Shelly's Must-Read List

We are a family of readers.

I would say I am the most avid, but even Josh has been known to devour a book when he has the time and content is interesting to him.  The twins are getting there, reading books during quiet time for Wyatt's nap and  growing excited for the nights we let them each pick two books instead of just one.  And Wyatt, well that kid had his favorite trio of David books memorized at 18 months.  He adores being read to.

I have loved books and reading for as long as I can remember.  It started with children's books, then chapter books, then The Baby Sitters Club (which, yes, deserves its own entire book category, and from which I named our firstborn) moving on to real grown up novels and eventually magazines and blogs.

I have promised a book list to you all for a while now, and I finally got myself together and am ready to tell you what to do. Read these books!!!

{The following are different subcategories of books, in no particular order, that I have read and loved.  Feel free to scroll around until you find a category that interests you, such as Books for Moms or Fantastic Summer Reads.}

Children's Books:

Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

Oh David books by David

Little Critter series by Mercer Mayer

My personal favorites as a girl...

Tacky The Penguin by Helen Lester

The Best Little Monkeys in the World 

Bread & Jam for Francis by Russell Hoban

The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop

The shelf of unread books in my bedroom is like opening my eyes to Christmas every morning.  I get so excited when I see that whole row of novels waiting to be held, read, underlined and jotted in my journal.

Yesterday I started reading What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg. It's a short book, so I'm already halfway finished with it. It's really good, about a woman who no longer has contact with her mother going to visit said mother at the urging of her older sister.  While on the plane she reminisces her childhood.  I'm loving it.

BEST BOOKS OF 2012:

{the best books I read last year}

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

This book... there just aren't words. I was sobbing out loud during some chapters, and holding my breath during others.  It's about a couple who live alone on an island, running the lighthouse.  A baby washes on shore in a boat and after multiple losses, the wife convinces her husband they ought to keep it.  I devoured this book.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

This is my favorite kind of writing. Full of details that, really, don't matter at all, but I love to hear about.  Her character development is rich and deep and at the end of the book, I felt sad. Very sad, and lonely.  All because I missed the characters so much.

Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese

For this book, I suggest picking it up and reading for a half hour straight. Just jump right in. It will grab you if you let it. It's about identical twin brothers and their upbringing.  This one, like The Light Between Oceans, had me unglued at times. Weeping and imagining if it were my boys experiencing those lives as opposed to Marion and Shiva.  Definite must-read.

UNEXPECTEDLY GOOD:

My One Square Inch of Alaska by Sharon Short

My dad bought this book as a surprise for me, and when I read the back I wasn't sure what to expect on the first page. It's a really sad book, but at the end it's hopeful.  I enjoyed reading about a little boy whose dream it was to visit Alaska, and the descriptions of Alaska, the weather and the severity of its rural living is spot on.

MAKES YOU GRATEFUL:

Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor is a true story about a young woman whose husband dies unexpectedly while she is pregnant with their first child.  It is touching and honest, and reminds me of when I had to raise our three boys while Josh was in Alaska. I found myself feeling very grateful that we were reunited.

 IF YOU WANNA KNOW WHY YOU ARE THE WAY YOU ARE:

Generation Me by Jean M. Twenge is a fascinating look at the research comparing our generation and the generation before us, namely the Baby Boomers.  My sister passed it on to me after her husband read it for his college course, saying she thought it would interest me.  I underlined like crazy as I read this book, and my own behavior, as well as the behavior of those around me, made so much sense in light of this new information.

FAVORITE AUTHORS:

Anita Shreve

Lisa Genova

Elin Hilderbrand

Jodi Picoult

Anita Shreve is, hands down, my favorite author.  One time, about nine years ago, on a whim, my mom bought me a book.  I honestly can't remember the occasion, but I will forever remember the book.  It was Sea Glass by Anita Shreve.  I picked it up, and was instantly entranced.  I have since been working my way through her entire list of novels, which I own.

