Joy in the Journey

First off.....thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers, phone calls, visits, meals, love, and concern during this difficult trial. I can truly say that satan can never tell me again that "no one cares about you", because God has used all of you to show my family and I that there are people who really do care.

There have been so many changes in my life lately and I believe God is very clearly telling me to "Have Joy in the Journey". For those of you that knew me growing up I was always a relatively happy person. I always saw the best in everyone and everything. As I grew older life handed me some pretty rough blows. Then I got married and more responcibilities were heaped on my head. I started to realize that I had a slight problem when I would be bothered if all of the shampoo bottles were not facing the same way. I am not a perfectionist and my house is not always the tidiest, but I realized that little things were really starting to get to me that never use to. If I did not get some project done around the house I felt like a failure for the day.

Now fast forward to losing my brother. It really rocked my world. I still can not put into words everything that is going on in my heart and mind right now. One day I am having a conversation with him about "no I can not put a pig into my backyard" and the next day he was gone. Life is so fleeting. Moments, days, years slip away and we look back and say "where did time go?" I now have the answer to that question. We mourn the loss of time because when we look back we realize how life and time were marching on while we worried and fretted about the shampoo bottles not facing the same way, or how we have been working on the house for 4 years and it is STILL not done, or about money. Through God speaking through circumstances in my life and through 3 separate people in one evening speaking the same message to me I know God is extending grace to me one more time. There will always be more things to do around the house, laundry, dishes, etc. Why stress it? Why not have "Joy in the Journey"? I am not saying we should all let our houses fall apart or sell everything and live in a VW bus....although that idea does have some merit some times. =) I am simply saying why not just enjoy life? Make the projects fun, sing more, worry less, dance around the house with Adaliah, not do anything one day and just take the day to see the world through her eyes, spend more time in quiet time with the Creator of the heavens and earth. I can not say I will be perfect at this new path I am choosing to take, but when I stear off of the path I will work my way back to the joy in the journey. After all, I only get one shot at life. Enjoy the day and God bless you.

Jason Timothy Daniels 6/16/91~9/8/10

I Am From...

I am from wreckage, from a home broken from within.

I am from success, from a family that has set goals and achieved them.

I am from a paradox, from somewhere that is good, but not good for me.

I am from a small town, from friendly neighbors who gossip about me.

I am from religion, from a society that conforms to non-conformity.

I am from family, from protection, harm, encouragement, and discouragement.

I am from God, from a higher power that has set me in this test called "Life".

I am from love, from a love for all that is "Right" and "Godly".

I am from hate, from a hate for "things of this world" and for "wrong-doing".

I am from you, from the person who cares enough to listen to what I have to say.

I am from them, the people that criticize me and bring me down, so that I can rise above it.

I am from a higher calling, a calling that leads me to believe.

I am from believing, from a belief that Life is gerenally good, no matter how bad it may seem now.

I am from myself, from my inner beliefs that make me my individual self.

Written by Jason Daniels on September 2, 2009

Forever Loved and Forever Missed

Big Announcement

Well, I did it.............I quit all of my jobs. There are several things that let up to this decision. First off....I really believe at home with Adaliah is my place. I do know that some times this is not possible....I mean I started back to work when she was 5 weeks old and currently I am still working. But...we can live on Miguel's income. It gives us no cushion what so ever...but that is what faith is for right? This all came to a boiling point for me about two weeks ago. My dear baby sister (who just turned a quarter of a century yesterday, along with my youngest brother turning 14~Happy Birthday guys!)started making her own laundry detergent about a year ago. The product is equivalent to tide but a fraction of the cost. Well....my sister decided to start marketing it and selling it to pass on this great product to other people and pass along the savings during this tough economic time. She also made a great website....check it out and let me know if you have any questions.

