Too Much To Say

Those of you that know me well know that I like to talk. I process by talking and prefer doing that with other people but when necessary will talk to (and answer) myself. But I have learned something about myself in this very young new year. When there's too much to say, I don't know where to start and end up saying nothing. Sleepless nights and stressful days have been indicators that I need to get some of the words out so there's room for life that seems to keep happening. While I don't really know where this is going to head, I figured I'd attempt a blog post today and see if that helps. So in random order, both in importance and occurrence, I'll give this a try.....

To begin this year, I finally decided to join Weight Watchers online. They had a 3 month special and I knew I had to have some sort of accountability or I wouldn't stick to any kind of plan. Like everything else in life, it comes down to choosing well and I'm first-born enough that having a way to track meals and activity gives me a worthy foe in the battle of points. So Hamp and I are being more intentional about using the limited exercise area in our apartment building, eating less, and choosing healthier foods. We've both lost some weight and are hoping this becomes a lifelong habit of taking better care of ourselves.



We had a good visit at Christmas with family and friends, but it was a fast and busy time. Looking back I realized that I missed the relaxed sharing of life that comes from having the time to experience it. Breezing in and out of town doesn't provide that and while I don't know how to change that living far away, we've got almost a year to figure something out.

Bekah was able to fly in early Christmas Eve morning and Lindsay, Matthew's girlfriend, joined us too. We had the Jones family gathering that afternoon at our niece's house near Newnan and while we didn't get many pictures, we had a great time.









When we left Newnan, we headed to the Freeman's where we've spent most of our Christmas Eves in recent years. We have a tradition of reading the Polar Express using flashlights that brings the magic out of the story and newcomers to the families are given the special privilege of holding the flashlight. This year, Bekah and Lindsay were given the honors.















Friends let us borrow their house since they were going to be out of town for the holidays. That was such a special gift because it allowed us all to be together for Christmas morning without having to travel. Thanks, Bob and Melissa!











We headed to Matthew's house that afternoon where the Hurst family joined us for our Christmas celebration.





































Are you tired yet? I am just looking back at all we did in such a short amount of time! The day after Christmas brought Hamp's birthday which was celebrated with breakfast and then he dropped Michael and Bekah off at the airport so they could fly to Buffalo and be with her family and he began the long drive back to Baltimore. After taking about 3 hours longer than it should have because of traffic on the way down, he decided to drive when others would not be. I rode back with Tiffany to Florida and stayed for two days hoping for a warm visit, but the weather didn't cooperate. I flew home in time for New Year's and we greeted 2010 with friends here in Baltimore.

So now you're mostly caught up with the exception of one tiny detail. Remember the adventure that Hamp and I fell into when we decided to move to Baltimore because we could? Well, apparently there's more to be experienced because right before Christmas, the corporation decided to close their Baltimore shop. Hamp had the difficult task of letting his employees know when they came back from their Christmas holiday that they would no longer have jobs. He's been asked to stay on board to get the shop closed completely which usually takes around 6 months. They could ask him to go somewhere else before that time is up or if another job with another company became available, he could probably leave to take it.

As you can imagine, life is mostly uncertain right now for us. It's become more difficult to stay in the moment and be fully present in our lives here knowing that things will be changing in the somewhat near future. Yet, God asks us to live as if each day is our last anyway and sometimes I'm excited about the chance to get to really live that way right now.

This has always been one of my favorite Mary Engelbreit illustrations because there are many times in life when the road on which we're traveling is no longer an option. But God knows the plans He has for us and while I'm still wondering what sort of adventure we've fallen into, it looks like I don't have to worry that 2010 is going to be boring!