Eden Close

Rescue

Testimony

The Weight of Water

The Pilot's Wife, which is also a fantastic movie

Light on Snow

Resistance

Body Surfing

The Last Time They Met

A Change of Altitude

Where or When

Fortune's Rocks

All He Ever Wanted

A Wedding in December

Strange Fits of Passion

If you haven't read her books before, I highly recommend this on Amazon for your e-reader. It is four of her novels, all four of which I love, and they all take place during different time periods in the same house.  Most importantly, it includes the one that started it all for me- Sea Glass.

She has a new novel, Stella Bain, out in November, that I can't wait to get my hands on.

LISA GENOVA:

Lisa Genova is another author I was introduced to by my mom.  She bought me Left Neglected when I was feeling down while Josh was gone in Alaska.  It was an engrossing book about a real condition called Left Neglect.  Genova herself has a PhD in neuroscience, and everything she writes is medically accurate. Her other two novels, Still Alice and Love Anthony are about alzheimers and autism, respectively. 

Love Anthony sounded so good, I asked for it for my birthday from Josh. Since he couldn't find it at Barnes & Noble in Anchorage, he bought me a Tablet and downloaded it on there for me. It was such a good book!

FANTASTIC SUMMER READS:

{by Elin Hilderbrand}

My favorite author to read in the summer is Elin Hilderbrand.  She has written some awesome books that all take place on Nantucket.  My favorites are Barefoot and The Island, but honestly, all of them are good.

JODI PICOULT:

I finished Vanishing Acts yesterday. I finished the whole thing in three short days.  The other two pictured here, The Tenth Circle and Keeping Faith, I have yet to read.  

Three of my favorite Jodi Picoult books are:

My Sister's Keeper

Sing You Home

Handle with Care

Handle with Care is a book that I still think about. The story is gripping.

MOST EXCITING "TO READ" BOOKS ON MY SHELF:

 I am looking forward to reading these books- Room by Emma Donoghue and Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld.  I have had them both for a while, but I'm saving them. I'm not sure why. I just love that there are books on the shelf waiting for me, I guess.

BEST BLOGGER BOOKS:

 This time last year, I received Heaven is Here and Bloom as gifts from my mom.  I devoured these books, and I follow the author's blogs:

Nie Nie Dialogues

Enjoying the Small Things

The books and blogs are incredibly inspirational, and I recommend both.

ANOTHER GOOD AUTHOR:

 This summer I read The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd.  I loved it. Another good book of hers is The Secret Life of Bees.

BEST NEW {to me} AUTHOR:

T. Greenwood is a new author I read.  Her book Breathing Water was haunting and full of the details I adore reading, so I am anxious to read more of her novels.

FAVORITE MOTHERING BOOKS:

 The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers: Reclaiming our passion, purpose and sanity by Meg Meeker

and

In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms by Dr. Laura Schlessinger

FOR MOM'S OF BOYS:

It's A Boy! Understanding your son's development from birth to age 18 by Michael Thompson is a must.

FOR MOMS OF MULTIPLES:

I loved this twin pregnancy book,

and this one for the first year of life.

But my all time favorite book about twins is

One and the Same by Abigail Pogrebin.

It is full of studies, facts and a first account of life as a twin, as the author herself is an identical twin.  If you have twins or are pregnant with twins and you are only going to read one book, make it this one.

WRITE IT DOWN:

There is this book I read as a junior in high school. The story line haunts me, but I can't remember the name or author of the book. It was a psychological thriller I checked out at the library.  Anyway, ever since then, I have recorded what I'm reading on the last page of my journal.  I love to look back and see how many books I read.

---
In the last year, I have started allowing myself to not finish a book. gasp.  I know.  I used to muscle through a bad book because I thought I just had to know what happened. I also thought I had to finish what I started.  But I've since decided life's too short to read bad books. One bad book I never finished was Julie & Julia. It was too painful to read. Just awful.
---

And lastly, I'm not sure if these count,
but I look forward to reading them everyday,
so I'm pretending they do.

