Venturing out

      Our second day in Guam, we decided to go check out the Navy Base.  As I was getting directions from the concierge, I looked up to see one of our new friends that had met us at the airport.  She had come to invite us to attend the new church she and her husband were starting.  We chatted with her for quite a while, and she offered to show us around the island on Friday.  Then we headed out.           
      Driving in Guam was very easy and much like driving in the US.  I stopped to get gas and a young Chamorro gal came up to the window and offered to pump the gas for me--"It's included in the price," she said.  Nice!  We talked briefly about Guam and how we'd just moved here and she sent us on our way.   We get to the base by driving on Marine Corps drive right along the water most of the way.  The ocean is less than 20 feet from the road.  What a treat!

      Our first stop was Lance's office, which looked to be brand new and sat on the top of a hill.  He tells me it used to be a school building and has recently been completely renovated.  After we picked him up, we continued on in the same direction and discovered the most incredible views less than a minute past his office.  Wow!  It took 12 photos (4 panoramic shots) to capture the scene.

The mountains we see on the Navy base

Views on base

"I lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help"

Views on base

Views on base

On base

The view about 1 minute's drive from Lance's office

Driving down the hill from his office

Lance's office

The first of 4 panoramic shots

Shot #2 moving from left to right

Shot #3--it just keeps going and going

Shot #4--paste them all together and you'll see what we saw.  Wow!

     We headed to the base and saw beautiful blue sea and majestic mountains.  Tried to get all of our ID's made.  Succeeded with the kids but could not get mine.  They need to see a valid marriage license in order to issue me an ID.  What is it with that sneaky marriage license?  On our wedding day 17 years ago, we forgot to get the preacher to sign it.  Six months later (we must have needed it for something official) we discovered it wasn't signed and took it back to him for his signature.  He laughed and told us we'd been living in sin for 6 months!   Now where did we put that all-important document?  Can't they tell by looking at us that we're an old married couple? 
      After dropping Lance back at work, we went to check out the commissary and the new gym.  I had just been reading about the harmful effects of chlorine on the body a day or 2 before coming to Guam.  Since I enjoy swimming laps several times a week, I was fretting about swimming in all that chlorine.  Upon arriving in Guam, I learned from a new friend at the airport that the new swimming pool on base is a saltwater pool!  Another love note from God to me!
      While walking through the gym, I spotted a lady that looked really familiar and realized it was one of my Facebook friends whom I had never met.  She recognized me right away, too, and we hugged.  Then we stood and talked for 20 minutes like old friends.  After saying our good-byes, I headed off to take a quick glance at the pool before picking up Lance and ran into another Facebook friend that I recognized but had never met.  Chatted with her for a little while, too.  So neat!  I love Facebook!

Our first day on Guam

The view from our rooms at the Hilton--the Waikiki of Guam

Views from the balcony--Tumon Bay and the Philippine Sea with Two Lovers' Point jutting out into the sea

The largest pool at the Hilton

Panoramic view from our balcony

Slippin' and slidin'

The three musketeers!

The amazing workout room at the Hilton

The view from my treadmill

Another treadmill view

  Our first days in Guam were nice and relaxing.  We checked into the Hilton to two very nice rooms--with twin beds (?)  I think they offer that or to push them together to form a king.  Our rooms had balconies that looked right out over the pools and the Philippine Sea--a perfect vantage point for viewing the sunrise each morning.  After unloading our bags in the rooms, we headed downstairs for a look around, starting at the outdoor restaurant where they were in the midst of a free show.  We watched lots of Island dancers doing variations of the hula and the poor Asian tourists they had dragged up on stage to dance with them ("Just do what I do" are their instructions--yeah, right).  Very entertaining.  Then we took a break to check out the pools and water slide.  Came back to watch a little fire dancing.  We headed inside to discover a 24 hour cafe that served sandwiches, salads, scoopable ice cream, desserts, pastries and coffee drinks.  There were also several other restaurants, a gift shop, and business center.
   I started our first day with a workout in the fitness room or rooms, I should say--I had never seen such a workout facility in a hotel before.  It was huge!  Spinning cycles, recumbent bikes, a full set of weight machines, treadmills, ellipticals, TVs, a lounge, even a room for exercise classes.  So nice!  And it all looked out over the bay to Two Lovers' Point.  I decided then to splurge that first day and get the breakfast buffet, which would cost us over $60 for just me and the kids!  I had never even considered paying that for breakfast before.  The buffet was amazing--cereals, yogurt, a raw nut bar, salad bar, smoked salmon with toppings, lunch meats and cheeses, breads and pastries, miso soup, steamed rice, two types of dumplings, grilled salmon, mackerel, hash browns, bacon and sausage, fried fish, pancakes, french toast, waffles, strawberry and blueberry compote, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and creme anglaise for the bread pudding, steamed broccoli, Japanese and Korean favorites I didn't recognize, fresh melon and pineapple and canned fruit, juices, milk, water, coffee and tea.  We had some challenges that day with customer service, but I'll write about that in another post.
        After we'd each eaten enough for 3 people, we headed up to the room to dress for swimming.  Spent most of the day at the slide--the children must have come down it 100 times that first day.  They absolutely loved it.  On one of those times down the slide, Samuel decided to stop and stand up midway down.  Having zoomed down several times myself, I have no idea how he was able to do that.  Luke was headed down just behind him and, you guessed it, ran right into him with Luke's eyebrow colliding with Sam's knee.  Luke complained about it a little at the time, but I wasn't too concerned.  When he mentioned it an hour or so later, I looked to see a goose egg the size of a large walnut growing on his eyebrow.  I quickly checked his eye for signs of trauma--thankfully there were none.  Got a bag of ice from the poolside restaurant and had two lifeguards check him out.  We would watch for signs of a concussion and wait for the black eye to develop.

