karaspeak

After being able to work from home for more than four years, traveling every week to every other week has not been easy. However, there are some amazingly bright spots amongst the travel. Some of that business related, some of it personal, some of it relates to coming home. All of it interesting, not always easy, but good.

For example, you might meet someone super interesting on an airplane and pass an hour speaking with them about their lives and / or their business and potentially find a new job. Or, you might walk around a nearly empty shopping mall alone which you might not have done in years? It is one thing I have found to do to pass the time when I finish an exhausting day of back-to-back meetings and "being on."

One of the best things about traveling, and having little children, if there can be a good thing about traveling with little children, is that when you come home, they've learned something new. They speak new words, day spell new words, they run, they hop, they tell you "I miss you when you're gone," they learn to say other phrases that you've never heard before, and they learn to tell stories. For me, this has been the greatest joy in traveling this year. In a few short months that I've traveled, Teagan has only gone from 18 months to 21 months. But in those few short months, she has learned to run, talk more productively, eat more effectively on her own, and eat everything in site, loves Mexican food, and after this last trip to say, "yeah" to things like it was no big deal and "Paaa-weeeeze"(Please!) in the cutest voice I've ever heard.

What a joy it is to be able to watch these two babies learn to put words to things when they have not had words for them before - only finger points, grunts, huhs, nods, and screams. It's been an amazing adventure and one I've grown more fond of in my time away from home because you see how quickly they adapt, learn, and grow when you are separated from them even for a few short days. God is so good. My children are so smart. And I cannot wait to see what words He gives them over the course of their lives.

My sweet Teagan Bean - 21 months old and full of life!

My Aiden Dude. Three years old and eating ice cream. Per usual!