BEST BLOGS:

Enjoying the Small Things

**Beautiful pictures and a daily reminder to enjoy everything life throws at you, not just the good stuff.

Finding Joy

**For reminders that being a mom matters and you are not failing at it.

Nie Nie Dialogues

**Enjoying homemaking, raising children and the very gift that life can be.

E Tells Tales

**Snippets of thoughts from a teacher raising a little. Love her.

Team Studer

**Always from the heart; she, too, is losing time too fast with her littles.

C jane

**Sometimes controversial, always thought provoking, Cjane ponders it all.

And a few questions for you readers:
What was your favorite children's book?
What are your top 3 books of all time?
And what is one book you quit reading or wish you had stopped reading?

I can't wait to hear from you.
Happy Weekend!

months vs. years... he's almost two

Our baby boy turned 21 months last Friday.

In three short months, he will be two years old.

The transition from counting months to counting years is a big one.

I see now how you think the months fly by...

Then the years begin adding up,

and before you know it, those are flying by as well.

{Jack & Logan-21 months}

I blinked, and the sweet babies that made me a mother marched their way

directly toward their fifth birthday.  Five.

Because of them, thanks to them, I know to cherish this sweet toddler time with their little brother.

I haven't wasted a single day.
I have not taken for granted a single nap where I rocked him to sleep.

I have videoed, photographed, blogged and journaled every moment of it.

Like the way, in the bath tub, that he likes to FLOP! onto his belly and "swim" (read: splash mommy) and then sit up, only to FLOP! onto his back and talk out loud, enjoying the way the water muffles his own voice in his ears.

Or the way he will look around covertly and then climb onto the train table,
 even though he knows it's a no-no.

 Or the way he will try to escape if the front door is open (even if he only has socks on his piggies) so he can go say hello to Angel, her tail wagging in the snow under the rail.

The way he can count to twelve, and spell his name: "W-Y-A-T-T" with the "A-T-T" jumbling into one syllable at the end.

How loved he is by his big brothers, asking when he wakes up, "Fan off?  Downstairs. Bruzzah's?"  And so we turn off the fan, march downstairs and have snack with big brothers.

(His cheeks are shiny from Aquafor, one of the tricks I use for keeping his skin moisturized when we go outside, particularly when he is drooling a lot.)

The way he wraps the ribbons of his taggies around his fingers, muttering to me, through his binky, that the ribbon he has chosen is a "good one."

 We are thinking of saying goodbye to the binky soon.  

It's me, not Wyatt, who will struggle. It is me who, weeks after it's gone, will long for it when he's screaming and I am on the phone.  It's me who will look at his sweet face sleeping, and wish that binky, that sign of baby, was back in his mouth.  It's me who will have to throw them away, saying goodbye to that phase.

I'm getting there. I am.

Meanwhile, I find myself  dreaming of a full nights' sleep. The kid is still up at least once a night.  During the day, especially in the morning when I wake up exhausted, I find myself promising that I am going to be firm with him in the night. Laying him down, telling him he's fine and needs to sleep.

But then the middle of the night comes, and his cry is so sad, and his "Pick up" plea so pitiful, that I give in, and rock him in the rocker once again, singing Row Row Your Boat or whatever song he requests.

Josh is better at the night time stuff than me.  Thank goodness. 

We both hold out hope that once he gets used to sleeping without his binky, he won't wake up trying to find it anymore.

Looking back at the twins at this age, though, I am  just grateful he stays in his crib. We had to transition the boys to big boy beds at 22 months because they were climbing out of their cribs!

---

{Kori Hiser Photography}

This time two years ago, I was enjoying the beginning of spring in Washington.

I'd been home with the twins for a month as a SAHM, and Josh was planning to attend the Alaska Job Fair in Seattle.  I was seven months pregnant and we had chosen Wyatt's name.  

