A New Year. A New Season. A New Blog.

It has been over A YEAR since I've posted anything here...

That seems crazy! And then again, when I look back through the past handful of posts, it seems like a lifetime ago. So much has happened since my last REAL post in September of 2012.

At that time I was working on celebrating my one year anniversary for graduating from nursing school. Now, almost three years have come and gone since I walked across that stage. I've been a labor and delivery nurse, a nursery nurse, a postpartum nurse, an OR nurse, a middle school nurse, a psychiatric nurse, a nurse to my family, neighbors and friends. I've loved it. Hated it. Cried about it. Laughed over it. And now, I'm a highly educated, licensed RN, stay-at-home Mom. And it's by far my favorite job yet!

In September of last year, we started our adventures in homeschool. Gracie was 11 and entering her first year of Middle school. Autumn was 8 and moving into 3rd grade. We have had only great experiences with the public school system in our hometown. We definitely didn't feel that we were running from anything. Mike and I had been praying about home educating since before Gracie ever started Kindergarten. We felt confident that the timing was right and began to pursue it in early 2013. We haven't once looked back. As great as public school was for us, homeschool is better. Our first year has officially drawn to a close and we are all ready for a summer break, but eagerly looking forward to what year two will look like!

We passed the two year mark in our house back in April. That seems crazy, but the measurement marks on the closet door tell the tale. The girls have grown a combined 7 inches since the first night we slept here. Gracie is decidedly taller than me now...sigh. She still has several inches to go before she passes her Daddy, but if she doesn't stop soon, she'll be patting both of us on the head. Grin. Autumn started her horseback riding lessons this year, something she has spent all of her life dreaming of. Her pal's name is Phillip and he's as gentle as this Momma could've hoped for. She's in pure heaven when she's in the saddle.

Mike continues to serve as the Worship Pastor for Community Life Church, a church plant he helped launch almost three years ago. Being a lead worshiper really is his calling and passion. He had to take on a part time job last Fall to supplement income and so he's a very busy man. I'm so thankful for his selflessness when it comes to providing everything our family needs.

It's really impossible to give you a thorough recap of our lives over the past two years. So much to pack in and remember. Seasons really do come and go. For our family, this blog has recounted so many of those seasons for us. Because I'm old now, and not computer savvy, I have the dilemma of trying to figure out how to get the old blog to conform to the new need. To keep my sanity and to protect my testimony ha, I've decided the easier thing is to just start a new one!! So that's what I'm gonna do. You can't stop me.

This one will remain. Just in case you wanna take a stroll down memory lane with us sometime. And I will have a link to the new one here for you to grab as well. Also, the new blog will have a link to this old classic. I hope you have as much fun as we do walking along the path...

Old Blog: mikeandcatrina.blogspot.com
New Blog: amikeandcatrinastory.blogspot.com

M.I.A...

Yes, truly! I do realize it has been almost 6 months since a post! And I will update all of the past goings-on. At some point. For now, we are just trying to get to the end of the school year. So you will be hearing from the Williams Family on or around May 23ish. 32 and 1/2 working/school days. But who's counting?

A couple camera dump photos to tide you over...

As I Walk the Hemisphere - Got My Wish to Up and Disappear...



Tomorrow, bright and early, we leave for someplace we've always dreamed of visiting! MONTANA!!! I can not wait to share our adventure with you when we return. Until then, we are leaving behind everything but our warm duds and hiking boots...

Big Sky Country...I can't wait to gaze upon you in total awe of the Creator.

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Psalm 90:2

Whose Day Is It?! This Guy...

Can anyone find the birthday boy?! :)

I am so thankful to be married to this man. He is thoughtful, hardworking, hilarious and an incredible leader in our home. He runs hard after the Lord and teaches us how to do the same...

Today makes 15 birthdays I've had the privilege of celebrating with him as his girl...Here's to many more! I love you Mr.

The Pioneer Woman (Wanna-be)...

We have a beautiful apple orchard that sits just behind our property line. The owner has given us free range back there and we have so enjoyed it! Last night the girls helped me gather a big bunch of apples and after some work I made my first from scratch apple pie! I love feeling like Ma Ingalls!! They turned out just OK and I will definitely need to perfect the process, but it was great to make something like that from our backyard!

Catching Up...

There is of course so much life that has occurred since my last post. It was almost 9 months ago! We have been busy as usual and I have tried to highlight some of what we've been up to in these past months. I have been working in Labor and Delivery in a nearby hospital. That has been an adjustment to say the least. It's hard to work away from home when your heart is forever there...Mike has been busy with ministry at CLC and starts seminary in 2 days. He's excited to see where the Lord takes him in this journey. The girls are growing so fast and becoming sweet young ladies. Gracie started 5th grade this year (her last year of elementary school) and Autumn started 2nd. We were not able to home school this year like we had hoped. I'm simply trusting the Lord and His timing...

We sold our little house and moved into our beautiful home in April! We are so blessed to be here and are very thankful for the Lord's provision in it!

I've posted some random pictures of different things below! I hope you enjoy :)

Our new house!

Mike's planning trip with the CLC elders to Puerto Rico in April!

The things our poor dog endures belonging to 2 girls with vivid imaginations!

The cowgirls after their Spring Fling at school!

Playing in a summer rain storm!

Gracie won this water bottle at Movies in the Park!

Mike and I escaped for a few days to celebrate our 13th anniversary! We went hiking at Natchez Trace...

Some of the wildlife at the house! So glad there was a window between me and him!

My MIL had surgery and are thankful things are going so well.

The girls getting music lessons from Daddy!

