To Everything There is a Season

My last post was full of enthusiasm and mystery as my husband had embarked down the path of interviewing for an exciting new job.  This long later, we finally know that he did not get that job.  But we are not downtrodden!  An amazing change is happening in our lives as we embrace the idea of doing what you love in life, even if it means leaving the security of what you've been doing behind.

Even though he did not get the dream job, my husband has decided to leave the company he's been working at for the past 5 years in order to keep pursuing employment that can be an extension of his life rather than just time-clock punching paycheck.  He wants to be working outdoors and doing something active.  He wants to be working directly with people and helping them to enjoy the place they are at that moment in their lives.  We have no idea where that will be, but I'm so proud of him to be brave enough to buck what society expects of him.  He's a great example to me and our boys that you can be responsible and also be happy.

With that in mind, there are some exciting changes brewing in my own mind about how to make sure I'm living every day happy.  I am not meant to solely be a suburban housewife and mom.  I need adventure and new scenery.  That is what's built into me and it's never going to not be me.  With my husband's job search fully underway, I've committed to taking my 4 boys on a cross-country road trip this summer, visiting friends and family along the way.  It's going to be super relaxed and I'm looking forward to connecting with my kids in a way that I never do under the burden of laundry and vacuuming and teaching kindergarten lessons.

Unfortunately, for Wandering Still, that also means some change.  I've struggled to find inspiration for writing since my twins were born last August and it has become an additional stress for this mother of now four.  I'm trying to maintain an identity as individual woman, but it obviously hasn't been happening in this format.  So, for now, I'm going to close up shop here and move over to something that fits a little more naturally in where I am as a person right now.

I hope you'll follow me!  My travel spirit has been re-awakened and I'm going to be telling the world.  Hop over now to my new(ish) travel blog and be sure to follow all the adventure going on there.

Thanks for being great friends and a great sounding board over the years.  Perhaps we'll meet again here someday, but until then I hope to see you at A Local Wander for the continuation of my journey!

A Year of Reading? 2012

Reading appears to have taken a back seat in my life last year-I mean like the back row of a 15-passenger conversion van that is impossible to crawl into gracefully and leaves you completely crammed and mute because no one in the front of the van can hear you anyway.  Apparently being pregnant for 8 months, welcoming twins into the family, and starting my kindergartner in homeschool took up a little bit of my time...

Nonetheless, I do have a short list to share with you of the

 Books I read in 2012. 

 I hope you find something you can enjoy!

1.  Teaching By the Spirit (Cook) A great book for religion teachers.  Take it in segments and apply the principles one at a time.

2.  Two Old Women (Wallis)  An easy 2-day read about survival in an Alaskan native community. You could pick out several principles/moral stories here. I was most impressed by the realization that it's okay to not always be the strong person-sometimes it's best to let another person carry and encourage you.

3.  Running Away to Home (Wilson)  Fabulous because the author completely related my own struggles balancing travel and wanderlust with family and responsibility. First few pages do an EXCELLENT job of explaining the quicksand of the American dream.

4.  James and the Giant Peach (Dahl) Somehow, I missed reading Roald Dahl as a child-so glad I've discovered him now. Read this with my 4-year-old and he giggled and marveled through the whole thing, starting with the first sentence, "Here is James Henry Trotter when he was about 4 years old."

5.  Spiritual Tasks of the Homemaker (Schmidt-Brabant)  This book was recommended to me by a past friend several years ago-if I'd gotten around to reading it all that time back, I might have understood a whole lot quicker the path she was on and how absolutely not in line it was with mine...

6.  Ahab's Wife (Naslund)  I read this at a much earlier time in my life and could only remember, "It's beautiful." It is beautiful, but wrapped up in the beautiful story are parts sections that completely wane...but not enough to put the book down, because soon you find that you've trudged on and are once again in the midst of a beautiful tale. It's not until the last chapters that the author believably links this book to it's inspiration (Moby Dick) and when it happens, it's perfectly seamless.

7.  Canaries on the Rim (Ward)  Important information on the environmental issues in Utah and when the author was presenting straight facts I really enjoyed it. When he morphed into his opinions I was completely turned off. By the end of the book I felt like I was reading his own rah-rah-rahs for all the "great" work he himself has done.

8.  While I'm Falling (Moriarty) I honestly can't remember at all what this book was about!

9.  The Girl Who Fell From the Sky (Durrow)  I didn't think this book touched any societal issues in a new or productive way and didn't wrap anything up meaningfully either.  Yet, many months after reading it, something about it does still stir up a mixture of emotions and tension, so something about it must have been right.

10. What Women Fear (Smith)  The first chapter was gripping and got me very excited. Even though the theology is different than my own I thought it would be a good jumping off point for study. I especially liked the chapter on Hagaar and Sarah. Unfortunately, the magic wore off. It seemed like the book turned into the author having every tragedy or malady under the sun and I just quit relating with her "Poor me's".