To be honest, I am very happy to look back on that time in my life and to no longer be living it.

Things now are much happier.

Much simpler.

Much less stressful.

We sing songs, we dance, we watch Baby Einstein videos (a favorite for Wyatt).  We snuggle on the couch in the mornings, Wyatt smushing his chubby cheeks into mine saying, "Hi, mumma!" over and over until I say, "Hi, bubba" in return.   

 We listen to the sounds around us, Wyatt saying, "Hear it. Snow machine," or "Hear it. Airplane."  We read lots of books (Grumpy Bird, Go Dog Go, & Hooray For You!), tolerate his screaming and the irony of him then telling us what we do is "too loud", and watch Super Why every morning after Josh leaves for work.

He watches it, shouting out random letter names he knows, and walks around the rest of the day saying, "Super duper computer!" and "Saved the day!" 

 When Josh wakes up in the morning, we can hear the door open and Wyatt flies up from where we're snuggling and says, "Hear it! Daddy!"  And on Saturdays when Josh is sleeping in, he says, "Daddy upstairs. Nigh-night."  He loves his daddy so much. Every time Josh gets home, whether for lunch each day or after work, Wyatt greets him as if it's been a yearlong absence.  "Hi daddy! Hi daddy! Hi daddy!"  It's so sweet.

There is one thing that he can't say clearly, and unfortunately, it's perhaps the most important thing a {nearly} two year old could say. 

"What is it?"

Instead he says, "Sai yaz it?" It sometimes sounds like he's saying "Isaiah."  If I ask him what something is and he doesn't know, he will repeat, "Sai yaz it?" to me over and over until I tell him the proper name.  He has gotten really particular about knowing the name of foods he eats. Last night before every bite of rice he would ask, "Sai yaz it?" and I would say, "rice" and he would repeat it. 

He sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star along with this "personal computer" of his.  He loves that thing. When it sings, the puppy's nose lights up and this is how I found Wyatt listening the other day.  It cracked me up.  

Overall, I am just really impressed with our little man.

I love having a singleton, I love experiencing another little boy, who is so different from his big brothers, and I love how confident, secure and outgoing he is.  When we had our potluck last weekend, he strutted around making flirty eyes and showing off his mad counting skills.  

He makes me so proud and so happy.

a super (weather, children, life plan, funnies, spring, inspiration ) update post

"I did it!"

I went six days with no internet.

No, no. Not by choice.  

Out here (and maybe everywhere?) we are only given a limited amount of internet for each billing period.  We share with two other teachers, and between the four of us, we used up our allotted bytes in three short weeks.

 But today, today (!) we start a new billing cycle.  

So here I am. Blogging, emailing, and catching up.

It was a long six days.

I really didn't realize how much I depend on the internet 

(for groceries, human contact, shopping, inspiration, google and banking.)

 It feels this morning as if the sun is rising after a very long, dark and lonely night!  

However, I must be honest and tell you that I got a lot of stuff done in the last week.  I cleaned the entire house, top to bottom; hosted a potluck this weekend; started reading two books: Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult, which I cannot put down; and The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, which I am having a hard time swallowing.  I have also jumped with both feet into the twins' new preschool curriculum, made bread for the next two weeks and had family movie night with the kiddos.

So while I must tell you I missed you (both writing for you, and reading what you have to say), it was probably good for me to take a break.  Even if I did so kicking and screaming.

Just ask Josh. 

Actually... he will plead the fifth because he is a smart man... but I will tell you, I was not happy about forgoing blogging the last week and I felt quite noble in this sacrifice.  

We could have continued using the internet, paying for the extra, but the price per byte is ridiculous and Josh was not too keen on the idea.  So I agreed to turn off the computer and save the money.  But like I said, I wasn't happy about it!

