Author Archives: Franci

One Week Time Span – New Job, New House, and New School

In May, my husband, Brent, and I sat down at our dining room table with a yellow legal pad and wrote down all the steps it would take to move to Nashville. At that time we had no place to live, no job, and no school in mind for Grant. It was overwhelming, to say the least. We started researching more thoroughly and found the house prices to be 2 or 3 times more what we paid in Oklahoma. The promise for a good elementary school in a neighborhood we could afford seemed hopeless.

pen outline drawing of Nashville, TN

 

We took this leap of faith because we have always wanted to live near Brent’s family. We loved the years we spent in Oklahoma and when we got married we said it would be nice if we could spend some time living near my family and time living near Brent’s family.

Even though we felt at peace about the move there were many obstacles ahead of us. Brent would have to quit his job, we would live off of savings for a few months or until he found a job, we had to sell our Oklahoma house and all the details in Tennessee would have to be worked out. The funny thing is that this was not our first time to move to a new city without jobs. We did it when we moved to Los Angeles and when we moved to Oklahoma. Somehow since the Lord had provided for us in years past it was easier to trust that he would do it again. Although, I did have moments when fear and uncertainty got the best of me.

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8-17-2018 | 2

A Fun For All Family Weekend at Lake Eufaula

Wood Cut out of Yogi Bear with two holes for kids faces.

For our annual camping trip, we went to Lake Eufaula this year. It’s located in southeastern Oklahoma and is the largest lake in the state. Since we had such a great time at a Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Resort in Texas last summer with some old friends, we thought we would try one in Oklahoma.

The campground has RV spots and fully outfitted cabins (except for linens). The cabins were clean and simple with a picnic table, grill, and a fire pit outside. We had a little front porch with a view of the lake. Since the campground is not very big it is easy to walk to and from all the amenities. We played mini-golf, slid down a huge water slide, played bumper boats, and swam in the pool. Although my favorite by far was the Wibit, an inflatable playground on the lake. It felt like we were on Ninja Warrior!

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7-18-2018 | 4

Three Months of Loss

Dark ocean with waves. Sand and beach shrubs in foreground. A few clouds in sky.
“Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.” –Vicki Harrison

Three of our dearly loved family members have passed away in a 3-month time span.

  • My husband’s cousin, a mother of 4 children, passed away unexpectantly in February. We drove to Tennessee to be with the family and attend the funeral.
  • My paternal grandmother, Oma Wilma, passed away in March. She was 90 years old.
  • In April, my aunt (dad’s sister) passed away. It was only a month after her own mother’s passing and the birth of her fifth grandchild.
  • Also, the one year anniversary of my dad’s death was the first week of May.

We have all been processing how to handle so much loss in such a short period of time. The emotions and feelings are overwhelming at times. We are finding comfort in each other and on the memories shared, but it is a difficult road. I’m learning how we all process death differently. I know grief can cause us to act in ways that are not true to our personality. I give grace, I accept grace, and I trust things will get better with time. Here is a list of things that are helping me cope.

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5-12-2018 | 4

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