A Welcome Surprise

  Finished the last of our first bag of Chamorro chip cookies tonight and figured it was high time I start blogging about Guam before I forget all my first impressions.  The flight to Guam from Hawaii was long but easy--they fed us not only lunch (which we were expecting) but then ice cream and a couple of hours later, dinner.  The kids spent the trip eating, watching movies, and sleeping.  They are great travelers.  I thought back to how I felt on that last leg of our trip to Hawaii and how hard the last 90 minutes were for me--I was so restless and bored and my knees ached after being on planes for over 12 hours.  Can't imagine how a tall person survives long-distance travel!  Anyway, I was feeling so thankful that we decided to split up our trip and spend a week in Honolulu.  By the time we arrived in Guam, I was tired but ready to move on to the next phase in our adventure.  I had no idea of the surprise that awaited us at the airport in Guam.  First, there was an older lady at the baggage carousel (a traveler like ourselves) who helped pull our 10 suitcases off the belt.  She told us about the death of Osama bin Laden and that she worked at a wildlife refuge on Guam--come visit her there.  So friendly.  Then, we went through customs and just on the other side were two, yes TWO welcoming committees.  We were immediately lei'd with gorgeous purple flowers and given gift bags for the children from the group on the right (Lance's new colleagues) and simultaneously greeted by a group of ladies on the left sent by my good friend, Dawn (who used to live on Guam and contacted her friends here to get them to meet us at the airport).  They also came bearing gifts--the Chamorro chip cookies that I finished just tonight.  Everyone was so nice and we were completely overwhelmed by everyone's friendly and welcoming spirits and that they would drop everything to meet people they didn't even know at the airport.  It was all I could do not to weep, and I still get emotional when I think about it.  I was so surprised and wowed that it didn't even occur to me to get a picture of us and the group!  Can't believe that--may have to take mug shots of each person that was there to put in my scrapbook.  We talked and talked in the parking lot like long-lost friends until finally we had to call it quits.  Lance's colleagues had brought a 15 passenger van to transport our luggage and an SUV to transport us to the hotel.  Then came my next surprise.  Our hotel on the beach was less than 10 minutes away.

Hawaii

Beach near our hotel with view of Diamond Head

First day at the beach in Waikiki

Vacation friends from California--Lillianna and Calvin

The kids with my friend, Carol Rowles, after a yummy lunch

Sea turtle coming ashore

Luke helps the turtle guard rope off a safe area

Samoan climbing coconut tree--Chicka chicka boom boom!