---

Saturday night is (usually) family movie night here at the Cunningham ranch, and this Saturday was no different. We watched Peter Pan, which was recently released from the Disney vault, much to my boys' delight, and sent to us from my mom.  They loved every second of it.

In addition to a new movie, my friend Kristina (who was in choir with me in high school), sent us a fondue care package. Yes, it was as awesome as it sounds!  The boys were delighted, dipping marshmallows into smooth cups of warm, melted chocolate while watching Hook & Pan battle it out.

When the movie ended, it was a little after the boys' bedtime, so we were rushing about, getting littles into jammies, and brushing sugary teeth when Josh, in the bathroom upstairs filling up the humidifier, and I, in the bathroom downstairs with Jack, heard it. 

Thud. Thud-thud. Thud-thud-thud. Thud. Thud-thud-thud. It wasn't until about the seventh thud, coupled with the sound that escaped Josh's throat upstairs, that I realized what it was.

Wyatt.

Falling down the stairs.

From the top.

Sixteen steps in all.

No one saw a thing. But the sound? The sound haunts us.

I didn't get to him until he landed at the bottom. Josh was at the top of the stairs just as he landed as well. And the twins came running when they heard Wyatt start crying.  Jack goes, "I wasn't there. I didn't even see it!" He felt so responsible. We all did.

I checked over Wyatt's body. He looked like he'd been hit with a 2x4 across his shoulder blades, has a bruise on his left shoulder and had three horrible "knobs" on his head in three different locations.  We put the twins to bed, keeping Wyatt up a while longer to see how he seemed.  

Once he was down for the night, Josh kept checking on him until we went to bed, then I was up twice in the night making sure he was fine. 

Thankfully, miraculously, he is.

---

{the twins each chose "twins" of their Cars characters}

The boys were talking the other night, again, about being "partners" when they grow up.  This means they will live together (in a house with both video games and snow machines) and share their money.  Their detailed plan? To find gold to turn into money so they can be truck drivers.  Logan says this is a good plan because "workers" have good lunches.   

-

 Jack finished school before Logan on Monday.  Jack ran to pick a video to watch for the remainder of Wyatt's nap, which distressed Logan because he wasn't finished.  Jack goes, "Don't worry, Logan. When it starts, I will pause it."  To which Logan replied, "Thanks, Jack. You're the best brother ever." Then they hugged.

I melted into a puddle right there in the middle of the kitchen.  It is rare that they are tender with each other like that. They love each other, and they share their toys better than any four year olds I know, but the hugging and "I love you"s are special.

-

Jack was feeding Wyatt snack last week while I cleaned the bathroom upstairs, and I was listening as he negotiated with our opinionated 21 month old.  First he showed Wyatt how to climb into his high chair. Then, once Wyatt was settled, Jack asked what he wanted for snack.  Wyatt answered, "Crackers."

Jack said, "No, you had crackers for lunch. Let's think of something else, buddy." It was so cute!  I am so proud of the little helper he is.

-

I bought all three boys ID bracelets for when we go home to Washington for the summer.  I had the exact same kind growing up, and it gives me some peace of mind with all the miles we travel to get there.

I was explaining to the boys that they can use these bracelets to tell a grown up who they are and what their parents' phone numbers are if they ever get lost.  Logan thought about it and then said, "Yeah, like if I get blown away to Krista's house (a fellow teacher), I can just show her my bracelet." Then he thought for a second. "Actually, if I blow to Krista's, I know how to get home by myself!"

I think it's funny he talked about getting "blown" to Krista's. The wind is pretty intense, so it could happen!  But it's very unlikely!

-

 Every time (every.time.) we get ready to go outside, Wyatt spends the entire time (roughly twenty minutes) crying or screaming bloody murder.  Finally, exasperated, I said to him one day, "Why do you scream every time we get ready to go outside?"

Logan answered me saying, "It's in his story, mom." Like they say on Super Why.  I said, "Well, I am going to "zap that sentence" and change it to say "Wyatt will NOT scream while we get ready to go out." 

