I am ok…so no worries! I am more than ok…life is wonderful! But life is busy. Blogging is not my first priority when life gets busy…so sometimes this blog will be silent for longer periods of time. After we got home from Colorado, I flew to Scottsdale, AZ for a week on business. I am also busy planning an annual meeting for my work along with my other daily work for my parents (I work from home for them for those of you that don’t know), as well as a birthday party for a certain 5 year old princess (which took place today). Add 33 weeks of pregnancy to that, and I don’t have energy for much else.

But I can assure you that there are new posts coming! I have several fun giveaways planned and posts on topics that I know a lot of you are interested in. And just so you know that I am alive…I’ve included a “hot off the presses” photo for you. Taken today at Bella’s party!

Stay tuned…thanks for your patience and for hanging in here with me!

We are finally settled in Bozeman, and now we’re off traveling again for 6 weeks! We’ve been in Des Moines for the past 2 weeks doing some work for my parents and now we’re heading to Boulder, CO for Matt to work on a construction project with my brother. We’ll be back home around March 15 or a little after.  I’ve been to several playgroups and a knitting circle (see above photo….and no, I don’t knit…but had fun watching!)…and have had great conversation over Thai food with many friends (Bozeman has none…so I’m in heaven).

While we’ve been back, I’ve also been to a prenatal yoga class at The Family Tree (the “famous” Sandi Hoover was out of town, but Birdie did a great job filling in), had the most AMAZING massage by Maggie McGinnis…prenatal massage extraordinaire, and had an adjustment with the lovely Dr. Jen at Balanced Life Chiropractic (she offered to adjust us for free when we were on tour and I just now took her up on it…thanks Jen!!).

And now we’re looking forward to the next leg of our trip.  If you live in the Boulder area, let me know if there is fun stuff happening. We’ll be staying with some of our very best friends in Lafayette for the first 2 weeks (yay!), but will be in a rental in Boulder for the last 2 weeks.

Click here to see photos of our time in Des Moines.

For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven. –Ecclesiastes 3:1

Here it is…the long-awaited “real” update on what we are up to. In October, I announced that we were going to be parked for awhile in Bozeman. We love Bozeman and all it offers, and we are delighted at being here. Planting roots feels really, really good after being on the road for 18 months. We have loved every minute of it…and wouldn’t give that time back for anything. But it was for a season…and now it’s time for a new season. Learning that we were going to have another baby was a great motivator to settle down, of course, but even when I was 8 weeks along, we still had plans to continue traveling until the spring.  But by then, I was really having a hard time traveling with nausea and all the joys that the first trimester brings (side note: tummy photo at 15 weeks here).

For some of you, our decision to move back to Bozeman may seem like it was made in an instant, but in reality, it was pondered over since we left here in July of 2007. When people around the country would ask us where we would eventually settle down, our answer never strayed from “Bozeman, of course!”.  We left our hearts in Montana, and we knew God had put that in us for a reason.

So, after arranging for a place to park (and live in) the RV in Bozeman through several God-aligned circumstances, we made the long trek West. Our hearts were instantly at peace when we arrived on Oct. 17…and they still are. We have jumped right back into our church…Matt is playing on the worship team, I am co-leading a Beth Moore study, and we are helping with the small group ministry. And of course, we have frequented our favorite local restaurants and coffee shops that we missed so dearly!

We quickly realized that living in a parked RV is a bit more challenging than living in a moving one ☺ You don’t have the built-in requirement of cleaning from top to bottom every 3 days so you can drive away, so things tend to pile up and the walls begin to close in. Combine that with the fact that I was really sick during the first 12 weeks of my pregnancy (and not physically able to clean all day, etc), and it’s a recipe for insanity. We had originally planned to stay in the RV until a month before the baby was born, but plans change.

After several weeks of searching, we found an adorable little house close to downtown…just ½ block from our favorite park.  It also happens to be 3 doors down from a neat family that we hung out with a little bit when we last lived here. We moved in on the 1st of December and have met the neighbors just to the south…and get this, she wants to do “city chickens” with me in the spring Yay! We’re going to combine a part of our backyard to make a chicken run/coop. Oh. My. Goodness. Giddy I am, I tell ya. I’ve always wanted chickens…for fresh eggs, to watch their antics, and to teach Bella about them! Turns out there are several other families in our neighborhood with chickens. I love these people!

The owner has agreed to let us replace all of the flooring and paint all the walls, at her expense (it was VERY worn). That might seem like a nightmare to some, but for those of you who have been around this blog for awhile, you know we love it and we’re up to the challenge ☺ We started the remodel as soon as we moved in and we love it so far. We’ll be able to make it our own little home…one that we are planning on staying in for awhile! There is a wood burning stove in the living room, open floor plan, and 2 BR. Even though it’s a freestanding house (not duplex/apt), it’s still just over 800 square feet. With a little garden plot and shed in the backyard, it’s the perfect size for our family. And yes…I will, of course, be posting before and after photos of the inside. But it won’t be for a few months I would guess.

As for the RV, it’s going on to a new owner who will love and cherish it just like we did ☺. We are in the final phases of selling it to a wonderful couple who will use it for their own kind of tour. I’ll be sure to share more details on that later. We have also sold our little veggie car (it did not like to start up in the Montana cold!) and we’re now the owners of a used minivan. I could not be happier. I love that thing!

Matt is starting his own handyman business, and is also snow plowing this winter. I will continue to work for my parents from home (helping to run the administrative side of their business) and will be doing some photography as well.

We are just thrilled to be here…every morning when we wake up, Matt and I look at each other and smile…so content and ready for change. We’re looking forward to meeting new friends, spending time with family, and establishing a consistent rhythm of life. Bella is super excited to start taking gymnastics and figure skating lessons…and to go to library story time twice a week. But most importantly, she has what she has often asked for…”a house without wheels”.

We will not soon forget all of the talented, amazing people we met during our life on the road. We still keep in touch with so many of you daily and we are forever changed by the special moments we shared. We feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to see our country and enjoy the freedom of travel. But now…our hearts are aching to plug into a community and settle down. For everything there is a season…and we’re looking forward with hopeful anticipation to see what God has planned for us here.