Final Post! Sort of...

This is the final post from Texas.
(for 2 years anyway because according to Jenny we have to be back by then)

The final post on this blog.

But not the final blog post.

We're moving to Singapore and we're also moving to http://thestunzfamily.wordpress.com/.

This is one move you can definitey make with us. Hope you'll come along.


Good bye, Texas.

Singapore, here we come! Not sure if you're quite ready for the Stunz Family 5!!!

Wilco will love you baby ...

Like Andrea mentioned, Jakeb and I went to see Wilco Monday night. We drove from Dallas to Oklahoma City, Watched a three hour concert and drove back. We got home at 2:10 am but not before being pulled over by a Texas highway patrolman. He gave me a warning because I told him we were moving to Singapore.

The concert was totally worth the trip. Wilco is amazing live.

Here are some pictures:

College???

We are attending Tori's college orientation at the University of North Texas. Yesterday was a fun filled day of informational sessions and sweat. Boy, was it hot outside. June in Dallas is insane. At least there's no humidity or mosquitoes. Plus we got "free" tshirts! We thought we were going to have to change into them at one point because we were sweating so much. Hopefully, today we won't have to stand in lines in the hot sun.

Anyway, as I sat in one of the sessions, I had this overwhelming sense of unbelief that I'm a college student's parent. That's insane! I also sat by a mom that balled her eyes out. I'd bet her son is ready to get away from her. I think I was too hot and tired to be emotional. Maybe I was too dehydrated to have tears, I don't know. But I'm just so proud of our daughter! She is ready.

Although her college is pretty darn liberal (what colleges aren't?) she is ready. She is so level headed and grounded in her faith and she knows where's she headed. She has a plan :) and I'm just not worried about her. UNT seems to fit her. She is ready for the academic regimen and she will do well in. I will miss her like crazy but she is ready. It's time, it's right and there's alot of comfort in that.

We learned a few of the Mean Green traditions. I have to say the alma matter is pretty stupid. I know, where's my school spirit, right? But I have a hard time singing "glory to the green". Anyway, the eagle claw is a pretty big deal and I think we've got it down.

Here's a pic of them teaching us the proper way to make the eagle's claw and how to say "CAW". It sounded just like an eagle! And another picture of the kind of box Tori will be living in.

CAW!!! GO MEAN GREEN!

Where in the world is...

We are in Dallas now for a few days and boy is it hot! We're staying with my sister and enjoying a much needed day of rest today. Church, lunch and then a couple hours at the spa with the girls for pedicures, manicures, foot massage, etc. Tomorrow and Tuesday Tommy, Tori and I will be going to Tori's college orientation. Tommy and Jakeb will be driving to Oklahoma tomorrow night for a Wilco concert. Yes, they're insane! Can we cram anything else into a day??? :)

We actually got all of our suitcases packed up and found we had a little space to spare. WOW!! We are under the allowed weight but it's really hard to fit 70# into a suitcase and it be manageable so most suitcases are around 50-60#'s. I sure hope it all makes it to Singapore.

We drove up to Dallas in a rental truck because we had to bring Tori's college stuff to put in storage since she won't have a closet at home to leave her winter clothes, etc. We also needed room for all of our bags. 14 large suitcases, 5 carry on's and 5 backpacks. A Mazda 3 just ain't big enough!

The goodbyes over the last few days were too hard for words. It's so incredibly twisted to know you are excited about going somewhere and feel so bad about leaving the people you love. Those goodbye hugs are a killer and they just don't last long enough. They are sweet hugs, though. And that's saying alot for a non-huggin' kind of person.

We'll leave early Wednesday morning for the airport and begin our 30 hour journey to Singapore. About 24 will actually be in a plane. What a trip!

Something Good

We've shared some sweet time with friends and family over the past couple of weeks. That's something really good.

We've also had alot of "treats" come our way. Meals paid for, coffee paid for, small and very thoughtful gifts, pool party lifeguards paid for, etc. You gotta admit, there are some benefits to moving. :) None of the givers of those treats would want a thank you, but thank you anyway!!

We've eaten as much Mexican food as we could manage - it really is even better when it's free! We're eating the rest of Jakeb's deer today for lunch. My mom has fixed all of the kids' favorites and spoiled them rotten. The kids got Shipley's for breakfast once more and we're having Mimi's tostadas tonight. And Anna and I had a Sonic date yesterday during Happy Hour.

