"Do not yield to discouragement in the face of difficulties and do not abandon yourselves to false solutions which often seem the easiest way to overcome problems. Do not be afraid to make a commitment, to face hard work and sacrifice, to choose the paths that demand fidelity and constancy, humility and dedication. Be confident in your youth and its profound desires for happiness, truth, beauty and genuine love! Live fully this time in your life so rich and so full of enthusiasm."
"Let us look with greater hope to the future; let us encourage one another on our journey."
~ Papa Benedict XVI

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Hello!

Well, here i am, its 5:44am.  Are you up? Probably not! How lucky for you.

Sorry it has been so long since i've posted!

We are 'moved in' but far from moved in.  Over Easter Weekend (i know, don't even say it) we unloaded the 23' truck of many of our possessions that have not been seen in 2 years.  This was after spending the week (through all the rain!!!) retrieving our belongings from NJ and 2 locations in PA.  We still have things in both PA places!

So now we wonder, as we sit here in our new (rental) home...how much of this STUFF do we really need? 

Have you ever really tried to separate yourself from your belongings?  We did some prior to leaving the farm house almost 2 years ago...but not much.  And note to self - when you live in a huge house people give you things you a)don't necessarily need, and b)don't necessarily want.  (the same is true when you have children - this problem has been following us for over 14 years now! : )  ) But people are so generous and for that we are truly thankful.  What is an extra, occasional trip to goodwill or the St.Vincent De Paul society...nothing.

So currently i am wading through boxes, trying to make myself be reasonable - how many colanders does one family really need???  Holy smokes!  : )

Now the ultimate goal is to get as little extra stuff into the house as possible...not easy with children  -especially when all the toys are in clear buckets!  Thankfully, we have weeded through those numerous times over the years and honestly, only the best (for the most part) are in the buckets... see how that mentions nothing about all the gift from the past two years?  We have a ways to go yet.

On to other news....
My computer is still out of commission.  Its not a huge problem as you can see from the fact that i am currently writing you : ) but still - photos and addresses would be nice to retrieve.  I may be able to salvage some of it but if i tell you how you will laugh so i'll save that for AFTER i try.  Fair?

No sewing, crocheting, etc has been done in way too long....and no i never got the Easter dresses done by Easter.  We were lucky to make it to Mass as we were all exhausted by then!  But my husband and i pulled ourselves together enough to hold on to our family traditions even through the mess of a Lent we have had. (but only for Easter, Lent is a whole other ball of melting wax!)

School is on hold (and the children are SO upset - teeheeehee!) They can't seem to find their books!  I, of course, know where they are, but i'm not talkin'!  ...ok, we start back monday,whether i like it or not.

In other school news - our oldest has taken it upon himself the task to teach himself computer programing. I am very impressed.  So i went online to see about online classes at the local community college but you have to take 2 real life classes before you can enroll in the online stuff...and  you have to be 16 to enroll in the college.  SO, i started looking online and found (quite unintentionally) a site that has several free computer programing courses.  One set is through MIT.  I looked at it a bit and i think we'll add that to his daily schedule after his actual school work is done...if he wants.  Or he can continue on as is, but with the blessing of an hour of extra computer time just for teaching himself something he seems to really enjoy.  I love homeschooling!

Well, that about sums it up for now... i promise eventually i will get back to blogging about school and home in a more beneficial to you sort of way, with photos etc as well.

But please, bear with me as the stress is high and the tasks many - and most are not part of our normal life.  Moving can be both a joy and a stress at the same time .... much like life in general. : )

So i will try to get back here more often than not from here on out...but please say a prayer for us as we try to decide what is really necessary to keep and what we can drop, to better follow Him....

Have a Blessed Sunday!

2 comments:

Jen said...

Allison - so glad that you are getting settled in - - the trick is to put all of the boxes in the basement. Whatever you don't go through or pull out in the next year or so can probably be designated Good Will - - (LOL). Really, we lived in Leesburg for 2 years and had boxes we never touched!!! When we moved here, I made it a point to go through some of the boxes and have gotten through most of it, but there are still some down there, even after 8+ years! Enjoy the Easter season and know that our prayers are with you as you tackle the chore!

God bless,
Jennifer

allison said...

Thanks Jen!
Almost all the boxes are currently in the garage ...if we ever want to actually use the garage we best get a move on going through them! : )

I have already gone through a couple of kitchen boxes that have been taped up for years ...most in them are on thier way out! (Really don't need that many shot glasses now do we??? hahaha! we don't need any of them! Why the heck do we even have those?????) : )

Thank you for the continued prayers ... and please say hello to your beautiful family for us!
+
JMJ
~allison