Team STRONG!

This year has been one for the records! I would say it has probably been the most physically, mentally, emotionally draining year of my life. As most reading this know, we moved from Tennessee to North Carolina. That in itself, with 4 kids, is a difficult task. We found a great home to rent for a year or two until we figured out where we wanted to permanently buy. Jeremy started his new job. We went through the process of finding new doctors and therapists for Carsyn, which involved alot of appointments and paperwork and details ... all of the things that I hate doing. Riley started a new school. We found a new preschool for Isaiah and Carsyn. We started unpacking boxes :) Life started to ease up for a couple weeks, and then Carsyn had her surgery. And it was not easy. Not for a second. I totally underestimated how hard this surgery would be on everyone. Keeping a 5 year old mentally/emotionally happy when her independence has been abruptly taken away from her is just not fun.

What we thought would be a 7-9 wk thing, turned into a 5 month process. We were mentally prepared for 7-9 wks. We were absolutely not mentally prepared for 5 months.

At one point I described it as feeling like you are drowning in the ocean, and you look up and see a raft floating toward you. Hope fills your entire being as you see this raft. But just as you reach out to grab a hold of the raft, a shark comes up and rips it away from you and swims off.
And you aren't quite sure how you are going to move forward, but you know you have to, so you just do. You keep breathing. You try to keep vision. You try to be intentional about maintaining perspective and being positive. You just do what you have to do.
But it was just draining in every way.

In the midst of all of this, we stumbled upon a home. A home that was literally everything, from the covered tin roof front porch to the huge field off the back, to the open ranch layout, it was everything that we wanted in a home. Completely accessible for Carsyn. An undeniable answered prayer. So, we bought the home and we moved again. Transferred schools again. Readjusted again.

So, with all of the chaos, my mind has been worse than ever at focusing on anything or processing details of any sort. Which, if you know me, that might sound like normal, but I'm telling you, its been worse than ever.
I mean, I kept my kid home from school because I swore it was a teacher workday. It wasn't.
I have burnt probably 74% of the things I have attempted to cook, because I forget I am cooking.
More than once I have run errands with my pants on inside out.

We could absolutely have a reality show and it would be amazing. I'm telling you. Prime time television.

I just have not done well planning or even trying to plan things. Appointments, dinners, events, get togethers ... all of it, I have just been so bad at. Moreso than I normally am.
And this bad planning includes an event that we have been super excited about attending ever since we moved to NC. The event is the NC Walk n Roll for Spina Bifida, which raises money for the Spina Bifida Association. It is also a great way to meet other people in the spina bifida community, as well as to support other kids, and encourage our own Carsyn Grace.
We have planned to attend this race ever since we moved here last year. About a month ago, we found out the date was Nov 7, and the event was in Kernersville NC, so we put it on the calendar.

Yesterday I decided to pull up the event to find out if we have to register or do anything before we go. And that is when I found out that actually, the Walk n Roll, is a pretty big deal! And that you can make a team for your kid, and that people all over everywhere can commit to joining your team. And by being on your team, they can help support your kid by donating money, or walking with us, or wearing the team tshirt or whatever they want to do to show their support for your child and your team. Its just a really amazing way to encourage someone that has spina bifida. I was looking at the website yesterday and had the biggest smile on my face. These kids are incredible and have to go through so much that most will never understand. How awesome is it to spend some time celebrating and encouraging them to help them feel like they are the most amazing person on the planet Earth?!?
I love it.

We have always wanted to be more involved with raising support and awareness for the Spina Bifida Community. Now that we are 'home', feeling settled and feeling roots beginning to take hold, we are planning to start being more proactive with this effort. We will use this first Walk n Roll event this coming weekend as a way to get our feet wet with all of this and to meet some new people. And to begin the process of raising awareness and support for many years to come.

Next year we will start asking for people to join our 'Team' as soon as we find out event details. And we  hope to have a whole bunch of you come join us to walk and support our girl and the Spina Bifida Association.
But this year, because we are just figuring all of this out 5 days before the event, and we know we haven't planned well, we hope that you can just join us in supporting Carsyn by checking out our fundraising page and joining our team virtually. We are hoping to get t-shirts made before Saturday, and if we can get them, and you would like to buy one to support Carsyn and our Team in our effort to raise money for the Spina Bifida Association, we would so appreciate it.

Since having Riley almost 8yrs ago, we have come to know that one of the best ways you can love someone well, is by loving their kids. Thank you guys for sharing your support and love for Carsyn. While this past year has felt so hard in so many ways, we have never felt more loved.

Check out the fundraising page below and join TEAM STRONG!