A Whole Lotta New

As we move into the summer months, I am quickly reminded about how much "new" we have going on.

Speaking of NEW, how do you like the NEW blog? I think I love it. I might be joining yellow fan club a little late in the game, but I still love it.

Our foster care licence is officially open. What does that mean? Simple answer: We could receive a placement at any moment now. Any time. We will be experiencing a whole lot of NEW in our family once we receive a placement. There will be lots of transition, and we are not sure if we will have kids in and out of our house, or if we will be placed with a preadoptive infant. Either way, a lot of transition, more chaos and less sleep (I am guessing:).

Potty training is NEW to us. We have introduced the potty to Caleb, he has "tried" but I haven't been intentional about it. I didn't want to put the time and energy into potty training, when I knew that I would be traveling for most of May. After next week, life won't slow down by any means, but I will at least be at home with somewhat of a consistent schedule. Looking froward to saving money on not buying diapers, but sad that it means I now longer have a baby.

A few weeks ago, I did a NEW type of photography shoot. It was a 1940's era theme. I can't say much more until the photos are revealed, but I love to expand my photography skills.

I have a NEW, well, NEW to me car. I have never ever in my life had a NEW car before. I was reminded this weekend about all of my cars that I have had. My favorite--"Watt Pond." It was a teal Cutlass Supreme, the windows did not go up or down, there was no air or heat, and mostly no radio, when it rained, water came in the inside of the car- so much so that I had extra towels in the car, and often had plastic bags for people to sit on. My favorite feature about "Watt Pond," and its name sake---because of all the water in the bottom of the car. When you would get into the car, you had to roll up your pants, and make sure you had sandals on...you would get wet. Sorry about that tangent--all this to say, I LOVE my NEW to me car.

I also have a NEW laptop. Wow, my honey has been spoiling me lately. Traveling for work is much easier when all of the documents I need are on my laptop. It also saves printing, so I don't have to print every document I might need while on a trip.

In the summer months, I will be raising an extra $15,000 in NEW support so I can continue the work here at Albion.

Speaking of working, I will be entering a NEW stage of "work life" next year. I am planning to work 30-40 hours instead of 20. I  C A N N O T wait. God has been preparing this for a while and I finally get to see it come to fruition.

Last year, we tore down our deck. We didn't have the money to do anything then, but we saved and planned and now we have a NEW patio. I love it. I often go out on the patio and read and journal. I had a Bible study prep meeting with students out there. Caleb can go out and play and I can watch him or join him.  It has been a blessing.

I have been trying to garden. This is so NEW to me, it is ridiculous. There is little that I enjoy about gardening, except for the end result. I hate planting....I hate getting dirty, I hate not knowing what I am doing, I hate that my body aches afterwards, and I hate that I just need to do again next year. But my naked patio is thanking me for the hard work.

We did something NEW at the lake this past weekend. And by we, I mean my sister, Jalissa. She learned how to water ski. It is possible that I may try it this summer. I am not really a fan of face planting in the water, but it still looks fun.

I have a lot of NEW reading to do, on my summer reading list. What are you reading this summer?

I am planning on learning NEW things photography wise this summer and continue to build our business.

This is NEW...we have a college student living with us this summer. Actually, it is not really that NEW. It is rare that we don't have someone at our house at any given time, but thought I would still mention it:)

What NEW things have you been up to?