The twins thought that was hilarious, but Wyatt (who also watches Super Why each morning) must have took what I said to heart, because each time we have gotten ready since then, he hasn't screamed!

I have been reading a lot of non-fiction to the twins in school lately.  Frogs, snakes, caves, rocks.  We were reading about frogs when I asked Logan what the frog's throat was doing all puffed up. Logan goes, "He's ribbiting!"  

---

 Josh and I have started watching Yukon Men on the Discovery Channel.  If you want to know what Marshall looks like, watch Yukon Men. We, too, are along the Yukon River, with boats & fishing providing a livelihood for residents, as well as moose hunting. 

Yukon Men is recorded in the village of Tanana, which is basically in the middle of Alaska, closer to Fairbanks (and further north) than us.

As we were watching, we both noted how strange it is that that's the life we live as well.  Hunting, dealing with the cold, traveling by snow machine when necessary and cut off from so many conveniences that we once took for granted.  

On the episode we watched last weekend, one of the boys was working on his dad's snow machine.  He took off his glove to do some fine work on the motor and Josh and I found ourselves holding our breath waiting for him to put his glove back on. At twenty or thirty degrees below zero, when your gloves are off, your hands are at an increased risk of losing feeling and/or getting frostbite, and it happens fast.

Something else we have been talking about now that the sun is up for over twelve hours/day is snow blindness.  Sunglasses, for me, are an absolute MUST if I want to be outside and avoid a headache.  The glare of the sunshine off the shiny white snow is dizzying.

Often it takes up to an hour for my eyes to adjust to the darkness of the house when we come back inside!

---

It's spring today.

???

You wouldn't know it here in rural Alaska!  

It's 19 degrees and swirling snow.

Last year it actively snowed until May 15th!!!  I am a bit concerned that the snow doesn't hold the magic it once did for me. I can't be sick of it yet... I've got two months left of the stuff!

There have been a handful of sunny days, highs of twenty or twenty-five, that have created some fantastic icicles.  We can sit in the house and hear them crashing onto the rail out front when the sun is beating down on the roof.

They can be very dangerous and make me nervous when I am out with the boys.  They have learned to walk away from the housing, out of danger's way.  

 The ones at the school are cuh-razy!  They are over two feet long, some of them, and crash to the playground below like spikes!

There was a severe blizzard last Easter that had the wind blowing so hard on the tundra, it sounded like a jet was taking off out front.  I am curious what the day will hold weather-wise this year.

---

Spring in a rural Alaskan school district means change.

This girl doesn't do well with change. 

It's something I am working on, but I am yet to completely embrace the idea.

 Basically, in preparation for the next school year, there is a huge shuffling of the deck.  Contracts are handed out, or not.  Contracts are signed, or not.  Paperwork for transfers is submitted, or not.  Rumors fly like the week before a dance in junior high school.

And so we wait for the dust to settle.  For applications to be approved, transfers to be confirmed and departures to be set in stone.  Meanwhile, I am a bit of a wreck.  Knowing some people haven't been invited back, others are choosing not to come back and others are hopeful for relocation makes me a bit uneasy.  Questions plague me.  Who will be my neighbors? My friends? My community next year?

This is only my second spring, and already I'm quite certain I lack the strength to do this every year...

It's quite hard on the heart.

---

One thing is for sure, though.

We will be back.

 Alaska has snuck into me.. Settling cold, sparkly ice in the corners of my heart.  Searing sunrises and sunsets into my memory.  Stamping moments with my boys in the fluffy white snow into the forefront of my mind.

 And because of my love for this unforgiving land, our five year plan stands.  

Josh will teach and work towards his masters during the upcoming third year.

And during the fourth & fifth years, we would like to finish paying off the remainder of our debt.

And sock away a bit of a nest egg.

