Farewell Minnesota!

Jack asked me this evening if he thought we made a mark in our neighborhood during the past 11+ years living in Eden Prairie. My first thought was no, our neighbors are pretty guarded. There were definitely other areas where we made a difference. He proceeded to share his memories of “our mark” at home and with those who lived around us.

We moved into our home in the height of our clowning profession. First the neighbors watched the clown wedding, then parade wagons come and go; and clowns, scarecrows, ghosts and lions filed in and out our front door every weekend. The little children walking past our house would turn to their parents and stay “That’s where the clowns live!” Jack reminisced about the two youg sisters that lived down the road from us. On our wedding day, they invaded their mother’s makeup and arrived at our clown wedding wearing great big red lipstick smiles. The girls are driving now and the makeup application is much improved.

It was my turn to reminisce. Over the years, I slowly turned patches of the front yard into gardens until the entire space was filled with flowers, fences and bird houses. When the front yard was full, I moved into the back and added more gardens and a pond. Eventually we sold the riding lawn mover as there was so little grass to mow. The neighbors across the street said they loved spring because every year I changed something in the front yard, and they couldn’t wait to see what I would do next. They grieved with me this year as I tore out the peace garden, plant by plant, and brought back the grass at the request of the Realtor. And, for a variety of reasons, fences went up on both sides of our lot.

But our mark was bigger than just our neighborhood. We joined clubs, churches and prayer groups, attended classes and expos and worked at our jobs. With every adventure we made friends and left our love. More important than the mark we left was the mark our friends and family left on our hearts. We thank you and we bless you! Now we will start all over again in a new neighboorhood. We will love and the love will come back to us. That’s just how it is when you set out to make your mark. Or when you want to make a difference - and that is what we want to do!

Tomorrow we close on our house and begin our drive to Arkansas. Every thing we own will be riding behind us but we are also leaving so much behind. And in front will be the wide open world and any adventure we care to create! We are ready.

Moving Days

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for! We feel truly blessed to have 3 of our 5 children home with us for our last Thanksgiving in Minnesota. You would think that after all these celebrations; I would learn to not take grown children grocery shopping for a single holiday meal. We are moving in 5 days and it took three trips to the grocery store to bring one simple meal together! My goal was no leftovers; I think the kids were looking at how much could they take “home” with them when we finally move. The bright side is that Brittany is cooking the turkey and stuffing with a plethora of herbs stuffed in every nook and cavity. Chris insisted on several of his own favorite dishes – and he will prepare these. I figure that leaves me with pealing potatoes and throwing buns in the oven. It’s a nice trade off! With that, I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and blessings to you all on this special day!

Wow, 5 days until moving day! It's creeping up on us so fast and it feels like we will have no time off before our departure.

Our 2 sons are still living under our roof! It seems we have run out of time and between stuffing the bird and our tummies, we will be unloading the garage into our trailer and moving Chris’ possessions into a storage locker. He will be staying with extended family for several months and there is little room there for his Star Wars memorabilia collection or the many boxes of books and treasures he has accumulated over the last few years. Once his possessions are secure, we will then have to move him and his computer to his new home!

Although Jack has Friday off from Walgreen's, we don’t get to relax! Brittany came home for the holiday and we need to drive her and her new car (my beetle bug) to Moorhead. As long as we are heading north, we will bring our trailer to my brother as well. Brittany doesn’t drive yet so it means I get to drive the bug while Jack drives the Ford with trailer attached.

Saturday is Matt’s moving day. He was finally notified by his new landlord that he was accepted at the apartment complex in Hopkins. Only problem there is that they want to lay new carpet in his apartment on Friday. That means he can’t move in until Saturday. So, we will pick up the UHaul a day early and spend Saturday shuffling his possessions across the city. We thought we were so smart unloading half our furniture off on him for his new place. Well, it looks like we still get to move it all!

Sunday, we will finally be ready to load our own possessions into the truck. Fortunately, I packed most of our things back in September and was able to pack the rest last week. We would love any help in loading our UHaul Sunday afternoon! Feel free to stop by to heave a box or two into the truck – we start at noon. Or if you prefer, pizza arrives at 2:00 and we welcome you to come join us for a final meal together. There will be nothing left in the house but lots of love! We plan to party! And then after you all leave, we will clean up!

We close on the house at noon on Monday and head south as soon as the ink is dry and the check is in the bank! I really am looking forward to riding in a 24’ truck with Jack and two screaming cats – 876.32 miles! Just imagine the adventure spread out over three days! Jack will be doing all the driving, I will be keeping the cats out from under his feet! Yes, I really am looking forward to this adventure. I will keep you posted…

Children, goodbyes and new beginnings.

It seems every now and again these days; the magnitude of what Jack and I are doing hits me right between the eyes. Or, should I say – right in the eyes.

