Holed Up At Home

  We so enjoyed our time in Kansas over Christmas and through the first of the year.  Our little apartment feels so safe and quiet, cozy and happy.  The perfect place to mourn daddy before facing Florida again.....

  This time without him.

  Ugh. I can't even....

  My heart just aches when I think about.  I am taking this time to just be still, reflective and allow the Lord to bring healing.

  As the kids and Dale started feeling ready to join in outings and family events again, sweet Dale whispered to me to just stay home, read a book, or take a soak in the tub and just BE STILL.  

  He knows what I need when I am hurting, and I love him for that.

 I got the BEST stack of books read, while we were home!  Guilty pleasure! :)  

  After living in an RV for 2 years with only a shower, the deep soaking tub we put in the apartment is SUCH a great!  Even better, I tuck all my empty oil bottles into a cute jar of epsom salt and when I get a scoop, it makes the best smelling bath! 

  I may have even allowed myself an extra indulgence or 5.... ;)  Have you ever put cocoa pebbles in your ice cream?  MMmm Mmm amazing!

  So is homemade cocoa with heavy whipping cream and high quality cocoa powder!  Mmm

  The Father knows my heart and He knows how much I have missed seeing snow, all cozied up in the house by the fire with a blanket and a good book.  It hasn't snowed in our small Kansas town for several years now, and it DID, like THREE TIMES when we were there.  Praise Jesus for my Winter Wonderland!

  It was BITTER cold, like -20 with windchill some days, so we cuddled inside, stayed in our jammies, and played games and family wii.  (kids Christmas gift for the apartment this year)

  My photography friend texted and asked if she could get some shots of Destiny in the snow. She had been waiting 3 years for a nice snow to shoot in, and it finally came!  We of course, said yes!

  Here are the images.  Heavinly Blessings Photography, by Heather Schlatter if you are in the area.   I worked with Heather a ton before we moved, she does such a good job!

  I just have to say, that I am so thankful that the Lord gave us the urgency to finish our apartment this summer, even when we didn't understand why we wanted to finish it so badly.  After all, it had sat unfinished, and empty, except for our stored items, for 2 whole years!  Just sitting there waiting for us to have the gumption and finances to finish it.  Now it all makes sense..... 

  We needed a safe place to come home to, a place to host our Florida family that flew in for a Christmas funeral.  A place to be still and heal.  A place to call home in that community.  

  I am so in awe of my Heavenly Father, and how He cares for even the smallest (biggest) details of my life!

  As we were in the apartment more, we realized quickly, that our living room needed some additional seating. Spots that were in front of the fireplace, not beside it, like the couch. Its tiny in there, and we had to be super careful not to overfill the space.

  I found THE blue chairs to fit the bill....and a couch I wanted super bad, but alas, no room.  And it'd be silly to have a backless couch to curl up on, we'd fall out! ;)

  But that's another post for another day! :)

   We made sure we saw all the family, as we prepared to leave again.  Kids had friends over, made sushi with our new Sushi Bazooka and just had some fun before closing up shop to head out. 

  Mom came over one day and we went through a box of old photos.....memory lane!

   We went up to Dale's moms restaurant a ton, she is so sweet to feed us lunch. Amazing amazing yummy lunch!!!  :)

  On our way home, we found my first car in a tiny used car lot downtown!!!!   THE '88 Mustang I got from my daddy for Christmas when I was 13.  Eeek! I wanted to buy it but its now super duper duper rough and would take like $10k to restore, so we walked away.  Darn it!  
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  Wouldn't that have been a cool first car for Destiny?  

    I got to enjoy a girls night with my BFF, before we loaded up the RV again.....I don't have any photos except the one I sent when she asked how casual I was going.  Haha!  We literally were talking a mile a minute and didn't take a single picture.  OOPS!

  We went to our favorite sushi place and had a long fun dinner and then, we saw the BEST movie!  The Greatest Showman.  Oh it was so good!  We went to the new theater in town with cool reclining seats and ate popcorn and candy and all the bad things you shouldn't.  ;)

  As the days went on, we started feeling the PULL towards Florida.  A dread, anticipation and a desire, all at once.

​  Dale watched the weather closely so we could move out and hit the road between cold fronts.  Buses and ice DO NOT mix!

  Now it was time to face the hardest part, the new reality awaiting us in Florida.  It almost didn't seem real, from so far away, that daddy was actually gone.  You *almost* could forget from 1500 miles away in snowy Kansas, because he wasn't part of THAT life if that makes sense?

  But it was time, and we knew the Lord would provide the help we needed in this transition....

​  Hugs, T