Sabbatical

So as most of you know, I have taken a break from FaceBook. Luckily my sister in law stopped me before I deactivated my account. That is what I was planning to do to make the decision complete and thorough. She suggested I not do that since it will take forever to reconnect with all my friends and load pictures etc. etc. It's funny that the day after I made the decision our laptop broke, so I basically had a forced detox period. And I really think that helped because I have been doing fine with no signs of withdrawal. It was time.
So "WHY?" you ask. Usually when there is an imbalance in my life I am good at doing whatever it takes to get it back. It is rare that this requires going cold turkey, but it happens. This is one of those times I guess. I think Facebook was created for me...well at least people wired like me. I just so enjoyed reconnecting with old friends. Let's face it with the stage of life I am in, writing letters and talking on the phone ain't happening. So I loved that with the click of the mouse I could have a peek into people's lives that are so dear to me, that are/were such a significant part of my life. Yes it was convenient to send a quick message to a friend that I see regularly, but what was really great was to be in contact with my old Liberty community. So much nostalgia. And connecting with High School friends that I haven't seen SINCE High School. So fun!!! And to be in regular contact with my mom's cousins who meant the world to her and are so special to me.
So folks, I am not ashamed to say that I have a strong affection for Facebook, just a bit ashamed to say I was an addict. But with a little time away, I am sure I can find the balance and return VICTORIOUS!!
So I bid a fond farewell my dear Facebook. This is not goodbye, but see you later.

Sorry! No images since this computer has quirks that I have yet to conquer, viewing my pictures while I browse is one of them. I'll figure it out eventually.

I met a boy.....

I fell in love.

I met a boy.....

That long-ago, revolutionary summer.

I met a boy......

His name was Troy.

I met a boy.....

His eyes were the deepest of brown and they melted my heart.
His smile made my day worthwhile.

I met a boy........

His name was Troy.

I met a boy.......

When we said goodbye, I had no idea it would be my last chance to tell him how much I loved him.

I met a boy....

I will NEVER forget him.

I met a boy..........

In my life for 6 short weeks, yet
He changed my life forever

I met a boy.....

I think of him often and cry.

I met a boy...

He stood no taller than my shoulders.
He was skin and bones and full of life and energy and..........hurts and pain and anger and fear.

I met a boy....

I wonder where he is now
what he has become
who tells him, if anyone, how amazing he is
does He know how much God loves him?

I met a boy....

He was just a boy
about 11
a camper
from a painful life situation
from a world I would never know
from a world I wanted to protect HIM from....but couldn't.

I met a boy.....

His laughter was contagious
His anger was brewing, always brewing.

I met a boy.....

He went back to his world.
He didn't want to go
I cried an ocean of tears
begging God to protect him

I met a boy....

His name was Troy.

One Year Ago today

I wanted to post about my precious lil one year old, but it is 10:58pm and we are headed to NC early tomorrow morning. I don't want to rush my words, so I thought I would post some pictures of the day sweet Sadie entered our lives and changed things forever.
What a gift she has been; what a year it has been.

A Love Letter from Jesus

I am touched by this song each time I hear it. It is an incredible picture of how much He loves me and you. My hope is that whenever life seems too hard to handle, the words of this song will remind you that you are not alone. When I am having a hard time I find comfort in the arms that long to hold me. The arms of the One who gave it all for me.

* This one goes out to my best sister and cousin.*

Kicked to the Curb

Several things around here have been kicked to the curb. And each one has brought significant life changes....for the better. Let me go in chronological order.

