OUR HOME

    It was late and we were exhausted, a year ago exactly. November 30, 2012.  I was at the top of the second story of our home, close to Samantha's room. I paused to look around and suddenly an enormous flood of memories saturated my mind.  I felt as if I was watching a home video, so silently I watched. The house was cold extracted form its personal belongings and voices of laughter, shouts of nagging kids, and tip toes to peek over to see the Christmas tree.

Slowly, I drug myself to each room,  looked inside watched the memories like an instant replay, and shut the light out. Room by room I continued this exercise. Tears streamed down my face. I refused to wipe them away, it was like a bath for my soul. It felt cleansing and surreal all at once.  Everett's room where  the kids would spend hours building towns out of Lincoln logs on the beautiful Ash floors. Katie's butter cream yellow walls, and all the times she told me how she wished they were lavender, and the dolls who were dressed up and taken to a magical place. Peeking into Sam's room, I envisioned her on her big white poster bed, reading a book lost in another world. The vacant hall outside the room, where a kiss on the cheek was stolen. 

   Our kitchen where meals were made with my dear friends and family, the warm red dining room filled with laughter and stories never heard. Glancing over I smiled at the grand fireplace and envisioned the stockings and the time Santa left footprints on the hearth in the ashes from the ever burning fire. Chickens brought into the kitchen daily by Katie and the ancient upright piano Sammi happily played in the sun room. The kitchens frequent smell of the latest cupcakes, Everett proudly contrived. Endless mountains of  fresh multicolored eggs resting by the sink ready for a rinse, and the spacious Chopping block where hundreds of jars of jam and pickles were filled by eager 4-H kids. 

 

The parties, the memories, the friends and the family that entered the doors, loved us challenged us and shaped us. Form the moment we moved into the home, I felt God whisper. He told me that there would be no shortage of visitors and love here.  I would have never imagined us leaving here, or the road ahead.  What a huge reminder that, our lives are not our own. That what we think is our path, usually is not. It was our home but as I closed each door I, reminded myself firmly it was walls. Home really is where you make it, cliche as it sounds and this home did not define who we were. It was a gift from God and now it was time to let it go, and embrace a new chapter. 

Going So Cal

                 Malibu, is only a quick drive from our home, so the most obvious
thing to do in So Cal is surf.  Lessons from the beach Bum Dad, himself
were given. While Sammi loves adventure and seeks thrills, this happens
to not be one of her favorite things to do. Still it is an amazing and incredibly
difficult sport. Everett seemed to like it a bit and Katie absolutely loves it!  Either way the beaches in Cali are so beautiful its hard to stay away, so we found ourselves there several times a week, surfing, walking and eating, yes I said eating.  We like to eat, and the fresh seafood here is to die for.  What can I say? We are your typical California kids.  Although Malibu is not the best place to surf, the Paparazzi is really crazy to watch. Waiting hours to get that perfect pic of Matthew Mcconaughey or whoever is paddle boarding that day.  Well it wasn't for me haha!!!  Going to the beach was a great way for us to get away and enjoy the amazing beauty of Gods creation.

The more we  encountered the more we realized that every celebrity

is just a person.  Not any different than you or myself. They want to be left alone and treated like a normal person. Moving to Los Angeles was turning out to be a very eye opening experience in a lot of ways, i could have never expected..... 

TAKING FLIGHT

The Odyssey Begins

January 12, 2013

The car pulls out of Hollister Ca, not free from tears and a huge amount of uncertainty of what the next few months holds. Honestly, I thought by having the home in Hollister we would be back and forth quite a bit. This made leaving a lot less evasive. We had already moved out of our dream home in the country, into a home in town. First time in town with neighbors. Surprisingly it was fun and the kids adjusted easily not having the usual morning chores such as gathering eggs and cleaning the pig pens.   Five hours later we reached our destination; Los Angeles California.

Tired and exhausted from the emotions and the physical exhaustion of packing we managed to get dinner down the street at Islands. Burgers and salads we devoured our meal and drug our bodies back to our new domain. Not a home, yet by any stretch of the imagination. 

The next several weeks and months became a blur, partly due to the fact that I was not thrilled to be away from our familiar.  Continuing to do school the kids adjusted to homeschooling in a smaller home and with a completely offbeat schedule.  NOTHING, was the same.  I began submitting constantly for auditions, and lost myself in the relentless Pilot Season.  Getting absorbed in this, i discovered later kept me from missing home. Although there were several trips home to Hollister during this time period. Which was ducky for me but tore the kids every time we would leave to come back to L.A.  

Homeschooling  had turned into isolation in L.A. Honestly it was not Hollister, we knew no one. I began to think there were no friendly souls in this area.  Having bought an XBOX, for Christmas turned into a blessing even though I had fought it for years. Playing with friends form home and making new ones.  It was clear that going to school would be best the following Fall.  So we kept moving towards our goal and made it through Pilot Season. And then we began to breathe literally......