Quakin' in my boots! :)

Just a quick note to let everyone know we're okay after yesterday's earthquake here in Va. The kids were in the garage and I was on the first floor. I ran through the house, yelling at them to get out of the house. I was like a mother hen with my arms open wide, shooing them out with one child in the crook of each elbow. We huddled in the driveway until the ground stopped roiling. Then 4 families from our street sat in a neighbor's front yard, awaiting after shocks and passing a cordless phone line line that worked b/c all cell service was out. A weird note, while out in the yard, the kids noticed droves of crickets and bugs hopping like made from the forest toward our road. I guess even insects have the survival instinct to get to open ground!

My parents' VA house is about 3 miles from the epicenter. Thankfully, Mom and Dad were on vacation at my sister's in TX. And with double thanks, the protective equipment worked at the local nuclear power plant!! So there was minimal damage at both our house and my parents' house. We have a crack in our porch, some stuff fell off shelves and easy stuff like that. My parents had slight damage to some of their decorations and that was it. All in all, it was not such a big deal. Scary, yes! but minor nonetheless.

Now we'll see what happens with this hurricane nonsense that's headed our way. My guess is it will be a category 1 or less by this weekend. For those of you who don't know, category 1 is like a big rain storm. I'm not too concerned yet. We'll see. Never a dull moment!!

True to the Title

When I started this blog, it was mostly for chronicling a bike event I did across Alabama~ hence "There and back again". I didn't know at the time how applicable that title would be in regular life as well. In May of 2009, we left VA bruised and battered (from a van wreck and some emotionally difficult circumstances). The first 6 months of Travis's grad work and living in Auburn were kinda rough, but the last 20 were completely amazing! The Deep South opened up a whole new world for us and we very open to staying there or moving elsewhere. After Travis applying to 70+ jobs in various places, we are surprised to find ourselves "Back Again" here in VA in the same house we left. He has a different job, but associated with the same people, just in a different company.

We're very thankful for a great job, especially in this economy, but I'm a little unsettled from the move. The adage is true: one never can "just go home" after moving away. Things are always different as people and things morph and change in this ever fluid craziness called life. But here's a good part: I don't WANT my old life back! Yes, some key friends are keepers for life, but for the most part, our family is ready to take what we've learned and apply all our changes to life wherever we are. Fredericksburg has sure changed since living here too. And it's nice to see so many positive changes in friends' lives as well. Seems we're all pressing in to find our paths.

This month should prove to be telling for us. Travis starts his job Monday, we have to make decisions about the kids' schooling next week, and I'm not sure what's in store for me personally yet. We're also searching to find our place in the greater community. We're going to be checking out some churches, service organizations, and clubs to see where our family's experience can help the most. Not only that, but we need to find what is the best fit for the atmosphere we crave.

SOME things are familiar, though. True to form, we've already had an ER visit within 2 days of being back. Our son decided to cut a cardboard moving box with his new and bigger pocket knife he got for his b'day. He ended up slicing his thumb something fierce. But all in all, this probably saved us a longer hospital stay. When the doctor asked him what his was making, he replied, "a snowboard so I can ski down our stairs." (Can you tell Monkey-boy has lived in a one level rambler for the past 2+ years?) So that prompted our 8th talk with him about what function our stairs will and will not play in his life. We sure hope to extinguish our hospital prone tendencies. Let's pray this is the last one we'll have until one of our kids is married and has a baby!

Thanks to everyone who helped us move in! Thanks to everyone who just stopped by this week. I LOVE THAT! :) And to those in Auburn, I've cried over missing you this week. You are loved and missed!!

Under da Sea !!

I'm a pretty adventurous person. Just ask anyone who's known me a while and who's gone on any "Lontz Family Outing" with us. (Several people just snickered at their memories of LFOs with us!) When it comes to food, unless it's Thai-hot, I'll try most anything once. When we're traveling~~ bring it on! I love to see new places and do new things. Go rappelling? No problem. Bobsled run? Done it! The same is true at the beach. Over the years, I've had the privilege of trying some activities in the "strange" and "slightly scary" categories of fun. From para-sailing to sting ray hunting (the big ones!), I've been up for it.
.......As long as it didn't take me far from shore.

Yep, even adventurers have their quirks. Mine is a huge fear of being underwater with a breathing apparatus. This is unfortunate b/c the two things Travis has been longing to do with me are scuba and snorkeling. Shudder! The idea of being out in open water, depending on a device to provide breathable air was enough to strike terror in my heart and send me to the fetal position sucking my thumb.

