Our Story (or a piece of it anyway)

Remember the sign I painted last week? My dearest, most beloved husband (and also my only one) put it up for me a couple nights ago. It feels so good to start, and complete a project - no matter how small it is!






If you've been following my blog for a while, you know the story of Marvel Hill and what inspired it's naming, if not, click here.












It is true that we are hard to follow - blog news or no.
Since I began blogging just after the end to one chapter of our lives, and after the start of a totally different chapter, I have promised to tell the story of my recent life of Gipsy-hood so maybe some of you can understand my current life and adventures better.


I have thought this over quite a bit, and am at odds with where to start. As with all miraculous stories the Lord writes, the beginnings began long before they looked like the first page in the book.

I won't start there however, or you'd be reading for hours (and I have limited time to write a post anyways).

I will start with a little history and then pick up at two years back during the time of Carolina's birth.

We married young, AJ and I, at 18 and 21 - and have never looked back except to wish we had done so sooner. The two of us have been "growing up" together ever since, and have cherished every moment, every year together. Yes even the difficult ones. The Lord has been faithful, and very very good to us. I love my dear man even more today and I never imagined that being possible when I was 18 and "in love"!

AJ worked for and with his Dad most our married life. From those years and that experience he gained an amazing education, and acquired a friendship with his dad that few men can boast.
It was a challenging time with many many hours spent working.
I often brought him dinner at 8 o'clock at night, spent 3 or 4 hours with him while he worked, went home, climbed into bed and slept lightly until I heard the key in the front door lock, or felt him falling into bed beside me in the wee hours of the morning.

We found much time to be together in spite of work. Often it was me and a book keeping him company in the shop, but we also found time to do some road trips and there was always laughter and deep discussion and dreaming to be had.
Lots of dreaming.

We knew this wouldn't be able to continue once we had a child. AJ desired to be home. He desired to be available. To have a job where he could work from home, or at least take the children with him to work.

Children arrived. One at a time, of course, but about every year and a half we have welcomed a new little person into our family. The Lord has graciously pulled AJ away from work and provided him more and more time with us over the years, but his heart especially, was for something completely different.
We prayed, and prayed. And prayed some more. There was always silence - the "wait" kind. It is very hard to wait when you don't know WHAT you're waiting for, or for how long. I know you know. I've heard many of your stories - most of us know what it is to pray and not hear a response.
We continued to pray though, and dream.
Never stop dreaming!

Two years ago during the time of Carolina's birth, a whirlwind hit our lives that really stirred things up in the department of AJ's employment.
Through the course of a couple months time and to our utter amazement we found ourselves "trying out" a job in Denver Colorado. Something completely different from what AJ had been doing for the 11 years previous, but he was game, and it appeared to supply him with all the time he had hoped to have for his family!
Who gets to "try out" a job anyway?!!

In the move to Colorado, where AJ's brother has graciously shared his 5,000 sq. foot house with us, I began to blog.
I started my blog to journal our goings-on and post pictures of the children for all our precious family back in California. While I have strayed off this course occasionally to expound on my own thoughts and ideas, my original purpose has kept this blog on the course you generally see - lots of "daily doings" and pictures.

Through a series of more events and miracles than I can recount (for lack of space and time), the Lord sold our house back home, gave us a precious church family in Colorado, some dear friends and kindred spirits, He expanded our vision for our family, and provided a very special place in Idaho where we could park all our earthly goods, visit to relax, dream, and hope one day to live full time.

Our reasons for choosing Idaho(over any other location) were numerous, abundant, and sure; and the Lord gave us exactly what we asked Him for - we still look at each other in near disbelief, but it seems better to just enjoy it all!

What makes all our traveling possible, and our long stays in Idaho, is AJ's ability to work remote from the Denver office with a smattering of travel hither and yon. He seems to be a pro working with laptop and phone (we get good cell service on our hill in the woods), and it has been a dream come true to have him work from home and still have time to play with us at the end of a work day.

We both realize we are blessed beyond measure with a life people only dream of (as we did!); and we realize this time may only be a season. That's okay. We are loving every moment, and thanking the Lord every day.
If He decides to do something different, we will praise Him then too.

This narration is a brief accounting of the long version, but hopefully it explains a little of our current craziness.

As of today, we have spent the last three months here at Marvel Hill, and the the previous three in California with family.
The End of next week will see us heading back to Colorado for our next baby's arrival, and possibly for the Winter months. AJ will be able to show his face in the home office, and also help me out with the children as I recover from baby's birth. It will be a luxury to have a washer and dryer on the premises along with a dishwasher, and the support of our dear Church family in that area.

We don't feel ready to leave Marvel Hill, but we are very excited to be back in Colorado for a while!
What a life!!

If I missed any important gaps, feel free to ask. Up to this point, we have been dependable home-bodies. We still are, but are learning to take with us everything of importance.
And guess what? That's not out laptops, or pillows, or school books...

;-)