Ch-ch-ch-Changes!

 **I started this post sometime in 2019 and decided to go ahead and try and finish it now, and post it, regardless of it's out-dated-ness!**

Moving always brings about change, and a life without change is really impossible. So it should come as no surprise that over the past four months there have been a lot of changes in our life. And, adjusting to changes can take time whether you like to admit it, or not.

I've recently been thinking about all the changes we have been through, both this year and over the past few years. Some changes we specifically chose and pursued, other changes were not something we would have chosen if given the choice. There have been really big, major changes, and there have been tiny, minuscule changes that most probably would never know about. And, just for writing's sake, I thought I'd share some of these changes in our lives with you; some big and some small.

You probably already know that a major change this year was moving back to Wyoming from where we had been living in Kansas. (If not, you can check out this blog post for a little background info.) A subsequent change to our moving has been that our social life, and sometimes I think most specifically Jason's social life, has increased by 100%. We literally had no social life in Kansas, aside from getting together with family a few times a month for birthdays, Easter, just because, Christmas, etc. Well, let me back up. Jason had a bit of a social life because he made friends through his work, and occasionally I was able to go along on one of his social outings. And I think we had one of his co-workers over once or twice before they moved away. Outside of that, we were literally hermits with no life outside of our four walls.

In the four months that we have been here, though, I sometimes have wondered if maybe we are too sociable! We have gone camping with friends twice. We had a 4th of July party. We have had friends over for a few meals. Jason hosted a get-together of some of his old co-workers and friends. We have gone out to dinner with friends a few times. We've gone to friends' houses for meals. We babysat for friends so they could go on a date, and then they kept Little Pumpkin while we went on a date. Little Pumpkin has had two play-dates. Jason and I have each gotten to go out separately with friends at least a few times. And there always seems to be discussion of the next meal, or the next event, or the next adventure to be had with friends. I once told Jason that I feel like all we do sometimes is have a social life!! I have not been using my camera very much until just recently, and I don't have hardly any pictures of any of these events. But we have had fun, and have memories! One of my most memorable social events, if you can call it that, since moving back was going mountain biking for the first time. I think that it even tops the most recent camping trip which was the birthday party camp-out! Having a social life has been fun, and sometimes tiring, and is probably a very healthy change for our family, I think.

Another major area of change has been even more recent, and has to do with food. If you read any of my blog last year, I did a lot of cooking and baking and was in the process of trying a lot of new recipes. You probably also knew, or figured out, that I tend to try and cook and bake from scratch. Over the last year, I made some delicious foods, such as:

Blueberry-Strawberry Shortcake Orange Glazed Chicken Stir-fry

Sourdough Bread

And I could go on and on. Not every recipe that I made was a winner; there were some really not-so-good dishes that we tried. But, it was kind of fun trying new, and sometimes not new, recipes that I have kept in my over-flowing cookbook collection for the past 12 years!

The small food change in my life, and maybe is insignificant, is that I cleaned out my recipe books and got rid of some that I had literally never used. My hair-brained idea to try every single recipe that I had in my cupboard was almost a pipe-dream. I'm sure I could have accomplished such a task, but it would have taken years! And I seem to always be acquiring new recipes that I want to try, so I decided to get rid of the books that I almost never crack open, if ever.

The other food change is a bit bigger and comes from Jason. He has chosen to pursue a keto food diet, and did a lot of research (and talking to his friends) about what that entails. I knew a little bit about the basics of the keto food-style, and have my own ideas and opinions surrounding it. (I think it has it's pros and cons, basically.) Jason bought a keto cookbook and decided to jump into it in July. Little Pumpkin and I are working hard to eat  keto-friendly as much as possible along-side him, and try to make keto approved meals. (If you read in between the lines, that means the meals that Pumpkin and I eat without him are not strictly keto!) I am not opposed to the lower carb, lower sugar food-style, but I really really like my fresh fruits!!! And I like my bread, however that is the one food that has probably seen the most cut-back for all of us.

Cooking keto meals and finding keto-friendly options for breakfast and snacks that fill the bill has been interesting. I have been cooking completely from his new cookbook, although he searched the internet for a good keto-pizza recipe. We have been making, and trying, foods such as:

Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie

I think we have tried almost all the smoothie recipes in the cookbook. Little Pumpkin asks for a taste every morning (Jason has requested smoothies for his breakfast food), and some smoothies she wants to drink it all, and others she makes a face after her taste-test. Jason really likes about 3 of the smoothie recipes, and tends to not like the ones that have greens in them.

Roasted Pork Loin with Grainy Mustard Sauce

Some recipes are winners, and some are losers. This was a half-and -half recipe: the pork itself was great, the mustard sauce was not so great.

