My First Blog Post... some of who I am... my life and how we got here!

Today is a very important day... is what I want to tell myself every day. As I am now 44 years of age and finally realize that it all starts right now...whatever... and it never ends. I'm trying to live a bit less of a life of trying and more of a life of doing though. I'm excited but many times disappointed. Old habits die hard... the ones I want to change. I have 4 kids (sometimes 5) as I am a foster parent. Tim and I have 2 biological daughters and we adopted the most wonderful little boy last October through foster care. Shortly after I had our first child my mother said to me "you were made for this!" I didn't feel it was totally true since motherhood has not come easy but I do know being married to Tim and being a mother is what I have wanted most of my life. The other few years I don't remember as I was in the cradle. Seriously I remember being in love with the idea of motherhood most of my life. Marriage was a mystery to me since I wasn't surrounded by loving marriages in my younger years. I seemed they were all pretty awful and several of my parents friends divorced. But as I grew into my pre-teen years Cinderella was my role model (although I don't know she ever had kids?) I remember thinking prince charming was out there. Well he was for me Thank God! I found my prince.

Okay... enough about that. We moved to Pennsylvania just year and a half ago minus 2 weeks. The transition was smooth. It was one of those moves that even though it took us 4 years to really make the decision to move and where we were going (another part of AZ? New Mexico? Florida? or Pennsylvania) and Tim had time to get a job once we decided to move to PA we still had a concern if this was the right place to be? We knew we had to leave what was then our home but we were just uncertain about taking this leap of faith. It was indeed a leap of faith. We visited Pennsylvania with the decision to look at jobs, homes and all (we had been getting newspapers and information for a few years on jobs and the housing market in areas around Carlisle and Harrisburg) We had 3 days. We had come in on a train over spring break with 4 kids (two of them were then foster children, one who has since been adopted along with a brother by a loving family and the other one is now our son). We rented a car and we literally drove from one place to another making decisions on our new life. Tim was offered a job. We then drove around looking at houses and found one we absolutely fell in love with from the outside. We had a Realtor show us the house and were hugely disappointed because it was not at all what we thought it would be once we looked inside. A lovely house but not near big enough for our family. She then took us to 3 more houses and we found the home we now live in. We also found a wonderful friendship with this Realtor!!! She and her spouse are our very good friends. Once we returned home we had to make an offer on the house and figure out how to finance. It all came together quickly and well. I was excited and have not lost that excitement but it wasn't all fun and joy. Moving is a chore!

Tim moved in may which was a few months after our trip out to PA, the kids and I followed in August after the swim team season was over and we had had time to say our Goodbyes to everyone we could possibly get to. He had given notice at his job in AZ and made plans for moving most of our belongings (well most of his "treasures" as he's a major "collector" of stuff and some of our belongings). We had a large property in AZ along with a 2nd house we stored things in. He did pare down his "collection" thankfully! I brought out the rest of our belongings and a few things that I knew Tim and his dad had brought onto our property from the railroad "bone yard" as they called it. It was interesting to me how as the days went on into months that I felt less attached to AZ and some of the people I had know over the years and became clearer on what had meaning to me... what I wanted to take... who I felt I was? I do have friends I miss terribly but those friendships have not ended! I still feel as close to those people as ever but I do miss seeing them whenever I want to. Some of my friends from AZ had left AZ even before we did and gave me wings to do the same thing and be happy with it.

So we arrived in PA with a feeling of a new beginning. We had visions of giving our children and ourselves more of a life. More adventure and opportunity for all! Pennsylvania has not disappointed us and in fact has brought us surprises! We were even prepared for the winters (which actually are mild but still we get the excitement of snow and days off of school in front of the fireplace with hot cocoa!) We have found tremendous friendships, a renewed faith and spirituality, fantastic roots (Tim's family had some beginnings in PA and I can go a state away to Ohio to visit some of my family history) and we have been able to grow in all areas of our lives in new and greater ways. The girls are taking Musical Theatre classes and really enjoying it, thriving in school. Our son is now 2. We have had 6 foster children come into our home and all but one has moved on to what hopefully is a better life from where they were before we got them... partially because of us but also because they were able to go to be placed with loving family. We hope to adopt 2 more children but are thrilled with fostering until then. Tim has settled in his current job and loves his work and the people he works with. I am home with the kids but I also take two dance classes that have given me a sense of breaking out into a bit more of a diverse identity for myself. I took an acting class in the fall and that was a tremendous boost to my sense of adventure! I also have made some terrific friends and love being in love with my new home. Any down sides? I'm not too sure about getting older yet. I have to be honest that for the first time in my life I solidly happy and I don't plan on letting my age get me down but being 44 takes a bit of adjustment for me. Where has the time gone. My oldest child is now 11 and I'm just in awe of her but how did she grow so fast!

Well I had better get off here now.... more later on life past and present life.