I will live my life as a mountaineer's wife.

This post is late in coming...for a couple of reasons. I've been in shock for awhile, and I've waited until I've allowed the idea to "simmer" and process. March 18th, at 11:00 am we received word that Kimball will be doing his General Surgery residency in Charleston, West Virginia. ....Ummm...I beg your pardon? ...Hold on let me go get a map....Yes that's right my friends, we are headed to Charleston, West Virginia, I'll wait for you to go and get a map........okay, as I was saying. The first question everyone asked me that day was "Are you happy about that?"....here is my answer.

.....Yes....We are ENORMOUSLY blessed by a loving and all-knowing Heavenly Father who has prepared a place for me and my little family in West Virginia. This answer was, and still is, a little difficult to say with meaning but I AM happy and I'm trying more and more everyday to put my trust in God. I'm scared that a culture shock may take place, I'm afraid to send my daughter to school in a place I know nothing about, I'm afraid because they don't have a pottery barn or a central market. We learned that there were 600 more general surgery applicants than there were last year, which means we are very blessed to have matched ANYWHERE, there are applicants out there just like Kimball who found out that day that they didn't get a spot...I can't imagine. The Lord would have me be humble.

Another thing making it a little difficult is my heart aches for Texas and the life we had there. Last weekend we were talking to some of our friends who were planning a trip to Texas about how much we loved it. We talked about the people, the low cost of living, the beautiful sunsets, and the fact that it's Texas...and then my friend said "Hey, in five years you could be saying these things about West Virginia..". It hit me like a ton of bricks, and I realized my home will always be wherever Kimball and my children are, and we can MAKE it so we can say these things about West Virginia.

With that being said, I'm excited, proud, and thrilled for my husband who has worked so diligently these last four years to get us to this point. We had a little celebration for him (pictured above) and we truly were overwhelmed by the love and support of our friends and family that came to wish us luck. I'm happy that he can be a surgeon, and I can be a mother, a spectacular dream realized for both of us. Not everyone gets to do what they love every day. Medical School is behind us, and we are on to another new and exciting chapter, and an opportunity to learn and grow. I'm so excited to see him walk across that stage, I know he'll make a wonderful physician. So if I ever tell you dear reader, that I'm scared or unhappy about this change please refer me back to this post, so that I can remember how lucky and blessed we are.

So it's Charleston, West Virginia or bust!!! You haven't seen anything like the Knackstedt's yet!!!

Did I say something??

So I don't forget...

Mya and Aiden, in case I forget some of the things you said and did when you were innocent and little when you come asking, here are a few of the many things that made me laugh...


* Mya recently went to her first musical that her cousin Abby was in, Willy Wonka. She really seemed to enjoy it. When the little boy who was playing Willy said the line "Who wants a piece of chocolate?" The audience continued listening, but Mya shouted "Me!!!!"

*Yesterday I had a small braid in my hair and pulled back in a pony tail (my favorite thing to do with my hair when I really DON'T want to do my hair) . While lifting her in the car she said "Mom! your hair is soooo beautiful today!"....at least one person thought so that day.

* It seems Mya already has her own little beauty regimen. Every time she gets out of the tub and gets dressed, she quickly proceeds to go get her lotion bottle and lotion from head to toe. She normally does this while sitting on our bed while watching t.v. It's so funny to watch her do things that not only adults do, but exactly the way they do it.

*While walking out to the car Mya kept whining for me to carry her out to the car. Since I had my hands full with bags and her brother, I told her "No, I can't you're a big girl and can walk by yourself". After we'd been driving for awhile she finally said "Mom, I don't love you, and I don't want to be friends"...I guess everyone feels that way sometimes.

*The other day Mya picked up a leaf on the ground and said something that sounded like "Peter Pan". I thought well maybe since it's green or something. Later while watching Wall-E together, at the end the captain plants the plant in the ground and says "we're going to grow all kinds of plants...vegetable plants, and PIZZA PLANTS" . Mya lifted up her leaf and said "PIZZA PLANT!"...I get the feeling if I watched more of her movies with her I might understand some more of her "Myanese".

*The other day I put a bunch of grapes in the buggy while grocery shopping, and Mya said "Mom...that's a lot of carrots"...it would seem no matter how many times I tell her they are 'grapes', grapes will always be carrots, and carrots will always be grapes. I just can't convince her otherwise.


Meanwhile, it seems the only thing Aiden is willing to say is "MINE!"....I'm just waiting for "GO AWAY!" to come next, just like his sister did. He does say "I love you" after he gives me a kiss, but this is a rare and special thing, he only has a certain number of kisses to hand out and most of them are reserved for his Dad....I'll take what I can get though.

...and in case I forget to tell you everyday "I LOVE YOU" , please remember always I do...all the way to the moon, AND BACK!

P.S. Like the Pics? My BFF Carlye is awesome!

Pastime

Pas-time /'pas-tim/ n: 1 diversion. 2 a recreational activity

Grandma: I'm worried about someone getting hurt...

Kids: We're not gonna get hurt!!!

Holly: Don't worry...kids have been doing this for years...it's a pastime!!!



...what's your favorite pastime?