Keto Ham & Spinach Pizza

This recipe made Jason happy! He really likes pizza, and he quite liked this keto version. It is apparently a little tricky to get the crust perfect, as I have messed it up both times I made it after his first one turned out perfect! There's not a whole lot of keto desserts that we have tried; I have made one recipe, actually. Pumpkin Spice Fat Bombs. Jason says they are good, I do not like them. I also made Parmesan Crackers and those received raving reviews from everyone! We have tried a lot of other recipes, but while Jason eats his meals in his office, Little Pumpkin and I eat some less-strict foods....

Leftover Grilled Cheese Sandwich and fresh fruit!

While I do really try for us all to eat the same as what Jason's eating, sometimes I just need something a bit more. And Little Pumpkin is not the biggest fan of lots of meat right now, so sometimes I just make food I know she will eat because it is just easier. This big change in food-style is definitely throwing a learning curve and providing lots of new recipe opportunities!

Another change in our lives which may seem kind of silly, but I think it's pretty significant, is that as of last week we have an actual bed frame! We have never had a headboard-and-footboard bed frame in the almost 7 years we have been married. Our bed has either been on the floor, or just on metal rails. Jason has wanted a "real bed," I always said to get a used one, and we just never actually did it. (In reality, we may have never agreed on the bed frame whenever one of us found one we liked!) Since we bought our house, Jason has been perusing furniture for sale online, and last week he found a bed. And he bought it, and the people delivered it!

We have a "real bed!"

Jason was pretty excited about his purchase, and said it was my birthday present. It is quite a nice, solid wood bed frame with only a few dings and scratches, but nothing some Liquid Gold won't help. Jason stated that it might actually be the first time in his life that he has had a headboard-and-footboard bed frame. And that he has always liked the "sleigh bed" style. I've never been sure how I would like a footboard, but it seems to be fine. And, I'm enjoying the idea that our bed rails won't collapse in the middle of the night! I think that has happened at least once before!

A different sort of change that I was not expecting has to do with making a mental choice. With no air conditioning, I have had to try to maintain livable indoor temperatures by shutting all the windows and curtains during the day. (It helps; sometimes not a lot, but it does help.) When we moved to Kansas two years ago, I discovered that I do not like being in a house with the windows, curtains, and doors all closed up, locked, and the shutters battened down. Ok, so maybe there were no shutters battened down, but it kind of felt like it. In some ways it was kind of claustrophobic to me, and I don't know that I have ever really had issues with claustrophobia. But, for some reason, two years ago I noticed that closed up houses felt suffocating, and I didn't like it. Now here, two years later, I'm having to shut up all the windows, draw all the blinds and curtains, and batten down the shutters every single day unless I want it to be 90 degrees in here. And I don't like it.

(4/9/20) To pick up this post from where I left off last year....

It took me a while to realize, or come to terms with, the fact that life for me in 2017 was pretty dark. And the only way to not smother in the darkness was to make sure the sun could shine and the fresh air blow in as much as possible. So being in a house with all the windows closed, curtained, doors locked, etc. just made the darkness even more suffocating, I have realized. I needed the sunlight, fresh air, and openness to survive. I found that taking walks, and then running, and just making myself get outside and do physical activity was very imperative to my well-being and an effort to get out of that darkness.

After I realized why being in a closed and shuttered house bothered me so much (to the point that I actually called one of my sisters and complained about it after being in someone's house one day), I realized there was more. Even though I didn't entirely comprehend what was happening then, I also needed the Son to keep shining into my life. (See what I did there?) It was super hard to go to church after we moved to Kansas. With Jason's then work schedule, and the way I was feeling, it would have just been easier to not go to a new church, or any church, at all. It would have been easier to stay home. But, I knew that we HAD to go, even if none of us really wanted to. And, thanks to God's providence, the first church we tried was where we, or at least I, needed to be. We may have failed at integrating and socializing, but keeping the Son shining into the darkness of my life that year even by just going to Sunday church kept the darkness from completely overwhelming me. Thankfully, as the year (and now years) have progressed since 2017, the darkness has lifted. Yes, the battened and shuttered windows last summer to try and keep the house cooler was far from my preference, but it didn't completely overwhelm me. And, while I have been able to enjoy wide open curtains (and even windows!) for the past six months or more, I am curious to see if battened and shuttered windows have any subconscious effect this summer.

Through all of the changes in life, one thing I am certain of is that having and keeping Christ in your life is imperative to surviving. It's easy to go through changes that are exciting and seem to be great for you, but when something changes that you were not expecting, or prepared for, or have no idea what's even happening, relying on the faithfulness of God is the only way you can make it through.