“Back to life, Back to Reality….” Those are the lyrics running through my head this evening, as Kevin iron’s his shirt and slacks in preparation for his first day of work tomorrow. Looking back over the past four months, it feel’s appropriate having song lyrics describing the way I feel tonight, considering it was a ‘play list’ courtesy of the man upstairs that kicked off this crazy ride!
4 Months ago, the beginning of May, I was 9 months pregnant, Kevin was taking his last finals, and everything was ahead of us…. One particularly overwhelming day, I get into the car a little anxious and I hear the following songs on the radio in perfect succession from departure to arrival: Faith Hill “Just Breathe”, followed by Matt Maher’s song with lyrics “this is the first day of the rest of your life”, and finally I pulled into my destination listening to U2’s, “It’s a beautiful Day”. I couldn’t help but get out of my car with a smile on my face knowing everything that lay ahead would work out no matter what.
I think it was my last post, that likened this adventure to a death defying bicycle ride… well… We’ve made it, and have grown considerably in the process. It’s funny how easy it is to take credit for things when they go your way… Kevin getting through school, getting a great job offer, having a healthy second baby boy, setting up for a cross country move, getting our house in Austin rented, finding a great place in Alexandria… everything fell into place so perfectly… I was flying pretty high, and an instant was all it took to put everything back into perspective. Watching Caleb lying in Kevin’s arms, unresponsive, and being completely helpless to do anything except wait for an ambulance and pray… It wasn’t us at all, it was all God, and I am SO thankful for all the amazing blessings his given us over these last 4 months, and the awesome opportunities we have ahead of us.
This last week has just been the icing on the cake! It’s been BEAUTIFUL weather, the first few meetings with Tonya, our new nanny for the boys, were fantastic and I’m praying will be a long term solution for us, and then a labor day weekend for the books! Saturday we rode the metro into the capital and walked all around the city,then Logan and I had a nice dinner with Tonya and some of her gal pals on the deck of a nice restaurant overlooking the Potomac. Sunday we found a great new church that was very similar to Gateway back in Austin, except only 3 years old and a fraction of the size but growing with lots of promise. After church we took to the bike trails and rode to Maryland… This is the first time I can say I rode my bike across state lines! It was a beautiful ride and allowed us to walk along the banks of the Potomac River at National Harbor. Then Monday we were back on the Metro headed to the National Zoo, and seeing more of Washington D.C.. I had my first grocery shopping experience at Trader Joe’s, and am in LOVE, what an amazing store! We seem to be 5/10 minutes away from everything, and the neighborhood is awesome! We would LOVE to be able to share our new town with anyone/everyone who wants to visit so PLEASE don’t be shy, cause the only thing we’ve found missing from this place yet, is all the people we love and miss back in Michigan and Austin!!!
Thanks En Vogue, for bringing me “Back to life, Back to reality, back to the here and now… Yeah”!