So Travis has been chipping away at my defenses for 18 years or so. But this year, he decided to change tactics and go for more of a compromise to win me over. He chose my favorite spot (Siesta Key) and asked if I would join the family snorkeling at Point-of-Rocks which is unique in many ways. First, you can swim to it from the beach, so no deep water! This also made it crazy cheap, at something like $9 a person. So I mustered up the courage to say yes for the first time.

That's where my courage ended. On the drive out to the equipment rental place today, I started to have raised heart rate, butterfly tummy, and moderate breathing problems. I'm so glad Travis had me persevere. And it's also no surprise to find the word "severe" in "persevere"! I made it through the fitting, the beach lesson by Travis and then we started to swim out to the rocks. Both kids took to it like Merpeople. They were floating, diving, and wishing the fins would be permanently attached. Me? I hyperventilated and had to back float to refocus. It's akin to having a 5 year old pass you the first time you're on a black diamond ski-slope as you're quaking in your boots. I think I used every calming skill I possessed to put that mask back on and try yet again.

But I'm so glad I did! Once I finally got the hang of breathing through my mouth without panicking, the sight that awaited me would lure anyone to conquer their fear! There were entire schools of fish, crabs, and all kinds of intoxicating colors in the plant life. And in order to see better, you had to dive to the bottom. Within 5 minutes of looking, I was diving and LOVING it!! I'm not a pro by any stretch of the imagination, but I did get a taste of it and want more...someday. I lasted about an hour and then entertained myself at the beach while the other 3 continued to explore. So all in all, it was a good experience. Travis is still saying we'll scuba together one day. Bless his heart. (that's southern-speak for "ain't happenin') But I would like to try snorkeling again. Maybe we'll go to a deep water reef next year.

(Pictured, Point-of-Rocks, Siesta Key, FL)

Florida.....balm for the soul

In the midst of a very stressful time in our lives~ Travis' last semester in school and the complete uncertainty of our future, we were incredibly blessed to spend 10 days in Florida "helping" my favorite cousin. I put helping in quotation marks b/c we're dog and house sitting at the beach! Twist our arms! So we've been hanging out in St. Pete beach and Siesta Key. I was most blessed to take my kids to the Key. It was where my parents and my cousin's family spent several vacations growing up. As you can see from the photo, it's like a paradise! And I wanted to share those memories w/my hubby and kids. I was most blessed when my oldest declared our visit to be the best day ever! :)

It's funny, I was reading a blog post from a friend up north who was in FL at the same time we were. She whined about the humidity and complained about the off season crowds. I was just about to think of her as a wimp, but then I remembered 3 years ago when I had my first dose of real AL humidity. Maybe she's not a wimp; maybe I'm just acclimated! Reason #74 that I'm glad I moved to AL: We've adjusted such that oppressive humidity and can enjoy summer anywhere in the South!! It certainly broadened our options and made is so we've enjoyed being outdoors here in FL 6-7 hours a day. And we've certainly enjoyed our time in AL this summer. It's been 1000% better than the last two summers, hands down!! A very soothing and loving way to end an all so important chapter in our lives.

Lastly for this post, I'm thankful for technology. Travis was able to skype his classes and come with us! Yay! And he can do homework and regular work on line with his laptop. It's amazing what can be accomplished remotely in this day and age. It's also helpful that I have a responsible hubby who can be trusted to finish well even though he's away. And to answer everyone's question of the month, "What's next??" Well, I thank you for your concern and care for asking, but unfortunately, our answer is still, "We don't know." I hope to have good news soon.

100 miles!

I'm finished with the Cycle of Service event and I biked 100.6 miles this weekend!!! It was fun and challenging, especially in the 96-97F degree heat! I do wish that I had not been sick for 2 of the 3 days, but that didn't take away the feeling of accomplishment as I reached my 100 mile goal. :) Today was family ride day, so my two kids joined me for about 12 of the 25 miles I rode. It felt good to see them working hard right beside me. For Nathan, 12 miles was a personal best. I'm proud of both of them!

So here's a big shout out to the ARM staff and volunteers who made this event happen. At our team meeting today, it was announced that we are up to about $11,000 so far in the fund raising. Please don't hesitate to go ahead and send something in. I asked my supporters to donate by July 1st. I'm looking forward to hearing a final number next week or so. The kids and I (and maybe Travis if he has time) hope to join in on one of the builds this summer. We'll see what's available that's kid friendly.

Did I mention that biking across a state for 3 days is a great way to get to know the state you live in?? I feel like I got yet another new perspective on Alabama living each day. ~a fun perk to this event!

I'm going to rest now. Preferably lying down and curling up to a good book!

Road Construction, Logging Trucks, and Bridges, oh my!!

