Who knows if I actually have time for an update?  Not me! 

A few semi big things are going on amidst all the packing and moving in…

1) I’m back on IV Iron infusions.  My iron has dropped to rock bottom again and so the weekly treatments have begun again.  I’m just glad that the doc listened to me when he did… He started off saying that he doesn’t like to do IV and would rather just start me over on oral iron to see for himself… I argued he patted me on the head and sent me on my way.  My blood work came back and I got the call to come in for the first treatment three days later.  YIKES!

2) We’re almost all moved in!  This weekend may just be the last of it and I can’t wait.  It’s so nice to be ‘home’ again!

3) I broke down and hired a maid.  I swore I wouldn’t but my health is deteriorating again.  Frankly I’m finding the exhaustion very hard to combat with an active two year old and the household stuff has largely fallen to a)Ryan or b)me when Ryan can take the kiddo off to do fun things…  Which means that either Ryan is overburdened or I miss out on family time. 

I still wasn’t going to hire a maid… even with the price I just couldn’t do it…

Then Suna came to my door.  Something about her just tugged at me but I still said no.  When she walked away I immediately felt convicted about it.  I talked to Ryan and prayed about it and then two weeks later she came to my door.  We hired her for every other week at first and then we talked about it again and REALLY felt like we should make it a weekly thing…  So when she showed up for her very first day I told her.

She broke down and cried.  And then I heard her story…

She is, at the most, in her early 30′s.  She is a new widow.  Her husband died at the age of 35 in September of an advanced cancer that wasn’t caught until the last month of his life.  They thought his tiredness was because he’d been working so hard and long to keep them in their home.  She has three young children.  A 7 year old girl, a three year old boy and a 1 year old baby (she didn’t say if the baby was a boy or a girl.)  Doing the math that means that the youngest was 4 months old when her husband died.  I can’t even fathom.  She sobbed when I told her we would do every week and told me how hard it was to explain to her babies why there are no diapers, new clothes, toys like their friends have, or food at the end of the week.  As we talked I learned more of her story and my heart is just so burdened for her… She moved in with her mother after her husband died because they couldn’t keep the house… she came to work on base but it’s PCS season and everyone is passing on their maid so she’s having trouble getting established (as in I am now her only full time job and she’s been here a month) she takes two Dulmishes to get here (think two bus lines) and her mother is very elderly… she can watch the kids for Suna but do little else.  I can’t even begin to imagine the weight on her shoulders.

So I, against all odds, have a maid.  It feels so strange… it’s not really the way I’ve ever lived but it comes at a time when I need the help and I know she needs the work too (though that feels like a snotty thing to say…)  The laws here forbid any kind of charity because the government then can convict the people of tax evasion so all I can do for her is pay her a little more than the going rate and instead of taking advantage of her just have her clean and then let her get home early (most people require them to do laundry, dishes, ironing, and cook for the same cost and the maids hours can be anywhere in the hours of 7 to 5.) Suna arrives at 8:30 and by 12:30 she’s cleaned my house to sparkling and is able to get home in time to put her baby down for a nap. 

The benefit for me?  I keep busy doing dishes and laundry and playing with my boy.  And when family time is available I get to participate!

Pray with me for this woman?  I can’t talk to her about the Lord, it’s illegal here… but I can pray my hardest that she takes something home with her everyday that she’s here… even if it’s just a smile.

4) Pray for my boy?  He’s lonely… he asks me daily to go play with the kids… asks for his cousins by name… I wish there was something here for him but there just isn’t…  We found a MOPS group which was awesome!!!  But we got one meeting in and they broke for the summer so we’re on our own until September…  We go to parks but it’s too hot for the other kids… They started a play group but now my treatments are on those days and they go through the summer… He’s lonely… we don’t cut it…

Okay I think that’s it for me today… He’s up and watching Star Trek with me but it won’t last long!

Love you… miss you…

Courtney

Today I have been married to my best friend for twelve years. 

Twelve years… how did that happen?  It seems like just yesterday I turned toward that boy and kissed my husband for the very first time…

I find that as the years go on I have less to say… or maybe it’s just that our little language… the way we look at each other… the way we are with each other… the very fabric of who we are… drops out of the realm of speech and public a little more with every passing year.  Some things just can’t be put into words… when a look over the head of your son holds worlds…

Ryan is more than my soul mate he’s the other half of me.  Every day when he walks in the door, home from work, there is a little flutter and a settling that happens in my heart… a homecoming.  Twelve years hasn’t lessened that… it’s intensified it… and smoothed the edges so that it fits comfortably.  It hasn’t become old and boring or the norm… being with Ryan has become like breathing.  It just is…

I love him and I like him, I want him and I need him, I’m proud to be with him and still a little amazed at the story that we are.

We are blessed beyond words to have found our port in the storm.

Seeing him with our son is like being clobbered by love all over again.  Sometimes when he takes Isaac off my hands so that I can take a break (wash dishes, vacuum, sweep, do laundry, you know… sit in the hammock and read a book, (SNORT) I catch myself wasting that precious time just watching them together.  This man that I’ve loved for almost my whole life is a wonderful daddy to a boy just like him.  My heart is lost completely…

Twelve years… I hope we have dozens more…  Because this man is everything to me that he promised he would be and I hope I’m the same for him.

Happy Anniversary, Ryan.

Courtney

I can’t believe that Isaac is two years old today…  Two years ago today  Isaac Orion Laube was born on the morning of Mother’s Day!  How did we go from this?