The absolute, hands down, hardest part of this whole move is saying goodbye and letting go of our children and the family and friends we love so dearly. (Leaving my gardens is another story). I remind myself it’s not really a goodbye so much as “see” you again in 4 months… or 8 months … or how ever long it will take before for Jack and I venture north again for the 14 hour drive. The reality is that the contacts, the hugs, the daily interactions with all the people we love will now be long distance.

I have moved 33 times in my life, the last 10 with my children. As a child, I didn’t know how to deal with the loss of my friends every time we picked up to move again. I was fortunate to have a large family so eventually; I quit making connections with people that didn’t move with us. I learned not to get close to protect myself. As an adult I had to learn that moving away didn’t mean losing the love.

I have lived in Eden Prairie now for 16 years – a third of my life! I found stability with Jack and we have spent the last 11 years of our life in the same home. There are also now, so many dear people in my life – I want to take them all with me! Fortunately, Jack and I are creating this new adventure together, but my children are staying in Minnesota.

Our two oldest sons currently live with us. It’s been difficult for me knowing that I am nudging them out of the safety of the home they know and forcing them to fly on their own. I know, they are grown adults and will do just fine. Matt, our youngest son, is moving into an apartment with a close friend. He is working for a temp agency and hopes to go full time soon with his current assignment. Chris is moving in with extended family for a short time while he regroups and works at finding a better job or more hours with his current employer. His biggest task will be to find a home of his own where he can be happy. Brittany is living up in Moorhead – fighting her own battles of managing school, work and health… I am learning that I no longer have a say in the outcome of their lives and have to trust that God is guiding them for their highest good. Talk about a letting go lesson!!!

As the last days of our life here in Minnesota quickly fly by, over and over again I experience the love of friends and letting go lessons. I am reminded with every encounter how much I am loved and how much I love in return. I am excited about our move, but being the emotional person that I am these last days are filled with lots of mixed emotions and tears. And I smile cuz I know our new house will have a beautiful guest bedroom and the freeway runs both directions!!!

Crystal Mining

I really was naive about crystal mining before my first experience in Arkansas. I thought we would take a pick ax into a big hole in the ground and chop crystals out of the rock. All the crystals mines are open pit mines and only back hoes, front end loaders, dump trucks and mine employees are allowed in the actual mines. The heavy equipment tears apart the rock foundation and after the best crystals and clusters are removed, the excess rock, dirt, mud and unwanted and damaged crystals are loaded into a dump truck and hauled to a dumping area. And that's were we came in.

Our favorite mine is the Coleman Mine just south of Jessieville Arkansas. For $20 (or $15 if you are Jack's age) you can dig in the dirt and mud for an entire day. Anything you find and value is yours to keep! We like this mine best because occasionally the miners let an awesome cluster or point slip through. And, the gift shop - complete with bathroom facilities - is located a short walk up the hill. Most of the other mines in the area do not have facilities...

Our first experience at the Coleman mine in May was pretty mild. The dump truck brought up rock and dirt and dumped it at our feel. We got down on our hands and knees and began digging with our little hand tools. We had to look carefully through the pile as the crystals were usually covered in orange clay, or at the very least - dirt. When the sun shined, we could see a sparkle - but when the clouds rolled in we had to go more by touch - feeling for the smooth surfaces of the crystal. We dug away and cleaned the orange clay off anything we found- we never knew when there might be a cluster hiding! By the end of the day we were exhausted but content. Our hands were covered in small and painful cuts from the edges of the sharp crystals. The rest of us was covered in red dirt. It's hard to tell what you have until you get the clay and mud rinsed from the crystals so we took our pile of treasures back to our campground and began washing off the mud. We found that a lot of what we thought were gorgeous crystals turned out to be what we called garden quality rock-not so perfect crystals but great for placing out in the garden.

On our second visit in October, we figured we knew how to play the game. We wore special gloves to protect our fingers and packed larger shovels and hand rakes. We had plastic for the car seats and bags to store everything in. We were not prepared for the load dumped at our feet that first Sunday. We knew we were in for a wild experience when the dump truck pulled to a stop beside us and water sloshed over the sides. We were told the backhoe hit a natural spring and everything coming out of the mine from that point forward would be mud. The more experienced miners pulled out full sized shovels and hoes. We crawled through the mud on our hands and knees, feeling our way. We didn't even make it to the end of the day. We were so dirty we had to be hosed off before even getting close the car. Fortunately we had a change of clothes so we headed to the campground to shower. Our first stop was the laundry mat where everything, including our shoes, went into the wash machine.

When we went back to the mine the following Saturday we were rewarded with a nice dry load of dirt and rock. We spent the entire day going through the pile and were rewarded with about 100 points - many of them crystal clear! We were flying home the next day didn't want to pay to fly our crystals home, so we stopped at our land and strategically dumped our load under the tallest pine tree we could find. We are hoping they will still be there when we return.