www.naturallycleandetergent.webs.com

Well.....I was preparing to go to a festival in Indiana to help her sell it. Miguel was working that night and was going to wake up a bit early to watch Adaliah and then take her to Aunt Maria's house. I kept Adaliah up from her nap so she would take a later nap so Miguel could sleep longer. (I can now hear all the experienced moms chuckling and saying "Yep, that didn't work did it!!?!?) And you are all correct....it didn't work. She would not go to sleep. Instead she screamed. By this time Miguel was of course awake and he said he didn't get to sleep much so I decided to take Adaliah to Aunt Maria's early so Miguel could try to get some more sleep. At this point I was REALLY frustrated. Then I got to thinking...why I am frustrated that she isn't working around my schedule? She is 1 1/2 years old. I know this doesn't sound like much, but this was kind of the breaking point for me. That my baby was becoming a frustration due to my work schedule. One more thing on my plate. This was not acceptable to me at all. So, I quit...all of my jobs after talking to Miguel. Of course he was supportive and agreed to work over time if we had a need.

So....any advice from the stay at home mom's out there? Should I try to set up a sort of routine for our days now that I will be at home or just go with the flow? How did you all adjust from being in the work force to being at home full time? Any thoughts would be appreciated. My mind is already spinning with all of the projects that have been pushed to the back burner. I have also started writing. If you didn't know, one of my goals/ dreams has always been to write. For right now, I don't know if anyone will ever get to read what I am writing...it is kinda for my own personal growth. Who knows though. My mom has always told me I would do this....but I am sure she is bias. =)

For the news on the home front......Miguel is still working and working on the house. The upstairs is soooo close to be done. Then you can all come visit as we will have three extra completed rooms. You all just might have to take shifts though. Adaliah seems to be saying a new word every day. Her latest that is oh so cute is she calls people honey. But she pronounces it "hawney" like she is a southern belle. She is also manifesting a mean side.....that she got from dad. She loves to chase the cats around and pull their tails, and pick them up by the tail, and hit them. And the reason I blame daddy for this? Because I have always been an avid animal lover and her daddy tried to drown geese. So now I am reaping what he sowed. I tell you.... if I wasn't a praying woman before, being a mom would have driven me to it. Boy do I love that little bundle of hyperness though. =)

Gardening is going well. My sisters and I had out first canning/freezing day last week. Mike (Nicole's husband) calls us little ants, storing up for winter. I love it.

Also...after the upstairs is completed it will finally be time for my kitchen. With this thought in mind, I am considering repainting my dining room. Right now it is a Spanish flair. I would still keep it that way just change the color of the walls. Right now they are bright turquoise. (You can see a picture of them I believe in my second or third posting on our home renovations.) I am thinking of toning it down a wee bit and going with a orangish/reddish/brownish. Like a Terra cotta look. So give me your thoughts. Keep it how it is or change the color?

Ok...next post I promise I will post pictures of Miss Adaliah. I have been being lazy. My lap top crashed so I will have to reinstall the software and put the pictures back on my lap top. I hope you all have a joyous day. Please remember to keep us in your prayers....for Miguel to get on days and for me as I wrap up my jobs. I have one really big project I have to finish for one my job.Until next time.....

May Flowers....

Well, welcome again to my little slice of the world wide web. I do apologize for not being more faithful in updating, as pointed out gently by my sister in law. =) April and May are always very busy times for us. But now....(big sigh of relief) my vegetable garden is in and EVERYTHING is marked off of my "Outdoor 2010 Project List" thanks to my dear, motivated husband. Isn't it wonderful what a little sunshine will do to your spirits and motivation level after almost two weeks of rain, rain, and more rain? So, now I shall share with you what we have been doing.

