The Shafer Adventure

Okay all... I have been meaning to update everyone on our up and coming adventure. The Shafer's will be moving to Colorado in an RV minus merrick. We are planning to make our way to Breckenridge in October. Our RV will not be ready for pick up till mid October in Michigan. On our way back from MI with RV in tow, I might make a pit stop in COMO for somedays while kevin flies back to CA for a photo shoot. Here are somethings that we need to see happen this septemeber...

1. Find Renters. Our house comes furnished or unfurnished.

2. If the renters want it unfurnished, we need to sell our things

3. Sell Kevin's car. We are giving my car to Anj-hole.

4. Figure out where and what I want to do for my birthday. We were thinking of going to the Missouri - Colorado game in Boulder on the 9th of October for a belated present.

5. Find jobs in Breck.

We are being stretched to downsize and simplify our lives. We want to cut our costs down, save money, and travel. We want to adventure before we start a family. There is a lot of change ahead and I'm excited but nervous at the same time. If there is any question feel free to ask. I kinda lost focus in and out of writing this post... getting ready for work... and have lost the motivation to write out the details.

6. oh something else I need to do is meet my new friend Olivia Jules. Yes, I inspired her parents in naming her. I think of pitts and payne with this picture.

being a stay at home mom....

i'll be honest. i don't really like being a stay at home mom as much as i thought i would. maybe i'll enjoy it once E is a little older and we can go places & enjoy doing things together but right now, it's not all i thought it'd be.

i am so grateful that i do get to stay home and watch him grow up, and see all his "firsts" because believe me, thinking of someone else seeing those makes me sick to my stomach. but it's not all fun & games. it's poopy diapers, fighting nap time, getting puked on, having hair ripped out of your head, a sometimes messy house that of course, drives me insane, and crying for no reason.

even though it's all those really bad not so fun things, it's also really rewarding. those smiles i get first thing in the morning melt my heart, seeing him light up when i walk into a room is the best. and of course, the kisses....the big sloppy wet kisses.

as much as i don't really want him to grow up, i'm looking forward to next summer. he'll be a year old and so i think we'll be able to go out and have a lot more fun together. i'm looking forward to the pool, the library, the park.

we went to the park yesterday since it was pretty nice out. he had so much fun. i put him in a swing & he was just giggling and laughing the whole time. he LOVED it. those are the things that make being a stay at home mom worth it. those times remind me why i wanted to do this in the first place. some days when he's super cranky, i think to myself...oh i could go back to work...that would be great! but i'd hate missing all the cute little faces, sounds he makes, and watching him learn something new every day.

so sometimes, as much as he drives me batty some days, i wouldn't trade my job for the world.

Saturday Nights.

My Saturday night was fun filled with my hubby, pj's, popcorn, fire, and Dexter. I was in love!

What did you guys do this weekend?

Mer, I didn't realize season 3 had 3 disc so we wont start season 4 till Wednesday or so. I'm excited to chat with you though when I get the 2nd disc!

Have a great Monday and I will see you all soon.

Ju

p.s. I am just now noticing that Merrick was SNEAKING into the POPCORN! What the?!

Canadian House Arrest

I miss my Philo guy! My messy room, Canadian peanut butter (everything here is Kraft),

My basement apartment- note the shovel, guess it gets used quite a bit

So I'm not really on house arrest, it just feels that way. I arrived in Toronto on Tuesday and since I flew, I shipped a few boxes of my stuff up. According to FedEx tracking they were supposed to arrive Wednesday, so I stayed in the apartment all day waiting and they did not come. (if you are not at home to receive packages here, they will not drop them off) So I waited on Thursday and 3 of the 4 arrived in the afternoon and currently it is 1 PM on Friday and I am waiting for the final one which is scheduled to be dropped off today. This has sort of sucked because I am an eager beaver to go 'splorin in my new hood.
That said, I have had my evenings to go out and get stuff. Another sucky thing is that I do not have a car and have been making my treks to neighboring stores by foot, filling up my backpack and reusable bags, and lugging it all home. Those adventures and my crappy mattress have caused for an achy, breaky back. It is also annoying because there are some big things I need to purchase and I guess I will just need to hire delivery. As you can see from the pics of my bedroom I am in need of a dresser and a desk. I have seen a lot of great listings on Craigslist but no delivery.
Canada is just weird. I didn't expect so many different things because Toronto is just so close to the US. Going grocery shopping takes me forever because the brands are so different, yet the same, and dairy and meat is much more expensive.
Toronto is really progressive. Under our kitchen sink we have a trash can for garbage, a box for recyclables, and an organic waste which is a bin for all food particles (kind of like compost but takes much more than just raw stuff). Also, at all stores you are charged a nickle per plastic bag if you didn't bring your own.
I am also needing to set up my Canadian bank account which I am not looking forward to. My roommate explained to me how different Canadian banking is from the US. For instance, EVERY time you use your own bank's ATM you are charged $1.50. EVERY time you use your debit/credit card you are charged $.65. Talk about pricey.
So other than being limited on leaving my apartment during the day, I am doing OK in this pricey/weird place. I am really, really missing my Josh and we have been video Skyping at least twice a day. He sent me up with one of his undershirts that he wore the night before I left and it is all the more difficult when I am going through my clothing and get a whiff of his cologne/deodorant.
On the praise report side: Whit is flying in today! He will only be here through Sunday night, but boy oh boy am I happy to see my old flaming sidekick!
So if you remember, keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Adjusting is difficult.
Love my girls
Kari

