2018...the End

I have to confess that contemplation on what 2018 held and what 2019 will be has not been given a lot of time. I finally did get my Christmas letter written (and then promptly ran out of ink in the printer so the envelopes are addressed and ready while I await the arrival of ink…) and that seemed to be about all the contemplation I could pull off. I feel like 2018 has ended in such a whirlwind that the other 75% of it remains a dim vision of almost another life.

It’s been a year of ups and downs, but then, aren’t most years? I don’t know anyone who rides a whole year out on a high. There are probably many people who ride a whole year out on a low, but then I have to wonder if they simply can’t see the highs. After all, what is life on this earth truly mean if there is no future Hope – One Higher than me to look up at when I am low.

And as far as 2019 goes…well, if this past week has been any indication, it’s already got the dreamlike vision of ups and downs. Changes no one could foresee. Wrenches thrown for apparently no reason at all. Makes me nervous, leery and a bit afraid to face tomorrow. But with two kids bounding out of bed every morning ready to take on their day, one simply must face tomorrow.

So, today I will make two simple statements as 2018 comes to a close and 2019 slips in upon it:

God is faithful. He was in 2018. He will be in 2019.

And all the Christmas things will get put away. All the new toys will find a home. All the boxes will finally find a place to stay for this new chapter in our life. Perhaps in 2018…more likely in 2019.

Christmas!!!

Well, it is Christmas! The wrapping paper has been thrown away, but toys remain strewn all over my living room. The kids are zonked out in bed after a very busy last twenty-four hours. And I should be there, too. But a few pictures before I head that direction:

Christmas Sunday – one of the better pictures of dozens!

Ethan enjoying his first traditional Sturm Christmas Eve dinner.

Uncle Caleb helps Emry open her gifts on Christmas Eve.

Emry gets her first real necklace (a dinosaur!) put on.

Ethan in the midst of toys, ribbon and paper.

Probably one of the favorites of the day: the Little People racer!

The Sights and Sounds of Christmas

Well, I’m not posting any videos so I guess there will be no “sounds” of Christmas (even though there is always lots of sound in my house!). But here are a few pictures of our Christmas preparations:

We were still at my parents’ when they put their tree up, so…Grandpa, Aunt Abby, Cousin Beto, Emry and Ethan putting tinsel on the tree.

Hunting for the perfect Christmas tree. 

(Although Ethan was much more interested in running about looking for all the markers.)

My two little Christmas messers – oops! I mean, bakers…

After a long day of decorating…this is what I feel like, too!

Christmas is Coming...

The title is true. Christmas is coming. It will arrive on December 25 whether I am prepared for it or not. Which I think I am…maybe.

Our life has been a little up it the air the past couple of months. Moving from Pennsylvania to Indiana. Living with my parents for five or six weeks. Looking for a house to buy, but ending up with a house to rent. Ed’s cousin dying. My mom had knee surgery. Looking for a church. Lots of major decisions being made. And yet still trying to just live life. Emry’s schoolwork, naps, trying to keep regular “office hours”, Ed’s new job, cooking, cleaning…and now lots and lots of unpacking. Christmas, to say the least, has kind of crept up on me.

I did try to get some things done before I left Pennsylvania. Some of it happened. Some of it didn’t. It’s about the same now. 

As of tonight, my shopping is done. But not the wrapping. 

We did get a Christmas tree. It is decorated. Even my village is set up. But other things didn’t find their way out of the Christmas boxes. And I’ve still no clue how to hang the stockings or where.

Some Christmas baking got done. Most didn’t. Good news for my waistline!

Christmas chains counting down the days and pointing to a Christmas story to read each night got done. But I hardly had time to find any great new Christmas stories for the year.

Christmas letters? Yeah, I’ve thought about them. Even have one book of Christmas stamps. But I’ve given up any attempt to get them about by Christmas. They’ll be new year letters. And please forgive the flag stamps…

Honestly, I feel like Christmas is a bit slap-dash this year. And I feel bad about it, too. For this is the first year Emry has really gotten excited about it, anticipating it’s arrival and crying (several times now) because it isn’t here yet. Ethan doesn’t really anticipate, but he loves the Christmas tree and Ed’s train. I want their celebration of Christ’s birthday to be special. Instead, some days I feel like I’m barely holding it all together.

But maybe that’s the point. After all, even though Mary knew Jesus was soon to be born, I’m pretty sure she didn’t plan on a stable. The shepherds certainly didn’t plan on seeing an angelic host that night in their field. And the wise men went to a palace in search of the new king – not some little house in Bethlehem. Jesus didn’t come as expected. Which is why the Jews are still looking for the Messiah. But we know He has come. So even if my Christmas letters aren’t out by Christmas and the stockings never do get hung, we can still celebrate Christ’s birth. 

Glory to God!

Happy 27^thBirthday, Jenny!

Jenny – age 2 (or 3…she never did know she was two!)

Bureaucracy

Sometimes dealing with the government borders on the ridiculous. Yesterday I needed to make two phone calls during my “office hours”. First was the Massachusetts Board of Landscape Architects which is run by a state licensing board. I had a simple question and supposed it wouldn’t take long. Of course, first I had to listen to the million of options to choose from and when I finally got a person on the line, I began very politely to give my name and stated I had a question about a landscape architect’s license.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,” was the lady’s response. “Just a minute!”

