Reflections on Life Changes and Retirement

Life never stays the same. A person is forever evolving, changing and should be met with excitement. Nothing is truer than that aspect when one retires and moves to a completely new location. Last summer and fall, my husband and I made the decision to finally put the Salem house on the market and move to Central Oregon where we have two acres, a 14 x 70 Manufactured furnished home, and garage. The decision did not come lightly as we prayed and waited for God's guidance for several months trying to decide what to do with the property. Should we sell it, swap out the old home for a newer home in the winter, or just move to another state. One thing my husband and I have learned - RETIREMENT IS A FIGMENT OF THE IMAGINATION! After thoughtful prayer, the decision was made to move to Central Oregon, keep the property, and the house until the spring after the winter snows, and then swap out the older home for a newer manufactured home. With the decision made to keep the current home on the lot, all our belongings went into the two-car garage. The boxes are piled high on top of the furniture we kept. Downsizing is not easy as our garage can attest. God has taught us how to live together 24/7. This is a new experience because my husband would work 12 hour days at the gun club and now he has been underfoot quite a lot. When he goes to the valley I miss him terribly and can't wait for him to come home. We've also learned how to live in a small rural area with trips to Bend when needed. Another change has been to attend a new church in Bend, Solid Rock Community Church. My husband has been friends with the pastor for several years and we knew this would be our choice when we moved to Central Oregon. We miss our old friends at our old church but know this is where God has been leading us for quite some time now. My husband says he just wants to serve the Lord at our new church and I've been enjoying getting to meet everyone. Our prayer is God will use us both as we continue serving the Lord. Of course along the way, we've been struck with illness and I'm fighting uterine cancer. I have level one stage one uterine cancer and am undergoing a 12 week oral chemotherapy. We are thankful because God has been gracious. The cancer is treatable and curable and hasn't gone invasive into any other organs. My husband and I are so thankful for God's gift of good doctors who know what they are doing and who care. My husband has been diligently working on putting together his goals for the next year and I've been inspired to set a few of my own goals such as writing on my blog more often and getting those recipes to our friends and family who follow my blog. I'm also making a goals to work on my book and try to finish it year. It needs to be edited and there are a few things needing to be added before I even get to the editing part. I've posted my scone recipe many times, but I've got a new variation of it you'll love. I discovered using lemons was a tasty treat and one of our daughters says she likes them better than even the Chocolate Chip Oatmeal muffins I make so enjoy. Lemon Scones 2 cups flour 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda zest from 4 lemons 1/2 cup butter cold and cubed Mix above in a food processor just until butter is crumbled. Add 3/4 cup heavy cream. pulse until blended - This doesn't take very long at all. Turn out onto a floured board and cut the mix into two balls. Re cut each ball into 4 pieces and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-14 minutes until just golden brown. Remove from the oven onto a wire rack with either waxed paper underneath or parchment paper. Drizzle while hot with the following: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and the zest of one lemon. Also mix in 1/3 cup softened butter. Makes 8 scones.