Meet the author....

...of this blog.

I'm sure you think that you know me just from reading all this stuff that I put out here for the world to see.

I doubt you really do.

For instance, did you know that I really don't like to talk?

Pick your teeth up off the floor now. I'm sure that by the way I ramble on and on here on this blog you all think I'm a total chatterbox. :)

But seriously, I could go for an entire day and not say a word and be perfectly happy with that. Just one day, though. I remember back before our children came into our lives with a leap that I would make a phone call just so I'd have somebody to talk to.

Times have changed.

Anyway. Here's a few random things about me. Maybe after you get done reading you'll say..."Yep. She's as weird as I thought." or "Wow. How did she get to be so strange. Her family seems so normal." Sorry about that!

1. I love the Lord. Some days I am confident that my children would doubt that. Sad. But true. You can pray for me that my light will shine strongly to my children. Why is it that our little families, the ones that we love the most on planet Earth, are the ones who get the brunt of our bad days?

2. I love my husband. He truly is my best friend. As much as I love going on supper outings with my girl-friends, I love going with my husband even more. That is, when we get the opportunity. Once in the last 2 1/2 -3 years really isn't a fair trial.

3. I love my children. They are a blessing that for five years we didn't know if we'd ever get to have. As frustrated as I get with them sometimes, I can't imagine life without them.

4. I read. As much as I can, which isn't much these days. Unless I'm rocking little JN.

5. I don't really enjoy working outside. Flowerbeds tend to go to pot around here. I'm doing better than I used to as it means a lot to Jason to have pretty flowers, but I still don't enjoy getting dirt under my fingernails...and, no, I don't like to wear gloves either.

6. I don't particularly enjoy having a garden. Sure, it's nice to have fresh produce out my back door, but it's not so nice to have to go pick that produce. I can't complain though. It's our food for the entire summer...and the winter too, if there's plenty to can. Our grocery bill is next to nothing when the garden is producing well.

7. I grind much of my own flour and make all my own bread. Does that really make me weird? Sorry. Jason loves homemade bread...and so do I. It's worth it.

8. I don't enjoy going shopping. Once a year or so I'll hit a city with my mom and sisters-in-law, but that's typically enough for me. I really don't even enjoy going to the grocery or to Wal-Mart. It's a pain and I just spend money.

9. I like to stay home. The other day Addie asked if we were ever going anywhere again. :) She loves to go. And do. And shop.

10. I like animals way better than I ever thought I did. I must anyway. If it weren't for me, we would not have cats, a pony, or the two puppies right outside our back door.

11. I love M&M's. I'm sure that's a shock.

12. While talking is something I don't particularly enjoy, I love to write. Surprised? Jason has learned that if something is bothering me, he can skip asking the question and just get me a pen and paper. It's so easy to put my words on paper, but not so easy to form them in my mouth so they can be spit out.

13. Someday. I'd love to write a book. I'd do it now if I weren't so busy keeping up with the house, my husband, the children, etc., etc. And it'd also help if I had a topic to write about. Most books seem to be centered on a specific topic.

14. I say talking is not a big thing for me, but if you ask the right questions, watch out. Questions about adoption, or attachment, or bonding, for example. And on rare occasions I will have opinions about other topics as well. :)

15. I despise cleaning my house. Bummer that I like it to be clean. My poor mom likely despairs at my lack of cleaning and organizing. Could that be why she cleaned and organized my cupboards a couple days in the last couple weeks? She used the excuse that stuff was dirty from the remodeling that went on here..... Really though. I am far from a neat freak, but I'm trying to improve. Jason was used to everything being spotless and organized before he married me. It was a huge shock for him to find out that it isn't every woman's first priority to have a spotless house. That all being said, it gets cleaned once a week....and the floors get swept more than that...and the toys are picked up and put away every day before nap time and before bed time. It does help to have children capable of helping. And for now...they still like to clean. :)

16. I never rearrange my furniture. It's fine where it's at. Why ruin a good thing? We lived at our last house five years and the furniture only got moved once. We've lived here for 2 1/2 years and it's just like it was when we moved in. It works.

17. New clothes aren't a big deal to me. A year or so ago I decided that it was time for some new dresses only to discover that many of the dresses in my closet were ones that I wore when I was teaching school...seven years earlier. I could get by with only a few dresses that I really like. I've always been that way. Ask my Mom. She never enjoyed taking me shopping.

18. Schedules are nice, but they never go as planned around here. Jason comes home daily for lunch sometime between 12:00 and 1:00. He's home for supper sometime between 5:30 and 7:00. The children nap sometime between 10:00 and 11:00. About the only thing that is a for sure is that we will all be up and at it by 6:00-7:00 at the latest and we will strive to be in bed by 8:30-9:00 in the evening. I should say, we strive to have the children in bed by then. The next couple hours are our 'couple time'. The time that we catch up and simply enjoy each other's company.

That's me. Call me a country-bumpkin if you want to. I'd laugh and agree. I was raised on a farm...helping load hogs out of Dad's hog barn and trying to keep up with my three brothers. I have always been far from a girly girl. I didn't spend much time playing with dolls when I was a little girl. I specifically remember getting a basketball from my brothers for my birthday when I was young just so I would quit taking theirs. I love to play softball.

Maybe after reading all that, you can better understand some of the random things that get posted here. Maybe. Our life is random. And I love it. I love having the freedom to hop in the pick-up at a moment's notice to run to town with Jason. Of course, it's not quite that simple with three children to take along, but it still happens frequently. I love plugging along through the day with no specific agenda to keep.

I love my life as a wife and mommy...though I have to admit that some days I have to be reminded of that. I love the fact that we live in a climate that allows flowers and a garden...even though I don't particularly enjoy caring for them. I love having a house to clean...at least we have a roof over our heads.

One thing that going to Russia has taught me is that I have literally no reason to complain. Russia isn't even a third world country in my opinion. It's not even that bad. I could live there myself if they had good M&M's. :) Really, though. Something about heading out of our little comfort zone has really gotten to me. It's not as easy to find things wrong with our house/life after living over there for a grand total of eleven weeks in the past 3 years.

For some reason, God has blessed us far beyond our deservings