First off...work. Miguel is still on third shift weekends. This is pretty rough for us because he rarely gets to go to church since he works 12 hours on Saturday night and every other Sunday night. Also his days off are Mon, Tues, and Wed..and I work every Mon., Tues, and Wed night. We are so thankful to God in this current economic times for our jobs, which we usually enjoy and pay the bills...but could you please pray for us that Miguel could get on days? We would really appreciate it. Also, most of you know I have worked under a Federal Grant for 7 years now teaching Relationship Education. It always amazed me that I get to step into public schools and teach things that I was raised believing. Two years ago the organization that I was working for lost our state funding, so the counties that I taught in were cut from the budget. Another organization hired me on doing the same thing. They, and all organization that teach Relationship/Abstinence Education, have had their monies revolted. This is no surprise to me with the stance of the current administration. So, once again I am at a cross road. My heart's desire is to be at home, but I also believe in what I do and my pay check is needed at this time. Surprisingly, I am at peace. I know as a Christian woman that should not surprise me, but I am gonna be real. I like order and I always try to have our next steps mapped out. Me losing my job right now was not in "our plan". Normally this would stress me out. Maybe, just maybe God has been able to teach me something in my 27 years on earth...trust and obey. Being completely real....I love God with all my heart and I love having him to rest on, but me in my natural personality likes to see a problem, form a plan, and march forward. I have no plan and I am ok. And you know what...that makes me smile. I am learning and being molded. I am not perfect, not even close, but I will take the baby steps towards the imagine He wants of me.

Next, our Spring Projects. As stated earlier, Miguel has been working very hard. We have completely reorganized the front flower beds and added two new flower beds. Miguel basically rebuilt our shed. We were blessed to have a shed that came with our property since we have no garage. BUT..the shed was tipped on its side and missing walls when we purchased our house. So, Miguel put new OSB on the walls, making it more secure and structurally sound, new shingles, and he put on barn siding that we painted. It looks great. So now it is more functional and not such an eye sore. Next, he installed an outdoor ceiling fan on our side porch so we could have lighting and a nice breeze in the heat of August. It all doesn't sound like much, but with putting in our garden on top of this our outdoor work list took probably almost two months total to complete.

Finally, one of our most favorite topics....our baby. =) Adaliah is growing up so quickly. (I am told they do that) I am really loving this stage. It is such a joy to see the world through her eyes. Bright eyed wonder at what we deem the "little things". Flower petals, dirt, and just exploring and touching every new thing. (I don't always have this kind of attitude about all the exploring and touching but I really try!) She is starting to talk more and says "Ready, Set, Doe!!" many times a day. She also likes to smell things lately and just randomly wrinkles up her nose and "sniff, sniffs". Also, please let me be proud for just a second. She is really learning to put two and two together. One day when I was at work, Miguel went upstairs to get Addie some clothes. He shut the door so she couldn't follow him. Wellllll, we live in a fixer upper remember so the door to the upstairs only has the knob on one side. So, Addie pulled it out. Miguel comes downstairs and sees the dilemma. He thought he was going to have to climb out a window and jump off the roof. He heard her come over to the door. He told her "baby, put it back" and he heard Adaliah messing with the door knob. He said she tried and tried and started to get frustrated. He figured she would just give up and go else where and he would be back to the jumping off the roof option. He kept encouraging her...."come on you can do it". Finally after about 5 minutes of this, Adaliah got the door knob back to the door and Miguel could get back downstairs minus the jumping off the roof. She has always been so healthy, we are so blessed. She had a bout with a skin thing but she is fine now.

Well, this is quite lengthy now!! So sorry. I will update ASAP with pictures of all of our before and after pictures of our spring projects and more pictures of Adaliah. I do hope you enjoyed the update and I will try to be more faithful! God's blessings on you!

How Time Flies

Boy have I been slacking lately....I think it has been almost two months since my last post. This is my really busy season for all of my jobs. Garage sale season has started as well. I have only got to go a few times due to work though. =/ Miss Addie is doing amazing. People ask me if she is walking and I chuckle and say......and running....and climbing. The poor dear had 4 goose eggs on her head within in one week. Miguel is just up to his normal...work and working on the house. So my friends, you really have not missed much in our lives. Anyone else out there a garage saler? If so....what's the best deal you every found?

