Lately

Life has just been plugging along here at Casa de Hall. We are on spring break this week and we woke up to several inches of snow!  Hopefully, it will warm up and be gone for the end of the week. It would be weird to have snow on Easter!

I can not believe that we are just a few months away from Cody graduating and heading to boot camp. We just went to a going away party on Saturday for our nephew, Alex who leaves tomorrow for the Air Force. At Christmas time it seemed like it would be forever before he headed out and now the time is here. I am sure these last few months will fly by for Cody as well.

Kari was accepted to the performing/visual arts magnet school for next year. We went to orientation a few weeks ago and are really excited for her. She is so thankful to have been chosen. She also just received the acceptance email for her to attend a chorus camp this summer. I am in awe of her determination to pursue her dreams to sing! She is definitely an inspiration to me! 

Noah started baseball a few weeks ago and got his first hit at his first practice. Rick is his team's manager and I get to be the team mom. This is definitely a learning experience for all of us, but we are looking for to the season and watching Noah play. He will also be starting karate soon. He is very excited about that!

Rick will be changing positions at school after spring break. He will be working in the ED department as a teacher assistant. The position is considered temporary right now, but we are praying he is offered the permanent position for next year.

I continue to enjoy working as a teacher's assistant for 4th grade. I was just offered a instructional assistant's position for summer school as well. I am also getting ready to start training for the 5K I do every summer. I am hoping to shave some more time off last year's time.

We are pretty much finished with the latest home renovations. We still need to get one more cabinet for the dining room. We are planning to refinish the floors next year and do some major changes in the kitchen. I also have a few items for Rick to finish in the upstairs' half bath. Other than that I am hoping to help my parents declutter and reorganize their apartment. 

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks......

New 'do for me. Added some much needed bangs!  

Noah leading the pledges at his Cub Scouts' Blue and Gold banquet 

Alan and Q Hoffmaster joined us for the banquet

 

 Noah receiving Bear badge

 

 

Kari and Amberly at CEC

They do love each other!

 Kiyah at CEC

Kaysen Jace

 

 Enjoying the rides

 

Kiyah and Grammie

 

CEC wore her out

 

 Watching the Super Bowl at church

 Kari and Michaela

 

 Mr. Noodle

 

 Our gracious hosts - Nathan and Rachel Stanley

 

The newest Stanley - Addison

 

Had the grandkiddos this weekend

 Love these cuties!!

 

 

Noah and his new 'do and new glasses

 

Kari with her new specs

 

Noah's pinewood derby car

 

 He won 2nd place!!

 

 

 

 

 

      

Change

Nothing makes me more anxious than the word change. I loathe it so much that my stomach hurts even writing about it right now.

I am a creature of habit and am not a big fan of change at all. My husband, on the other hand, is someone that thrives on spontaneity. He loves to change this up and encourages me to do so often.

And I normally fight, tooth and nail.

But, this year I have been stepping out of my comfort zone and chose BOLD as my word of the year. And change has been inevitable and almost constant.

I have been trying to embrace it instead of running from it. Some days are better than others. Some days I feel empowered and some days I feel paralyzed by my fear of change. Which I think is actually a fear of failure. What if things change and don't go well? What then?

What I need to remember is that God is the perfect author of my story and that He orchestrates every turn and twist my storyline takes. I am slowly realizing that I am much more at peace if I hold onto His hand and embrace the changes.

Even if it still makes me sweat.

 

Link your Five Minute Friday post at Lisa Jo's blog!

      

Rest

It has been the craziest 13 years of my life. I never imagined that my life would be this way or that I would be where I am today, but here I am.

I had grand expectations that day I said, "I do" and am sure God gently smiled and shook His head. I am sure He chuckled a bit while He watched as I tried to make everything stay neatly in place and turn out just right.

I had everything figured out in my heart and in my head. I was sure I was doing everything I could to make my family and my home perfect.

