Didn't Expect to Hear From Me, Eh?

So.  Here I am.  Blogging once more.

I missed it (a bit).  It's been a nice break to be away. Smashing back into life after Africa has been a transition that I thought would be hard, but (unfortunately) was a bit too easy. It really took just a few weeks to settle back into our big stores, smooth roads, air conditioning, and Cloroxed-lives. The pit latrines are a distant memory, but the people.....they are not. Every picture brings me back, and makes me question if we should be there or here. Permanently. But the thinking and pondering hasn't gone away....oohh no.  My hubs and I are constantly pondering questions like, "What was done in Africa?"  "What do we do with what we learned and experienced now that we're back?"  "What direction do    we go with our lives at this juncture?" "How can we continue to help those we know are in need?"

Y'know. The light stuff.


So what have I been up to in the last 6 months?  Well, if you are a follower of my blog because of my furniture refurbishing-craze, you'll need to unsubscribe. I haven't waxed a peep. Painted more than a toenail. And certainly haven't been to a garage sale!  I think that, whilst 'twas fun, it wasn't my "forever" deal. It served a purpose, and that chapter is closed for now. Who knows, though, right?

What HAS happened is life. And quickly.  My oldest, Grace, entered the 3rd grade, and 3-going-on-4 year old Sophie started a new daycare.  Grace has already won Student of the Month and is so far making all A's....she's a star kiddo.  Sophie, oh my.  She talks, and talks, and talks, and talks.  She hilarious personified. I began my 8th year of teaching 4th grade.  My hubs started his 4th year of coaching & teaching.  We suffere...I mean, strolled through a football/basketball & now starting track season. Not much has changed on the job fronts.

A few things HAVE changed though. For the better. And much of it has to do with our life this summer in Africa.  For one, our diets have changed.  After eating little processed foods and not always having sugary foods readily available (no sweet tea!) for two months, we came back to America with our digestive systems changed. All of a sudden, eating at our favorite Mexican food place threw both mine and my hub's stomach into World War III. It did NOT like it!  We realized we needed to make a change. So, I began searching.

I literally did a 180 on our normal food routine. We used to have cookies & all kinds of fun snacks readily available. But after some research (thanks Pinterest!), I started making rounds of healthy snacks like below. No/low sugar, flaxseed, whole wheat, no ingredients that sound like they should be in a science lab (maltodextrinchloride, anyone?....heh, I just made that up.)

It's worked like a charm. My body took to it like wheat on rye! ; )  I lost pounds, my hubs shed weight that he's never been able to shed (even after running all his hundreds of miles) and we both felt SO much better.  It's been an interesting journey in food these past few months, but a welcome change it has been!

Africa, obviously, has changed our lives in so many more ways other than just food.  It's a HUGE part of our decision making process now.....it's invaded the little things and the big.  I also met some people there that to THIS DAY still make me feel empowered as an heir in Christ.  Life changers, I call them. Everyone should meet these people! I'll share stories of their life-gift to us on another blog, but believe me, it's Changed.Our.Life.

All in all, to try to talk about it all in one post is lud-i-crous. Can't do it. Won't try.

But I guess I'm back. It feels good.