Yep. Definitely something good!

Something Bigger

In the midst of all of my "to do" lists, which are shrinking by the way, there's this. A reminder that there's something bigger for me to do than pick up the dry cleaning and change the sheets.

As we say goodbye to people we won't see for a while, I'm reminded that we're a part of something bigger and still very much connected no matter where we happen to be on this planet as long as we're connected to Christ and his work.

Thanks, God. I sure needed this today.


From Shaun Grove's blog post.
I dare you to face Robert Redford and his little film while holding your to do list. Stare up at the cosmos and shout out the goals of your day with all the enthusiasm you think they deserve: Pick up dry cleaning! Buy cat food and bread! Call mom! Turn in TPS report! Softball practice!… and feel the stars’ laughter.

Amazingly, I woke up this morning with every one of these basic needs totally met: food, clothing, roof. Before the day even began I was already unnecessary to its completion. No wonder the sky scares me. It’s a reminder of how pointless we really are these days.

Both humbling and empowering.

I just wanna watch cartoons!

So last night ended horribly. We said some tough goodbyes.

I picked up this precious little nephew of mine

and gave him a big hug and a big smooch and told him to grow up and be a good big boy. To which he replied:

"I just wanna watch cartoons!"

Me too, sweet boy, me too.

What I'll Miss

I'm starting this post with dry eyes. I'm sure I won't finish it that way. I don't want this to seem like we're dying or anything. We're just moving. These are some things I'll miss and I thought I'd document. Don't get me wrong, we ARE looking forward to the many new things we'll experience in Singapore. We'll create new memories there and when we leave after a few years, we'll have material for a similar post, I'm sure.

But for now... I'll miss Chipotle, buying large quantities of groceries at one time, roaming the aisles of Target and Walmart, getting in the car to head wherever I need to go on my timeline, Sonic Happy Hour, Target clearance racks, free or cheap shipping and much more.

I'll miss the ample supply of huge pecans off of my huge pecan trees in my front yard. I'll also miss making pecan pies in a jar and tons and tons of peanut brittle!

I'll miss our annual trips to Lake Catherine State Park (pictured) and Landa Park.

I'll miss our neighbors. Jay, Pam, Sonny & Kaetlyn, Jesse & Nealie and their boys and "Mr. Boy". That's short for his real name but Anna started calling him Mr. Boy when she was little. That man could run circles around us!

I'll miss living in the place where one of our previous dogs was buried.

I'll miss looking out my back window to see the fort that Jakeb and Tommy built when Jakeb was about 8 years old. He bought the supplies at Lowe's with about $140 of one dollar bills and a bunch of change.


I'll miss my Christmas time gingerbread house.

I'll miss those hand painted tiles that we put on our backsplash thinking we'd never move. Not recommended by the way.

I'll miss the joy that Anna got when she played with Bella.

I'll miss all of the family birthday celebrations.

I'll miss our family Easter mischeif. (aka - Halloweaster)

I'll miss being goofy with my sisters.

I'll miss seeing my kids be goofy together. (Since one will head to college in the fall.)

I'll miss these wonderful friends at the BEST nail place in the world.

I'll miss my kids being goofy with their friends here.

I'll miss being goofy with my friends.

And I'll even miss being goofy with these weird people. :) Edie, how'd you miss out on this one?

I'll miss family meals around this particular table. I love this table! So many fun memories from as far back as I can remember.

And family memories around this table. Just as special!
I'll miss getting to see these precious little kiddos, and a few others whom we love, grow up before our eyes. I'm also sure we'll miss the grand entrance of some new ones that are sure to come along at some point.

And going to their adorable school performances.

I'll miss my sister leading me in worship at our church.

I'll even miss sitting in those blue chairs. Mostly because of who was sitting next to me.

I'll miss the giggles every time we pass this statue of Stephen F. Austin on our way out of town.

I'll miss that last stretch of road headed south on Hwy 288. This means we're almost home.

I wonder what that stretch of road will look like that leads to our next home.

There's so much more I'll miss but I can't wrap my brain or heart around it. I think this will do for now. Don't you? As Jenny puts it, I spilled a little.

The Countdown Is On

8 days from now we'll be on a plane headed for Singapore, and this week is pretty full. Our week is full of events and everything pretty much has to go like clockwork to make it all happen. There's really no time for being spontaneous. Not that I'm ever really good at spontaneous anyway... We want to fit it all in and then some because it's all about spending time with those we love but when we get to the end of this week there will not have been enough time, I'm afraid.

