Life

A Rich Week

February 16, 2018 // Esther Filbrun 2 Comments

Life has been very full the last little while. And I’m loving it.

Last week was mostly spent tidying up after moving, finding new homes for all our things, etc.

This week, I worked two full days at my new job (helping out a family; SO much fun!), and starting a project I’ve taken a break on for the last two to three years: School work. And, while stretching, and while I am behind (I’m working on it, I promise!), I’ve been enjoying it so much.

I never officially finished highschool. I guess you could say I’m a dropout, but when I stopped doing it, I was just starting to get my website up and running, and was learning a TON about webdesign.

For the last two or three years, that has been my life. And it still is. I’ve still got a lot to do there. I have no idea how I’m going to balance it all, but I figure if I want something bad enough (like having the chance to learn more and still get my website work done), I’ll find a way to do it.

So this week, in between thinking about all the different things I need to do or keep in mind when working at my new job (like remembering to get noisy jobs done before nap-time!), I’ve been studying the ancient Americas. Did you know that advanced civilizations popped up in Central America before the Mayans—or at least ran concurrently with them? Or that in the Pacific Northwest, there were tribes of Native Americans who owned slaves and had a very defined caste system, as Captain Cook discovered when he visited? Or that some Native American cultures spent years planning some of their feasts?

I didn’t know those things. And between several different books that I’m currently reading right now that are scheduled in our school curriculum, I am finding a few fascinating tidbits.

Which is why I wanted to go back to doing school in the first place, so YAY!

I’ve also been reading Peace Child, and although the first chapters are fairly disgusting and hard to read, the transformation that I know is coming is going to be amazing to see too. And their reasoning behind why and how they did certain things…wow. Don’t get me started. Add in the language used to tell the story, and it’s a masterful book, which makes my readerly heart very happy!

So that’s a little of what I’ve been up to lately. Have you learned anything interesting or done something new (or the first in a long time) this past week?

New Home, New Memories

February 10, 2018 // Esther Filbrun 2 Comments

Well, moving week is behind us now. And I’m thankful.

At the same time, it was hard to say goodbye to our old place. I have some wonderful memories of being there, and even more great memories of living in that area. Over the last eight years, we haven’t moved any further than about 10 minutes’ distance from any one place, even though we lived in four different houses in that time.

This time, it’s four hours away. And I miss our friends from over there.

Still, I can’t help but be thankful. We aren’t renting any more. Yes, we’ve got a mortgage, but this is our house. We were able to choose where we could go. And I love this place already, even though we’ve only lived in it for a week! We have wonderful friends over here, and I’m looking forward to getting to know them (and others in the area) even better over the next few years.

During this move, I’ve realized I’m also very thankful for my memories. While it was hard to say goodbye to an area that was very much home for eight years, I’m thankful that I can remember all the good things that happened there. Like I wrote the day before we moved,

“There will always be a part of me left behind here. Life was lived to its fullest many days. There were heartaches and joys in the three years we’ve lived in this house—one dear sibling was added to the family, and another was taken away. I’m thankful for the time we’ve spent here, and the memories, and in some ways, I’ll miss it.”

Now, we’re working on developing new memories…growing deeper as a family, getting to know each other better. We’re all thrilled that my oldest brother can live with us again, since his work is only six minutes’ drive away. We love being able to hang out again.

God is good.

New Home, New Memories 03 — These guys? They’re experts at this unloading thing by now!

We’re still settling in, for sure. I haven’t finished unpacking yet, because I don’t have a place to hang my dresses yet. I’m thankful for room in Mom’s closet, and for the fact that an old solid-wood wardrobe was left here, which I’m currently refinishing (that post will be coming soon!). The house is mostly tidy now, and Mom got all our books sorted and up on shelves again which is wonderful! I love seeing all our books together in one place. Makes me want to get reading again. 🙂

There’s this huge old ivy bush at the front of our place, and right now my youngest siblings are having heaps of fun climbing to the top and bouncing down the sides. I love watching them play together and enjoy each other’s company! God is good! I’m so thankful for all He’s done!