#1 SADIE
No we have not packed her up and shipped her off. Well at least not very far. We have simply moved her out of our room. This occurred about a month ago and words cannot express how much better life is around here. The only reason she was in our room for so long is because I couldn't figure out how to configure the room-sharing to make it work. I finally decided that Sammy and Thea were ready to share...temporarily until Sadie is ready to share with Thea. So we moved Thea into Sammy's room along with all of her toys and they have been doing great. It is fun to listen to them talk and giggle at night before they drift off. OK, back to Sadie. The benefits of her having her own room are amazing. First of all she sleeps at least an hour later each morning. She is napping better and is happier because of all the extra sleep. Now the benefits on my/our end are even greater. I am more organized, more on top of household duties and I have my life back. When she was in our room, my duties basically came to a halt when she was asleep. Some of the undone duties include: putting away laundry, vacuuming, cleaning the bedroom, cleaning the bathroom, bathing the kids or myself, any paperwork, organizing anything in the bedroom (including the closet, desk and clothing). I had to schedule all of these duties around HER schedule and things just never seemed to get done since her waking hours bring its own set of obstacles. Now that she is in her own room our desk is fully functioning and I am on top of paperwork, our bedroom is clean. Oh here is a funny story. One of the tasks I completed when she left is finally removing the 2 inch layer of dust on our ceiling fan. About a week after that Sammy and I were laying on my bed and Sammy said "Mommy, where is the spider web?" I said "what spider web?" He said "the one on the fan." It had been there so long he thought it was just part of our own personal ecosystem. I have cleaned the window sills, baseboards, dusted regularly and brought back our fancy bedding. I can vacuum during naps and actually put half the laundry away during naps too as opposed to it sitting in the laundry basket for 2 days. I can read in bed at night, I can dress and shower in the morning at my own leisure. Mike and I have a place to talk without the kids being right in the middle of our BIDNESS. We even had a business meeting the other night while the kids watched a movie. The kids can play outside and BE LOUD and not wake her up. So, do you get it? Life has begun again. I feel like the fog has lifted. AHHHHHH!!!

#2 MIKE
No, he has not physically been kicked to the curb, but as indicated in my previous post, he was laid off. I realized I should have given an update long ago, but I have been too busy organizing and cleaning ;) Mike's getting laid off has brought life changes obviously but you may be surprised to know they have been mostly positive. Wait make that ALL positive. Mike has returned to carpentry and is sooooooo much happier. God has brought many jobs his way. He has been busy. And life is nicer since he controls his hours and has mostly had a 5 minute commute. :) He gets to sleep in until 5:30 rather than 4:15 now. And he chooses to get up that early. He could sleep in until 6:45 if he chose. We have health insurance lined up and the BEST part is we get to go back to our old group of doctors and most of you know how much I LOVE and have missed that group. God is good even in the little things. We are currently working on actually incorporating Mike's business and I have started to work for him. So far so good. Unsure as of right now if and when he will return to the formal engineering world. Truth be told, we didn't particularly like working "for the man". It was quite a transition for us. Only God knows what lies ahead and we are OK with that.

#3 DIAPERS (well at least the size 4 kind)
Yup. Thea is officially potty trained. WHEW!!! We started kinda impromptu on the Saturday before the planned Monday start date. We had no plans and she was begging to wear her new "unnies" so I figured why not. And the great thing is she was done by the time Monday arrived. It went MUCH quicker than I had thought but it certainly was not without frustration. But I am glad to say it was not at all the battle of wills that I had anticipated. She was very willing. It was just a matter of her mind and body beginning to communicate with each other effectively. Other than the 2-3 trips to the restroom at stores that we now need to make, it has been wonderful.

#4 FORMULA (kinda)
Sadie is sooo not into her bottles anymore. She will drink some and then lose interest. The doctor said it is fine to drop them and formula and introduce milk. I received this info about 3 days after starting a brand new can of formula so I am determined to use it. Sadie will drink a full bottle when I mix it with milk. So as soon as this can is done, we, the Rohrers have officially kicked formula to the curb. WOO HOO!!!

Too Good Not to Steal

I stole this from Di's blog because I AM NOT KIDDING I laughed so hard I cried. Especially the part about Sunday. It's the place you love and hate at the same time for being closed on Sundays.

Balloon-A-Palooza

That's the name my brother has given to Thea's birthday party. When I asked her what kind of party she wanted she said "Boon" party. So balloons it was. It was a poppin good time. I must admit, I get pretty excited about my kids birthday parties...as if they are for me. We decorated with tons of balloons and I got all the balloon-themed party goods at the dollar store. SCORE!!!! I made a balloon cake and we made balloon animals. I had printed out some instructions from the internet and they suggested that you have a hand pump to blow up the balloons. I thought I could get away without buying one until I tried to blow one up by mouth....can you say brain aneurysm? So I ran out the night before and got one. Whew!!!! Now it did allow us to blow them up with ease, but the fact that there was only one caused quite a ruckus with the crowd. Anyway, the moms were good sports and it was fun.
Now, Thea got some pretty cool gifts; toys, clothes, Hello Kitty unnies. And of course I got excited about every one. Later, when I asked Thea what her favorite gift was, she said "my neckness" translated necklace. OK, so in the girls' goodie bags there was a Mardi Gras bead necklace and she got her own goodie bag. So of all the awesomely fun gifts, she got THAT is what she says is her favorite. KIDS!!!!!