Decisions, Decisions

There are decisions, and then there are decisions.

We recently made one of those "just-a-few-times-in-a-liftetime" decisions.

It was a tough one. The process took seven months. It involved many sleepless nights and hours of analytical discussion. It took up most of our "mental space." It involved a whole lot of fasting and prayer--followed by more discussion and soul-searching. And research. And phone calls. And hope and disappointment. And it involved many trips to various destinations.

We have spent the last twelve-plus years of our married life working toward this eventual decision, and finally, it was upon us. And it wasn't as straightforward as we thought.

This decision involved Brian's job choice, but in a greater way, it also involved his entire career path. More than once, he called the process his mid-life crisis.

Fortunately, we knew that from an eternal perspective, whatever decision we made would be just fine--but we also saw many significant day-to-day implications--that would span much of the rest of our lives--involved in whatever course we pursued. There were so very many ramifications to consider.

The job search spanned the country:

Oregon

Washington

Colorado

Utah

Idaho

Arizona

Texas

Minnesota

Michigan

Missouri

Mississippi

Indiana

Florida

North Carolina

Virginia

Maryland

Pennsylvania

In a several of those states, we considered multiple possibilities. And, in a tough economy, we felt oh-so fortunate that we did have choices.

In the end, in the final weeks of our agonizing decision-making process, the answer was pretty clear--but it took us a while to recognize it and to accept it as right. (And it also involved a couple more trips!) In the end, we turned away from a place we loved and chose a place we aren't quite so sure about. But we know it's the right job & place for us at this point, and since making the decision a month ago, we've been moving forward ever since.

And we've been sleeping better than ever.

*For security reasons, I'm not going to post where we're headed here. But if you don't already know, leave a comment and I will email you.

Mill City Museum, Take Two

I went to the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis last fall with my parents, but the second time around, I went with my kiddos and Brian. The Museum is housed in the (renovated) old Gold Medal Flour mill, which was destroyed by fire in the 1990s.

The kids loved it--and learned a lot, too. There are some hands-on areas for younger children, where they can learn about logging and milling all along the Mississippi.

These pictures below were taken on the outside balcony of the museum's fourth floor, overlooking the Mississippi, facing St. Paul across the river.

Emma and Clara. Behind them is one of the many bridges connecting the Twin Cities. You can also see a little bit of the Stone Arch Bridge.

This picture gives a good view of the Stone Arch Bridge, built by railroad tycoon James J. Hill. This famous bridge transported the flour from the mills, beginning its journey to various destinations nationwide, and it is now a pedestrian bridge. On the far left you can barely make out Saint Anthony Falls, a natural waterfall that generated power for the four mills and around which Minneapolis was built.

Church Activity

One for the memory books...

It was supposed to be a tranquil one-hour activity with myself and four girls, age 8-12, from my church congregation. Everything was prepared and ready, and I was sitting by the window, waiting for the girls to arrive.

Three of my children (#2, 3, & 5) were running through the house, sporting flowing dress up capes and brandishing plastic light sabers, when--at the same exact same moment--two sounds were heard.

Ding dong. And shattering glass.

I ran to the door, flung it open to find a cute eight-year-old, and I told her, "Disaster. Wait on the couch."

And then I ran to the kitchen to see the remnants of a Corelle plate in 1,000 minuscule pieces, scattered across the kitchen floor.

The child-at-fault was reprimanded and sent to a quiet room. The other children, including the guests from church, were sent upstairs.

For twenty minutes, I swept and mopped and mopped some more, until I was satisfied with the glass cleanup.

I was about to start the activity when I discovered another of my children, Child #4, in the bathroom. She had successfully done her business in the potty and decided also to do the cleanup herself.

Her "cleanup job" was now down her legs, all over her hands, and all over the toilet, sink, and floor. A large mass of baby wipes was also in the toilet bowl.

Said child received a bath.

The bathroom received a scrubbing.

And forty-five minutes into our one-hour activity, we finally started.

Catching Up

We've had a few things going on in the last six weeks--huge things that have occupied our spare time and mental space, and which I will post about soon.

I want to give a general update. Unfortunately, a miscommunication between my hubby, myself, and my camera resulted in the deletion of a month's worth of pictures...after a month when I really made an effort to take a lot of pictures. Blast.

The month of March consisted of several fun events, and our calendar was packed with the normal routine of daily life.

One noteworthy happening was my mom's weeklong visit from Virginia. (Coming back soon, Mom? We miss you!)

Another event was a delightful lunch at the American Girl store's Bistro to celebrate Emma's birthday. The girls missed school for this fun Mommy-daughter date, and it was fabulous. But alas, my cute pictures from that day have vanished.

Nathan started indoor soccer. We celebrated Brian's birthday. Emma took the American Red Cross babysitting course and also had her first "outside the family" babysitting job. Brian's parents and sister came for a brief-but-wonderful visit during the first week of April. Clara had yet another case of strep throat.

And...around the second week of March...the snow started to melt. The state of Minnesota became one giant puddle, as the snow melted during the day and the puddles froze into ice skating rinks at night. The rivers and lakes flooded. For the first time in my life, I bought or borrowed rubber boots for all the kids. They saved us.

It took three weeks, and the snow--including a six-foot mountain by our garage--was finally--finally!--gone. Now, there are little shoots of green peeking up through the masses of decayed foliage. I feel the urge to clean out, scrub down, and wipe clean everything in my midst. (I never really understood the concept of spring cleaning until we lived here.)

Winter isn't over yet. We got snow last week, although it quickly melted, and several more inches are expected in the next few days.

That's the general update. More to come soon!