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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

It's All Good

I grabbed a book today, not that there is any free time to read it. I just wanted to escape. Feel free for a minute. Forget the world that feels like it's crashing down around me.

I read the first three pages and I was bored. So much for that.

I guess, really, I don't want to escape. I just want to slow down. Breathe easy. Let my heart slow down for just a minute. Relish in the good, where I can find it.

But it's all around, isn't it? Despite the bad, the ugly, the horrible. There is good. Lots of it.

Smiles. Cuddles. Hugs. Husband making dinner. A few extra minutes of sleep in the morning. Clean clothes. A fresh roll of toilet paper when I thought we were out (SCORE!). Toys on the floor. Smiley faces on homework assignments. Blankets pulled up tight. Heartfelt, thoughtful comments on facebook. Little baby kicks.

It's all good.

~Linking up with Just Write

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Curveballs

I wasn't prepared for the news I got this morning.

My van was stolen.

The van that I planned to drive my entire family around in. The only vehicle we have that can safely fit three carseats. The van that was full of boxes and bins from our recent move. Boxes and bins that were full of the sentimental things I didn't want to just throw in a moving truck. Pictures. My wedding dress. Meaningful baby clothes. 

The van wasn't stolen because it looked like there was a bunch of goodies in the back. Nope, because it was MY van, there has to be a great story to it!

My van was involved in a multi-city crime spree. 

Say wha?

Yup. You read it right. Somebody stole my van, after attempting to steal my brother's car and not being able to get into it, and took it for a little joyride, stealing rims and ending up a couple cities over, presumably in a ditch.

Only in my life.

We don't know much right now, other than they did find it and had it impounded, but it's under a hold because it's evidence. I have to call the detective in the morning. I'm praying that maybe some of my stuff is still in the van. I'm also praying that it's not as damaged as the officers hinted at.

So, the bright side?

Everything that was in the van was just STUFF. The van itself is just a physical THING. My kids were not in the car. I wasn't in the car. My mom, grandma, and brother, who were mere feet from where the thieves were (my van was at my mom's house), are all safe. It could have been so much more.

Thankfully, it's just the van. 

It still feels like I've been violated. Not in the same way it did the last time we dealt with this. Oh, yeah, we are professionals. My husband (then-boyfriend) came to visit me at my college dorm several years a go, parked his car in the street, and it was stolen that night. He did get it back, but it was demolished, the thieves had taken everything. He just left it at impound. I remember the day his car was stolen, I was so scared that something like that could happen right outside my window.

I'm feeling especially bad for my mom, grandma and brother tonight. The safety they should feel in their own home has been taken away. I mourn my stuff, but here at my house, everything is okay. It's just a different feeling.

I cringe thinking about what horrible things these people could have done while using my van. I just pray they didn't hurt anybody. 

When my husband's car had been stolen, we had seen on the news shortly after making the police report a car that looked exactly like his involved in a high speed chase. It ended up not being his car, but we laughed and laughed that it would be our luck to have something stolen and then see it on the news. We had no idea that we'd have another car stolen one day, and this time, it really was involved in more crimes!

I'm just so grateful my family is okay. My heart hurts, but it will heal. I'm praying for the people involved, praying they make smarter choices in the future. Stealing isn't the answer.

I feel like my van is all alone and sad and I want to give it a hug.

I'm almost laughing. It's just typical of my life. My van was stolen and involved in a multi-city crime spree. Wonderful!

At least my van had an exciting night out on the town!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

A New Take

Oh how I love to write!

You wouldn't know it from my previous blog. 

(you are welcome to take a look...I may even update it from time to time... Thoughts By Jen)

I've got some new ideas on what I want to do with my writing. What I want to do with my life, really.

I needed a new place to do that.

So, voila! Here we are. Welcome!

A little about me. 

I'm a mom to two beautiful kiddos, a girl who is six and a boy who is three. 

I'll be mom to three in March. This pregnancy is not fun. At all. 

(I really am excited for baby #3!)

I'm a wife to my high school sweetheart. We met in french class, which I try to romanticize a bit when I tell the story (as if we met in Paris, under the Eiffel Tower, such true love...). He is always quick to chime in with how much he despised that class!

I'm mostly a stay-at-home mom. I do coach two high school sports that get me out of the house for a couple hours a day for a few months at a time. I have thoroughly enjoyed the (very challenging) task of inspiring the young females of tomorrow! I'm also a Realtor and I fumble around with several work-from-home entrepreneurial ideas.

I'm a college student. I figure I'll graduate one day. Hopefully before my children do!

(if not, that's okay, too. I will graduate one day!)

I'm starting to reevaluate where I put my time. I have so many interests and things that I enjoy doing that I don't spend time on, while I spend time on jobs and things that really don't give me the satisfaction I'm looking for.

I want to spend more quality time with my family AND I want to change the world.

Welcome to my next journey into the blog world!