To this in so short a time?!

I am ever amazed at the blessings and joy all wrapped up in this little boy!

Happy Birthday Isaac Orion!

Momma and Daddy

Hello!

Oh my goodness it has been forever since I’ve had the time to just sit down and write…

Things with our move to Turkey did not go as planned… Isaac and my passports were stolen and we were required to procure new passports before we could go.  Despite the insane amount of money we paid we just could not get them in time and the Air Force sent Ryan on to Turkey without us. 

It seems like we were hit with one thing after another but we endured it all and (after a grueling 24 solid hours of travel) Isaac and I are here in Turkey with Ryan… together again.

The delays worked in our favor in one way for sure… we fell into a beautiful little house!  Here is the link to the video tour I posted on Facebook if you would like to see it.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=3960139720894

I really think we’ll enjoy our time here… at least I’m determined to!  We haven’t had much time to explore but what I’ve seen I like…

I have to admit that at first it didn’t feel real that I was in another country, let alone, the Middle East!  I’ve been so many places that hearing a foreign language no longer feels, well, foreign… BUT walking into the BX yesterday and hearing the middle eastern music coming from the downtown markets nearby hit me like a bolt of reality!  Hearing the Adhan (the call to prayer) five times a day is going to take some getting used to as well. (We didn’t hear them over the weekend so I heard it for the first time at 9pm last night)

Isaac seems to be adjusting well… He loves the new house and having daddy back… He has a little bit of jet lag but seems to be boppin’ along! 

Ryan leaves for a 10 day class in Germany next week so we are ramping up for that.

I’ll be around with pictures and updates as our things arrive and we make this house a home. 

All my love,

Courtney

I so badly want to come and sit and chat for awhile with you… Alas I haven’t the time…  But I need to take a moment to let you know the basics…

We move out of our house into temporary lodging tomorrow morning.

We spend days coming and going from the house supervising movers and cleaners…

We have our final out from our house next Friday… APR20

We have our final out from the base the following Monday… APR23

We hop in the car right after and head for Dallas getting in late…

APR24 we drop off our car for shipment and take care of any other paperwork.

On April 25th we board a plane for DWI and three hours after landing board another for Germany and three hours after landing board another for Turkey.

We are staring down the barrel at a very rough two weeks capped off by almost 52 hours of continuous travel…

The day after we arrive in Turkey we will be shown a handful of houses and asked to choose… then we move in with loaner furniture and sit tight to wait for our car and our household goods. 

This is going to be a wild ride!  Say a prayer for us!

Courtney

*Protected post up*

Happy March!  I can’t believe how much of this year has already flown by. 

We are deep into the process of this PCS and are anxiously awaiting the day we board a plane for Turkey!

I’m so excited that we won’t be separated for another year!!!

Isaac is doing great.  He runs everywhere, never sleeps, and never stops talking… in short, he’s a boy!

It’s been fantastic to have Ryan home after so long apart… we are soaking each other up!

I’m going to try hard to get here a lot more often.  I miss you guys! 

While I’m getting everything together here is a photo of my happy little family!  I love this picture because I love seeing Ryan laugh in reckless abandon, knowing that he just spent 7 months away from us in Afghanistan. I love knowing that Isaac is looking straight “Ut” because we told him to look up at the camera… I love knowing that he’s being a goof! I love seeing my face… looking happy and in awe… as I constantly am!

We have endured a lot in the 12 years we’ve been together and Isaac jumped right in 21 months ago. Our little family has certainly lived a rollercoaster and one of the things about us I’m most proud of is that we don’t waste any time… If you see us you see this. We laugh together, we play, we love each other… Nothing changes that and nothing dampens it. God knew exactly what He was doing when he knit us together and plunked our most amazing son down between us.

All my love,

Courtney

I’m so sorry to keep you all hanging… Ryan is HOME!  A little late is no big deal when we have him back in our arms! 

I know that I owe an update but life is insane… in more ways than I can say… 

Thank you for your love and support.

Courtney

He should be home today… that’s not gonna happen.

My life is insane… my last post was on my birthday and it was just a book review… Epic blogger fail here… 

 I am so overwhelmed, so busy, so completely saturated with family and friends…  and as I’m antisocial and a loner that means I’m on major tilt alert!  I’m so blessed and so happy to have this time with family and for Isaac to be getting so much exposure… but I’m so ready for my quiet little life to resume…

Forgive me for being gone too long?

All my love… 

Lonestar Angel by Colleen Coble

Eden and Clay Larson lost their six week old baby five years ago in a kidnapping gone bad.  Eden, sure their marriage was over, fled and started another life… sure the old one was behind her.  Until the night that Clay showed up bearing the news that he had never signed the divorce papers, that he had never given up looking for their daughter, that he was sure that she had survived and that he had found her.  The two of them decide to cooperate and sign on as counselors at the Bluebird Ranch to find their daughter and uncover the plot that took her from them in the first place.

This is the second novel by Colleen Coble I have reviewed for Booksneeze.  I have now read everything by her that I can get my hands on and Lonestar Angel does not in any way disappoint!  The characters are well developed and the depth of their feelings for each other and their discovery of a true faith in God are poignant.  The story is edge of your seat gripping and it kept me guessing to the very end and the imagery in this book made me feel as if I was there in the dusty Texas desert.  This was a truly marvelous book!

In short if you are looking for a new author that writes brilliant Christian fiction that will keep you in suspense and warm your heart Colleen Coble is for you and Lonestar Angel will fit the bill!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”