Spring Thoughts

Well life had been pretty busy around here...as noted from my lack of updates. Valentine's Day has come and gone. Miguel and I said we were not going to get each other anything since we are trying very hard to save for projects around the house but he came home from work and this was sitting on the table as I got up to get ready for church; a dozen red roses, chocolate, and a card that sings. Needless to say I felt very special. We have been having A LOT of snow... to borrow a phrase from my sister Maria...I am starting to feel like I am in a snow globe. We aren't the only ones with a lot of the white stuff though. I heard that Hawaii is the only state right now that does NOT have snow on the ground. Weird huh?It is kinda hard to tell from this picture, but we had probably 3-4 foot drifts in our yard and I was off work, since I work at a school, for a week.

So with all of this white stuff I started thinking about Spring (since it is only 20 some days away) and with Spring comes thoughts of my garden. I love to garden. I can't say I am much good at it and I don't have the budget right now to do too much with my blank canvas that we call a yard. I also enjoy my vegetable and herb garden. So....does anyone else that reads this enjoy gardening and if so I would love to hear your gardening advice or your favorite plant/flower. Let's start thinking some Spring thoughts people!

Kitchen Survey

I have a strange new conversation starter......"so what kind of counter tops do you have and do you like them?" I went to work and asked that, I interupted a Pamper Chef party to ask that, (Sorry again Jeannie!!), I just seem to be asking everyone that lately. I think I am getting weird in my old age. You see....as noted from an earlier post....we are remodeling our home and have been for 3 1/2 years. So for 3 1/2 years I have dreamed of my kitchen. Well, now that Miguel has almost all of the dry wall hung upstairs I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for getting to FINALLY redo my kitchen. I started exploring counter tops options, since I have pretty much decided on my cabinets, and I was blown away about how many types there are out there. As this is going to be one of the most expensive remodel projects...I HAVE to get it right the first time. So, that is where you all come in. "What kind of counter tops do you have and do you like them?"

Now what?

Well, dear readers, I now have the 3 posts made that I originally started this blog for. =) Yeah for my big accomplishment but now what do I write about? I do want to say this....I am not going to be a facebook/internet/blog basher.......but starting this blog was seriously a big step for me. There is good and evil in EVERYTHING, but I have always been of the mindset that the evil out weighs the good with the online networking forums. Again, please, I am not trying to be a basher or a finger pointer, but I have first hand seen a lot of people hurt by facebook, blogs, etc. There seems to be a lot of gossiping (did you see so and so's pictures....I thought they were a Christian) and even to the extreme that I know people that have cheated on their spouses..maybe not all of them physically but emotionally counts too. You don't like how your real life relationship is going so you will talk to someone online for hours that says all of the nice things you want to hear. Plus the time that it takes. For some reason it can just suck you in and before you know it you have been on for HOURS. We only get 24 hours a day and I want to make sure I use them to the best of my ability...that means God and family need to get the bulk of my time....not the internet. I really didn't want to be a part of all of that. But I really wanted a place that people that wanted to be updated on my family and I could come because, let's face it, most everyone is on the internet and this is the easiest and quickest way to update people. So I decided I COULD have both. I could update people and maybe, just maybe encourage as well. I prayed before I began this blog that what ever I would write would ALWAYS be edifying and encouraging. So readers if I stray from that, please notify me. Seriously.

So, with that all behind me, if anyone ever reading this needs a friend, someone to listen to them, someone to pray for them, someone to laugh with, or whatever I would be happy to do that. Just let me know. I REALLY mean that. Let us remember to pray for the people in Haiti as well. I can't even begin to fathom what they are going through right now.

Testify to everyone you meet....and if you have to, use words.

