Wow!

Wow....it's been a while!

Wow....I cannot believe I've survived the last few months!

Wow....God is good!

 

Just WOW!!

 

There are times in your life when you reflect.  When you look back and think how in the world did i make it through that?!  And even more....how in the world did I make it through that and still find a way to smile?!  But I did.  And there is only one answer for my how in the world and that is Jesus!!  Life has been challenging.  Hard.  But blessed.  Because really how can we appreciate the good if we never walk through the rough?!  And how can we know Jesus is real if we never face times that the only way is His strength....His grace....His love??

 

The struggle is far from over for me and our family.  The tomorrow's hold so many questions but if I've learned anything the last 3 months its that God is good.  He provides.  And I have been blessed with the most amazing friends!

{the miculka's}

So, in a nutshell, let me catch you up on some of what's been going on around here....

 

*We received news about John's career that shocked us and turned our world upside down.  He went through a school in Virginia and is now deployed.  Adjusting to everyday life without him is challenging of course but y'all....I have the best 3 boys in the world and I'm SO proud of how they have handled all of this!

 

*Shortly after John left, we moved.  Long story (long but pretty awesome. if i ever get to have coffee with you, ask me about it!) but God made it clear that He had a different home for us while we walk through the next few years.  We still aren't completely settled in.  It threatens to drive me crazy daily!  Between holidays and sickness and trying to keep up with the boys school work and doing it all solo ~ yeah.  It may be a while!  ha!  But eventually there will be things on the walls, no more boxes, and we will be completely settled! 

so...like i said long story with the move but part of that story is that we put a deposit on rental house w/o seeing the interior. when we did see it the paint color in the boys rooms was out of control and not going to work. {sigh} so it was me, a few friends, a whole lotta paint and not much time! ha!  i took this pic at about 10pm on friday night when i finished painting.  these boys make my heart smile.

{moving day} i thought i didn't have much stuff.  i thought we could make 1 trip with that truck and trailer. hahahahahaha. not so much. it was a long day!
 

so things went really smoothly getting everything loaded.  the entire house was empty except for my treadmill. oh man.  or should i say men.  when i took this pic i was sitting along the wall w/ a couple girlfriends watching the men attempt to get this treadmill out of the room and we spent a lot of time debating if we should chime in or just let them figure out their ideas weren't going to work. ;)  we chose to let them figure it out and after A LOT of frustration and about an 1 1/2 hours the treadmill was on the truck and we were outta there! ha!

the week after moving day was split between trying to get settled at the new house and get things finished up at the old house.  this particular day, i was running out to meet the carpet cleaners at the old house and got everyone out the door and in the car just to realize the keys were in the house.  we were stuck.  UGH.  I can laugh about it now but at the time i struggled to find any humor in the situation at all!!

 

*We were blessed to have John home for a couple weeks between his school and deployment.  In that small amount of time he was sick, I was sick, Dylan had the flu....sigh.  But we got to have him home for Thanksgiving, get family pictures done, and got to have a late birthday celebration for him and for that I was thankful!

this was our 2nd time at the doctor for our super sick boy ~ we were waiting on lab results that ended up confirming that he had flu type a.  i was exhausted but grateful to have some answers!

the kids table! =)  this was the one and only picture i managed to take on thanksgiving which makes me a little sad.  but we had a wonderful day with great friends and were so very grateful that John got to be home for it!

 

*Our family grew!!  Her name is Punkin and she is the cutest, fluffiest, funniest little addition!!  She deserves a blog post all her own so stay tuned! ;)

 

*I was blessed to lead the most AMAZING team of ladies on the decor team for our ladies Christmas party at church!  There was a lot of time, hard work, and love that went into it and it was beautiful!  It was a huge party and the Lord showed up in huge ways that night!!  So thankful for each of these girls and the friendships that were born out of this experience!

aren't they gorgeous?!?! =)

 

*We survived our first Christmas without John.  It was weird.  And hard.  And I wouldn't wish it on anyone but I did my best to make it joyful and fun for the boys!  And again I must say ~ these 3 make me so so so very proud!!

i just LOVE decorating for Christmas!

I take a picture of the boys in front of the tree every year after we decorate it and while this isn't my favorite pic i'm so glad i took the pic.  john was super sick, dylan still had the flu, john was about to leave so needless to say my emotions weren't the "lets take a cute, fun picture" type but I'm so glad I took one anyway!

the boys were really into looking at lights this year and this evening was unplanned but we just hopped in the car in our pj's and drove around.  i loved the time with them and hearing their excitement never gets old!

this boy.  he made me a mama.  he is growing up SO fast but I could not be prouder of him and who he is.  he has stepped up in such an amazing way since his daddy left and is such a blessing to me.  this picture was taken around midnight Christmas Eve.  He stayed up to help me play Santa.  Love him!

 

And I think that pretty much brings us to now!  We are getting back into a routine after what feels like an eternity without it!  I'm slowly allowing myself to get excited about what this new year may hold for me and my family!  And I'm really excited to get back to blogging and back to keeping up with all of my sweet blog friends!  I've missed y'all!