Well, I’d better get out and do some more sanding on the wardrobe. I glued a few cracks this morning (one that I inadvertently crunched earlier after I glued and sanded it a couple days ago—oops!). Just a bit more to do there, I think, and then I can apply the stain/varnish stuff. Can’t wait to see what it looks like in the end!

What are you working on right now? What’s one memory that you have that you’re thankful for?

Moving Preparation

January 18, 2018 // Esther Filbrun 2 Comments

Happy Thursday, everyone! The day is brilliantly sunny outside right now, with a few clouds in the blue sky. It’s also pretty warm out there, so I’m sitting inside with a fan on.

Lord willing, we’ll be moving in two and a half weeks. And although that isn’t very far off, I’m also looking forward to having it done. Mom’s done an excellent job of getting packed up as much as possible ahead of time in places like the library, bathroom, and kitchen—getting rid of the stuff we don’t use on a day-to-day basis.

(Which is wonderful, except for times like last night when I was making rhubarb crisp, and some of the ingredients I wanted to use were packed! 🙂 Thankfully, we had substitutes that worked well!)

Moving Preparation 01

I was originally planning on moving a week and a half ahead of the rest of the family, but at this point that doesn’t look like it’s as needed as it was before. I could still go, but we’ll see what ends up happening. I’m praying for direction.

Meanwhile, I’ve got a list of things I need to get done—including get some reviews scheduled for over the time we move. This morning, I got all the pre-uploading stuff done, so as soon as I’m finished writing this, I’ll tackle that again.

For the most part, I feel like I’m pretty-much on track to get everything done that I must get done before we move. That’s a good feeling! After I’m done uploading reviews, I’ll be able to work on other things like making sure I’ve written reviews of all the books I’ve read (fell off the bandwagon for that one these last few months!), or maybe getting some sewing done. We’ll see!

What are you working on today? What’s the weather like where you are?

Changes Afoot

January 4, 2018 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

What is your new year looking like so far? I’ve been reviewing 2017 today, and preparing to finalize my goals for 2018.

For me, this year is shaping up to be quite a bit different than my past three years, since we’re going to be moving. We have moved before in January, but never this distance! And the school term officially starts in early February, which makes things different again.

Changes 01

I’m excited about this new year. I’m excited to think about all the different things I’ll be learning along the way. But, if I were to be completely honest, I’m a little scared too.

I’ll be changing jobs. I’ve had the same job for over three years now, so it looks big to be going into something new—but it’s very exciting, too.

I’ll be working for a family, one that I feel like I’ve gotten to know fairly well over the past year. And I love the children. They are your typical adorable, sometimes annoying, lovable bunch, and I’m looking forward to getting to know them better, and helping them out with different things.

Changes 02

At this point, I’m still not really clear on what, exactly, I’ll be doing for them—very likely cleaning (which I enjoy doing! shocker, isn’t it?), as well as perhaps some meal help and things like that.

One thing that has really been making things interesting, though, is that their ninth baby is due soon. And since I’d like to be there over the time the baby is born, so I can get to know family routines before the baby comes, and then help out afterward for a while, I’m planning on moving 1 1/2 to 2 weeks earlier than the rest of my family. All going well, of course.

So right now, I’m thinking about everything I need to get done in the next threeish weeks before I move, trying to get the most important stuff completed first. I’ve got some sewing to do, a little sorting and some packing, and a few online bits and pieces to wrap up.

Changes 03

For now, while I ponder the move, my goals for 2018, and my new job, I’ve got the door open to the beautifully warm, overcast day outside. There’s a sewing project sitting on the ironing board, and papers scattered across my desk. Life is good!

“Blessed be the Lord: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. . . . Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.” —Psalm 31:21, 24

What are you working on right now? Do you have any big changes coming up in your near future?

Christmas and Life Update

December 30, 2017 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

I’ve planned on stopping in many different times to do just a quick blog post, but each time, the thoughts just didn’t come together.

So here I am today, with a few spare minutes so at least I can say hello!

My time lately has flown by, often crazy busy but in other moments slow and wonderful, too—all wrapped up into one beautiful package called “life”.

I’ve had my busy moments.

I’ve been working on a variety of projects lately—getting some sewing completed, starting some more sewing, in between swapping stories with my brothers and working at my away-from-home job quite a few different days.