Psalms 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it

As promised this post will be about something that takes quite a bit of Miguel's and my time....our house. When Miguel and I got engaged one of the things that we agreed on was that we did not want to rent....we wanted to own our own home. That being said we could not afford much because we did not want to be house poor. So we decided we would get a "fixer uper". So we looked.....and looked.....and looked some more. Have you ever, dear readers, been in a house that is listed at less than $10,000? Well, I have and let me tell you it is SCARY!! We were at one of these scary houses when the realtor said, "Hey I have another house that you might be interested in if you have time to look." My mom and dad were with us and we said sure. This house had a lot of things that we wanted...it was out in the country, had a good size yard, and had some growing room. Yes, there were certainly some scary parts, but I asked myself the question that my mom told me to, "Does this feel like home" and it did. My dad was telling Miguel to ask himself, "Do you really want to work 8 hours a day and come home and work on a house?" (Chuckle) Well, we put in an offer and after a VERY long ordeal that would take pages and pages to go into, we were finally home owners. Let's just say that the bank messed up soooo badly with keep delaying things that they ended up paying ALL of the closing costs and cutting us a check for $900. Now the fun begins. Our house is about 100 years old. It has 5 bedrooms, living room, dining room, family room, utility room, and one bathroom. It has 2,200 square feet. It needed A LOT of work. We had 1 year to get a new roof on, siding, new windows, and some of the rooms didn't even have dry wall. The walls just had studs. The front room when you enter the house was actually being supported by floor jacks because the previous owner decided to knock out a supporting wall. But, as anyone knows that has done any remodeling, the work was way more than we orginally thought. The house had the orginial wiring in it from probably when they first wired the house for electricity. So EVERY wall had to be knocked down so we could rewire it. With the deadline looming over us some really awesome family members and friends spent countless hours tearing off the roof, drywalling, painting, or whatever. You know who you are and I still get teary eyed thinking of all of the help that we received. I know God will bless you. Now we have been living in the house for about 3 1/2 years......in adition to all the work that had to be done within a year, Miguel has put in all new doors inside and out, reinsulated every room, new wiring in every room, which means new dry wall in every room, new floors, we have added walls, and knocked out walls, and took out doors. Did you ever noticed that old farm houses have doors every where?!??! For instance, the kitchen originally had 4 doors into it and there was a door from the dining room into the master bedroom. We still have more to go, of course, but we have come a long way. We still have some of the bigger more expensive projects, like the kitchen. Looking back would I gone this route? Being newly married, living in a continual project? Hmmm I'm not sure....but I can tell you this...I have learned A LOT. I always joke that if you want marriage counseling...work on a house together. I have learned when to give my "helpful" suggestions and when to be quiet, I have learned to be more patient, I have learned that there are still awesome people that will drop everything because you need help, I have learned that it's not what you have or how everything looks that people visiting your house notice its the love and peace that fill your home, I have learned to budget my money better, and I am still learning that there will always be projects and things to do, but I will never have this day again to spend with God and my family......so some things can wait. =)
And now I give you some before and after pictures.............................

All About Adaliah

As denoted by the title....this post is going to be all about my baby who is not quite a baby any more. Said daughter is down for a nap allowing me the time to tell you my dear readers all about her. She was born Jan. 2, 2009 three days late. Three days does not seem like a big deal, but I am telling you every day felt like a week! I had the world's easiest pregnancy though so I can not REALLY complain. She was born at the Van Wert Co. Hospital at 2:51 p.m. on my sister Nicole's son's 1st birthday.




So we kinda ruined his first birthday party. =/ Sorry! She weighted 7 lbs. 5 oz. and was 19 3/4 in. long. Adaliah was the first baby born in Van Wert Co so she got her picture in the paper and we received some really nice things from some local businesses. I get a lot of questions about her name, so I shall explain it. Her middle name was always going to be Ruth as that is my middle name and is kind of a tradition to pass the name on when you get it. It was my adored grandma Barnhart's middle name, a great aunt's, my cousin Ginnys, her daughters, and now my daughter's. I liked the name Adalyn. Well I was looking up the meaning of that name....since meanings of names are very important I believe...and it didn't have a meaning because it is two modern names simply put together. Well that didn't sit well with me or Miguel. Right under Adalyn was Adaliah which is a Hebrew name meaning "God is my refuge" or a Spanish name meaning "Noble". We loved it so she is our little Adaliah Ruth Calderon.