But, for whom? Myself? My husband  My in-laws? Our exes? I knew that God would bless us as long as everything and everyone stayed in place and I was able to hold everything and everyone together.

Sigh.

Of course, I had forgotten the One who orchestrated my marriage, my life in the first place. And when I took Him off the throne and put myself in His rightful place, life got really messy and started to fall apart. At least, I thought so.

Misplaced expectations became heartaches and sadness. I lost my faith and my trust. But, God never lost sight of me and my family.

He was waiting, just where He was when we started this journey, my husband and me. He was gently standing close by with His arms outstretched and His gently voice saying,

"Are you done? Are you done trying to make everyone and everything the way you envisioned it all to be? Come, child, rest in the promises I made to you. Find them in My Word. Hold them close to your heart and rest easy in knowing that what I have planned for you is greater than anything you could have ever imagined."

Rest.

Peaceful rest.    

Join me in free writing for 5 minutes for Five Minute Fridays on Lisa Jo's blog. Stretching your creative wings is good for the writer's soul.

Making A House A Home

I am a firm believer in the fact that four walls do not make a home. It takes the people you live with and love to make your house a home. I also think it helps to fill that home with things that you love, making the rooms places you love to be, a safe haven from the world.

We moved into my parents' house almost 7 years ago and beside doing a small bathroom redo we really didn't change much in the other rooms of the house, especially the main living areas. Until this month. Once we received our tax refund we were determined to change a few things in the house to make it more of a home.

Here are the before and after pictures of the living room and dining room. We are planning on doing the kitchen with next year's refund.

Living Room - BEFORE

Living Room - AFTER

Dining Room - BEFORE

Dining Room - AFTER

We still have some art work to hang in the dining room and we are started to put money away to have the floors redone, but we are super happy with the results!

It is so nice to come home and to love being home.

Home

When my husband said he was feeling God nudge him and tell him that we needed to move back to my hometown I was sad instead of elated. I had lived in the same house for 27 years before I married him and he swept me 1300 miles away. That first year was hard, but I finally felt like I belonged. I finally felt like I was home.

Moving back was even more difficult than I ever thought it would be. There was death, broken promises, unemployment, drug addiction, a runaway child....so many hard things that I couldn't help but feel like we had made a terrible mistake moving back here.

And that thought, those feelings lasted until a year ago when I finally decided that it wasn't where I was or what house I lived in that made it home, but who I was with, who filled the rooms with laughter, love and blessings.

It was frustrating that it took 6 years for us to be able to change the furniture, the layout, the decor of the house we are renting. It just never felt like we belonged.

But, now that we have brought a little bit of ourselves into this house, it finally feels more like home.

And I love being home more than other place in the whole world.  

Link your Five Minute Friday post to LisaJo's blog!

Ordinary

All I wanted to be was ordinary. An ordinary family with ordinary kiddos and an ordinary husband.

But, plans change when we make decisions that are contrary to God's purpose for us.

I didn't want to be a single mother. I didn't want to be 25 and unmarried. I didn't want to be different.

But, when we let go and let God do things out of the norm, extraordinary things happen.

Who meets their husband on the internet, instantly becomes a momma to three after they say I do and moves 1300 miles away from the home they have lived in for 27 years? Not someone ordinary.

I had no idea what God had in store for me 13 years ago when I started chatting with vikefan28, but God sure did. And He never called me to be ordinary. He called me to be different, peculiar even.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; 1 Peter 2:9

Praying I live my calling every day for an extraordinary God that has extraordinary planned for me.

Head on over to LisaJo's blog to participate in 5 Minute Friday! 

Beloved

It took me some time to realize that I was fully and completely loved. I remember thinking he loved me, or maybe he did, but it wasn't until I was able to be totally honest with someone, tell him everything, even the secret things, that I knew that I was loved. Unconditionally.