For me, the first day of Cycle of Service yesterday could been titled, "Tara Facing Her Fear." I had a great day and reached a huge milestone for me, but it was not without some challenges. The route we took had lots of construction with barrels making the lanes tight, many bridges of varying height and arch, and it's a main trucking route. Any of you who've known our family more than 3 years will understand why I got an adrenalin surge every time a logging truck passed me in the same lane, which was about every 20 minutes. Can you say, hugging the white line? :) And although I've made significant strides in the past 5 years with my fear of bridges, driving over them is a completely different experience than biking~ where you are higher than the barrier and hugging close to the edge, therefore able to see the chasm below. Travis got some great pictures that I hope turn out. We'll publish those at a later time. But I'm proud to say I faced all of those down and road my best. And I'm all the better for it.

All the challenges aside, I reached a personal best yesterday! While training for this event, the longest distance I had ever biked was 25.1 miles. But yesterday I was able to complete 50.2 miles~ doubling what I had previously accomplished!! Yay! And I felt decent afterward and could still function. I smelled pretty rank, for we were biking in 97F that day, but I felt better than on the training day when I only did 25.1. That being said, I was still the newbie who came in last among the riders. But this isn't about comparing myself to others! It's about me setting goals and accomplishing what I can do and doing my best for the event. And ultimately, even higher than reaching our personal goals is the shared goal of helping those without adequate housing. We all rocked when it came to that!

Today, for the second day of the event, I only biked 25.2 miles. (Still better than my best practice distance.) A few miles into the ride, I realized I had a UTI (feel the burn!) that made it...um... challenging to ride, hence the lower distance. By mile 25, I was hurting and realizing I needed to lay down my pride and go to the doctor. I should still be able to ride tomorrow for the afternoon Tuskegee route. Now my personal goal is to exceed the 100 mile mark for the weekend. It should be doable, seeing as I've already ridden 75+ miles in two days. Hopefully I'll be healed enough tomorrow to finish what I started and to reach my event goal. I'm looking forward to finishing well. And it will be great to see how much money is raised for helping ARM help people. It's not too late to donate! If you'd still like to participate that way, send it in!! Checks can be made out to ARM and sent here:

Alabama Rural Ministry
P.O. Box 2890
Auburn, AL 36831

Last but certainly NOT least, I'd like to thank Travis for being my personal driver. I could not have done this without him! He would leap frog my bike every few miles and cheer me on as I passed. Just knowing someone was there and having the extra water and such on hand made it possible for me to double my distance. Trav and the kids did a fantastic job today of cheering me on to beat my best practice distance even when I was sick. I look forward to having them with me tomorrow as we end this challenge together. I'm very blessed!

The "Dream Chaser" Caught His Dream!!

When we first moved to Alabama, we got AL tags for our van and Travis put DRMCHSR on it, indicating that he was here to chase his dream of being an industrial designer full time. He got his post-bacc undergrad degree in 3 semesters, took a summer off to work, then came back and has been pursuing his Masters since fall. He both turned in his written thesis last week and did his oral defense yesterday. The kids and I enjoyed dressing up and sitting in on his oral presentation and watching Travis field Q&A from his committee and other interested faculty and staff. It was all over in less than an hour. Then the committee excused all of us and deliberated on whether or not to pass him.

Within 15 minutes, they called Travis back into the room. (The kids and I came in too!) The head of his committee kept up the suspense by going over all the options. He said it was quite normal for a grad student to have either their oral presentation or the thesis fail on the first try. He said it was only in a VERY RARE case that someone's written thesis and oral presentation pass on the first time for industrial design. After all, Auburn's ID program is ranked 6th in the nation. Then his looked at Travis and said, "What category do you think you fall into?" Travis, being modest, asked the professors to spell it out for him. They smiled and said he passed BOTH the thesis book and the presentation!! YAY!! I'm so proud of my honey! And not surprised a bit! Travis was made to do this!

All that's left for him to officially get his masters is for him to finish one class he's taking this summer. He's enjoying the class and has straight A's so far, so I don't anticipate this being a problem. But he'll still be busy with 2 TA positions and contract work on top of that. We'll get through, though. We always do. :)

One more piece of good news on Travis's end: Travis is a member of IDSA (Industrial Design Society of America). They read his thesis, thought it was relevant, and asked him to be a guest speaker at the 2011 IDSA international conference in September!! Travis accepted the speaking part yesterday and he will be presenting his thesis topic and findings there in just a few short months!! So a big "Thank you, God!!!" for all of these opportunities. And of course, our biggest prayer request is for Travis to get a great job offer very soon. We need to make decisions about our rented house in VA asap. It's hard to do that when we don't know if we'll be living there or not.

Thanks to all who encouraged us over the years! And to those following my biking, I'll see if I can share my smaller success with you in another post. I want this one to be dedicated fully to Travis for such a good job!!!!! LOVE MY HONEY!!!