mononucleosis

I've been doctoring for many ailments since an end of June migraine that had me incapacitated, propped up in a hospital bed mumbling something about amnesia.
What's ailing me? My stomach, my head, my neck, my mouth, my mind. As a result, I've had an x-ray, a CT scan, an MRI/MRA, and an ultrasound. (I should be beaming with radio activity by now.) It was thought by the medical community that I may have gall stones. Great. This, following the kidney stones last year, and the overweight-with-high-blood-pressure the year before (hey, it was during pregnancy!). I am the oldest living 24 year old.
Anyway, it was a surprising relief to be diagnosed with a young person's illness - turns out Andrew and Oliver have been the beneficiaries of too many smooches from me - I have the 'kissing disease.'
O Mono, leave me alone; why must you drone on and on?

Good, Charlotte

Mom and Dad are renting a farmhouse, and right out the front door you're likely to encounter a few pigs, some cattle, a pup named Lily, and a kitty or two, along with the kind farmers/owners - the Froelichs.
With so many things to explore around the barnyard, our most recent discovery was fascinating...right off the pages of a children's storybook!
In the upper left corner of the barn door, you'll spot a crafty little spider who's been busy spinning webs above the Froelich's famous pigs. Dear Charlotte is fuzzy in texture, orange in color, and the most peculiar looking arachnid I've ever seen.
A curious Fern..ahem, Oliver.. appears to be in conversation with the two survivors of an original trio of hams. Their names were Jess, Jonny and Joey after my brothers and their friend Joey Froelich. Perfect.
'Jess' has already met his fate, but if our eight-legged friend has anything to do with it, Jonny and Joey will be safe this harvest season.

The hard workers hard at work

Chad

Dad

Anj

Heck

Uncles Al & Teddy

Uncle Onion

Bucky

Bruce, David, Brandon

Life as we know it...

My absence here at my blog is bogging me down. So much happens in life it's hard to pick the greatest things, then write about them.
Right now our family is in a time of transition. We're living in Deerwood, working in Brainerd, spending time in Pierz and Emily. Needless to say, my car looks like it belongs to a group of vagabonds. I know I'll look back on this time with an element of fondness...but right now, as I'm in the midst of the chaos, I sit dazed and confused. The horizon is bleak.
Wow, how's that for morose?
It's actually been a period of growth for me personally, so that's good, right? I've been able to more fully rely on God, as He's the only steady, unchanging part of my life. (Andrew's typically a rock, as well, but making house decisions has him rather wishy washy these days.) Encouraging other people to trust God through confounded circumstances is easier than applying faith in my own life, but I'm learning...I don't have much choice.
So as we continue to plod on in the reconstruction of our house, we're trying to focus on the Giver, rather than the gift. After all, the second cannot exist without the first.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. " James 1:17