Chismville

I’ve gotten to experience a good bit of snow and ice during my first full winter on the east coast. So far, I’m surviving. The funny thing is, I actually don’t mind 20 degree weather most of the time. It is rather dull and boring when it is in the 40′s in the middle of winter. My thinking is…if it is winter, let it be winter. However, what I really like about winter is not the freezing cold mornings or days. I love SNOW days. Every time it snows it is just gorgeous. It is so peaceful and beautiful to watch. The first major storm we got, I was sick with pneumonia but I just had to go outside. I bundled up nice and warm and sat on the front porch swing for probably a good 45 minutes listening and watching the pleasant snow fall!

Having cold weather has it’s share of problems, and I guess I am getting a little tired of the cold and longing for a few nice days of good temperatures where I can take the kids to the park. They are definitely getting cabin-fever over here! One of the problems is more my fault than the weather. I can’t keep my cars clean! It is humanly impossible. For several years, I always thought it was a great idea to have an auto detailing business in Maryland. However, from November through parts of March, it either rains or snows just enough to keep cars clean, and it is just too cold to wash cars! I know because I tried it! I took my filthy company truck over to the car was a couple of weeks ago to get it looking spiffy once again! I did the self-car wash and had a heck of a time cleaning my truck. The soap suds froze to the car before I could rinse them off. Because the soap was frozen and some water, I could not scrub any of the dirt of my truci. I spent the rest of my $5 in change blasting my vehicle with tons of high-pressured water to get all the suds off. I was able to accomplish that but in the mean time…the rinse water froze to my truck! I drove away with all my mirrors frozen and a layer of ice over my still dirty truck. The temperature? 16 degrees! Can we say “stupid.” I forgot to mention that I almost had frostbit’n hands during the wash cycle too!

Today we had a small ice storm. We had 2+ inches of snow followed by a nice bit of frozen rain. I did not even know what frozen rain was until I moved here! Ha! Now I know. I spent about 15 minutes this morning breaking off the 1/4″ think pieces of ice on my trucks windows. It was rock solid! I had to warm up my truck for probably 20 minutes to help warm up the windows and literally crack the ice with lots of force before scraping it off! I then headed to a postal box to drop off a company newsletter. The walkway up to the box was covered in ice. I was extremely careful while approaching the postal box! I was balancing my right side with my letters and the left side with my cell phone (talking to Joli). Have you ever tried to walk on ice with things in both hands while talking on the phone? It can’t happen! I finally had to quickly hang up and try to slide my way over to the mail box! I made it to the mail box after 2-3 falls! It was such an ordeal that I ended up sliding back to my truck and NOT mailing most of my letters.

So, ice and snow days…what an adventure. I prefer the snow without the ice now that I’ve experienced them both.

This is the blog entry we alluded to in our mini mailing. We promised an update to those interested enough to type in our worldwide web log and here it is!

This has been one of the most eventful years of my life in so many respects. First of all, Aria Noelle Chism entered our family on May 28th beating her big bro and sis’s entrance into the world weights by several pounds (8lb.s 4 oz.s for the female readers out there who care about such details). Aria happened upon a bustling time in Chism history as we had just sold and moved out of our condo and moved into a rental home in San Diego with a bright blue baby room! Aria started off life needing only to be cuddled to be happy.  Since this was not possible all of the time, she was a little fussbudget. But after much (loving) older-sibling abuse, a drive across the country, and several months of bustling life, she has become the world’s easiest baby and we all just love squeezing her pudges and returning her wide smiles.

David signed off a fabulous eight years of service at Chism Brothers Painting. He made the monumental decision to move our little family all the way across the continent to his wife’s hometown, to start a new job, in a new house, in a new climate. It is evident that the Lord had really paved our way in so many respects as all the details of this big move fell gracefully into place.  David took his marketing prowess, family work ethic, sales and business savvy to Hallco Enterprizes, another medium-sized family painting business. Speaking of savvy, David has dusted off his three-point shot, and enjoys playing basketball with a great group of men every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 6 AM. Now that’s dedication to a good thing!

My country-girl’s heart is at home seeing wild turkeys and deer out the windows of our home. My mother’s heart is thrilled to be so safely off the rode with our adventurous little ones. While we deeply miss our dear family, friends, and church family in San Diego, we are much enjoying reconnecting with loved ones on the east coast. One of my joys is an in-home gym-membership/accountability package of my sweet sister, Heidi, showing up at my door each morning (before the kids are up) to exercise with me. I have so appreciated the opportunity to reconnect with my siblings in a way that was impossible before. David and I sure don’t mind the awesome free sitters either!
Joel and Chalice are a fun duo. Their communication has really taken off this year. I never realized how many funny things I say until we got these cute parrots!  Joel is forever plotting his next venture with Chalice close behind. Now that he can peg his little sister, Joel is doubly ambitious with some of his mischief. They love reading books and our frequent trips to the library. Joel is an avid train enthusiast. Chalice is crazy about her little sister!

This year we welcomed three new family members into our extended family—a niece (Kathryn Jean Weld), a nephew (Randy Nathanael Beaty), and a new brother-in-law (Jesse Beaty). Some of our year’s highlights included David’s thirtieth birthday—woohoo! We took my first trip to Disneyland—just David and me—on our fourth anniversary. That was shortly after Aria was born and just before our trek across the country. It was sheer bliss to leave all those boxes behind and enjoy some magical time together in the land where dreams come true!  On our drive across the country, we stopped in Colorado and enjoyed visits to three good friends’ homes. We got back to Maryland in time to watch the autumn foliage change followed by not nearly enough winter snowfall. David purchased his first riding lawn-mower and looks like a natural on it.

Thanks so much for sharing in this journey of life with us! We love you and pray God’s empowering strength to you this new year: “Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength…Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28,29,31

With love,
David, Joli, Joel, Chalice, and Aria Chism