11. One Year Off (Cohen)  Basically an anthology of the emails this family sent home while on their year-long round-the-world travels. Loved the way their expectations and reality often clashed and they were able to roll with it, especially when it came to what they thought their kids would like/not like and the fear of what a toddler will do/not do. As happens when you're traveling, the second half of the book is much more sparse and in the moment than the first half. Of course it makes sense that once the trip becomes life rather than vacation, it's less of a priority to write home all the touristy things you're doing, but Australia and southeast Asia are  treated a lot more lightly than Central America and Europe. Too bad, because those places are possibly more interesting. Loved the book, nonetheless. Re-inspires me to get out there with my own family.

12. 1791: Mozart's Last Year (Landon)  Interesting. Well-researched and eye-opening that most of what I've heard about Mozart is probably mostly fiction (okay, honestly, based on the movie Amadeus, which appears to be mostly not accurate). Pretty easy read for a non-fiction research book.

13. Paul Revere and the World He Lived In (Forbes)  Favorite Book of the Year!! I have no idea why I chose this, but I'm so glad I did! It covers Revere's entire 80-yr life, before and after his famous ride. Makes him a man and well-researched instead of just fictional speculation.

14. Mormon Scientist (Eyring)  Insightful look into a scientist who also had a strong testimony in God.  For LDS church members it is also a good look into the environment Henry B. Eyring grew up in.

What are you reading right now?

Looking for more?

Be sure to check out my lists from 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011
(There are 150 books for you to choose from!)

And Then Life Takes a Turn...

I've been teasing you with a promised post on Christmas ornaments for a few weeks, and I promise I did start writing it today.  But then I got an email about a job opening that would be so PERFECT for my husband and I got completely carried away and Christmas ornaments just don't sound that interesting anymore.

What's the job, you're asking?  Well, I'm not going to tell you everything because he hasn't even filled out the application, but recently he told me what he really wanted to be doing was working in the great outdoors.  He's always loved biking, hiking, skiing, and is crazy adventurous.  This job would allow him to do all of those things plus a whole lot more...for a living.

What would the job mean for me?  He'd be gone A LOT.  It'd mean a summer of me and 4 kids figuring things out on our own.  It could mean giving up our house and bumming couches from friends and family all summer instead of continuing our search for a bigger place we can all fit in.  It could mean a lot of traveling to where he is, including a trip up the ALCAN Highway with my minivan, a 5-year-old, 2-year-old and 9 month old twins.  It could mean saving a lot of money or turn into having absolutely no money.  And most importantly, it would mean being so incredibly proud of my husband for giving up the security of a decent paycheck at a ho-hum job to do something that he really loves to do!  It'd give me hope for my own dreams coming true in the future, too!

I'll let you know how it all turns out, but for now know that I have a HUGE grin on my face.  And forgive me for not getting around to that very "settled down and domesticated" post I'd been promising...maybe in a few days when I come down off this high..

We Have 2 Winners!

Congratulations to our Holiday Giving winners!

Giveaway #1 featuring Forking Queen

Winner:  Alicia K

Giveaway #2 featuring Aalbers Creations

Winner:  Rachel M. 

Thanks to all who entered and WELCOME to those of you who are new!

I look forward to hearing from you again soon.

Winners have been contacted.  

In the event they do not respond, 

new winners will be chosen Wednesday morning.

Holiday Giving Giveaway #2

Have you entered Holiday Giving (A Giveaway) #1?

  Be sure to head over there and get the back story on both this and that giveaway.

Holiday Giving (A Giveaway) #2

One Item of Your Choice (up to $40 value) 

from Aalbers Creations shop on Etsy.

So, this is my sister Kimberly!  Over the past 3 years she has created herself a business doing exactly what she loves.  Using 1000x more creativity than I was ever born with, she makes beautiful accessories for girls and their mom's and then travels the Renaissance fair circuit donning her wares (okay, super cheesy, I know, but that is what she does).  

Every item you'll find on her Etsy page is hand-sewn, hand-painted, or self-designed.  She dresses her girls in all her own creations, and they beg her to give them painted fairy faces almost every day.  Looking around you'll find a huge range of items from wings and fairy costumes...

 

to play tents and crowns...

 

to leg warmers and bibs...

 

I know you'll love looking through her shop on Etsy!  Check out the entry form below and let me know what you would choose!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Haven't checked out Holiday Giving (A Giveaway #1) yet?  

Head over there now and get your entries in!

Giveaway being sponsored across my blogging gamut.  

All entry forms will be combined to choose one winner for each giveaway.

Prizes are being offered at no cost or benefit to me.  Just a good sisterly deed.