snow. Snow. SNOW!

I am home with a sick Jane today. Unfortunately staying home from church is never that great. I am particularly sad, however, because Josh is speaking in sacrament meeting. I told Kate to listen carefully and tell me about it. I’ll let you know how that turns out. ☺

The adventures of this week all centered around SNOW! We had a series of storms, including one big dump. Initially snow is really fun here. Everyone comes out of hibernation. No cars move and you can just play with your family and your neighbors in the snow covered streets. We built a snow man with our girls that the locals could not get over. Everyone who passed commented on it and the majority of people pulled out their phones or cameras to take pictures. Our neighbors even asked Josh if he was really doing post-graduate work in snow sculpture. Obviously, the art of snow man making has been lost in the city. Once “our Frosty” was completed and the girls were inside drinking hot chocolate the reality of snow in a city set in. The rest of the day was spent shoveling uneven sidewalks and digging out the car. Plowing narrow Philadelphia streets seems to involve driving a tractor down the street leaving a couple inches of ice to coat the road and huge piles of heavy, dirty snow stacked up against the cars on the side of the street. As the lucky owner of a car, you then get to spend an hour or two shoveling that heavy snow out of the way so you can move your car. Not only that, but because there is no place to put the snow, you have to fill your shovel and then walk around until you find some place at the end of the street to pile it. Super fun. The worst of it, however, is driving out of that nicely cleared parking spot and knowing that when you return it will be taken and you will have to park by driving over huge snow banks, sliding your car into place, and then digging that spot out as well. I love the snow storms. I love playing in the snow. But, then I wish all the snow would just magically disappear!

Last week was the interview period for summer internships for the first years. I couldn’t believe how all the memories of that high pressure time came flooding back. On Friday evening when companies could call and extend offers I was so nervous for all of our friends. Of course, things are coming together for all of them as they did for us. What a blessing it is to have a God who directs your path and opens the way before you.

I have really been struggling lately with a tension between wanting to shift my focus toward planning our move to Dallas and starting our life there and feeling like I can’t because we are financially bound by the land we own in Salt Lake. Around Christmas it looked like the sell of our land was going to go through, but now we are back in the bog of waiting and waiting and waiting. Part of me wants to plan a trip to Dallas to look for houses, learn about the neighborhoods, and investigate schools. The other part of me just wants to get so busy with the routine of our life here in Philadelphia that I don’t have time to think about or worry about that next step until our land issue resolves. But what if it doesn’t? I’m so sick of the whole situation I could scream! “Patience Iago, Patience.” Maybe I should read the previous paragraph a few more times. I know that the Lord has guided us and directed us to where we are, in spite of ourselves. He has given us the opportunity of an education and employment beyond what we dared to dream. I just have to trust that He will continue to guide us and bless us. Somehow that land bit just doesn’t seem to fit, or even work out well, no matter how I resolve our situation in my mind. Trust in the Lord. Keep on moving forward. Get distracted by Ground Hog Day and snow storms. If the land was going to be such a thorn in our side why didn’t we feel a warning when we were thinking about buying it? We have learned a hard lesson. How far will the consequences go? We lost all our savings. We loose more every day. Now is it going to take the hope of finally having a home as well? Trust in God. It will all work out. Right? As you can see, the demons in my head are fighting. I think I needed church this week.

Don’t let my rant scare you. We are doing well. The girls are cute. Josh is doing well in school and continues to be everyone’s hero for helping them with interview prep. We have been very blessed. I found a kindred spirit, which I had been longing for. We are having fun and trying to make the most of our time here in Philly. Hey, we even got a beautiful snow storm!