Many years later, I would again struggle with being loved. but, this time I was struggling with knowing without a bit of doubt that my Savior loved me. I mean, I read about His unfailing love and I knew and believe that His Word was true, but I wasn't sure it was true for me.

My sister encouraged me to look at myself in the mirror every day and say aloud, "God loves me. I am His beloved." And I tried and I wanted to believe it, to believe her, to believe Him, but it was hard.

Especially on the days that I felt so unlovable  The screaming at the children, the unkempt house, the mean comment to my husband. How could anyone love me?

My sister than asked me to do something else. To imagine God, and imagine myself climbing into His lap and letting Him put my arms around me. so, I closed my eyes and I could see Him and feel His arms around me.

For me, when I imagined an image of God in my mind, it was my grandfather in his favorite chair and he was smiling, allowing me to climb onto his lap and rest in his embrace.

I knew once again that I am indeed loved.

I am on of His beloved. And it is comforting.

 

Five Minute Friday - Afraid

Not sure what to write about, but want to update your blog? Try your creative hand at Five Minute Fridays. Join hundreds of other women taking five minutes to write on a specific topic for just five minutes, no editing and no pressure! It really has helped me spread my blogging and writing wings!

Afraid

I remember being so afraid of the dark when I was younger. My parents wouldn't let me have a night light in my room because I shared it with my two sisters and they were not afraid of the dark. So, my mom would leave the bathroom light on and I would stare into the hallway until I fell asleep. My younger sister was afraid of thunderstorms and during them I would dangle my hand down off the side of the bunk bed and hold her hand until she fell asleep. It was always comforting to know that I was able to comfort her. It made me less afraid of the dark and stormy nights.

I grew out of being afraid of the dark and my sister grew to love thunderstorms, but now I am afraid of darker places and different kinds of storms.

I long for the days of sharing a room with my sisters with my parents just down the hall and the hallway being lit by the glow from the bathroom. And what I wouldn't do to hold my sister's hand through some of the recent trials of my life. Why did I ever wish those times away?

But, I do have someone else to Light my way and hold my hand. And He does. I just have to trust Him.

Slacker

I am such a bad blogger. I am on the internet every day, sometimes several times a day and I rarely blog. I have been trying to at least post a Five Minute Friday entry every week, but I have really been slacking on updating the blog with family stuff. The last time I posted was in November and it was an entry on Halloween.

So, here's what's been happening in the Hall Household since then.....

Cody joined the Marines at the end of November. He was sworn in on November 29 and will leave for boot camp on August 4th. He goes to PT three times a week and has to gain 20 pounds before his ship date. He just turned 18 last Saturday and will graduate on June 4th. He is also hoping to move in with a friend soon to be able to have his own room and space before he heads to Paris Island. So, he will be going to school, working, doing PT and that's about it. He  is also hoping to get driving school out of the way before he goes to SC.

Kari is obsessed with the band, One Direction. Everything on her Christmas list involved the band or one of the members. She just found out she is eligible for both magnet programs she interviewed for in the fall. There is an electronic lottery that determines who is chosen and she is praying she gets into the Performing and Visual Arts school. She will also be performing in the Orchestra Concert open to 4th and 5th grades, middle schoolers and high schools in her feeder system. This will be her second year to perform. She is also going to try out for a solo in the spring chorus concert at her school. She still enjoys being a safety at school and has been going to Zumba with me on Tuesdays.

Noah is continues to entertain us with his singing and dancing. He enjoys playing video games on his PSVita and drawing. He is constantly creating pictures and comic books and loves to read chapter books and his gamer and Boy Scout magazines. He is still in Scouts and his a Bear Cub this year. He is getting ready to have his Blue and Gold Banquet and compete in the Pinewood Derby.

Rick is still at the middle school and enjoys the students he works with every day. He is great at what he does and is respected by the students and his colleagues. He is eager to finish this semester and looking forward to student teaching in the fall. He continues to be a TD for WTP and enjoys playing poker and meeting new people. He also enjoys hosting home games once in a while.