The tree Mike cut down with his tiny hand saw so he could hang his hammock! I think I'll call him John Henry! :)

An awesome lunch with the elder wives! I love these ladies :)

The first 1/2 day of school! Two beautiful girls, inside and out!

The first official day of school! And it also happened to be Autumn's 7th birthday :)

Autumn J. Jinglesocks Turns 7...

It has become our tradition to have a gift, a balloon and ice cream waiting on the table for birthday mornings! This particular birthday morning belonged to our youngest...

Autumn - I can not believe you are 7 years old! I still remember army crawling out of your room so you wouldn't wake up as a baby. I remember rocking you most of the night and exhausted early mornings. Even then you didn't seem to ever run out of energy! And 7 is no different. You are an energetic, hilarious, sweet little girl! You make us laugh hard at least once a day! You are inquisitive and have a big love for those close to you. You work hard in school and are not afraid to try new things. You have an amazing talent on your "acrobat" (which is your affectionate term for your balance bar). We knew you had something amazing when at 18 months you could hold yourself up on the chin-up bar for 5 minutes, grinning the whole time! You bring sunshine into the room with you and I love that you are still a cuddle-bug...Joye turned out to be the perfect middle name for you! Your deep convictions are inspiring and just stinking funny at times. You would defend your sister to the death on any occasion. And on most days you drive her crazy at least once! You run every where you go and you say more words in a few minutes than most people say in days :) You ride your bike at top speed and that's like everything else you do. You are a very special little girl and I'm so glad you are mine! Your Daddy and I are so thankful that the Lord gave us you. You are the perfect last piece to our family puzzle. We love you with our whole hearts and most of our smiles start with you! Happy Birthday Toot :)

On a very important side note...Autumn received a very important birthday card from these guys...

telling us that we get to be an AUNT & UNCLE again!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited!! And so was Autumn, although she was maybe more interested at the moment in the horse picture :)

August and Everything After (and a Birthday Girl)...

The title of this post just about sums up my last semester of Nx school. (And happens to be the title of a great album :)

Everything from the first week of August until my long awaited graduation on December 9th, 2011 is pretty much a crazy blur. But now, the fog has lifted! Amen.

I still occasionally catch myself thinking I should be doing something. Writing something. Reading something. Studying SOMETHING! And then I remember. I. Am. Done!! And then I catch myself day-dreaming about what I have the freedom to do - anything I want!! And today that was cake pops.

Mysterious little nuggets of goodness. Pinked out to the max for a certain young lady who turned the big 1-0 today! You read it right. Gracie, my first born baby, turned ten today. How did this happen? Someone "lovingly" brought to my attention the fact that I have now been a parent for a decade. Excuse me?!

Well, as far as I can tell, I have the most amazing ten year old on the planet. She is kind, compassionate, intelligent, merciful and simply beautiful on the inside and out.

Mike and I ran across a home video a few days ago. Perfect timing for a little nostalgia. Watching her (she was four at the time) was like entering a time warp and ending up as a fly on a wall. Man, how quickly it passes. It truly doesn't seem like we entered the realm of parenthood ten whole years ago. We have learned so much. And have so much to learn.

God was so gracious to give us Gracie as a first child. We were so young and knew so little. She was so sweet from the very beginning. She smiled all the time. Still does. She slept through the night at two weeks old. Always wanted to sleep in her own bed and started talking at 4 months! She is a special girl. I am so excited to see what the Lord has planned for her. I would very much like to take our time though! Time is passing so quickly and I feel like I just want to slow down and sop up all the sweetness that this age and stage brings. I notice how she's not only growing tall, but that her mind is growing too. She talks different. She listens harder. She understands more. She questions more. I see the wonder in her eyes and wonder at her willingness to be selfless. She is a special girl.

I am thankful that the Lord has brought us to this day without the heartache of sickness or any other scary and terrible thing that so many families face. I am thankful that we have had 10 years to get to know our sweet girl and I pray for 10 x 10 more. I pray that I am blessed to see her grow into a godly, lovely young woman, wife & mother. I pray to stand beside her when she welcomes her grandchildren. If the Lord so chooses, I'll celebrate with her on those days. In as much awe of her as I am now. But tonight I'll just watch her sleep and drink in the moment like a cold coke on a hot summer day. She's a blessing. And I am so blessed to be her Momma.

Happy Birthday Gracelynn Michelle. I love you.

Summer Was Fun! Summer Is Gone...

We have done many fun & relaxing & non-school related things since our last post about visiting NYC! And we've had so much fun doing them that I haven't spent much time on this ol' computer talking about them :)

So I'll give you a quick update and recap, and just ask you to forgive me for not being more intentional with the blog...

Since we visited NYC in May, we have spent many lazy days at home being silly and finding fun ways to remember summer. I have so many simple things etched permanently in my mind. The unexpected (and highly sought after) eruptions of laughter from my two sweet girls. Vacation. A clubhouse constructed of blankets and string. Playing in the hose. Popsicles. The smell of hot dogs on the grill. Getting excited when Mike's truck pulls into the driveway. Grinning uncontrollably when I see him coming up the front porch steps. Sunsets. Swinging. Coloring. Visiting with great friends. Tag. Reading bedtime stories way past bedtime. Sleeping in. Getting up early. Going for walks. Spontaneous visits with Grandma & Grandpa. And a million other things that I will forever ponder in my heart.

God is so good. When He gives rest. It's restful indeed :)

And now, the season of hard work begins again. But I've come to realize that if we never had the opportunity to work hard...we'd never really enjoy the rest. And I'm ready.

Thus begins the last semester (Lord willing) of this journey called nursing school. Come quickly December. And be gentle!

Vacation Pictures & Misc Summer Nonsense