I LOVE being a mom. I must admit that the first few months were a challenge though. Adaliah fought sleep and completely had her days and nights turned around for a month straight. This was VERY difficult especially since I had to go back to work when she was 5 weeks old due to Miguel getting laid off when Adaliah was three weeks old. Not what we planned as I have always wanted to be a stay at home mom, but God knows and has a plan bigger than MY plans. So dear readers if you have any questions about how to get a baby to sleep, please feel free to ask as we have been down that road. At 6 months she was still getting up 3-5 times a night so we moved her into her own room. She cried for 2 hours straight. That was one of the hardest things to do...to not go and comfort my baby but I knew there was nothing wrong with her she just wanted attention. After that first night, she started sleeping through the whole night and Miguel and I started to feel like normal human beings again.

When Adaliah was 6 months old she got to go visit her family in Arizona. She did wonderfully on the airplane and she received LOTS of attention for the almost two week we were there. Here are some pictures of our family and our adventures out there such as playing the Wii to the wee hours of the morning...thanks Terry and Sam that was fun, spending lots of time with our neices and nephews, bonding once again with my bro-in-laws- thanks for the shooting lessons Alex and for the food Roy- you really need to teach Miguel to cook like you guys! Thanks also to Canti and Al for helping with the cost of getting us to AZ. And to girl time with Jodi! Yeah! Great to see my mom and dad-in law as well. =)

Adaliah is now one....I will post pictures later from her and Micah's party and is soooo much fun! She says "dada", "mama", "dog", and "hi". She is taking steps but not "officially" walking. Crawling is still so much quicker you know. =) She loves to laugh, eat, and be with her family. She makes dinosoar noices and this weird"gully-gully" noise while rolling her tongue. She is quite talented. If I can figure out how to post videos I will put one up of her doing that. Don't wanna miss that! I really can't think of anything else now but if I do I will blog about it later. So...drums roll please.... I give you pictures of Addies through the last year. Thanks for letting me tell you ALL about my baby and enjoy your day.....this day will never happen again you know. =)

I Did It!

I did something I thought I would NEVER do....I have now created a blog. I have done this mainly to keep more connected with my family out in AZ. Also so my sister Maria does not have to keep shouldering the burden of keeping people updated on us. But for anyone else that has stumbled onto my page "Welcome!"; pull up a chair, kick up your feet, and be updated on the lives of the Calderon's. =) I can not promise to be a faithful blogger, nor an interesting blogger but I shall do my best.

To get everyone up to speed......I used to be Stephanie Daniels but now I am Stephanie Calderon. I have been married for about 3 1/2 years to Mr. Miguel Calderon whom I love dearly. God knew what He was doing when He put us together. (I can see my Ohio family gagging right now and my AZ family asking themselves if I am I am talking about the same baby brother they know) So to my Ohio family allow me my gushy moment and to my AZ family, yep he turned out pretty wonderful.

I am also now the mother of the most beautiful girl, Adaliah Ruth who just turned one on Jan. 2, 2010. She brings joy and wonder into the most ordinary day and she inspires me to want to be better....a better Christian, a better person because I now have a little miracle that is watching me and I am responsible for. I am very blessed! Miguel works nights at AAP in St. Mary's, Ohio and I am still teaching part time for ATM Education and Vantage Career Center. My dear mother watches Adaliah for us when we are working at the same time. Who better than my own mom to watch little Addie for us seeing how she raised 7 kids of her own and has babysat for years, but it is still hard on me to leave my little one.

We ( and I am using that term a bit loosely seeing how it is mainly Miguel) are working on our 100 year old farm house. That takes a lot of our time and $$! I love my house though and it is going to be worth it in the end. We are attending Bro. Ray Erickson's church in Blufton, Ohio. We spend a lot of time with my family eating, laughing, and having a good time. We have two Boston Terriers and currently just one cat....much to Miguel's dismay.

That is about all of can think of to catch everyone up on the Buckeye Calderon's. I hope to have something wonderfully exciting to post soon. Hopefully not TOO exciting though! =) God's blessings on each of you who read this. Have a wonderful day!