New Location

I've moved!

Come find me now over at Wordpress at johnfollman.wordpress.com. I look forward to seeing you there...

Transition Reflections - When Things Don't Go As Planned

Recently, my wife and I decided to move to New York State where we both grew up. We spent the last eight years of our lives in the great state of Kentucky. While I definitely enjoyed our time there (and will miss it!), something gnawed at me over the years - will we ever return to our home state?

Our family is there in NY, familiarity is there, I miss the winters (no, really!), and the like. But there was always the other side of the coin - I like Kentucky, the taxes (comparatively speaking - who "likes" taxes?), the (felt) freedoms, the home school laws (yay!), our friendships, our church family, etc.

But when the comfort of old friends and church family changed in the last couple of years due to us moving out of the county and the church dissolving and ceasing to gather, we were at a pretty serious crossroad. So the discussion of moving to our home state grew more real and serious than ever before.

So fast forward a bit and here we are... in New York, jobless and homeless! Just like we pictured... ha. Actually that makes it sound worse than it really is. We purposely moved up to stay with family for a time while we found a place of our own. However we moved up with me having the promise of a job, only to find out the company was using a deceitful sales scheme to sell their product. No thanks.

Point is, as we step toward something we feel is potentially good for us, that doesn't mean that everything is going to go just peachy. [The problem is that I thought this time it WAS going to go peachy!] Good or well intentioned changes doesn't equate to everything just falling into place, unfortunately. The reality is sometimes you're left feeling things are worse than before as you internally question your decision to change course.

So, this is partly why I find myself writing tonight when I haven't blogged in quite some time.

Maybe it will be good for me. Maybe for someone else to.

So, if it seems good, I plan to write some as my family and I journey through this transition. Maybe even more after. Assuming there is an "after" to the transition!

It's Official

We have been enjoying our first official snow (ice) day from school!

Yea!!

Hiking the Big South Fork

One of my favorite things to do with my kids is go hiking. So, with a beautiful day forecasted tomorrow, I am planning our next adventure!

On a random note, I am mulling a change to the blog... will let you know soon...

Thawing Out

After spending winter break in western New York with over a foot of snow, I sure am enjoying being back home in Kentucky winters.

70. In January? That ain't to bad for this feller from the frozen north!

Home

This is how our trip back home to Kentucky started this morning. We thought we might be in for another long trip home. While it was a long trip (about 12.5 total hours) the weather wasn't nearly as bad as the way up to New York.

For the first few hours things looked like the pic, or at least with wintry slushy conditions, but once we hit Erie and headed south things started to clear.

It's good to be home.

Praise the Lord for a great trip and great Christmas vacation with family. We loved seeing everyone, and even got to see much of our extended family too this time.

We are so blessed!

Sunrise

Last night I shared a beautiful sunset that ended my day... here is how my day began this morning.

Beautiful.

Warming Up!

Today, was cold.

Shake and shudder cold, as I was outside running some errands tonight.

It definitely reminded me of some very familiar feelings that come with winter...

Cold feelings.

So to see us starting December off in the 60's, you won't find me complaining.

Let's just hope it stays the way it's forecasted :)

Stay warm!

Tough Mudder

We did it.

My Dad, my two brothers and I are officially "Tough Mudders."

We have the aches, pains and scars to prove it.

Never heard of it? Just Google it, then give it a shot :)

Go Time

All I can say is...

Kentucky: Sat Oct 20 & Sun Oct 21, 2012 | Tough Mudder

Here we come!

At Trails End

What a fun day! sleeping in, wrestling around with my youngest, a family trip to the local library, ice cream, house hunting, and to top it off, a wonderful meal for all of us in Amish country of Casey County at The Wagon Trail Restaurant!

Wayy too much fun! (and exclamation marks!)

[By the way, the food at The Wagon Trail was fresh and delicious, and run by a great family!!!!]

Natural Arch

We took the clan hiking tonight at Natural Arch in McCreary County, KY.

Great views and great family time together!

Welcome to... Fireworks!

One of my first "welcome to Kentucky" experiences came years ago on the Fourth of July. Coming from New York where buying and putting off fireworks is illegal, I was quite thrilled to see how people celebrated 'round these parts.

For Independence Day (and days before), it can sound like a war zone in our otherwise quiet and peaceful subdivision. Who needs to go to a fireworks show when you can put on your own show?! Or better yet, just enjoy your neighbors' shows!

Here's a pic of my neighbor's display, set off tonight. Hopefully it's just a warm up for what we'll see tomorrow!

Happy 4th!

Home

There and back again, though, my journey lasted only about 30 hours.

To the rainy Northwest (Portland) and back. It was a fun adventure. I'll miss my traveling buddy ;)

Back in Kentucky tonight with my family - check out God's portrait in the southern sky.

No special effects needed. Just the Creator's creativity.

Kentucky

One of my favorite things to do is to peruse the Kentucky state visitor's guide. Or any visitor's guide for that matter. So, when I was able to pick the 2012 Kentucky Visitor's Guide up while visiting Cumberland Falls this weekend, I was pumped.

I love the fact that adventures are waiting right in our backyard - all we need to do is be willing to open our eyes to see them.

So Kentucky, be warned... here we come!

Follman Facts

The older I get the more interested I am in my heritage. I ran across this today...

Interesting facts, and we're not the only Follmans in Kentucky! Who knew?? Family Reunion?

Interested in learning more about your family name? Click here.

Caught

I think that's what I am - an Angler. Or at least a wannabe.

If only buying the poles and having the guide made you a fisherman. But at least I'm headed in the right direction. I'm still not totally sure what "angler" means.

With some remaining birthday money, I picked up some fishing poles today. I really didn't know what I was doing, but I did my best to prepare myself and the kids for some fun outings going fishing.

I'm hoping that the fishing poles help me catch more than just bluegill and smallmouth bass... I hope they help me catch priceless moments with my kids. I hope they help me catch teachable moments with them that otherwise, may not have been caught.

So, these poles I bought today are more than fishing poles, they're moment catchers.

And that has this wannabe angler pretty excited.

Storm Shot

This pic was shot from our back porch as a severe weather system approached Somerset, KY. Though Somerset area didn't have a tornado touch down, it was this same system I believe that produced a tornado about 30 miles east.

Please continue to pray for all the families affected by the tornadoes, and see how you may be able to help.

Be Safe - Tornado Watch

Weather Channel Home Page

I thought it worth while to get the word out again one more time - Weather.com has been sharing this morning about the high risk of tornadoes in our area of the country/state TODAY, Friday, March 2. Central/Eastern Kentucky as well as other neighboring states seem to be at the highest risk of tornado outbreak today.

So play it safe, watch the warnings, and know what to do to prepare for a possible tornado.

Be safe out there today.

For more, click my links above as well as here, and stay tuned to your local weather and weather.com for the most current updates on the weather.

Big South Fork

The other day I received a couple fun things in the mail from Amazon.com: a map and a guidebook; both related to the Big South Fork.

The Big South Fork is a recreation area that stretches from southern Kentucky to northern Tennessee. It's a place where you can hike, ride bikes, go rafting, and other outdoor activities. And, it happens to be just down the road from where we live.

As someone who loves the outdoors I was pretty excited to receive my goodies. I've been planning our next hiking trip(s) and can't wait to get out and explore God's creation, especially as the weather turns even warmer (its already been a crazy warm winter!).

For you other hikers out there, see you on the trail!