Learning to dance the hula

Kids with the fire dancers

African Penguins at the Hilton Hawaiian village

More penguins

Hanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay

The mountain from Lost

  Our time in Hawaii was wonderful.  We stayed at the beautiful Embassy Suites in Waikiki, just a couple of blocks from the Hale Koa, the fabulous military hotel there, and the Hilton Hawaiian Village, which looks like a Japanese City, filled with hundreds of shops and restaurants, as well as really cool animals--penguins, flamingos, brightly colored tropical birds, and sacred ibises.  They had a wonderful breakfast buffet for us every morning, which included miso soup, rice with furikake (a yummy seaweed seasoning to sprinkle on the rice), and a salad bar.  Who ever heard of eating soup and salad for breakfast?!  I tried it, though, and found I really liked it and after a few days, it didn't seem so strange at all.  Many of the guests at the hotel were Japanese.  The kids made friends with the other guests and always seemed to have someone to play with.
   Our first day, we all began waking up around 3 a.m.  I finally got up at 5:15 and went to work out.  We met for breakfast at 6:30, and then the kids played around the pool for an hour or so with Lillianna and Calvin, some new friends they had made at breakfast.  A little later, we headed to the beach to swim and found it quite rocky for wading.  The boys still enjoyed the water and Sarah Kate played in the sand.  After an hour or so, I took the kids down to the Hale Koa to see the hotel where Lance, Samuel and I had spent 9 days when Sam was 7 months old.  Up until this point, he was certain that he remembered the trip, but upon seeing the hotel, realized he didn't remember it at all.  Headed back to our hotel, grabbing some subs on the way and spent the rest of the afternoon at the beautiful rooftop pool.  Went back to the room for afternoon naps, since we'd been awake for 12 hours by that point.  It was nearly impossible to waken the children for dinner and they were all grumpy and wanting to sleep instead.  We finally managed to rouse them and headed to the manager's reception (complimentary appetizers and drinks) followed by dinner at an oceanfront restaurant where you grill your own meat.  That night I called my former neighbor, Carol, whom I hadn't seen in 10 years but now lives on O'ahu.  Made plans to meet her the next day for lunch and shopping.  She wanted to take us to the beach, but the kids had gotten burned that day and we wanted to keep them out of the sun.
     Started the day around 4 a.m. with another early morning workout and counting the minutes until we could go to breakfast.  After stuffing ourselves again and some more playtime around the pool, we headed to the Hilton Hawaiian village to see the penguins and the flamingos.  Met Carol for lunch and headed to the Cheesecake Factory.  She had told me they had the normal menu offerings as well as some great local seafood options.  Being a fan of both seafood and eating local, I was excited to see what they had.  The two options (market price) sounded fabulous, but when I heard they were each $24.95, I said, "Oh, I don't think I want them that much," to which she responded, "Oh, this is my treat, so please order whatever you'd like."  Wow!  How cool!  So I ordered one of the fish dishes--sesame seared ahi tuna over noodles in a sweet hoisin ginger sauce and she ordered the other one--macadamia encrusted ono served with rice.  Carol knew that each fish dish came with 2 pieces of fish and suggested we get both dishes and split them.  So we asked our server to please make one piece of the tuna medium and one piece rare.  Instead of mixed veggies, she wanted just asparagus, and she asked for a whole plate full of lemon and lime slices and a tall glass of ice to go with her San Pellegrino sparkling water.  Finally, someone as high-maintenance as I am.  When I mentioned that, she said she thought she was more high maintenance than I, which is probably right, since Mr. Low Maintenance has really done a number on me.   Luke got his favorite--BBQ chicken pizza with caesar salad, and the other 2 got kids' meals.  We ended our delicious lunch with some cheesecake--chocolate peanut butter for Luke and Sarah Kate and Mango Key Lime (another Hawaiian offering) for Samuel and me.  We ended our afternoon with a little shopping at the International market, where vendors sell lots of jewelry and Hawaiian trinkets.  I was amazed how much Waikiki had changed in the 7 years since I had been there.  There were so many more shops and restaurants than I remembered.  That evening we headed to dinner at Puka Dogs, a Hawaiian sausage/hot dog shop, where you choose your sausage--mild, spicy, hot or super hot, your mustard--I got lilikoi (mustard with passion fruit), and your salsa topping--I think I got mango papaya.  It was delicious except that we were still full from lunch and the kids were about to fall asleep again.
