OUR LIFE IN COLOR

Brian and I have been having some heart to heart discussions lately. These discussions happen from time to time with us. It seems that he and I start "chatting" when life seems to be floating along in a hum-drum sort of way. The short of it is that right when we feel like we've mastered something together, we just HAVE to pick a new project to keep us on our toes.

We began our lives together in a shot and like to keep the momentum going I suppose. Well...not "I suppose"...it's actually..."I know for sure" that we do this.

Snapshot: We met and married within 11 months. We married at the ages of 18 and 20 while unemployed. That was a challenge and quite an adventure. After we gained employment, bought our first home and life was rolling along nicely, we had a baby. After that life was a challenge for about 6 months. Then we were rolling along nicely so we decided to go to school full time and work. We nailed that lifestyle down pat so we threw in another child. After a few years of that we decided to begin homeschooling. That went well but become old hat very quickly so we decided to move to another state. Brian went back to school and he gained employment in the automotive field. We rode the wave of going from minimum wage jobs to a six figure income within 10 years. After a while, we decided that we were quite bored. Our bills were paid. We had bought and sold 3 homes in our marriage so far and were sailing through this parenting thing so we thought, what the hay, we'll become foster parents. We thought that would switch up our lives on a regular basis for sure, but within 2 years we had adopted 3 children. That meant that we had adopted ourselves out of the foster care system.

Life rolled along. Brian still worked, I still homeschooled, we added and removed 5 dogs to our family in the span of a few years. The more we rolled along the more we realized that baby twins did indeed keep us busy for more than 2 years so we were happy and content with the business of life for a while. In the last few months, however, we've felt that "life shake" again. It's that antsy feeling we get from time to time but this time we are coming from a position of knowing.

Here's the deal. We live in Michigan. My husband is a white collar worker in the automotive industry. How long will he have a job? Really. How long? Not long. My husband and I know full well that we are no exception to the pink slip rule. He's cut and we've decided, after short consideration, that we just don't care. We are taking the bull by the horns....again. We are in charge of our own lives. We refuse to be slaves to the ebb and flow of the current American Automotive economy. We don't want to be hit flat in the face so we're ducking...or jumping...whichever. It all shakes out the same in the end. We have decided that Brian is getting out of the boat. He's changing careers and I'm coming along for the ride.

We have spent many a mile in our vehicle discussing what we want to do next in our lives. The twins are now 5 1/2, our older sons are pretty much self-sufficient in a day to day kind of way. We have a family schedule that runs pretty smoothly and life is just....rolling. Nothing more, nothing less...just rolling by. We look around daily and smile at the life going on around us. It's our life. We watch the boys do their thing and thank God for our home and our family. We look at each other and smile for no reason other than the fact that we are so very blessed to have each other. We are content...again. And with Brian and Shelly that means, we are ready.

Brian and I have come to a decision. The lives we've had so far went SO fast! Just think how quickly the second half will go! In 10 years we'll be 50 for all intents and purposes. That's just too quick to sit around being content. Keep it movin' Marvin! He and I are moving alright, we're going back to college! We've already signed up! Hee heeee!

We're going into Counseling Psychology. That sounds fun doesn't it?! In dreamland we envision ourselves working together in an office somewhere well into our 80's. But, the real fun comes right now. We get to go to school together, live our frugal little lives with our frugal little (big) children and ride a brand new rollercoaster in our lives together. I'm so excited I can't stand it. I LOVE change. It's what keeps life interesting.

So, we begin next month. We've already started budgeting so that we can live without employment for at least 12 months. THINK of how many classes we could have under our belt in a year if that is all we do. *sigh*

Life, itsa changin'! How Fun!