August 18, 2013

Apologies, Explanations, & Exclamations!! {I May Get A Little Personal}


Apologies first: I'm so sorry! I announce that I'm back from my trip and then proceed to basically disappear again. And after I promised at least one review and everything! :( I'm sorry, my friends. Truly.

Secondly, FYI. I am splitting this post into two parts. The first will explain a little more of what's happening and the second will get a little more personal. So for those of you who don't wish to read my personal exclamations and explanations and whatnot, you are more than welcome to read part one only and skip part two. Okay? Okay. :)

Part 1: Explanation

The short version? I made a decision recently. A HUGE and SCARY and LIFE-CHANGING decision! That decision means that life around these parts will have to change for a couple months. By that, I mean I will still be blogging, don't worry! But my posts will most likely become a little less frequent and my response to comments may not happen immediately. I simply won't have enough time unfortunately. Also to any fellow bloggers, I will still visit your blogs and comment, but I'm doubting it will be possible every single day.

I still plan to read a few books and write reviews and still comment and all the other awesome blogging and reading stuffs! I have found an awesome and spectacular group of friends through blogging and I refuse to lose that! So I'm not disappearing! You just won't see me all the time for a little while.

That being said, I have an awesome book review coming up tomorrow (Monday). And a visit from the lovely author herself! So stay tuned for that, because Ms. Amber Stokes' book is a pretty wonderful read and I think you'll definitely want to "meet" her. :D

Stick around! I hope you won't give up on me. I promise not to leave forever. (Barring any unforeseen thing happening of course. :)

Part 2: Exclamations and Ranting and Raving {Or, you know, the usual.} {And yes, this will get pretty personal, so be warned.}

Without going into too much detail and boring you silly, suffice it to say that my immediate future has a LOT of boxes in it. It will involve going through just about everything I own and choosing what I want to keep and what I don't. It will involve a gazillion and one decisions. Funny how just one decision can spawn thousands of others! :/ It will involve doing a lot of crying as I contemplate saying good-bye to dear and precious people that I love.


But it will also involve looking forward to more time with my family. Especially my mother. I know I've mentioned before (probably way too many times in fact) that my mom's health isn't great. Well, it really isn't. Every trip home, I can see a little more deterioration and well....she's my mother. It's incredibly hard to live so far away when she's not doing great and realizing that every single moment with her right now is infinitely precious. Because the honest reality is, she doesn't have that many good and quality years left. Oh, she may well live for lots of years yet, but those years won't all be quality years where I'll be able to really talk with her and spend time with her.

I want to spend quality time with my mother while I can. So while this was a really hard choice to make, I do feel it's the right one. For those of you who want to pray, I ask for your prayers! For anyone else, please keep me in your thoughts. There's a lot of things yet to do and right now it all looks really overwhelming and SCARY.

I have a couple months to get all this accomplished, but once I'm there and pretty settled in, I hope to return to my normal routine with posts and such. :) Meanwhile, I plan to still stick around! I can't go two whole months without picking up a book to read, you know! Plus I've promised a couple reviews, so I'll have to stop and read. ;P

So yeah. That's what's been going on the last week or so. Big stuff!

Anyway, I hope you're having a lovely weekend. I will see you all here on Monday! :)



28 comments:

  1. It sounds like you are moving in with your mom or at least closer to her and I think you will be glad you did in the long run. When my dad was falling apart health wise near the end, I was so glad I lived close by so I could visit with him every day. Believe me, this is a decision you will not regret!

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    1. Yep, I'm moving close by, Karen. I do think I'll be really glad that I'm doing this. Even if everything is looking overwhelming right now! Thank you for the encouragement. I appreciate it more than I can say! :)

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  2. Spending more time with your mom should definitely be more of a priority than blogging. Blogging is awesome, but it should never come before important things in real life, like family.

    Hope your packing goes well. I have problems with just packing stuff for a week away. Who knows what it would be like if I moved, lol.

    I'll be looking for your posts, even if they are only here and there. Have a great weekend!