   The next day was Lance's first day off, and the kids slept in until 5!  Woohoo!  We had heard about a beach where we could see some sea turtles, so we headed out to Laniakea Beach on the North Shore to try to see some.  We did see some in the surf, and the boys swam near some of them.  Finally one came ashore and Luke held the rope to block off a safe area for him to be.  It was really cool.  I started getting hungry and decided to head off to find some lunch for us all.  The concierge had told us we'd see shrimp trucks all along the road and to look for Mackey's, which I did.  Well, it was $12/plate, so I decided to find something else.  I stopped at a place in Hale'iwa called Killer Tacos (or something like that) and ordered some burritos--they had a variety of wraps to put them on--flour, whole wheat, spinach and sundried tomato.  I got 2 pulled chicken ones and one fish one (fried mahi) and 2 chicken quesadillas for the little ones.  When I got to the cash register and pulled out my credit card, the cashier said, "Oh, it's cash only."  Huh?!  "Was there a sign?" I asked.  She said yes and pointed to a very small sign by the menu board. Of course, I didn't have enough cash and didn't realize Lance's wallet was in the car, so I spent the next 20 minutes driving around searching for an ATM, which I finally found.  So after my hourlong lunch run, I was finally back at the beach.  We all ate our food, which was, in fact, killer, while sitting on rocks on the beach and headed back to the car.  I had talked to Carol on the way, who told me about a fabulous little ice cream shop in Hale'iwa where we could get some homemade ice cream in unusual Hawaiian flavors.  We found it and ordered chocolate macadamia nut and lilikoi (passion fruit) cheesecake.  Yummy!  Headed back to the hotel to get ready for our Luau at the Hale Koa hotel.
    The Luau started with drinks and a show on the lawn.  We watched a Samoan guy tie a rope around his ankles and literally hop up the trunk of a coconut tree.  I kept thinking, "A told B and B told C, I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree.  Chicka chicka boom boom.  Will there be enough room?"  Then, some ladies taught us how to make a dress out of a piece of fabric, using folds, knots, and special ways of wrapping the fabric around the body.  Next, came our hula lesson--Luke, Sarah Kate, and I did our best to learn the moves.  Then, they showed us the pig wrapped in banana leaves that had been roasting all day in the underground pit.  We headed into the covered dining area to find our table and were each served appetizers--lomi lomi salmon (which I thought was pico de gallo--what looked like underripe tomatoes were actually bits of diced salmon), poi (a sour yogurt-like dish made with blue sweet potatoes that we were supposed to eat with our fingers) and some other Hawaiian specialties.  We had booked our tickets late, so our table was in the back.  Then came a plate with a good 16 oz. of meat on it--pulled pork, teriyaki beef skewer, baked chicken thigh, and a piece of fish, rice, a slice of yellow sweet potato, and a fried banana.  During dinner, some of the performers sang some Hawaiian songs.  We were stuffed by the time the dessert came out--coconut cake, and coconut custard, plus chocolate cupcakes for the kids.  While waiting for the real show to begin, the kids ran around on the lawn near our table.