On My Mind

If any of you don't know what I do....I am basically a mom by profession to (currently) 9 children (ages 2 to 9). I have a blog lifeasaprofessionalmom.blogspot.com if any of you are interested in reading I will need your email to add you to the list of readers. You have to sign in every time due to the privacy of the children. Anyway, back to the job...it is very stressful. But I love it. I love not sitting behind a desk bored as heck. I love not staring at a computer screen all day. I think I may have what was formerly Shawna's dream job. I wake kids up in the morning for school. I get them dressed, make them breakfast, and take them to school. I then have until 3pm to myself (sort of). From 3pm to bedtime I am helping the kids do homework, I am cooking dinner, I am playing outside with them, I am bathing them, I am cleaning up the house. Because we are a licensed facility we have a lot of cleanliness standards we have to keep up with. The bathrooms are cleaning twice a day, the floor is mopped twice a day. It's kind of ridiculous. We have to disinfect everything. The job also entails quite a bit of paperwork. Every time a kid gets a scratch, scrape, bump we have to write an incident report. Every time a kid decides to lose it and tell you you are a f***in (i hate that word) bitch who should get the hell outta here, you have to write an incident report. Basically all injuries and extreme behaviors are documented. This helps the courts decide the best place for the child.

Do some of you find it hard to keep track of everything going on in your life? Well try multiplying that by 9 children who have therapy twice a week, visits with parents, and doctor's appointments. I'm not sure how I do it. Thank God for calendars and for grace.

Can you imagine that I am enjoying it?

It is very time consuming. I get Tuesdays and Thursdays off (meaning 9 to 11pm). If I'm not back by 11 I turn into a pumpkin and the dream ends. I sleep every night here and wake up every morning here...except for 4 weekends a year when I am off Friday through Monday at 1pm. I love those weekends and usually I get the hell outta here! Haha!

But truly I enjoy being the consistency and structure in these kids' very chaotic lives. Many have been physically abused and many have been sexually abused. Some have been abandoned or neglected. They have never lived a "normal" life (whatever that is).

So I say all this because a couple weeks ago at home group we were encouraging each other. One of the girls there had started dating a guy that goes to church with us and had left the church she had grown up in to go to church with him. Everyone was complimenting her on how well she had made the transition, that no one viewed her as John's girlfriend, but as Marie. She is so sweet. The other girls talked about how easy it was to hang out with her and they started mentioning all these memories with her. I got really sad. With 2 nights off a week it is so hard to be able to hang out with people...especially these two days being Tuesdays and Thursdays...days normal people work. It was the first time I seriously contemplated leaving my job. I miss being able to hang out any night of the week. I felt like I was missing out on community. There is so much I would like to do, but I am so limited in my time.

Then yesterday at the weekly houseparent meeting, Siggi started speaking. She has been a houseparent for 11 years and is leaving to move to Hawaii (not too shabby!). She will be working with the illustration school that YWAM has there. She shared with us that over the 11 years people would mention to her how great it was that she was giving up her life to work with the kids. But then she said something that really struck me. She said, "It was never my life to begin with." What life have I given up? This is the life that God has for me at this time. I am experiencing life. When I thought about this I felt selfish for being sad at home group. I felt selfish for wanting more free time.

Now I am struggling with what is right. I am considering going to grad school. But then the questions. Which one? Do I work and go to school? Do I just take out loans and go to school full time? So many decisions. I suppose I just have to wait until the Lord shows me the next step. One door will close and another will open. Mollie is now in Miami going to school. I would love to be able to live with her and go to school. So maybe that could happen.

So what is life?

-Kath

DMV's sucks!

The CA dmv and other departments are a nightmare. Its always understaffed and the line is out the building. You usually spend on average 3 hours there only to find a rude, non-friendly staff member. You can talk to one person then you get slapped with fines later cause what they told you was not true, or if you talk to another person they will tell you something different. I have never experienced anything like the CA government and the people who work for them. I don't remember Missouri being this bad. Have you guys had horrible experiences in MO?

I truly can't wait to become a non-resident of CA again.

JU

p.s. I would love to hear from ash, beph, or jen!!

Bromance!

My husband definitely has one with our friend Matt Fillingame and I think its so cute! Kevin has been doing work with Matt. They surf together. We have lifegroup together. They are equally advuterious and daring together. They giggle together. They have beers together. Their relationship is such a bromance and I love it. Laurie, matt's wife, and I just think our husbands together are the cutest thing. Teehee. Just wanted to share.

Ju