6 Months In

Last Thursday marked the 6 month anniversary of our move to New Mexico. I found it ironic that I spent that day in Ohio and New York with my extended family...

6 months in...In some ways those 6 months have flown by. In other ways it seems like those same 6 months of crawled by. I am still awed by the beauty of this space. I find myself catching my breath every time I head out the front door to take a walk or to jog and see the Organ Mountains. They are majestic and beautiful and remind me over and over again of why I love living in Las Cruces. They also remind me of how simple life really needs to be, and how crazily complicated I make it. I am thankful for this ever constant reminder to simplify and slow down.

Bob is doing wonderful. He loves his job. He works hard and is appreciated by his employer. It is nice to see him happy.

I am doing well too. I have met a wonderful eclectic group of people hear in Las Cruces. They are all amazing and keep me on my toes. I feel very welcome in this community and it has embraced me with open arms. I am finding that my mom coined this place best when she said that life feels like a vacation here. In many ways I would venture to say that this statement is true. Yet there are still the daily mundane tasks of life and the busyness of having 4 active children that make it also seem like real life. I find it hard to balance both of those mindsets. A lot of the time I will get caught up in the busyness of having an active family and trying to maintain a home and also trying to work on myself. I have to physically stop myself and pause reminding myself that I am only going to live in this beautiful state for so long - I better make the most of it and learn what it has to teach me - this brings me (momentarily) into my relaxed vacation mode. I need to learn to live in that relaxed place more often.

I have found a church that I like a lot. I have been going to church pretty consistently since I have moved down here and have attended several church services. The church I picked is perfect for me and I look forward to see where this new journey takes me.

The weather here is making such a big difference in my mood. The almost constant sun is a blessing. The beautiful big blue skies are a gift that only an Ohioan can truly appreciate after dealing with months and months of mostly dreary gray skies. As I sat on the airplane in Cleveland getting ready to take off to begin my journey home it was a rare beautiful day in Cleveland. The sky was blue. The sun was shining. The grass was green. Spring was in the air. Tears filled my eyes as I sat on the runway because I wanted this so much to be the way it was most of the time. Then I wouldn't feel the need to be away. Then I could go home to my little tan house with green shutters with friends and family nearby. But I knew all too well that this was not the way Cleveland is...my memory reminded me quickly of how dreary and depressed I was living under the Ohio weather pattern when I flew into Ohio the week before and landed in a snow flurry at the end of April for Pete's sake! I need the New Mexican weather like a drug addict needs their next fix. I crave the sunshine in a way that is almost borderline neurotic. Feeling the warm sun on my face makes me happy. Deeply and truly happy.

The girls are doing great. They have made their own friends here and I am happy that they are settling in nicely. Sarah misses her two friends (and their families) from Ohio very much, but she is not letting those feelings stop her from thriving down here. I am happy for that. Elizabeth and I have made some great strides the last couple of days in terms of her behavior. I have implemented a 'one and done' policy with her. What this means is that after I ask/tell her to do something she gets one reminder and if she has not complied she will be punished. Sometimes punishment is writing sentences. Other times it is spending time in her room. Sometimes it means saying no to having an extra treat. etc....I am also trying to spend more quality time with her. When she talks to me I stop what I am doing and really listen to her and watch her instead of merely acknowledging her presence with a head nod of some sort and then continuing on with what I am doing while she talks to me. I am also following through every time with what I say I am going to do with her whether it is an activity and something fun or a correction of her behavior. I have always been very consistent with my older 3 children and less consistent with her and it shows. I have walked myself into a corner and getting her on the path of good behavior will take me a bit longer because I did not start out demanding good behavior from the get go. I took the easy way with her and now I am paying for it in spades. So consistency, quality time, and follow through are my key objectives with her right now. I have seen improvement already and I am optimistic that we can make some changes here. I will make sure to honor her personality while still expecting top notch behavior.

Josh  also seems to be handling the move pretty well.  Now that the spring is present (kind of) in Ohio he thinks a lot about how his buddies are most likely up at Bolich playing soccer with one other and it makes him sad. I can understand that. He has found some new buddies on his soccer team that he is hopeful will eventually make up a new fab 5 like he had back in Ohio with Boorman, Logan, Andy, Michael, and himself.  He is anxious to get back on the field again and going to each practice and game since his injury is damn near killing him. He cannot be away from the game because that would destroy him, but he also cannot be near the game because that bums him out too right now. But he is a teammate and it is extremely important to Bob and I he behave as one even if he cannot play by attending practices and games. He is in physical therapy three times a week and is making improvements in mobility and flexibility in his right knee. Our goal is to keep him from having his leg muscle atrophy so that he can get back on the field once he is cleared.

Andy is struggling. He confirmed this morning to Bob and I that he is struggling a bit with some depression. He says that he feels very lonely and sad to be here sometimes. I had no idea this transition was as hard as it has been on him. He is such an easy going kid and so easy to parent that I had no idea (beyond what I have already mentioned on this blog) that he was having such a rough go at it. Bob and I are going to work extra hard to help him. I think that being on this new Rio Rapids team (should he make it) will help. I also think that having some of Josh's buddies over more will help too as they seem to be more up Andy's alley than the boys his age in terms of the amount of things he has in common with them. I know that Andy misses the Boorman family and Paige very much. I don't know how to help him other than to make sure that Bob and I are spending more quality time with him. I talked with him about his level of sadness and loneliness and he assured me that it was not too bad and that there were times when he enjoys living here, but sometimes he feels depressed. Bob and I will do everything we can to help him, but we also know that he has to want to help himself too. He has a birthday coming up next week so we are trying to make extra cool for him. I need to work on being a better parent to him. I think that would help.

So that is about it. I am in the beginning stages of planning our summer trip back to Ohio/NY and am looking forward to seeing all of those whom we haven't seen since January. Hopefully, we can make the rounds and see all of those that were a part of our Ohio life.