We think we have this crystal mining figured out now. When we return again, we will go with buckets of water for washing - that way we can leave the junk rock at the mine. We will take all our tools - from hand shovels to full size hoes. Crystals thrown into a bag get chipped and damaged so next time we will bring newspaper or paper towels to protect the really nice ones. (Can you believe some people actually bring Pampers for this!?) And, to haul it all around, we will get a big red wagon... It's a good thing we own a station wagon - my first project on our land will be to build a labyrinth out of the white quartz garden rock. I am so excided our land is only about 12 miles from the mine. Then again, I wonder if they have an organization called Miners Anonymous. I'm hooked!

Why Arkansas?

People keep asking us - Why Arkansas?

We are still asking ourselves the same question!

Back in February, we drove from Minnesota through Arkansas on our way to a warm and relaxing Florida vacation. Yes, it was a bit out of the way, but some friends had told us about the crystal mines and we thought we would check out mining for several days. What we didn't expect to happen was that we would fall in love with Arkansas - and spend the rest of our vacation fantasizing about moving there.

It was the end of February and in Arkansas the temperature was in the low 50's. We had spent the previous day driving through a blizzard - but here spring was coming - showing itself all around us. The grass was turning green, the trees were budding out, the crocus had finished blooming and the daffodils and tulips were pushing their way out of the ground. We walked around in Spring jackets marveling at the views and the temperature. We explored a crystal mine and filled the back of our car with quartz rock and crystals!

Once we got back to MN the conversations about moving continued. We talked about how neat it would be if Walgreen's opened a depot and Jack could transfer and finish out his remaining years of work there. We talked about retirement and the fact that is cost 35% less to live there vs Minnesota. Our conversation turned to the possibility of buying land covered with trees and building our dream home. We talked about what it would be like to live in the south - where the winters lasted 2+ months and the temperatures didn't dip below 20 - ever. And, because Arkansas was in zone 7 - the gardener in me was thrilled! We also talked about how hard it would be to leave so much behind - especially our friends and loved ones. We talked - a lot!

As time passed, our talk turned to action. We were feeling like we were being called to move and we began to explore the possibility. Jack found out a new depot was indeed going into Arkansas, and he inquired about transferring. We looked closely at our home and began thinking about the work it would take to sell.

It was May and our family was planning a big celebration for my mom in Oklahoma - she was turning 75 and we all wanted to surprise her with a party! Jack and I decided we would add a few days to our trip and go experience Arkansas in the early summer. We had spent weeks looking on the internet for land but couldn't find anything with the mountains, creek and view we wanted. We hoped we would have more luck looking in person. We headed south the last week of May with the intention of mining, looking for land, touring the area and finally celebrating my mom's birthday.

On our first day in Arkansas we headed to a crystal mine to try digging for crystals. After we paid our mining fees, we began talking to the lady behind the counter about buying land in the area. Standing behind her was this guy that said he had some land for sale, and one of his properties had a creek running through it. We said we would get back to him as we were going to spend our first day looking for crystals. We let him know we were meeting with a Realtor the following day to look at several properties. As he was getting ready to leave, the cashier told us how lucky we were. The guy we were talking to was Ron Coleman, the mine owner himself, and as it turned out, one of the largest property owners in Saline county. He handed us his business card and we headed to the mine.

On our second day, we hooked up with the internet Realtor we had located and began looking at land. By noon, she turned us over to another Realtor, one that specialized in land sales. It was now late afternoon and we had only visited one property that interested us. Jack and I mentioned Ron Coleman and our Realtor jumped on the phone! Within minutes we were off again, to look at Coleman Land. From there, everything seemed to click and by week's end we had found the most beautiful piece of property - in the valley of the mountains - covered with pine and oak trees. And at the back of the property was a rock bottom creek. We were equally thrilled that the land was located about 12 miles from the crystal mine and our new found friends.

Back in Minnesota, Jack's inquiry to moving with Walgreen's was met with a tentative yes. Walgreen's wanted to wait 6 months before taking action on moving anyone to Arkansas. We saw this as a sign and opportunity to work on our house and get it ready to go on the market. We made an offer on the land we had fallen in love with and after a little negotiating, the offer was accepted. We spent the summer working our buns off getting the house ready to be sold. We didn't even buy a fishing license for the summer! We just worked.

As October rolled around- we closed on our property in Arkansas, put our MN house on the market and Walgreen's offered to fly us south to check out the work environment. Within the span of a week, Jack was formally offered the Walgreen's position, someone made an offer on buying our house in Minnesota and we found a rental house to move into in Benton! It was official - no backing out - we were moving.

Today, as I sit at my computer and reminisce, it surprises me to think how quickly change can come about. A year ago, we were happy and content to be living in Minnesota and anticipating the survival of another Minnesota winter. So much has changed and now we will be gone before the snow really starts to fly. I hear it's still in the 70's down south; even if there was no other purpose, this is a very good reason for "why Arkansas."