And then I heard elevator music. I almost took my phone away from my ear to stare at it. But then I remembered I was calling the state of Massachusetts. No one is friendly there. I guess I should have been grateful she didn’t just hang up on me.

Following that phone call, I had to call PennDot. We submitted a monster of an application for a Disadvantaged Business Certificate with them the last week of September and had not heard from them since a polite letter the beginning of November. We just wanted to know the application’s status and how long we had to wait for further information. So, I had the letter up on my laptop and called the first number listed. Got a busy signal. So, I worked on something else. Called again. Got a busy signal. Tried calling the 888 number. Got a busy signal. Worked on something else for a half hour or so. Tried again. Both numbers. Both busy. So, instead of calling through my office phone app, I simply called from my cell phone. And did not get a busy signal. Instead, I got the phone lady politely telling (for both numbers) that they were no longer in service.

I knew the Commonwealth of PA was badly run, but to not give the Department of Transportation enough money to pay their phone bill? Wow. That’s worse than I thought…

The numbers I tried were the only numbers listed both in the letter and on the letterhead, as well as on their website. Thankfully, I recalled we had received a more informational letter, searched through my e-mail, found the name and number of the local certifier and called her. The news? Since our application had been put on her desk, two of her PennDot colleagues had quit. So, she had their share of applications, too. We probably wouldn’t hear from her for the next step of the process until February. And that’s probably if she didn’t quit. Because she really was too nice a lady to be working for PennDot. A government run entity that not only can’t afford to pay their phone bills, but I’m guessing hardly pays their employees either. Hence they quit.

No wonder Pennsylvania has some of the worse roads in the country…despite the highest gas tax outside of California. 

Christmas Cookies!

Yes, it is that time of year again. And this year I feel like I don’t have to do all the baking. Of course, that may be because we’re only just getting into our new house. And even though my kitchen is 95% unpacked, I haven’t found my cookie sheets yet. And we don’t have anything but ketchup, water and yeast in the fridge. So, any personal baking may have to wait a week or so. Meanwhile, my kids have already been baking at Grandma’s house.

In the Sturm family, the first Christmas cookie made is the gingerbread – complete with more icing than cookie. These are always made the day after Thanksgiving. This year was no different, we simply had lots of extra little hands helping. Which mainly equaled sprinkles just about everywhere. Still, we made more gingerbread cookies than we can possible eat!

 Ethan’s first gingerbread making experience.

 Emry holding one of her cookies.

And then we dipped pretzels. One of all-time favorite Christmas cookies. This time lots of little hands helping, but not so much with the dipping. Except when they found a broken pretzel they were allowed to eat. Again, mostly it just meant sprinkles everywhere! Emry and her cousin Beto each empty a jar of green and red sugar themselves. So, if you find there is a shortage this year…well, you know who to blame.

Emry Sprinkling!

And Ethan admiring his masterpieces…while deciding which one to eat next.

Our New Home

I have to say that hunting for houses is not my favorite pastime. In some ways, seeing all different sorts of houses is interesting. No two houses are the same. Some have some really interesting features (like, who puts a sink the size of a bathroom sink in a kitchen – exactly how do you wash a pot in that?). And they all take on the personalities of their owners. But the whole ordeal is exhausting. Especially when not one of them “fits the bill”. Not that we were looking for the house of our dreams, but something that would suit our needs for many years to come was our hope. 

Another option on the table was building our own place on a piece of my parent’s property. Not a sure option since the county hasn’t even yet given the nod to start the process let alone the months it will take to get through the red tape, build and move in. We were told if we could start the process today it would take ten months at the very least if no problems arose. With that in mind, we decided to settle on a rental house we had seen for the next couple of years – and pray all the hoops can be jumped through so we can build.

Located in the town of Lafayette, Indiana, it’s a rather quirky little place. It has three bedrooms. Not huge ones, but quite sufficient for us. One is the kid’s bedroom, another the “play” room (where Ethan naps) and the third is the master. The kitchen is rather on the narrow side, but it’s larger than what I had and is working out quite well. There’s a dining room (a huge plus!) with just enough room for my desk so I can work. The living area is large enough that I can have my chair back to enjoy. Although it has only one bath, we can manage. It has a garage and a fenced in backyard so the kids can play when it gets warmer out. The neighborhood is quiet, but also central to just about everything.

The quirkiness lies in all kinds of things. Not one room seems to have sufficient lighting. It was as if whoever did the updates was trying to be more contemporary than practical. The small addition includes the master bedroom and dining area which don’t get enough heat and with three sets of doors for only two rooms, is also drafty. Meanwhile, the kid’s room could easily be a sauna since there is a big grate right above Emry’s bed. The paint and woodwork are slapdash, but I’m not complaining much about that since I have two small children who put their fingers (and just about everything else) all over walls (and just about everything else). The oven has neither microwave nor fan/light above it. The garage door has no motion sensor. Some of the light switches are in very odd places. And one bedroom has no closet. There are other little things that just seem a little “why-this-and-not-that”, but all-in-all, it’s a cute little place and will do nicely for the next couple of years.

Which maybe how long it takes me to get all the boxes unpacked. With Ed having to leave town for several days and two small children to unpack around…well, it’s slow going. And then Christmas is just around the corner…sigh. It’s good to have a home, but it would be better if it didn’t include boxes stacked everywhere!