Thanksgiving in Florida

I'm back!  Back home and back to the blogging world.  I'm hoping to catch up on all your blogs soon and hope to send many more updates your way this week.

We were in Florida for Thanksgiving.  We spent the morning with Patrick's dad's side of the family, enjoying brunch at aunt Nan's house.  After Adeline's nap time, we drove an hour to Cocoa Beach where we had Thanksgiving dinner with ALL the fixings with Patrick's mom's side of the family.  Really fun day with LOTS of family and good food.

Here's Addie with her cousin Maddie (Madison).  They look like they could be sisters.  Maddie is three months younger than Adeline, but she is already a bit taller.

Tori, Tina, Megan, Adeline

The bride to be (pictures to come) with Patrick's grandfather

Where we're spending Thanksgiving

We're in Florida!!! We arrived last evening. Patrick has a lot of family here, and his twin brother is getting married on Saturday!!! We'll be in Orlando for two nights and then head over to Cocoa Beach for the rest of our stay. We will get to see his mom's and dad's sides of the family on Thanksgiving day. His dad flew in from Oregon, and this is a rare occasion to have us all together. That means I may be MIA from the blogging world for a week. I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving full of yummy food and family.

Working Girl (Part 2)...ESP or God???

More benefits to our new working arrangement are...

1. Patrick and I have a built in date night every week (Thursday).
2. My mom is an amazing cook and has dinner waiting or started when we get home.
3. Mom helps to clean my house.
4. When I get home, my only job is to play with my baby girl. I don't come home to chaos. I don't have to figure out what we are going to eat (see #2).
5. In this crazy economy, this gives us and my parents a bit of extra cash.

Now, the only problem is finding steady work Thurs and Fri. The company where I worked before we left for Korea was able to plug me in a few weeks while other OT's were on vacation. I continued to call around to explore my options. There was one company that was recommended to me by a friend. They were very excited when I called, but the manager said Thurs and Fri were her most staffed days. She had some staff that worked Mon-Wed somewhere else and then worked for her on Thurs/Fri. She said she would do what she could and call me by the end of the week. She called me two days later and said, "You must have ESP." ummm..no, but I know this awesome God who is really good at arranging details in my life. Her Thurs/Fri OT resigned the day before. Suddenly she needed someone to fill the exact position I wanted!!! I start the first week in Dec. Praise God for His awesome provision!!!

Working Girl (Part 1)

I know it has been a while since I've posted, so I wanted to let you all know that I have NOT fallen into a giant hole somewhere. Shew...I know you'll sleep better tonight. :o)

I have many updates for you, and many posts floating about in my head. One of the news worthy items is reflected in my title...let me start at the beginning...

I am an Occupational Therapist (OT). My mom is an LPN (licensed practical nurse). She stopped working in nursing when I was born, and although she does not regret being home with my sister and me, she does not feel she is competent, after so many years, to return to nursing. She has encouraged me to keep my OT skills current by working one or two days a week.Well, of course, the ability to do this largely depends on childcare as Addie K ranks very high on my priority list. I think I've mentioned before that my mom is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of them ALL. She is incredibly talented in many areas. She has several part time jobs to use her many gifts and talents.

Based on this background, a solution was formed where I would go back to work two days a week, and my mom would drive from PA to MD (1 hour and 45 min) and watch her while I work. In a perfect world, she would come Wed night, I would work Thurs and Fri, and she would leave when I get home on Friday afternoon. The beauty of this plan is that if Patrick and I have plans to come to PA for the weekend, mom can bring Addie K to PA on Friday morning and get things done at her own house, and Pat and I can drive together after he gets home from work.

Stay tuned...more to come.

Web Site

Well, folks, it's up and running.  To see Joseph's (did I mention that I love him...)web site, click here.  He only shows a few examples of his work, but they are all AMAZING!  He does show how he combines pictures to create one portrait.  If you give him some business, please be sure to post both the picture you sent him and the incredible art he creates (or non-bloggers, email me!).

Where do the toys go?

Since a few of you asked this question after this post, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite features of this house. There is an extra bedroom on the main level of the house...aka PLAYROOM!!! I love having a room where I can close the door and make the mess go away. The toys still creep out into the family room...and kitchen...and dining room...and...

...but that's okay.

These windows leave in a lot of light, and sometimes Adeline can even watch our neighbors chocolate lab running in their backyard.  Good times.

I also thought I would try again with the bathroom, but really, this still doesn't do justice to my asparagus color.  Patrick and I finally hung these black and white photos from all of our travels this year.  I love it!  We do also have a double sink, toilet (in it's own cute little room), and shower, but to show you these would require cleaning the messes off of the sink and moving the towels and washcloths hanging around the shower, and I just wasn't there this morning.

  

How the Rohal family spent Veteran's Day...

My sweet hubby...

Spent 6 hours blowing leaves into piles, and sucking them up with the leaf blower and THEN mowing the yard.

 I love you, sweetie!  The yard looks great!

Okay, he took a quick break to play with baby girl...

She wasn't sure at first, but she soon decided the leaves were okay.  She liked the crunch.

and then...we went out to dinner because who wants to cook after all that work? :o)

Sunday Finest

I love Joseph...

