--->

I made a list of stuff I need to do tomorrow.  I have already knocked out 5 of those items (out of 11).  That's not bad, huh?  Maybe I'll go ahead and make granola tonight which will make me more than half-way done with my list.  Great idea, Stephie.

I really like being called Aunt Stephie.  I hope to have many more nephews (and nieces!  Come on, people!) who will call me that.  Being called Aunt Stephie makes me warm inside.  More warm than being called "someone" or "no-one" :) Although, when your precious nephew calls you that, it's not even so bad!

Charlie and my winter vacation (2012-2013) was the best vacation ever.  I got to stay with my family for a bit over 2 weeks and we just sat around and visited and ate and told stories and enjoyed one another... and fit one fun trip in up to Bentonville.  AND Susan and Al and Caleb surprised all of us by coming early and getting to stay with us for longer than 48 hours!  The guys shot arrows and guns and did men things.

And then Charlie went down to Louisiana before me, and I joined him a week later, and we had a full agenda of stuff to do and people to see!  It was so fun.  And I still got to sleep in in the mornings :) And Charlie got to take me squirrel hunting AND duck hunting, which he had never done before, and we had a great ole time living like country-folk.

I've spent a lot of time (especially up here in Minnesota) thinking and praying about our move back.  I tell people, "We'll move back because Charlie has a family farm down there" but it's really about so much more than that.

It's about the call God's put on us for that region. Charlie and I are going to be family people.  I believe in what my dad prayed for us at our wedding... that through family we would bind and loose. That God will use us to find solutions for people in our community.  That people can change and that people can find freedom.

That we'll care for outcasts.  That we'll employ and impart life skills.  That we'll love. That we'll extend God's grace.

It's easier to write than to do.

But I believe it's more beautiful to do than to write.