A few things have made the list and a few things haven't. We think we've done a good job in spending time with friends and family. I'm sure they'd be telling us if we hadn't. :)

A few months ago, we created a Singapore Bucket List (things we wanted to do before we leave for Singapore) and I think we've mostly accomplished the items on that list. I really wanted to go eat Indian food with Tommy yesterday for lunch at his favorite place there but my to do list was too long and the kids were going to need to be taxi'd around. I really want to go eat at our favorite Persian food place before we leave but it doesn't look like that will be possible. We got to eat Chipotle on Sunday and I waddled out. I think I'll miss that place the most. Why does almost everything we want to do revolve around food? Who knows? It's either that or coffee. Oh well. Food, family, friends, fun and coffee. That's it. That's what matters. Ok, God is at the top of that list but I hope that goes without saying.

I feel very pressed for time but I also feel like we're sort of going in slow motion. I'm really trying to be still long enough to soak in the moment. My moments are going to be drastically changing very soon and I'll miss these ones.

Semi-sad post coming so brace yourself.

To Do List

It's long. And I'm sure you wouldn't care to read it. But that's what our life is about right now. There is much to do.

I think this may be the shortest post in the Stunz blog history. But I got it checked off of my list. :)

Full Circle

These last couple of weeks has been full of things we will do for the last time before we go to Singapore. Amazingly the last time doing some of them is a lot like the first time.

Andrea talked about how we went to Ecclesia for the last time a couple of weeks ago on Pentecost Sunday. I grew up in a church, and still go to one for that matter, that does not observe the liturgical church calendar. So I though it was totally unique the first Sunday we went to Ecclesia they had a guest speaker who followed the liturgy for the day and they remembered Pentecost. Our trip back was a return to the beginnings - a full circle.

The last day in our house I ran the running route I ran the first time I ran from the Center Way house in 2001. I call it 'sidewalk' because it runs along a sidewalk behind houses on Azalea and continues down the side of Plantation to Cedar. The run on ‘sidewalk’ the last day in our house took me full circle.

This morning was our last Sunday at Brazos Pointe Fellowship. BPF is a place I have preached and taught more than any other church we have ever been in. I was ordained at BPF as a preacher and teacher. The first message I ever preached there was at the end of 2002. It was a Christmas series we were preaching using themes from the movie “The Grinch That Stole Christmas” - and my message was on greed. The verses I started on were from Luke 12:15

"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

This morning Greg was preaching on finances in marriage and guess where he went? Luke 12:15. I told Andrea that those were the verses I preached in my first message at BPF and she said, “How do you remember this stuff?”

I just do. - Full circle.

So this is the Tree of Enchantment!

My mom, Anna and I went to Abner Jackson Plantation. I've known about it for several years but have never been. It's pretty much where Lake Jackson was started as far as I know. Then it got trashed by a storm in 1900 and Dow Chemical came along in the 40's. Why anyone would want to establish a sugar mill or anything for that matter, and purposely live on swamp land in plantation times, with that type of clothing and no a/c, I'll never know! Cheap land, I guess? We chose to live here but we have a/c and can wear shorts and sleeveless shirts! :)

It was a hot hour or so and the mosquitoes were in full force. Thank God for the invention of mosquito repellent! That seems to be my perfume of choice these days. We managed to walk the whole plantation which is more like a strip of land with only ruins left and story boards to tell about what was once there.

We saw the Tree of Enchanment! I say that with some sarcasm... This is the tree where the Lake Jackson, rather the City of Enchanment, logo came from. I never knew that the tree in the logo had a specific origin. Now I know. We affectionately call the City of Enchanment where we live "The City of Entrapment". :) Tommy and I were mostly brought up in this area so it's home and will always be our family home even though it is really not a place of grandeur at all.

At the end of our tour, there were some guys reinacting and telling stories about life "back in the day". Then we saw this crazy big, ugly bug!! It looked like a giant mosquito. Imagine how much Benadryl one would need after getting a bite from that thing! I think it was actually a mosquito moth or something like that.

All in all, it was worth visiting - once. And I'm glad I got to experience it with my mom and daughter.

Here are some pics. I particularly like the bird poop and the bullet hole on the sign in that 2nd pic. My mom thought it was bad that it was there. I did too but I also thought it was funny. You can click on the story board pics to make them larger if you want to read about it.