Farewell Notre Dame

Feast or famine

Well after a famine for about about a month in the interview department, Lohn now has FOUR interviews in the next 5 days (FEAST!) Here's a list of who's and where's and when's.

Today 3pm- Windhaven Insurance, Miami FL
Monday 11am- Ally, Dallas TX
Monday 3 pm- SunTrust Bank. Charlotte, NC (We would REALLY like this one)
Tuesday 2pm- Aramark, South Bend IN

All of them are phone interviews except for the last one, which will be in person, and all of them could potentially be great positions. I have already googled and mapped all the locations, and found decent housing with good schools in all of these places (over doing it, I know). The kids saw a place I was looking at in Miami that had a swimming pool, and they are all rooting for Florida now. I will feel so much better about leaving South Bend with Hope tucked into our pockets. Wish us luck and keep Lohn in your prayers!

Edit: Just found out that all my school and neighborhood searching in NC was a waste of time. Turns out the job would be in Atlanta. Guess I need to go check out that place now...

Holy stinkin cow!

So we are moving. On the 30th (yes, thats right, in 11 days!!!) at approximately 4 am, our little family will start the long trek west. We are moving in with Lohns mom and he will work for his dad, and continue the job hunt while we save money on rent and he makes some moolah. We are going to try our hardest to fit in some quality cousin time and happy reunions and snuggle babies I've never met yet. And there will be lots of berry picking. Chokecherries, bush cherries, strawberries, raspberries, and never forget the all time famous HUCKLEBERRIES! And perhaps sanctioned swimming in the pond in the backyard (No drownings, please oh please!!!) And there will be reconnecting with old friends, visits to our old ward, and 24th of July parades and fireworks (wish they did that back East, but oh well...) and lots of visits to the Spud drive-in to watch late night movies with the littles.

I have to say that I will miss a lot about this place. My heart is nearly breaking into two as I prepare to say goodbye forever to so many of my dear friends, and dear surroundings. This has honestly been the best two years of my life. Goodbye turtles and blue herons and geese, swans and ducks and runs at the lakes. Good bye raccoons, fat squirrels, bunnies, red cardinals, blue jays, cicadas and fireflies. Goodbye clothing exchange, exercise room, and community center. Good bye my dear, wonderful fenced-in backyard where friendships were made, and will hopefully be preserved over the test of time. Good bye my dear, sweet Notre Dame, thank-you for all the life lessons you have taught me.

Be still my soul. Take a deep breath. Yes, all will be well.

This is what summer is all about...

Nothing is better than waking up to 2 fully dressed kids standing over my bed in the wee hours of the morning saying, "We've done our chores. Can we go play outside?" And when I say yes, they squeal in excitement and dash out the door. My kids have been out of school all week and I've barely seen them. This is what they have been up to. Creativity at it's BEST!


I keep thinking, "This is what summers are all about!" And I sigh in contentment knowing my children are having the summer of their lives. What will I do without my dear Village? How will I and the children possibly survive without it? I must confess, I feel my heart breaking.

Walk on Campus

"Venite Ad Me Omnes" Come unto me

My First 10K

And I did it in one hour and 11 minutes, averaging about 11.5 minutes per mile. And I finished. Without walking.
My favorite moment- Sprinting through the ND stadium tunnel towards the finish line, with the ND fight song playing. What a HIGH!

I laughed when I saw this picture. My feet aren't even touching the ground!

Can you see me? I'm the one in the middle with a cold wet towel on my head. It was HOT and HUMID!

My South Bend Ward 10K runners. It's weird how near death experiences make people feel really close to each other. Also, please note the little green clouds rising from our pits.

Along the whole way, people were lined up to cheer us on, and people who owned houses along the route had their sprinklers near the road just for us. It's a good thing too, cause I was dying from the heat. I even passed a runner laying on the ground getting medical help. I must have looked as bad as that guy, cause I was getting a lot of stares from people and one old man even asked me if I was okay (how embarrassing is THAT???). So despite the heat, I am so glad I did this race. It just seems like an appropriate finish to my time here at Notre Dame. When I first saw the Dome near the end of my race, I got all blubbery (proof that I was nearing heat exhaustion and dementia). And nothing was more exciting to me than knowing my family was there watching me sprint to the finish line, proud of me and cheering me on. WHAT A HIGH! And yep, I will be doing this again, where ever we live next.

Up days and Down days

Yep, I have up days and down days. That's normal, right??? Lohn had two job interviews recently, and they went well, the future looks promising. But, by golly, I wish things would happen faster. We have less than two months left here at the Village and NO IDEA where we are headed to next. Some days I feel like this.

The kids need eye exams, I want to know if the school where we are moving to has all day kindergarten (and do I hold Gunnar back a year if they do???), I want to find housing in a safe neighborhood, and it is seriously time for a paycheck.

And then other days I feel like this-

I don't want to leave my Village, I don't want to leave my friends, I don't want my kids to have trouble making new friends, I am afraid I will have NO friends where ever we move, I hate moving, I hate the post packing clean-up (seriously thats the worst), we don't have much money left, I am scared of Lohn not getting a job, what do we do and where do we go if he doesn't get a job, and how in the HALIBAT are we going to pay off all this debt.

And then I take a deep breath, say a little prayer, remind myself that all is going to work out and then I feel like this-

A short little story to tell you. About a month ago, while I was washing the dishes and pondering our precarious situation, I sang the song to myself "How firm a foundation" Halfway through the third verse, I started to cry and couldn't sing anymore. The third verse is as follows.
"Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand."
The Spirit manifested to me at this time that all is going to be well, everything will fall into place. When I have my "down" days, I just remind myself of this experience and the promise I received that everything is going to be fine. And when I REALLY stop to reflect, my life IS perfect. We are all healthy, we have housing, transportation, a loving and supportive extended family, the gospel, and best of all, a loving Heavenly Father that we know and can talk to who understands all our struggles. Yep, everything is just fine folks. (But please forgive me if you see me pulling out my hair, or balling like a baby, it's only temporary I promise)