I was just offered a teacher's assistant position as my school and am now working primarily with the fourth grade classes and teachers. There is another TA and she is awesome to work with and very helpful as I am learning the ropes. It has allowed me to obtain a permanent position with the county and secures me a position for next year as well. I am getting ready to start my second class to fulfill my certificate requirements and will be taking the Praxis II series of tests next month. I am waiting to hear from the MD Dept. of Education regarding my appeal, but am hopeful that they will accept it and that I will have my certificate before the end of the summer.  

I am also continuing to enjoy Kaysen and Kiyah . We wet to keep them overnight once a month and it is really a joy to see them growing and changing. Kaysen will be 3 in May and Kiyah is 9 months old. We were able to have them for Christmas Eve and it was so neat to see the season through their eyes. I love being a grandmother!

We have started renovating a few rooms in the house and are just about done with the living room. It is just a transformation, but I love it! I can not wait to get started on the dining room and do some upgrades in the kitchen as well.      

I have class at 8:30 AM tomorrow, so I need to get to bed. I will post some pictures this weekend and hope to get my FMF post up before midnight. I am going to finish my HW and then write it. Maybe I will need to write "blogging" into my weekly schedule ;)  

Five Minute Friday - Again

It's Friday and you know what that means....Five Minute Friday! Join in and take 5 minutes to write about a chosen prompt and connect to a community of writers.

Their shoes are in front of the door again. There is toothpaste in the sink and wet towels on the bathroom floor again. "Turn out the light!", "Stop teasing your brother!" and "Close the front door!" are phrases I find myself saying again and again.

Then I hear their giggles as they are watching the same show they have seen a million times and I am again reminded how blessed I am that my home is filled with scattered shoes and wet towels and that there are precious little ones to care for, love and remind over and over again.

And I am sure God feels the same way about me. How often does He have to remind me to pick up my unrighteousness, repent of it and lay it at His feet to receive mercy and grace. How many times to have to be rebuked about my forgetfulness to pray or read His Word or stop my incessant worrying already! Again and again He gently pulls me close and whispers the same things, "You are forgiven", "You are loved" and "You need to change". But, He does it so gently and lovingly.

I believe that just as I am thankful to have my children to daily love and see grow again and again, He is that much more thankful that I am His child.

HelloMornings

I have an unhealthy love affair with sleep and my bed. I enjoy sleeping and napping so much that I sometimes count the hours until I can sleep again as soon as I wake up in the morning!

But, I also have a strong desire to be close to the Lord, be in good health and be a present wife for my husband and Momma for my kiddos. So, I am joining the HelloMornings Challenge !

This encouraging group of women band together for 13 weeks to be committed to rising early, spending time in God's Word and in prayer, exercising and planning out the day all before your family wakes for the day. It is a great way to get serious about making the day count by getting the morning started right.

Won't you join me?

Dive - Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Fridays are back!! Join me in taking five minutes to write about a designated weekly topic. I love the opportunity to just take a few minutes to write without thinking too much about it. It pushes my creativity and helps me stretch out of my comfort zone.

This week's topic: DIVE

I can remember standing on the edge of the pool. Arching my body, clasping my hands, pointing my toes and   closing my eyes, I bend my knees. And I wait. I am holding my breath, but I don't realize it. I can hear my heart beating in my ears.

I am trying to make sure everything is perfect before I release my body and dive into the water and it paralyzes me. I can not move. I love the water, the splash and the feeling of knowing I executed the dive, but it is the letting go that I struggle with every time. I want to make sure everything is right and it hinders me for enjoying the thrill of the dive.

So many times that is the way it is in my spiritual life, too. I know that taking the steps toward doing what God wants me to do is exciting and I love being in His will, but I find myself standing on the edge of knowing I need to dive in, but I want it to be right and perfect and I forget that sometimes just letting go is worth it.      

