for sale."  

"When God tells you do something; don't hesitate." 

I AM glad I saw this movie. It is an inspiring story, and it is an IMPORTANT story for us to be aware of as society works towards solutions. One of our former assignments is known to be in one of the heaviest trafficking areas in the United States.  There were many local newspaper articles and such telling young kids what to be aware of and instructing adults how to protect children. There was a wonderful home for girls rescued from trafficking and our women's group got involved in meeting some of their needs. It's a topic we are aware of - and one I continue to try to find ways to be a part of solving. 

However, if you are planning on going to the movie consider the ages of the folks attending with you, and if you've got abuse in your past - prepare for the impact. 

My Happy Place Lives

 Raining? Cloudy? Grey skies? 

None of this affects my happy place. My happy place is bright, warm and humid....and little things are starting to happen inside the sun kissed walls. 

I planted seeds in a few rows a week ago. I scattered the lettuce seeds so they aren't going to show up in nice rows...in any event...the row of this clues me in this lefy vegetation is not a weed - most likely raddishes?

This probably means most the other wispy green shoots are weeds and nothing good...unless they're lettuce growing all willy-nilly.  I believe there is the start of spinach amongst the weed shoots. 

It's quite nice on a rainy morning to take a hot cuppa tea out to the chair in the greenhouse and pretend we actually sowed the whole garden plot this year. LOL 

Oh, let's see...there WAS more to the day than this...Stacia babysat CoRielle's boys so they could go out just the two of them. Stacia and Allie went out as Stacia spent more hours learning to drive her standard auto. I ordered a bumper magnet reminding fellow drivers that standards DO roll back...because I think most Millennials and Gen Z may not know this fact by the way they pull close on hills.  Allie went to work. Stacia baked cookies. GG napped. Michael worked on next winter's wood supply. Michael and I went to the church, pulled a few weeds, set up for coffee tomorrow, met up briefly with some new friends, updated the announcement slide deck and ran by Freddies for a few groceries.  But sitting in the greenhouse is fairly magical. 

Rainy Summer Days

 We've had a couple of rainy summer days. In keeping with my commitment to live fully present I am EMBRACING this rather odd summer. The past few days have been filled with candles, twinkle lights, baking, reading, hosting visitors...not what we had planned for the summer...but its restful, it's good. 

I was down to one lonely blueberry scone and a few chocolate chip scones. I made 20 apple cinnamon scones and 20 more blueberry scones. They are wrapped, in the freezer and will keep us well in the next week or two. 

Rainy days scream for baking

Yes, baking by candlelight. A gray day screams for winter lighting tricks! THIS is why one doesn't bother taking "Christmas" lights down in Alaska. 

Thursday, I took the girls to brunch - together. We are currently not working on a study locally or with Bible Babes. The girls and I are enjoying doing our OWN reading and SOAKing.  We decided to meet together and share with each other what we are meditating on. This week it was Psalms and 1 John...

Thursday evening, we hosted a young couple Allie met at work. They have big changes looming in their near future. We can't fix everything, but we can help with a dinner, and one small aspect of making life easier for them.  Which we did. Stacia visited and then jumped out for Japanese conversations with Sensei Kim and a Japanese friend. 

Rainy days pair well with cozy mysteries and fuzzy blankets!  I finished these two Friday morning and the library won't be open until Monday. I do my best to avoid such emergencies.  I started a non-fiction on boundaries which has been sitting at the ready for a few months. LOL 

This teeny egg is from one of our older girls. The younger ones haven't begun to lay and won't for another 4 - 6 weeks. I googled and discovered a mature hen can lay a small egg due to "reproductive upset. " They mentioned a change in light...it seems to me this rainy week has upset one of our girls reproductive system. 

Friday night Stacia enjoyed a movie party at a friend from youth group. Allie worked. Us older three ate a rather quiet dinner and sat around and read. LOL 

We made plans to go to the movies Sunday afternoon. We even bought tickets - that's commitment. We'll go with a friends from church.  See? Something bright to look forward to during a rainy week. Has anyone else seen Sound of Freedom yet? I'm assuming the topic is too mature for our friends with younger kids....but we are all youth or adults so should be o.k. 

And now I think a sone and a cuppa tea is  just the ticket. 

Josiah and Carrie's Gender Reveal

 Keeping this secret has been so hard! CyRi will do a big reveal while were dip netting in a couple of weeks...but I can now share we got together earlier this week for a gender reveal! Blue or Pink - which will it be? 

Several showed up to represent either team blue or pink. Carrie, wisely dressed in both colors! LOL  We DO have a lot of little boy gherkins running around...pink would be so sweet....but we're thrilled with either. 

Danny and Charles are solidly team blue! 

The moment of truth!

Liv, Carrie, Josiah

Yes! Look at all the pink! Liv couldn't be happier to be a big Sister, and Josiah and Carrie are an awesome girl mom and dad. 

Jamin brought a new yard Jenga set. 

Livie...big sister in waiting

Growing a Girl Tribe

I puttered around all day...I have a baby tomato out in the greenhouse, the young chicks keep going in with the big girls - and it's not a happy place. This means I run outside at random times throughout the day to rescue hens which don't realize they need rescuing. That'll preach.  I simmered chicken broth (and faked out all in the family who thought I was cooking something wonderful), I cleaned...just putzed around. 

Stacia ran up to the Butte with Jenni and Millie. Millie enjoyed getting out. 

Women's Bible study, Life Group and Men's Ministry are taking the month of July off (maybe into mid- August). HOWEVER, youth group is still meeting. Several of our youth moms drive quite a distance (which is why we moved Ladies study to Wed nights) and we decided we wanted to hang out anyway. I don't have one photo! I don't know how those famous you tube channel creators run around with a huge video camera and mic on their shoulder out in public. LOL  

Imagine a corner booth in a 24-hour local diner (the only one in our town) four of us laughing and connecting. Two mid 30-year-olds (Melany and Krista), a late 50-year-old (me, I can say that for another year) and Joann - well I wouldn't hazard a guess but she's the wisdom in our midst. It was a sweet time. The highlight of my day. I've been praying for "all the ages." Friends a bit older than me and friends younger than me....and it's happening! Michael (and I) always says everyone needs a Paul to be investing in them and a Timothy to invest in....and it's a happy place to see this type of community growing here...it just took longer in civilian soil than it does in missionary or military soil. LOL 

My "love tank is full" as Twyla, a friend from our time in Japan, used to say. I spent hours with Jenni on Monday, family on Tuesday and these gals on Wednesday...Lindsey mentioned the girl tribe before she moved. I've been thinking about the phrase. I love the #girltribe God is building as we linger in Alaska. No, I have not felt the urge to move yet. ::snort::

Bre sent these photos of milestones in their home! Today's photos happen to be all girls - in keeping with the #girltribe theme.  Bella has been sending us updates on this tooth for some time now. It's out! Isn't this a sweet 7-year-old smile? 

 

Trudy, 7 1/2 months old, started eating "solids" today. Lady thinks maybe she'd like to share. LOL 

And Annie, this girl not only beats Grandma at Memory but today she beat MAMA!!!! She's got quite a memory. Her 4-year-old sparkle brightens up even an Alaskan rainy summer day! LOL 

Yes, it is a rainy day. I'm learning to embrace this year's odd rhythm. A sunny day to RUN, WORK, PLAY in and then a few rainy days to putz around in and sip and read...it's good. Allie says these are "gorgeous perfect days." I'm not THERE yet. I think 80 degrees is more in the gorgeous, perfect range...but 70's are delightful and the rhythm is fun. LOL