Scout,
Sometimes while documenting all the special moments of everyday life, I forget to explain the big-picture. And as I lie all alone on the sofa, sick as a dog, I have the time to expand on some things.
When you were two months old your dad and I went to Tegucigalpa, Honduras to meet up with WGO to see if I we would want to work there full time. I explained in a few different past blogs, here, here, & here.
We had an amazing experience. I worked as a nurse there and your dad helped build concrete floors. We also played with a lot of kids, de-liced children, and met some amazing foster kids. It was an experience unlike any other, one that was so incredibly touching.
Below: Tegucigalpa (so beautiful isn’t it?)
Hanging out with this little girl after I de-liced her and did her hair.
The beautiful children.
Alex washing some hair.
Lines to get into the clinic.
Your dad and I got home and knew we had to pray a lot about this decision. We would be moving from Chicago to Honduras, with a little baby, to be missionaries. We didn’t even speak Spanish that well. It was a lot to think about.
Meanwhile we got back to the states and moved into my family’s house in Naperville, IL. About 30 miles west of chicago. They were amazing to us, but we were very use to having our own space, it was very different. Maternity leave ended and I started work on labor day. Going back to work was just like riding a bike. the only hard thing was breastfeeding and leaving Scout.
Just a few short weeks after staying with my family, my mom had a friend from work who was leaving with her husband and daughter to move to North Dakota for a short-term job assignment for a couple months. I mentioned that we would house-sit for them and they happily agreed. This gave us, once again, free rent, but our own space, our own house, etc. We “moved” into there mid-September, which is in Warrenville, IL, the town right next to my parents. So we have been living here, in someone else’s house, in a small town, in a surburbia land that we do not like at all. We crave Chicago during all moments and have a difficult time adjusting to the suburbs. Moving back seemed impossible at the time while we were still trying to get our finances in order and Chicago is a VERY EXPENSIVE TOWN.
We spent much of our time thinking/praying about our next step. Honduras? Back to Chicago? Something else?
We have a mutual restlessness that never seems to settle. While we watched our friends buy houses and pick a spot, we became all the more ready to pack up and travel. So we have decided a few things and here they are in a disorganized manner:
a. Daddy NEEDS to finish his social work degree. We decided we would be much more useful doing mission work once he had that. Plus, that is his passion.
b. I would also like to go back to school and become a Nurse practitioner, hopefully within the year or so. I worked next to a nurse practitioner in Honduras at the clinic, and I envied her competence.
(both of these degrees can be attained online).
c. We would like to learn Spanish. We just finished our first class :)
d. We would appreciate saving some money and funds before doing anything out of the country.
So after a bit, we realized there were somethings we needed to get done before we pack up and head out of country. It may be a few years, but that’s okay, we’re young :)
We decided to apply for a travel nursing job so we could see different parts of the USA, save up some big bucks, and get some new experiences. All the while, making great connections. I got accepted to the agency shortly after applying. In this agency, your gas and housing is paid for. I will also be getting paid a lot more than I do now. You pick a region that you want to go to and the agency helps pick a short term job assignment for you. (about 13-16 weeks). After looking around, and failing at finding a spot close to your Mimi and Geo, we finally decided on Florida. There are A LOT of jobs in Florida in the winter. I finished applying for my license transfer yesterday, so we have several weeks to wait and see how that goes. But because I’m with this travel agency, I’m told I should have no problem getting a job assignment in January. So it looks like we’ll be packing up this winter and heading south- to make new experiences and cure our restlessness. And then by the time our restlessness picks up again, it will be time for a new travel assignment, hopefully after that we’ll pick Pacific Northwest (we LOVE it up there!)
So Baby Scout, looks like if everything goes as planned you will be a world traveler! Home is wherever we’re together .Geography heals the adventurers in us that have been held back for awhile now. We are ready for a new chapter, something exciting.
I want to take you couch surfing, meet strange people, go hostel jumping, visit organic farms, go long-term camping. I may be a mom, but I don’t have to settle down. I hope this teaches you love for others, tolerance, and a zest for life.
I once read somewhere that people tend to live vicariously through others, often. I don’t want to be like that. This is my life, I want to live.
This is where Donald Miller, my favorite author, has a quote that comes in and fits perfectly to end this blog entry:
“No, life cannot be understood flat on a page. It has to be lived; a person has to get out of his head, has to fall in love, has to memorize poems, has to jump off bridges into rivers, has to stand in an empty desert and whisper sonnets under his breath… We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn’t it?”
We had this quote on our wedding bulletins, time to live it out.
We’re gonna have fun Scout.