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    1. Thanks, Grace! Your encouragement does my heart good today! Moving is a very big deal, but I keep reminding myself to take one decision at a time. :)

      Thanks for being a great blogging friend! :D

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    2. Oh, you're very welcome! :-D

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  3. Thinking of you and hoping your move is going well! I'm sure your mom is really happy to have you around~

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    1. Thanks Kim! SO appreciate that! And yes, I think she is. :)

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  4. As hard as the decision is to leave the life you've carved out as an adult, good for you, Kara! I think it's wonderful that you are planning to be closer to her. Every day is precious and while no one likes to think about the "when" (because it can be morbid), we all need to realize that each day is a gift and to live every one to its fullest. Hope your mom gets stronger and gets feeling better.

    Wishing you the best, Kara - selfishly you'll be missed but your visits, rare or no, will be all the more fun. :) Thinking of you!

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    1. Thanks for being so wonderful, Rissi! You always have just the right words to encourage me. So appreciate that about you! :)

      Yes, every day is precious, with any loved one. Unfortunately the disease my mom is fighting is incurable and she will only continue going down. But we've known about it for years and years, it's only been the last few that she's gotten really bad. My brothers and sis-in-laws are wonderful though, and give me people to lean on.

      Friends (such as yourself) make things so much easier as well! :D

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  5. I'll be praying for you and your family. Change is crazy, but when you know it's the right thing to do, it will turn out for the best. :-)

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    1. Thanks, Kate! And YES, change is very, very crazy!! But you are so right. I believe it's the right time to do this and things will work out in just the right way.

      Thanks for the encouragement! :)

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  6. So sorry about your mom, Kara! I will definitely pray for you and your family as you go through this life-changing transition. <3

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    1. Thank you so much, Rebeka! I appreciate that more than I can say. :)

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  7. Praying for you, and your mother and family!

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  8. I wish you the best as you make this transition and will pray for it to be a blessed time to enjoy with your Mom.

    Bethany

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    1. Thank you, Bethany! None of us know what we may have to go through, do we? So grateful we have a loving Father to lean on. :)

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  9. I can't imagine the heartbreak.. and the confusing emotions. The good news is that Christ is holding her through this.. and you and your family. This touched my heart, Kara and I'm sending my sincere prayers and deepest sympathies to you and yours. Especially your precious mother. I haven't forgotten my promise to pray for her. I'm wholeheartedly believing God for peace, joy and for His Presence during this difficult time. Bless your heart, Kara! The Lord bless you!

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    1. Ganise, thank you. Truly! Your words mean so much more than I could possibly tell you. I know all those things, but when the going gets tough, it's easy to forget it. I need those reminders daily!

      May the Lord bless you for your wonderful encouragement! :)

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    2. It's the least I can do, Kara! I truly feel like weeping for you all. So much suffering. Hugging you and yours, my friend. Hugging you so tightly.

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  10. Dear Kara, I will say prayers for you and your family. You are such a bright light in the world, but we understand your decision. You do whatever you need to do and we will be here when you have time for blogging.

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    1. Thank you, Xenia! I so appreciate that. Your encouragement means a great deal! It's so wonderful to be surrounded with such an awesome group of people that I've met (you being one of them!) through blogging. Thank you, thank you for your inspiration! :D

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  11. Oh friend! I'm sorry, I know how hard it is to see your parents go through major health issues. I'll definitely be praying (with everyone else here! :) for you, the transition and your mama! The Lord is faithful and He is good! I know it must have been a hard decision, but sometimes the right decisions aren't the easy ones. Family is so incredibly important and I know the Lord will bless you and your family in this. :)

    And of course you will be missed, but looking forward to the times we'll still get to connect!

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    1. Thank you so much, Jamie! I can't express how much this means to me. :)

      This decision was far from easy, but I know it's the right time. And it helps tremendously to know I've got so many friends supporting me! :D So appreciate the encouragement and reminders. I can forget how good He is entirely too easily when I'm stressing over things. So thanks for that! :)

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  12. Rissi said it best.

    You're doing the right thing.

    *hug*

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    1. Thank you, Juju! That means a lot. *hugs back* :)

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  13. Praying that all goes well with your move! I've moved too many times to count, and it's never exactly fun, but it can be a grand adventure :-)

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    1. Grand adventure may be exactly right, Hamlette! So many things to be done. I so appreciate the prayers! Much more than I can tell you. So thanks. :)

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