-Pros and *Cons

In every life there are good and bad moments, pros and cons, sweet and sour... you get the idea.

Here is my list as of lately;


-I am feeling an overwhelming sense of gratitude these days and it's not just cause it's that time of year. Of all the scenarios, and paths we could have taken after the biggest financial failure that we have ever experienced in our marriage, I still feel grateful.

*Because we live in the trees and by a lot of water there are flies in our house in the winter. Strange but true.

- The feeling of not being stressed about money or where it's going to come from, or how it's all going to work out, has FINALLY left the building. This building is stress free. This cabin is stress free from money issues. Our fireplace heats this place crazy good, we live on a septic tank for water, we have an endless supply of natural resources to live off of and finally the stress has left the building. It is good.

* We have a shoes off at the door policy now because of the mud that gets tracked through otherwise. Still, on a daily basis I have to shake the bathroom rug from dirt. THE BATHROOM RUG, not the rug at the door or even in the kitchen but the BATHROOM rug!! How is this possible?

- When I go to take kids to school in the morning around this time of year I expect to give some time for scrapping windows from morning frost. Not so here. Only a fresh morning dew or of course if it's raining then I have to put on the wipers. Still getting used to the weather here.

* I miss my peeps. There are so many things around here that I wish I could share with all my peeps but they are 700+ miles away and so that makes it kinda difficult.

-One of the above said "things" I can' wait to share with my peeps is the drive around Lake Sammamish that is right down the street from where we live, or Pikes Market Place, or the Thrift stores that have treasures beyond measure, or the hike in my backyard.

* Thanksgiving without my family was still good, but not the same. I missed our abundant supply of olives. I should have brought them myself but wasn't thinking.

- Moses now has a job that provides enough for me to do the job I love most; taking care of the home-front. So thankful for this. SO yes, that means I will be quitting the job at the preschool but not completely. They have so graciously made a place for me that fits just right.

* Not being able to meet my friends for coffee, or watch their kids play with mine, or have people that just drop by really sucks!! I miss this more than I can even express.

Overall, if I were to make a real list the Pros far outweigh the Cons but ya know what? That is because even though I have moved to Washington I am still the eternal optimist that I have always been and so in life I am determined to find more good than bad.

Pikes Market Place

The Scofield clan decided to finally venture into Seattle this weekend. We have only been here 3 weeks well almost a month, and so when I see the do list my family has made I have to remind myself that we are not on vacation and that we have plenty of time to get all these sight seeing adventures done.
One of the first places I wanted to go when we knew we were moving up to Washington was the famous Pikes Market place. I had heard about this place for many years. I have seen it on countless television shows( mostly cooking shows) and other movies and stuff but never got to visit when I came to Seattle 15 years ago. That's how long it has been since I have been back to Washington and let me tell you folks A LOT has changed, but that's a story for another time.

Anyway, my good friend Jentry Day told me she and her family were going to be headed into the city with even mom Sandy who was visiting from Tahoe on Sunday and so we decided to join forces. Jentry has twin baby girls, Bryn and Chloe so her and the girls, hubby Joe, mom Sandy, me and my 4 and of course the big man all walked through the booths of Pikes Market Place this past Sunday afternoon.
IT WAS AWESOME!! Seriously, all those that do plan to come up for a visit be sure to put this on your list of things to do and see. The smells, art, music, people, views, music, free entertainment from the fish market, did I mention the musicians around here that are off the hook good, colors, beautiful flowers, crafts, clothes, and food were all reasons why this place has become so famous.

Anyway, a good time was had by all and my kids finally got to try Turkish Delight. They have wanted to try this ever since the Narnia movies. There was a mom and pop shop that made everything from Baklava to Turkish Delight treats. They were oh so good. They had flavors like Rose, Orange, Lemon, Strawberry, Cherry, and Lime. I think the general consensus was that lemon was the best.


I love this city.
I have thoughts like, "HOLY CRAP, I can't believe I live here now!!" I suppose this is normal. Dunno.
Still feels like I am on vacation.
I will let you know when I no longer feel as though I am on vacation, just in case you might be wondering when that might happen, because I am wondering when that might happen??
I shouldn't be surprised by this feeling that is so strange and foreign because after all I did live in Nevada for 34 years. I feel like I am not ready to go back which I suppose is a good feeling since I am not going back until this summer. The scenery is exactly what my heart and soul needed at this moment in life.

More Pics of Redmond

More Pics of Redmond for you Non-Facebookers

An Update and Some Late night Ramblings

So here I sit after countless hours of unpacking and work work, school work, driving, kids school work, traffic, more traffic (did I mention the traffic up here?) and I am finally able to update my blog. What a whirlwind this adventure of moving 700+ miles has been. I still feel like I am on vacation, even though I have a job and my kids are in school it still feels as though at some point I will have to head back to Nevada.
I was telling Moses the other day that I honestly believed that although I have always loved the Northwest area I didn't ever think I would get to live here until I was an old lady and not even able to enjoy it. I now realize how silly that was to think that way. He thought I still had some kind of weird leftover Catholic guilt that wouldn't allow for me to be happy.
I can honestly say that although this cabin is ever so humble there is no place like home.
It feels like home to me.
It's not because the surroundings are familiar, they aren't. Let me give you a list here of the unfamiliar things; It's wet. It's green. It's wet and green two things Nevada was not. There are so many trees and plants, and things growing around me that I am in utter amazement about. Our neighbor has plants growing on their roof, on the ROOF people!! Oh and it rains a lot. Did I mention that? Seems silly to mention that as being something that is unfamiliar but have you ever tried driving in the rain in lots of traffic, that is something a person has to ease into. There is a little water creek that runs outside my front door. The sound of running water makes me want to do two things, go pee and take a deep breath. Let me also mention the unfamiliar aspects of this cabin. Pitched roof and windows everywhere, beautiful but my home decor is not so much for this kind of house. We gave away almost every piece of furniture we owned so even that is unfamiliar(except our Bed-thanks be to Jesus and the Judy's that feels familiar) No dishwasher, garbage disposal because we are on a septic tank.
No, nothing here is familiar... still it feels like home.
I think it has more to do with the fact that I have dreamed of this being a reality for so long that now that it is a reality it seems vaguely familiar. Does that make sense?
I was talking to a longtime friend the other day about moving up here and she reminded me that I talked about moving up here so long ago but that back then I would say, "God won't ever let me go there. I will probably dry up and die in this desert" When I heard her say this it made me feel kind of silly for thinking like that. God doesn't make us do things like stay in a state we don't really want to live in, we do that to ourselves. And it wasn't really that I chose the state as much as the people. Despite the fact that the people were not easy to walk away from the state that I was in however was.
So here's to moving out of whatever state(whether it physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional) you are in, and not blaming God for your own choices to live out YOUR truth.