  

OneWord - BOLD

When I first read my friend, Julie's blog post about OneWord365, I instantly felt anxious. I wanted to participate, but what if I picked the wrong word? Or the same word as someone else? Or, what if I couldn't pick a word? It felt like too much pressure for just one word. I felt like my whole year hung on this one word and what if I messed it up somehow?

I anxiously started praying, which was actually more like babbling about what my word should be. Hope? I felt like I had picked that a few years ago and that the year had been hopeless. Purpose? Was I going to have to tap into my inner Rick Warren (do I even have an inner Rick Warren??) to find out what that would mean for my life? Ugh! See, the pressure I was putting on myself!

So, I went to the OneWord365 blog and read a few of the posts about choosing my word. I was less anxious, but still unsure about what my word should be. Was I overthinking it? Would I finally choose a word, but then it would be so late in the month, year, that it wouldn't matter??

Then, yesterday as I sat quietly in the living room next to my husband as he typed away on the laptop, I started thinking about how I wanted to live this year, what I wanted to see God do and what I would need to do to help myself and my family achieve the God-sized goals He has for us this year and I heard Him whisper.....BOLD.

     Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 (KJV)

I want to be BOLD in my witness to others. I want to be BOLD in my faith. I want to pray BOLD prayers for myself, my family, my friends, the world! I want to live a life that reflects God doing BIG and BOLD miracles for me and my family!

I am now energized when I think about my word, about this year and about what God is going to do as I come BOLDLY to His throne of grace and obtain His mercy and grace.

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. Acts 4:31 (NIV)

Just as the disciples and apostles in Acts prayed BOLDly and God moved, I know He will do the BOLD things in me this year!

*My BOLD button was made by Melanie. Check out her blog and link up to her post, too! 

Hope Begins Here

A few months ago someone on Twitter posted that they has just entered DaySpring's contest to receive a Christmas item and review it on their blog  along with their Redeeming Love Tabletop Devotional. So, I entered as well. I totally forgot about it until the wreath arrived last week.

I must tell you that this wreath is just darling! It is handcrafted and so homey! I love the added Christmas touch it brings to my decor. It is just the right mix of homemade and festive! Everyone that passes by it hanging on my door comments about how cute and decorative it is.

I am so blessed to have been picked to receive it and review it for DaySpring and if you are looking to add to your holiday decorations you should definitely check it out! (It is now on sale as well!)

I especially love the button and bow at the top of the wreath that says, "Hope Begins Here" with a small decal of Joseph, Mary and Jesus. It is the perfect reminder that when Jesus was born in a manger on that first Christmas night, Hope was brought to a hopeless world. And especially in light of recent tragedies, it is a great reminder that He is still our source of Hope!

I am hoping that you and your family have a fantastic Christmas and remember that Jesus is our constant and daily Hope!

Also, the tabletop devotional is a wonderful daily reminder of Advent and Jesus' coming birth. It is not dated so can be used year after year. The kiddos have loved flipping to the new date each day and reading the new scripture and questions to ponder at the bottom.    

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

I have always loved Christmas. As a child, it involved trimming the tree and decorating the house, inside and out after December 9*, visits from my grandparents who lived down the ocean, baking cookies with Mom-Mom and buying Christmas dresses with Pop. We'd go to midnight mass and come home to read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, open one present - new pajamas and hang our stockings. We'd sleep upstairs in the attic, all three sisters huddled together on one bed, chatting until we'd finally fall asleep.

We'd call down to my parents on Christmas morning and my father always called back, "Not sure why you'd want to come down here. Doesn't look like Santa left anything." This was the stall technique my parents used to be able to turn on the Christmas lights and pour themselves a cup of coffee.

We tromp down the stairs excitedly only to be stopped by my Mom for a picture. We'd take down our stockings and empty them on the floor to find pencils and crayons, manicure kits, nuts, chocolates and an orange. The same stocking hung each year even after we were married and had children of our own.

