Monday, November 27, 2023

Senior Year

Hi. I "got nails" last week for Melissa's wedding and it's not that easy to type. I think it had been 11 years since the last time I tried to have long nails. I'll get annoyed having to go in every two weeks but maybe I won't mind now that I don't need a babysitter. Annabeth is almost 15 and she enjoys getting her nails done whenever she has some cash. It'll be fun to do together. One time I tried to do eyelash extensions but they were way too fussy for me. They were really pretty though. It annoys me that we keep adding things that women have to do to keep up.

Do you ever feel like you can't talk about anything if you can't talk about the real things? Gosh, so much has happened in the six years since I last posted. We had Hurricane Harvey, which impacted all of our lives in Houston so much. Our church was heavily involved in the cleanup. I got severely depressed soon after that and honestly fought for my life for the next year. A flaming dumpster of trauma was like "Hey girl," and I had to face it. 

COVID-19 changed the world.

We moved to Springfield, Missouri, in the summer of 2020 with a sixth grader, a ninth grader, and a 4-year-old. 

We took a break from church ministry. Curt works at Convoy of Hope, which is an incredible organization working around the world and in the U.S. After what we were involved in with Harvey, it makes so much sense to me.

We found a sweet local church where Curt now serves part-time.

I was the PTA secretary for Willa's school last year. It was hard! I took the year off because JACKSON is a SENIOR. What on earth? I serve on the church's missions board and I get to help out at a food pantry every month.

Parenting teens has brought me to my knees many, many times. MANY TIMES. When it's good, it's so very good though. Willa, age 8, is a firecracker but she's still in the sweet imagination years. She loves her friends. Her bestie lives across the street and they're both the babies of families with teenagers. They're the kids I griped about when mine were little because they knew too much. 

This blog was the first place I shared about Jackson, so it seems fitting to post a few senior pictures here. 















 









4 comments:

The Andlers said...

holy cow! i got on my blog to look for a few pictures and saw that you posted. that just took me way back. i haven't looked on here in forever to see if people still even post. Your boy is all grown and so handsome!

Deborah said...

Wow! Jackson is so grown up. I started reading your blog when all the kids were young. My oldest graduated high school last year and is finishing his first semester at college. I don't even know how to talk about it. He came home for Thanksgiving and my heart was so full to have us all in the same place again. My daughter is a sophomore and my youngest is in 6th grade.

Laura said...

Hi Amanda
I read your blog a lifetime ago when I was newly married to my pastor husband. Now I have 3 kids in elementary. Love seeing your life update, thanks for sharing. Have always related to you! Im a sensitive introvert as well.
here is my blog: dillonandlaura.blogspot.com

Maryellen said...

Jackson is so handsome. His photos turned out great.
I especially like the sunflower photo.
It was wonderful to read a catch up post after so long.

Praying life continues to go well for you all Amanda.

Blessings.