Besides some of my own projects, part of my time and brain space has been taken up in trying to understand how buying homes in New Zealand works, and what one needs to do or have to buy a place.

Beyond that, there are endless questions about how to organize a cross-country move (thankfully it’s only four hours away, but still…!), and all the technical little details about how we’re going to get ourselves and our stuff over there in good time—and still somehow leave this house in decent (i.e. mostly clean and tidy) condition.

It’s an intense time. But it’s wonderful. I’m thankful I only have to do one day at once, and that the amount of stuff to think about for just today is all I really need to worry about for now.

I’ve also been away from home quite a bit these last few weeks, so that adds more socializing (yay!) and also another level of busyness.

But it’s also been slow…

As much as life has been full-on, though, there have been times that it’s been amazingly slow and I had time to just enjoy the moments.

When I was on a trip over to the West Coast to pick up my brother, I distinctly remember several times where I was able to just sit and soak in the gorgeous scenery flowing past. I also read quite a bit, and finished a book on that trip.

Another afternoon, I had time to sit down with a cup of coffee and read a magazine for a while.

Over Christmas, my brothers and I played lots of different games. That was relaxing, and a great way to bond. It was beautiful.

Christmas Day, our family went out to the beach for lunch, and had a delightful time. The boys loved swimming in the sea, and I greatly enjoyed watching them and having some quiet time to enjoy nature and think.

Also over Christmas, our family did a little celebration of Hanukkah. I remembered the second-to-last day of the holiday, but we started then and lit one candle per night for it. But still, it was a time to reflect on the story from thousands of years ago, and for me, it’s always fun and relaxing to have candles burning in the window after dark.

Otherwise,

I’ve been working on my plans for the new year. Due to moving, and lots of anticipated life craziness over the next few months, I’m (working on) keeping things down to more of the basics. They still aren’t all finalized, but I’m hoping to take more time for that on New Year’s day.

Despite everything that needs to happen in the next 3 – 3 1/2 weeks before I move over to the West Coast, I’m still feeling very relaxed about how things are going. God is good!

Oh—and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and will have a blessed new year!

How is life treating you right now?

NaNo 2017 Recap and Life Update

December 7, 2017 // Esther Filbrun 1 Comment

Some days, I dream I’ll be able to become the kind of blogger that takes just fifteen minutes or so to slap a post together and get it posted. I often enjoy that type of blog, because I often feel like I get to know the author better that way somehow—but I haven’t tended to be a good blogger over the last while. Sigh.

HOWEVER, now that NaNoWriMo is officially eight days over, I feel like my brain is starting to return! Hurray!

NaNo was so fun to do this year. After I won in 2013, I really wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to participate again, because I anticipated life getting busier (maybe I was planning on getting married at sixteen; who knows? I can’t remember!). Anyway, even though I did no prep whatsoever for NaNo this year (a BIG no-no in my book!), I was thrilled to be able to participate.

And even better, I somehow finished. Don’t ask me how that happened; but it did, and I’m thankful!

Since winning NaNo, I’ve focused on a bunch of different things, but the most exciting has been working on the website redesign. Due to several Black Friday sales shared by a blogger I follow, I was able to both purchase the themes I needed to start the redesign, as well as buy website hosting! That was thoroughly exciting, after waiting several months for enough funds to become available.

And, of course, it’s always thrilling to be playing with code and website colors, fonts, and designs again. That’s one part of blogging that I thoroughly enjoy, so it makes my little heart happy to be able to work on it again.

However, life isn’t all fun and games—today, for example, I need to get some book reviews uploaded to the LRD website. I stopped uploading through the month of November, partly due to the lack of available reviews, and partly due to my (ahem) writing at the time. Near the beginning of the month, I decided getting into creative writing would trump working on reviews for the time being. But now that we are into December, it’s high time to tackle that project again.

Then, when that’s done, maybe I can start working on the complex problem with category presentation on the redesign, or perhaps get started on a sewing project I’ve been gazing longingly at for the past week or so.

And maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to dream up a way to get blog posts written and posted easier. Because I do love blogging; I just tend to get to feeling a little stifled at times by the things I “must” do before I can get a post up.

What have you been working on lately?