Then my father would go down to the basement and exclaim loudly, "I don't know. Santa must have skipped our house. You can come and check." and again we would bound down the stairs, stop for a picture and scurry to the tree. Gifts would be tagged and signed by Santa or Mom and Dad or maybe even Father Time (he had given us watches one year). And then there would always be a surprise gift for one of us - a skateboard for my younger sister that Dad rode out from the workshop or a stereo for me that had been playing Christmas music while we opened gifts that I only realized was there when my Dad asked me to turn the music up a bit.

Then we would play with our gifts while in our pajamas and my Mom would make breakfast for us. We would bake a cake for Jesus' birthday and sing "Happy Birthday" with our faces pointed toward the sky.

We would eventually get dressed and ready for company while Christmas dinner cooked. Aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents would visit throughout the day and we would stay at home. We never went anywhere on Christmas Day. My parents decided once they had children to stay home and invite others to come and visit and so they did.

I have such fond memories of Christmas.

And it didn't end Christmas Day. We'd go to my great aunt and uncle's house the Saturday after Christmas for a party and there was always food and family and presents. And then someone, normally us, would host a New Year's Eve party and we'd have sparkling cider and stay up past midnight.

Such cherished memories.

When Rick and I got married we joined two families and two sets of traditions. Of course, at first all of my traditions made sense and some of his seemed out of place. We talked about which ones were most important to us and decided to start them with our new family.

The tree is topped with a star and presents are wrapped and placed under the tree, with Santa leaving his requested present, unwrapped by the fireplace on Christmas Eve. We go to our church's candlelight service ** and open a gift - pajamas - before we read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

On Christmas morning, we read Luke 2 before emptying the stockings and opening presents. We bake a cake for Jesus and stay in our pajamas at home all day*** We drink hot chocolate with whipped cream and just enjoyed the fact that the world seems to slow down on the day God sent His Son as a baby in a manger.

We also hang an Adorenament on a special tree for the twelve days before Christmas. Each ornament highlights one of the names of Jesus and reminds us to keep our focus on Him. We also started to do an Advent Countdown last year. Each day an activity was revealed and shared, again keeping the focus on family and others during the season. And we have an Elf on the Shelf that does daily antics, keeping an eye on the kiddos and reporting back to Santa.

But, this year I have had a hard time with school and some other things that have affected our family keeping up with the countdown and the Adorenaments and I hate it. I hate that some of the traditions we hold dear are getting pushed aside because of the natural busyness of the season and my own lackadaisical attitude right now.

I am hoping to rectify the situation this weekend by baking some cookies with the kiddos, planning our annual Christmas Brunch menu and watching a few Christmas movies. And we will hang the Adorenaments and pick a few activities from the countdown.

I think I have tried to pack the weeks before Christmas with this that will distract us from some of the daily heartaches and mundane things, but in doing so I fall short in doing what is important. I get overwhelmed by others' pictures and statuses that I just give up on what we are comfortable doing, worrying that our traditions aren't sparkly or exciting enough.

What I want to do is focus on Jesus and His Coming, giving to others - our time and our talents and slowly down a lot as to not miss what is most important at this time of year.    

*My sister's birthday is December 9 and my parents never wanted her to feel like her birthday was not important, so we would not decorate until after her birthday. Santa actually set up the basement tree on Christmas Eve

**Since moving back to MD we host an annual Christmas Eve Brunch each year. It has been a tradition of my parents' that we are continuing. It is a great time for me to see my grandkiddos and my aunt and cousins I do not get to see much throughout the year.

***When we lived in TX we would go to my sister in law's for Christmas Eve dinner and then to their church's candlelight service. Then on Christmas Day after we opened gifts at home we'd head to my inlaws' house for a brunch buffet and gift giving. We also hosted a Christmas Open House one year.