After that, who knows where life will lead.  As a teacher, Josh would like to continue his career here in Alaska because you can retire after only twenty years of teaching.  But we have both discussed going back to "America" (aka the lower 48) someday as well.

---

Last week the boys and I went on a walk.  The sun was shining and we just had to get out of the house!  As soon as I strapped Wyatt onto my back he started saying, "Super happy! Super happy!" He said it the whole time we walked.  I just love that little buddy!

 Ever since daylight savings, I could not tell you what time it is to save my life. In addition to the change in time, we have been gaining like five minutes of daylight each day.  When the boys go to bed at night, I would swear it's 3pm.  In the morning, when Josh leaves for work, it looks like dusk.

In addition to the weird light at weird times, the amount of daylight feels akin to June at home, so my body is aching to be outside, running around, listening to the birds, or sitting in the grass.

 The boys asked me yesterday to make a countdown chain. They know we only make one of those once it's close to summer.  I told them it's too soon.  But I feel their pain!

 Even Josh is feeling it.  He came home at lunch on Monday and told me he was homesick. I have never, in the entire time we have been in Alaska, or even when he was here by himself, heard him say those words. 

 He said he just wants to go and do something.  

Take the kids to the zoo; go out to eat; drive on the open road.

 And we all miss the beach.  At bedtime we talk about it dreamily-- the boys praying for summer to come fast, and Josh and I telling them we've got a ways to go.

 In the meantime, we hope the weather keeps getting warmer, 

degree by degree, so we can get out on some adventures.  

The twins particularly like when we go on walks 

and get to see or play on the "workers" equipment that is all over town.

Wyatt's favorite thing is to visit Angel, our neighbor dog. 

She jumps on him, licks his face, and wags her tail so hard, 

I think it might fall off, but he loves every second of it, 

repeating, "Hi Angel. Hi Angel," in his sweet lil' baby voice.

{Our housing is the back row}

 In addition to time spent outside, we are also making home a haven, with more play time, more family movie nights and more enjoying the small things.  

I am still holding my breath about a place to stay in Washington.  I think once we have that nailed down, it will be easier for me to start getting excited about going home; about our airport reunion with my mom, sister & Julie; about camping at Cougar and about seeing my grandparents again.

---

I follow a new blog called Flourish.  It's got little bits of inspiration that I love to read and contemplate.  This one from a few days ago really hit me.  I left this comment:

"The picture and quote at the top of this post really resonated with me today. Nearly brought tears to my eyes.

Three years ago I had two year old twins and a husband who had just graduated with his bachelors degree in education. I had our life all mapped out... He would get a job in Washington state where our family was and where we had lived our whole lives. Then I would be the stay-at-home mama I always dreamed of being since I was a little girl. I would get pregnant shortly after becoming a SAHM and give birth to a daughter, and we would then live happily ever after.

But God... well God had different plans. Instead my husband didn't find a job. I began my third year as a working mom, crying each day on the way to work, wondering where HE was, and pleading with Him to hear me.

Then I found out I was pregnant, unexpectedly. And it was a boy. This third son on his way made things very clear to me. I couldn't leave another baby and go to work. I just couldn't. And so I agreed with God, and my husband, that I would go ANYWHERE to be with my children. And I meant it. 

Fast forward to the present, and I am living in a rural village on the Yukon River in Alaska raising our three boys while my husband teaches native children, watching as all my dreams come true. It isn't (at all) what I pictured, but it's more than I could have imagined.

He knew I would blossom here. He knew I needed a third son. And He knew this (of all places!) was right where I needed to be."

It was just the reminder I needed today.

I chose to be here, living in this snowglobe, surrounded constantly by the sounds of my children, the smell of home cooked meals, the touch of a husband who loves me, and the taste of who I am when challenged.  I read a quote last week that spoke to the very heart of my experience here in rural Alaska.

"The things that have made me most happy 

started out as challenges I wasn't sure I could handle."

-Asha Dornfest

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