How to start?!?!Sitting in the car here with my 4th "teenage driver" in 3 1/2 years and it seems just a blink. Seriously.
Graduated two more from high school (Seth '13, Reuben '15) and one from college. (Mary '15)
Lived 2 1/2 years in what became a war-torn country.
And then retired from 28 yrs of military service. (So proud of and thankful for you Colonel Joey Hickox. Thank you for your service. And thank you for our military life together.) And then it was done.
Moved back to what became to us the "promised land", the "land of milk and honey." And Walmart. And target. And Cosco. 😊
Our homeland. 🇺🇸The land of the free and the brave. Where we can speak English, and read the signs.
And we formally transitioned from cell phone to smart phone. Family plans and SMS. And emojis. And technology which keeps moving at this same break neck pace.
So much change. So fast.
I just couldn't keep up. Such a whirlwind.
Like living in the fast lane. My head was spinning... I was loving the ride but blue-knuckled just barely holding on for the scary nonstop ride.
And so after nearly 9 years overseas, we knew a few things.
We needed time. Time to slow down. To decompress.
Time to adjust to the culture. Our culture. Forever changed by our life experiences and the cultures we'd become a part of over there.
Our youngest two children -home now while their older 3 siblings begin to spread their wings. And they having lived more of their years over there than over here. We felt this to be our biggest move yet. Military to civilian life to boot. And the house of 7 redz changes to a house of 4, sometimes 5 or 6. Rarely 7. Where we actually own a house and quickly went from no cars to 4 cars.
So we committed to 6 months, no commitments.
Some travel. Some sitting. But mostly no stress.
Which brought stress of its own for the tween and teen. But they managed. They are the king and queen of flexibility being military brats, 4th and 5th in birth order.
But I digress.
So slowing down now for a full year. I think I've come full circle. I think I'm ready. To blog again. I've missed it so much. The journaling with pictures. And writing more than a Facebook sentence.
And somewhat like driving with my teen, I'm apprehensive but hopeful. I can do this. Just gonna try to stay out of that fast lane of life that we were in for a little too long. Take it slow. One thing at a time. Enjoy the ride, and maybe even the view while I let the teen drive.