     When the show started, they came back in and headed toward the front to sit on a wall so they could see better.  They had all three been there watching the dinner show.  When I went to check on them a few minutes into the show, the boys were there but Sarah Kate was not.  They hadn't seen her, they said, so Lance and I began to look for her.  I headed down toward the tables in front, trying not to block anyone's view, to see if she had gone down there but did not see her anywhere.  We alerted security and asked them to please make an announcement between acts.  Two sweet Hawaiian children, whose parents were in the show, joined us in our hunt.  The girl began calling me "auntie."  We spent the next 30 minutes looking and praying and worrying until finally they made an announcement.  As the MC said her name and described her outfit, she stood up down in front and began walking toward me.  Praise God!  She had been found.  She had been playing out in the grass and made some new little girlfriends, one of whom had seats down front, with an empty chair just for her!  So Sarah had front row seats and had been enjoying the show.  Thankfully, the boys got to see the whole show.  Lance and I had seen it before 7 years ago, so it was okay that we missed most of it.  We got to see the best part, though, which was the fire dancing.  The boys were completely enthralled as they watched a 17-year-old and then a 10-year-old balance a flaming baton on the soles of their feet and twirl it like a regular baton, tossing it in the air and catching it again.  Both of the young fire dancers were world-champions in their age group.  The kids got a photo with them after the show.
   The next day, we headed to the Hilton Hawaiian Village around 8 to get a good look at the penguins.  I had been going there every day around 6 a.m. and had been seeing 9 or 10 penguins, but when I had taken the kids there before around 10 a.m., we'd only seen one penguin.  It was perfect timing and we spent 30 minutes watching the penguins swim and frolick in the water.  It was great fun.  Then, we headed to the base to meet Carol again and go to her favorite beach.  It poured down rain the first part of the day, so Carol and I sat in a cabana and chatted about health and nutrition while Lance rented a kayak and took the kids out on it with him.  It was finally my turn to go, and it had stopped raining.  He kept trying to teach me how to row the boat, but I finally decided I really didn't care to know how to do it right and let him do the rowing.  Went to a little beachside restaurant for lunch, where they had a Hawaiian buffet--pork BBQ, poke (rare fish), another type of fish, beef, salad bar, rice, pineapple.  It was delicious.  We had planned to go see the fireworks at the Hilton Hawaiian Village that night, but Carol invited us to come to a pu pu party (appetizer party) with the folks on her street that evening.  We decided to do that, forgetting that we'd spend 2 hours in traffic to do so--1 hour back to the hotel to get washed up and change and one hour back to her house on the base.  The traffic in Honolulu is a nightmare (kinda like DC) where it takes you an hour to go 10-15 miles.  Lance and I hung out, met some folks, ate some pu pu while the kids played and played and played.  Headed back for a good night's sleep.
    We decided to spend our last day snorkeling at Hanauma Bay.  Headed out there and marveled at the beauty of that place.  Rented our equipment and waded in.  Sarah Kate didn't like it at all--mask didn't fit and she seemed afraid to try it, so we took turns, Lance and I, taking the boys out while Sarah built sand castles and played in the water.  Saw some neat fish but got a little nervous swimming over the coral reef, as there was less than a foot between it and my belly, and I had heard it was really easy to get an infection if you got scratched.  We enjoyed watching the fish and then headed out for a late lunch at Subway.  Decided to go for a drive around the southern end of O'ahu and saw some incredible mountains, including the green one from the TV show Lost that looked like God had taken his fingers in pulled them down the sides of the mountain, forming deep grooves as He did so.  Stopped at the Pali lookout and the Blowhole, where whales come in the wintertime and water shoots spray up through a hole in the rock, making it look like a whale shooting water.
   While on our way back to Waikiki, we stopped at a farmer's market where a vendor was selling lobster tails from New Zealand.  We found out we could get another vendor to cook them for us.  While the kids and I showered, Lance and Sam headed out to get the lobster and some tropical fruit.  We took our food down to the manager's reception area and found not only appetizers and drinks but a show going on.  We watched children and adults dressed in traditional costume do a variety of Hawaiian dances for us.  It was lots of fun.  The boys got to try out the percussion sticks at the end as well as blowing the conch shell horn.  A wonderful way to end our Hawaiian vacation!

