When you want what you've never had ~ you must do what you've never done

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let now your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27

Well, I took a HUGE step today and did not sign my intent at school.

Take a breath, Keli.

I am going back to big school in the fall, MC to be exact. As my kids say, "Mom's going back to school to learn how to be a teacher."

Breath in, breath out, Keli.

I can honestly say that this is one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make.

Hang in there, girl.

I just knew that if I didn't go through with it this time, I would never finish my degree.

I have tried to go back to school, about 4 times. I've even applied, got financial aid going, the whole works. Funny thing ~ it just wasn't God's plan. Each and every time I would get my ducks in a row, we would find out we were moving or that I was pregnant. No lie.

God got my attention in a big way!

Brian and I have been talking and PRAYING, like forever,

about me making this move and we just knew.

The time is now.

I was so terrified about stepping out of my comfort zone, about moving away from my NWRE family, about leaving behind all that I feel I'm known for.

Crazy, right?

Me, Keli Hill, infamous mover

(I've been married for almost 14 years and we've moved 8 times

in three different states), is petrified of taking a different road.

I must need my head examined.

It is my goal in life to have stability for my family. An outsider might look at the Hill's and wonder how we can be on the go so much of our life. We live in one city, Brian works in another, the kids and I go to school in yet another city, and still our Church is an hour and a half away.

We are gypsies.

But if you look a little closer, each time we make a "chess move", it is with the ultimate goal of consolidating our life. I can honestly say that I have found the end of the tunnel and a bright and glorious light awaits me. No, I'm not dying, not that type of light.

Peace.

I think that's what the Hill's are craving. That's what God is leading us towards.

That's what my light looks like.

Today I went to school without a heavy weight. I could take a cleansing breath, shake my head, and know that I'm doing God's right thing. For my husband. For my kids.

For myself.

Others might question the saneness of our decisions ~ have I mentioned that we now have to move to keep the kids at NWRE. For real. Like we HAVE to move this summer.

But you know what, I fall back on my new favorite life-line,

"Those that mind don't matter, and those that matter don't mind."

Someone at school asked me today if I was coming back. You bet. She asked if that was a promise or a threat. My response? If there's on opening, it's a promise. If there's not, it's a threat. Hey little sis, keep something on the back burner for me.

Snap, I need a tissue!

Curious?

OK, I'll spill the beans about Saturday night with the Killoughs. I'm still shaking my head at my crazy expectations.

Many of you wouldn't guess this, but my sweet - very redneck husband - Brian, is a member of the Richland Rotary Club. I'm not really sure who or how many Rotary Clubs were involved with this plan, but somehow and someway we were told that the Harlem Globetrotters were coming to Brandon. That's right folks, the Harlem Globetrotters! Actually their B-Team, but the team nonetheless. Every Rotary member was to sell tickets with all proceeds going towards the March of Dime (I think). Kara jumped on board with me, both of us thinking that we could get some ideas to use for our school's Marshall Madness Basketball Benefit.
I immediately knew something was wrong when we pulled into the Brandon High School parking lot and there were very little cars. VERY LITTLE! Dun, dun, dun. Then, we got a glimpse of the Harlem players, all 5 of them.
Come to find out it's not the Harlem Globetrotters but the Harlem Ambassadors! The only resemblance between the two ~ the red/white/blue basketball and the name Harlem. That's where it ends. Their team consisted of 4 guys and one gal, who was the coach. They had one, 1, uno, lapel mic that they rotated to whomever needed it. They did bring an announcer who also doubled as their music technician on a laptop and speaker beater, yes speaker beater. The Harlem Ambassadors had brought one speaker that had a short in it so every few minutes the announcer would run over there and shake/beat it.

Poor Kolton was running a fever and DROOLING a puddle everywhere (he's still the cutest thing ever). Lucky sis and family got to leave early. My family had to stay until close to the end.

I hate to say it but NWRE ladies could definitely teach the Harlem Ambassadors a few things about basketball and entertainment. You ain't lived until you've seen our teachers play it out on the court!

You or me

OK, Kara, should I tell everyone about Saturday night or would you like to have that pleasure?

Those little moments

Looking back, it's been a while since I wrote anything of substance. I think today would be a fine day to remedy that problem. The kids are entertaining themselves, which could lead to future problems but at the moment I just don't care. I'm blogging. Yep, words refresh me.

The boys are playing soccer this year, on the same team if you can imagine that. Their first game was the other day and I can honestly say that I've NEVER laughed harder during a sporting event than when I was watching their game.

If you've never met Matt, he's Tigger re-incarnate. That boy doesn't walk, he jumps EVERYWHERE! I don't think he made a move on the field that didn't include at least one hop. Most of the time he kept his hands in his pockets and skipped down the fields, WAY behind the rest of the players. Too funny. This is also the child that LOVES to spell words. His latest word to spell is "Eugene" but why he picked that name to attempt is beyond me. Care to know how he spells "Eugene"..."youjean". How can you correct that?

Drew was a hoot to watch on the field as well, but for entirely different reasons. He is such a caregiver and nurturer. When one boy from the other team got hurt, Drew took it upon himself to walk the boy over to his coach ~ patting the boy and trying to comfort him the whole way. When another child fell and wouldn't get up, Drew was the one to tell the whole field,

and I mean the WHOLE field, to take a knee.

