8 months & still smiling

CRAZY!!!

Why does it seem that my life is CRAZY these days? It's not a bad crazy. It's just a really busy crazy. And a good crazy, really. This week we've had the fabulous return of the Jared and Candace family and the arrival of the Matthew and Rachel Ray family (with a 4 month old baby girl in tow). It's been absolutely wonderful having more people around...oh yes, Todd Will is visiting too, after just returning from a 6 week missions trip to Brazil (with New Tribes Mission). So I'm loving the company, catching up with old friends and making a couple of new friends. It's just that there's so much going on these days and the work load seems to loom a bit more.

We've been having some good community meetings lately, talking about issues such as -- dun-dun-dun -- the Vision of the Ministry, roles and responsibilites, new scheduling...These are all very big issues that take lots of thought and much discussion time. And we've also been starting to do outreaches again. Last week we went to Garberville to check out the Farmer's Market and cruise the town to see if there were any hippies around. Seeing as how we picked the hottest day ever, 110 degrees, there weren't many people out. But we've got some people going up to Arcata tomorrow with Iced Chai and homemade cookies (thanks to my dear husband who baked them in a 115 degree kitchen this afternoon).

Anyway, there are 3 lovely girls in my cabin now, ready and waiting to watch a girlie movie...The bottom line is, we're busy but really happy and my apologies for not blogging.

familiar droppings and an odd smell

My favorite thing to wake up to on a Saturday morning is a dead, rotting mouse in my storage bin under the bed. He must have led a somewhat contented life nestled in there because there are grains buried all throughout my clothes. I can imagine how nice it would have been, lying amidst my cozy winter scarf, storing food in my undies...and taking his last breath nestled in between my woolie socks and my soft cotton tee shirt.

Time to do some laundry.

figurine family

Ever seen the movie "What About Bob?" Well, it has been suggested, after discovery of our first family figurine, that each member of the Marc & Megan Hall family have his or her own figurine so that when we have heated arguments it will actually be our figurines doing the talking...

This is Marc's figurine, a cutout picture from his high school football days. (For those of you who don't know, he went on to play college football at Georgetown and was apparently quite popular. I've seen pictures of him signing autographs for wee fans.)

I'll let you know how this goes. If Dr. Leo Marvin believed it to be a useful method for conflict management, it must be good.

Why don't pregnancy hormones come with an "Off" switch?

It's funny, just the other day, as I was remarking that I haven't had any PMD's (pregnancy melt-downs) for a while, I felt it coming...like I was jynxing myself. Knock on wood. It came in full force: an onslaught of hormone-driven emotions. Only this time around, it's a little different. I'm definitely more sensitive (as usual) but more than that, I just feel blue. Whenever I'm not doing something, this feeling of sadness comes over me and I can't figure out what is causing it. Except for the alien that's taken my body hostage and is changing my brain chemistry.

In the meantime, Marc is still the best husband in the world, putting down whatever he's doing and listening to me talk about being sad for no reason (that is, after I stare at the wall with a really depressed look on my face for a while). I'm thankful for him.

I'm also thankful for my friends, who have so much grace and understanding. I just talked with my old roommate, Deb, from Chicago, who gave birth to her first baby 2 weeks ago. It's so nice to have friends that are experiencing exactly what you're experiencing at the same time. I have to give her serious props though, because Sam was 9lbs. 12oz. and she had a grueling labor (including back labor and pitocin, eeek!) I digress. My point is this: pregnancy hormones aren't my best friend in the world, but I'm so glad that I have great friends and family with whom to share this time in my life.

Marc's baby

We are so proud to say that the hostel renovations are coming to a close! Almost all of the detail-work is done and the only remaining project is to install the kitchen. You might think that this is a major step to renovating a house, and, it is. But we are just excited to see everything else finished up. We've all lived in one-room cabins without kitchens for so long that I'm sure Chinua and Rachel don't even mind that little missing detail. I'm proud of all the hard work that our guys have put into it, especially since none of them are professional builders. They've spent hours reading 'Do-It-Yourself' manuals and talking to hardware store employees. And now, their work is paying off! Chinua and Rachel have a hot shower and three rooms, 900 sq. feet, waiting for them. Yea!

The real reason why we have a new computer...

Well, if you've read Marc's blog lately you might be thinking that we are fortunate enough to have a computer because of my budgeting diligence. It is true that for the past 5 months or so we have been carefully budgeting, and because of my structured personality, I love it. But it's been harder for Marc to live within the confines of a budget, since he's more of a generous and free-spirit. So he deserves more kudos than I do for that reason alone.

Furthermore, we really wouldn't have this computer if it were only for my budgeting. Yes, saving money has helped, but in reality we have this computer because of the generosity of our Papa. God has used so many of our amazing friends and family to bless us with birthday gifts (beyond expectation!) and continued donations toward our ministry here at The Land...

But the real kicker is this: Picture it with me. (It won't be hard to do since so many of us have traveled this road) Marc and I get married last October. We register at BB&B and REI so we can acquire the type of wedding gifts that one-room cabin-dwelling, traveling couples need. Most of the gifts we receive from REI are for Marc: a hiking backpack, lightweight down sleeping bag, sleeping mat, and a lightweight 3 man tent...all of these things, plus all the other supplies needed to hike and backpack, became ours. We were so excited! I had been on many backpacking ventures with my dear friend, Laura, but Marc hadn't been yet. We could hardly wait till the spring so we could hike the Lost Coast together.

Then...pregnancy. Hey, we're flexible! We're excited. Of course, we'll gladly become parents (a little earlier than we'd planned, like 3 years earlier).

So this summer hits us. My belly is growing an inch a day, I'm eating every 10 minutes and laying down to rest every 20. It becomes apparent that we are not going to be using all that top-notch hiking gear. Not only are we not using it this summer, we're moving to Chicago this winter and we certainly won't be using it to hike around Lake Michigan anytime soon. So, sadly, and after a bit of mourning, Marc decides to return all the unused gear. This was a big deal. It wasn't just about cool stuff we'd gotten for our wedding. It was about huge changes in our lives, in a sense, the loss of freedom and mobility. For a man, giving up his sense of adventure and trading it in for stability and family is a complex and often difficult transition. Now, I KNOW that Marc is absolutely overjoyed at the fact that he is becoming a daddy. It would be worth trading in an entire REI store to hold his little princess for the first time, but I just want to acknowledge his selflessness and love for us girls.

Now, thanks to Marc and the REI return policy, we have a computer and the beginnings of our "moving stash." And that's the real reason why we have a new computer.