Love notes from God

      Once we made the decision to embark on this adventure, I began looking for evidence of God's presence and leading.  I found it almost immediately a few days after we decided to head to Guam.  I was sitting in Sunday school and the leader passed around little pieces of paper with verses written on them for each of us to read to the class.  When I read mine, I almost started to cry as I was touched that the Lord would speak to me so personally to confirm that we had made the right decision.  It was this:  James 4:13-15-- Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”  Wow!  We had been thinking that "tomorrow" we would go to Italy, spend a few years there, carry on business and make money.  But He was clearly steering us in a different direction.  It was sweet relief to have this confirmation that He was in charge and had determined our path. 
    My next love note came as we began to look for someone to rent our home.  I was pretty nervous about having to keep it ready to show all the time and on a moment's notice.  We were frantically working to get repairs and improvements done--painting, laying a new kitchen floor, putting up blinds, hanging a ceiling fan, when we got the call that someone wanted to come see the house.  As I raced around trying to clean, organize, purge, and put away tools from the almost-finished projects, I thought, "This is way too much work.  I don't think I can do this repeatedly."  Shortly after showing the house to 2 families on the same day, we got word that the first family to see it wanted to rent it.  They were willing to give 2 month's rent up front, to find a temporary place to live for 2 months, and they were interested in possibly buying the house.  Another confirmation that God was in the details.
     Once we knew we were moving, I began looking for a home for our outdoor cat, Simon, the one that came with the house.  Over Christmas while we were out of town, it had snowed A LOT, his bed got wet and he had slept in his litter box which was on the front porch.  So we had bathed him and learned he was very docile and laid-back.  He meowed a few times to express his displeasure, but never put his claws out or tried to bite us.  Once bathed, it took him days to dry, so we let him stay in the bathroom.  While there asleep, he was attacked by a visiting dog, receiving a deep puncture wound to the neck, which necessitated a much longer stay in the house.  He really was a good kitty, staying on the floor and off the furniture, counters, tables, and fridge.  I had thought all cats jumped up on those things.  Anyway, we all became quite attached to him during this time and considered taking him with us to Guam.  We discovered it would cost us about $3000 to take him, a cost we were not willing to undertake.  I had jokingly mentioned to our renters that we had a cat that comes with the house--any chance they'd take care of him for us?  They laughed and said they might (even though they have 2 dogs).  Later, I asked my real estate agent to ask them about it.  They said they would take care of the cat for us.  Unbelievable!
    I received my next note during a shopping trip, looking for a table cloth for our bedroom.  I had found a beautiful tropical print duvet cover that was white with robin's egg blue flowers on it and was looking for 2 tablecloths to go on the small round bedside tables.  I had looked all over town for those, finally finding some at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  I looked at all the ones they had and was disappointed to see that the only thing that would work was a solid white one.  I continued to look at other stores but found nothing.  So I headed to a different BB&B to pick up the white ones I had seen.  As I crossed the parking lot, I prayed, "Lord, I don't want white tablecloths.  Could you please provide some robin's egg blue ones to go with my new duvet cover?"  I kind of laughed as I prayed it, thinking, "I know I'll have to get white ones, but what could it hurt to pray for what I really want?"  I walked quickly into the store to the tablecloth section and began scanning the high shelves where they display all the options on the tables.  I saw the white tablecloths but no blue.  Bummer!  As I looked on the lower shelves to find the right size white one, I saw a robin's egg blue napkin out of the corner of my eye.  Then I spotted a robin's egg blue placemat.  Then I saw they actually had tablecloths that color to go with them.  I just knew they'd have the size I needed since I could see God was answering my prayer.  I was so excited that I told the salesclerk, "I know it's here somewhere!  It's just gotta be!"  And sure enough, there was one the size I needed all the way in the back.  I asked him, "Now why isn't this color on display like all the other ones are?"  He said, "Oh, it is--it's just hidden behind this sign."  And, there, just above the blue tablecloths was a table on display hidden behind the sign.  It was as if God had thrown me a surprise party and had hidden behind the sign to watch me discover His goodness and His love for me.  As I checked out at the register, I told the cashier my story.  She said, "That was luck!"  I let her know that it was NOT luck at all but my God saying, "I love you" to me.  He is truly "El Roi," the God who sees me!
   My next love note came the day the first packer arrived to assess our goods.  She was very confident and reassuring and let me know that it would be her and one other lady who would pack the house and maybe one man.  I had heard my house would be full of people packing us up and wondered how I would ever be able to oversee all that everyone was doing.  What a relief!  I could manage 2 or 3 people.  Plus it wouldn't happen so fast, which would give me more time to work as they worked.  The day they arrived to begin, I was really worried.  I wasn't as ready as I wanted to be and said, "I hope you will give me grace today--I'm doing the best I can."  The woman in charge said, "No worries.  No stress.  We're here to help YOU--we are working for you."  That put my mind at ease, but I knew the Lord was there when I walked into my kitchen and heard the man that had come singing, "Here I am to worship..."  Turns out he was a preacher who packs on the side.  How about that?!
   

Moving, an answer to prayer?

I've been praying for years that the Lord would bring order and organization to my home.  As I do what is necessary to move overseas, I find that I am forced to go through all the stuff that we've accumulated over the past 16 years.  We've been purging, purging, purging.  It's freeing getting rid of stuff that doesn't mean anything to us but is just taking up space.  It's so easy to avoid it when you have a large home with lots of storage.  We'll be going from a 6 bedroom, 3300 sq. ft. home here to a 3-4 bedroom home with 1350-1500 square feet in Guam.  You have to be very choosy when deciding what to take to a place that size.  I can't help but wonder if this is God's answer--I hope and pray that He will use this move to bring that order and organization that I crave and that living in a very small home will force all of us to be more diligent about keeping things in order and getting rid of clutter regularly.

Scrapbooking for the last time

I went scrapbooking at the scrapbook store shortly after my last post.  I try to go there at least 1 Friday a month, where I can work on my books uninterrupted from 10 a.m. until midnight.  I usually meet my friends there, but none of them could come that day.  I had heard the store was closing but hadn't really thought much about how it would feel to be there.  When I walked in, I suddenly felt so sad.  The store was very empty with much of the stock sold--empty shelves, blank walls.  There were some ladies there that I knew.  They come there every Friday.  They were taking pictures together and going out to dinner just in case it was their last time to scrapbook together there.  It made me think of all the goodbyes coming up for us.  Made me want to document in pictures all the normal things we do regularly--music lessons, ballet and tumbling, neighborhood Bunco, hanging out with friends.  All the things I don't normally photograph because there is nothing particularly "special" about them.  While they aren't "events," they bring meaning and order and structure to our days.  I need to photograph the time we spend with all the special people in our lives that we see regularly.  For one day soon we won't see those people so much anymore, and those "everyday" activities that we used to take for granted will go from being a part of our present to a part of our history.