That leaves me with Meg. Where, oh where, do I begin. Have you ever eaten a ton of your favorite food and then felt sick? It tastes great in the moment but leaves you with a bad taste afterwards. Life with a pre-teen is like that. I have never experienced so much laughter with my sweet girl only to be followed by a significant mood swing that left a horrible taste in my mouth. At this point in her life, she could be in a Sci-Fi movie and win an Oscar for her performance. Got to love that girl! Right now she is fascinated with a moustache on her face that quite frankly, only she can see. Just proves my point.

Short but sweet

I'm supposed to be cleaning my house right now (don't tell my husband) but instead am curled up with a good book. It's beautiful outside, there's a pleasant breeze flowing through my house, I can hear the boys in the backyard laughing with the neighborhood kids, and Meg is giving me a few minutes of peace and quiet. Aaaww ~ serenity...why waste that on cleaning!
I've come across a line in this book that states, "The ones that mind don't matter and the ones that matter don't mind." How true is that! Be yourself, be an original, be true.

Come on, guys!

Ok, time for a little venting.

This is not my normal perky post but I am deeply disturbed by what I am witnessing in today's society, and quite frankly, how it is trying to change how we live as the Hill Family.

I am just plain tired of having to remind my kids that just because so-and-so has something, doesn't mean you should too. But what is really getting to me is the amount and type of "things" other parents are buying for their kids. Since when do kids need I-Pods AND MP3 Players AND every video game player imaginable AND Razor phones AND ginormous TV's WITH DVD players PLUS digital cameras in their rooms, all at the same time? And what really gets to me is how those "priviledged children" look down on my kids for not having all that is expected. It's not unuasual for someone to make the comment to my kids (and even to me), "I can't believe you don't have this" or "You mean your parents haven't bought you that?" What happend to teaching kids the value of money instead of buying into their every whim? How do you expect to top the next gift if you're still paying off the last? What happens when your child grows up and suddenly faces that harsh reality that no one is going to give them their every latest crave.

I'm sorry, but it sickens me to see YOUNG kids being so picky because this doesn't boast the correct name or that doesn't have the right dollar amount attached to it.

And don't even say the words, "I'm bored" to me. P-L-EASE!

Whatever happend to being thankful for what you have?

Or this one ... that's it's OK to say no to our kids once in a while?

Here's one, how about spending time with the family instead of sending everyone to their own corners of the house and hope all is ok with them?

Are we really doing our children a favor by being their friends instead of their parents?

Are we really so concerned with appearances that we push valuable life-lessons out the door, regarding them as old-fashioned and out-of-date,

something that won't possibly work with this current generation?

Not that anything new is wrong, but can we try a little moderation and see if that works?

Call me crazy, but I think in our moving towards a new and better life, we are fast loosing what our families need most ... each other.

Joshua 24:15 (New International Version)
"Then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.

But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
Notice that the verse says "me AND my house." We are all in this together!

Whew!

Tag, I'm it

So apparently there is this tag game floating around blogville and I'm it. Hang in there folks because these are my 7 Random Things that you didn't know, and probably wouldn't have even guessed, about Keli Denise Tompkins Hill. Anda heeerree we go...

1. I've been married 14 years and have moved 8 times. Since I became a Hill, I've lived in 3 different states, a duplex, an apartment, a parsonage, and of course the Hill Mobile-I'm really a gypsie in disguise.

2. Oh, here's a good one. One of the houses we've lived in was haunted. I promise. Weird things happened that were TOTALLY out of any explanation realm. Let's just say that after I moved in I found out that the previous owner's wife had died in the house and that's why he was moving. Creepy!

3. I am a book nerd. If I find a book that is interesting, I will bury myself inside the covers until I finish. I do take care of my kids at some point, just not mother of the year worthy. It's nothing for me to pick up a book when the kids go to sleep and stay up all night until I finish it. I LOVE READING!

4. I have a tremendous fear of heights. At this point in my randomness I need to apologize to my former vehicle, Fionna the Ford Expedition, for the damage I inflicted on her door handle during our family trip to the mountains this summer. My husband thought my freak-outs HILARIOUS until I broke Fionna's handle. Sorry ole' girl, my bad.

5. I hate feet. Don't touch my feet, don't put your feet in my personal space ... feet just bad!

6. I am going to donate my body to science when I die. We move around too much to have a personal burial plot, that, and I wouldn't be a very good hostess if someone did come to visit me. In addition to that morbid fact, science really needs to know the effects of chocolate on ones body -and what better a body to study than mine?!?!

7. On New Year's Eve our family likes to blow up our Christmas Tree.
Here's the 411:

• Get a big tree.
• Water as little as possible while still staying well within the fire safety codes.
• On New Year's Eve take your brittle tree out into an open field (a VERY open field) and insert the tree into a snug hole to keep the not-so-evergreen stable during its assult.
• Load that sucker down with every imaginable firework you can lay your hands on. My advise is to keep all rockets pointing in an upward direction (trust me, bad past experience). The more firepower the better.
• Light the tree and run Forrest, run! It is so cool!

Ok, so now you've got the inside scoop on my life. Rubbing my hands together in a sinister fashion, I now pick Katie and Charlotte as my tag victims. Have fun and make it good ladies!