Swimming in the Deep End
It’s fall y’all. Somehow this wild roller coaster of a year keeps chugging along— toot toot— and we’ve made it to September. It’s weird for me to realize that my family has lived in Colorado for more than a year. It feels like yesterday that we were watching movers put our belongings into cardboard boxes and saying goodbye to our friends and my beloved beach. But one look at my son’s high water pajamas or the baby’s long curls, and I realize that a year has gone by and a lot has changed. So as I ring in our second fall here (complete with an early snow), I’m remembering that…
Finding Unexpected Beauty
The silver moon moved through the cloudless sky, sinking until it disappeared behind the mountains. It glowed brightly against a lilac-colored sky, a soft yet vibrant purple hinting at the sun hiding beneath the horizon. The moon’s descent in the west felt rapid yet controlled as it sank lower and lower. Just one day off from its fullness, it appeared a perfect circle, and I watched the silhouette of Pike’s Peak appear in front of the round shape. It was odd to see the celestial movement so clearly. Unlike the sun, no shooting rays were bouncing in the clouds, and no blinding corona forced me to divert my eyes. The…
Chapter Books
My oldest is officially a reader, and we have reached the point in our parenting where his presence prevents us from spelling things in covert communication. First grade saw a significant jump in his reading abilities and comprehension. He’s ready for chapter books if I could just convince him that they’re worth his time. Unfortunately, he’s not interested in chapter books. He wants one and done books, not the kind that takes time to get through. A someone who loves reading and writing, it’s frustrating how much he fights me on reading. He hasn’t yet learned the beauty of exploring through books. He hasn’t found joy at the end of…
Home is Where the Heart Is
Home is where the heart is, or so the old adage goes. But that doesn’t accurately encompass the complexities of military life. My children and my husband are my heart, and they’re here with me, but Colorado doesn’t feel like home yet. So when does a place feel like home and not just a place you live? I recently posed the question on my Facebook page confident that my military connections would have the answer. Responses included: When you can get to the grocery store without navigation When you make real/genuine friendships When you feel comfortable in the area When you’re involved in the community (both an answer and a…
4, 6, 8, 13, 16, 32
I can remember myself as an 18 year old walking down the aisle, orange roses in hand, scorched by the Texas sun but focused only on the handsome man waiting for me. I was a fledgling baby adult, thinking I was grown- the hallmark of those who aren’t yet. I was marrying my best friend, he was joining the military, life was going to be perfect. We were going to have the white picket fence with 2 kids and 2 dogs. Our life would be a picture of stability, comfort, and well behaved children. My short sightedness makes me chuckle. I’ve always been a daydreamer, prone to idealism. I couldn’t…
From the Oceans to the Mountains
Every blog I’ve written in the last couple of years has started with a simple thought. Over a short (and sometimes not so short) amount of time, the idea rolled around in my brain until it was fleshed out and shared here in my blog. But for the past month, ideas haven’t had time to marinate or be thoughtfully considered, hence the lack of posting. My brain has been functioning in a hop-skip-jump pattern. It’s the effect of trying to process too many things at one time and ending up glitching like the little girl in Wreck-It-Ralph. The catalyst behind my glitch? We moved. From the beautiful beaches of the…
When the time comes…
They don’t know me here. They know my husband, and perhaps know of us, maybe our reputation proceeds us— for good or bad, who knows. When I arrive, I am just a name. A handshake introduction, an awkward conversation; where are you from, what do you do? Simple questions that I can’t answer simply. There are simple facts to learn, Lauren, age thirty—*cough*, stay at home mom of four. They see the put together(ish) appearance that I aim for and that I am a special needs parent. Given time they will learn what that entails. We will eventually talk about my daughter, I’ll teach them the word hydranencephaly and try…
