Breathe In-Breathe Out-Breathe In-Breathe Out

So, you know how they (whoever "they" are) have those lists of the most life-altering events that can happen to a person? Well, check this out: We've hit ten (10) out of the below listed fifteen (15) major life occurrences inside of six months.

-Death of a parent
-Another death of a parent
-Bankruptcy
-Death of a spouse
-School closing
-Switch over to Tridentine rite of Catholicism
-Homeschooling
-Foreclosure
-Home burning down
-Job loss
-Death of a grandparent
-Retirement from career
-Purchase of new home/moving
-Expensive law suit
-Major medical surgery

OK, I threw one in there as a joke. But which one is it? (Those of you who know, be quiet and just play along.) Also, I made one or two of them up just to keep things mysterious.

But seriously, none of this is actually funny. Just pick out ten of the above - any ten - and do the math. We have been stressed to the max, sad, on edge, and confused for months now. At the same time, we've been greatly blessed, been shown how much God loves us, and our whole life has been given the "reset" button, which is exciting - and also scary.

I'll let you know, though, which item above is the most recent and pressing, which is that we're moving into a newly purchased home. We're only going a short distance north from where we live (about a 25 minute drive) into a small suburb in Milwaukee County. We bought a lovely little Cape Cod house with everything that we had on our list (except three bedrooms, heavy sigh) with gorgeous gardens on a parkway near Lake Michigan. The house has charm, personality, built-ins, a much coveted fireplace, a deck, and awesome decorating potential at every turn.

So I hope this blog post explains my absence. I have missed you all and hope the feeling is mutual. I really do plan on getting back to regular daily blogging soon, as I have so much to tell and so many things I have thought deeply about.