Talk about a fun mail day...!!!!  Woo hoo!!!  This, is yet another advantage to living in Korea (one those of you who are still there MUST take advantage of...).  Joseph is a portrait painter stationed just outside the BX on base.  HE. IS. AMAZING!!!  After my photo session with Adeline when she was 6 weeks old, I planned to do something special with her and Patrick when she was around 1 yo.  This was perfect!  Here is the picture we gave him...

and here is his painting...

and a close up so you can see the detail...

I LOVE IT!!!  Thank you to the Evans family for shipping it to us (let me know how much we owe you for the packing....I saw how much the shipping was).  We game him the print almost two months before Patrick came home, but he was so backlogged, he wasn't able to finish it in time.  Joseph emailed me to say he is starting a website, and it may be up by next week.  You can email him pictures, and he will mail your portrait when he is finished.  You can even send him multiple pictures, and he can combine them into one (for example if you wanted a family photo, but someone was missing...he will add them in OR you have the perfect photo except for the little cherub with their finger strategically placed in his/her nose, he can fix that).  This is my new favorite memento of life in Korea (yes, it's even better than the purses).  I will probably give him more business in the future, and I'll let you know when his website is up so you can take advantage of his talent (and cheap prices) as well.

More Book Reviews...

Thanks to Jessica for offering another book giveaway...complete with prizes for writing a review.  Free book...chance at prizes...Woo Hoo!!!  Head over to Jess's blog to read the opinions of other reviewers.

Unlike many of the reviewers, I did not expect Sin Boldly by Cathleen Falsani to include a philosophy of "go ahead and sin because God's grace has got you covered."  I guess because Jessica recommended it and Zondervan published it....I had higher expectations than that for its theological content.

Each chapter is a story from the author's life, meant to portray different experiences of grace.  I enjoyed some of the stories, but the book really didn't grab me.  Perhaps it is because I don't agree with the author on many points of religion, theology, or politics (she labels herself as a liberal, and I certainly bend towards the conservative side).  I don't feel that I learned any deeper theological truths from it.  I appreciated her desire to find, even seek out, grace.  However, the grace she describes is not always Biblical grace.  It is not grace given by a loving Father to His children who love Him.  Many of the stories could be told by pagans.  Yes, they may still describe grace, but they don't bring me to a deeper understanding of Christ and the grace He has given me.

This is an easy read, and the authors style and stories are enjoyable.  However, I would not recommend this to someone looking for a deeper understanding of God's grace.

Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the dog) by Jerome K. Jerome was the selection this month for the women's book club at my church.  It was first published in 1889 and is hailed as one of the best and most published books of all time.  It is a comedy, in British humor, based on the author's experiences boating on the Thames river with his two friends.  

This book was a struggle for me.  It is not hard to read or understand the language, but it is so wordy that I had a hard time finding the humor.  I think it would be easier to enjoy by listening to it rather than reading it.  There were parts that made me smile, but in general, I found the characters to be lazy, naive, and self-absorbed with few redeeming qualities.  This seemed to be the consensus of most of the ladies in our club, but clearly the book has lasted through generations is appreciated by many who are more qualified to judge than me.  Still, not one I would say you need to add to your list.

Our house...the after pictures

Adeline's Room...

This is one of my favorite possessions.  It is a portrait of Adeline and me from when she was 6 weeks old.  I wanted to hang it over her crib, but my husband (in his infinite wisdom) explained that it could possibly fall on the head of my precious girl if she suddenly decided "jumping, jumping" would be a good idea...

I LOVE this chair and ottoman.  I've spent many hours nursing, rocking, and reading to my baby girl in this chair.  SO comfy!

The antique drysink that we use as a changing table.  I found it for a steal at an auction.  I also love these shelves where I can display keepsakes and special gifts for my baby.

The Dining Room and Library...

These rooms are just to the left as you come in our front door.  We still need to find a dining room table and chairs.  The one in our last house wasn't worth moving...trust me.  

One of my favorite pieces...an antique china closet.  I change some of the dishes displayed with the seasons.

We found this antique book shelf (well, actually it was a gun case at the time, but we had it refinished for a small fee) at the same place where we found the china closet.  We have A LOT of books at this house, so I love that some of them are behind glass...and away from the dust.  The grandfather clock has been in my parents' house since I was a kid.  They wanted to free up the space for something else, so they brought it here!  It doesn't work, but we will probably wait to fix it until we are done moving (plus, I'm not crazy about things that chime on the hour).  It is made from wood from the home farm where my mom grew up.

Master Bathroom...

You really cannot appreciate the asparagus color here.  I am hoping to hang some black and white pictures from our travels on this bare wall, so I will post some update pictures then and TRY to get the color to show up better.

The Family Room and our Entryway...

This entertainment center can actually be one long piece of furniture.  The two pieces with the glass fit on the right and left of the main piece.  They also fit nicely together to form their own piece of furniture.

Our Bedroom...

The view from our bed...

The Deck

There is a raised portion that is hard to see in this picture.  I am hoping to get a fire pit at some point to put there.  I love the idea of sitting by the fire with hot cocoa, roasting marshmallows.

Well, that wasn't a tour of every room, but it gives you an idea of the place we call home.  You can't get a true feel for our paint colors from these pictures, but we are happy with the results.  If you REALLY want to see the house, you are just going to have to come for a visit.  :o)