Life and Stuff

Hi guys! I just got home from a two week trip to Idaho.  I helped with some projects while there but this post is more about life happenings than projects so I’ll share some project photos another time.  Some of you have been hanging out with me for the whole 6 years that I’ve been blogging and you’ve watched Madison grow up.  I don’t share as much family stuff as I used to when Madison was a little girl.  Madison was in grade school when I started blogging.  At that time a lot of the projects I created revolved around her;  Halloween projects, building things like a playhouse under the stairs and other crafty projects that we did together or I did for her class as a “room parent”.

Well Madison just turned 17!  Can you believe that?   Her birthday is part of the reason I went to Idaho.  Wha?  Idaho?  Why?  Well let me tell you…Madison - 17 going on 30

Once upon a time…

Sandra met Wes, they fell in love, they married and 5 years later they had a beautiful little girl, Madison.  Wes and Sandra loved and nurtured Madison and she grew into a lovely young human being; smart, strong, thoughtful and intentional about life and her place in the world.  Madison has many strengths and talents and has always loved learning.  She chose her career path around the age of 5 and it has never wavered.   When Madison started high school last year (10th grade here) she hated it.  She is an old soul and very focused on life goals and not so much interested in “silly teenager stuff”.  Having her sights set on becoming an author has helped her through some difficult times.  Having a long term goal helped her not get lost in herself when the social scene was very difficult after moving to TN in middle school.  Yikes!  THE WORST TIME in a girls life to leave all her friends and move to a new town and school.

16

Socially, school was not fun.  Intellectually, the structure of her new school seemed to be holding her back.  So 3 months into her sophomore year, Madison withdrew from conventional school and started “homeschooling”.  That is what they insist on calling it here even though she was enrolled in an online high school program.  So Madison got to do school on her own terms and timeline.  This allowed us to take road trips and vacations while she was literally in school!  Cool!  Madison is very driven.  She managed her own program and did her work on her own.  She owned it.Road Tripping

Since she could work at her own pace she pretty much blew through it.  Madison graduated from high school in December, two months ago; with a 4.0 GPA and a year and a half ahead of schedule…   So now what?

She wanted to go to college in England but there was NO WAY we were going to send her off to school in another country at 16!  So we planned on her taking some classes here in TN for a year (or so) and then pursuing England. My sister invited Madison to come live with her in Boise, ID for a while and we all thought that was a great plan.  Move across the country instead of across the globe and “dip your feet” into the well of independence before you dive in head first.

So in October, Wes and Madison road tripped from Knoxville to Boise in the car that is now deemed “Madison’s” and she has been living in Boise since then.

Road Trippin'

She got her first job and is taking one class at BSU.  We’re calling this her gap year (even though it’s only a half year and she’s actually taking a class but Astrobiology is just for fun so…).

She has been doing really well in Boise and will stay until May when she finishes her class.  Then she’ll be moving back home and going to school here in TN.  At least for the next year or two.  My sister, Julie has been a great surrogate parent for Madison while in Boise but Julie is moving to CA this summer and we aren’t ready for our 17 going on 30 year old, little girl to live on her own.  Instead of waiting another whole year to go to England, she is going to dive in and get her BA degree here.  England will still be there when she’s ready to get her graduate degree in 4 years (or so).  With Madison, we never know what to expect so we just kinda’ keep an open mind and try to figure out what’s best for her as each life transition arrives.  It’s a journey.  On a side note, she did get accepted into all 5 schools she applied to in England so she’s hoping she’ll get accepted again when the time comes.  Our little smarty pants.  Literally, she is quite a smarty pants at times but she is a teenager so I guess that is to be expected…

College at 16

And now you’re basically all caught up!  I’m back home and ready to dive back into my craft room.  Though I have to clean it up first.  It was quite a mess when I left.

See you soon with some project updates!

craft_room_mess

You Might ALso Like

43 Comments

  1. Yay! Welcome home Madison and congratulations! What an exciting path she is taking, and what awesome parents you are for supporting her the entire way! I can’t wait to see what her future holds.

  2. Jill Jennings says:

    Wow! What a whirlwind of change! Congrats to Madison for being such a self-starter and working so hard to achieve her goals! And good job Mom and Dad for being so supportive! It must be very difficult to let her live far away from you when she’s still a teenager.

    Sandra, I’ve only recently discovered your blog and I find it so inspirational (and a bit intimidating, because you’ve got mad skills!). I’m hoping you might be able to help me with a home improvement challenge.

    My husband and I bought a fixer upper a little over a year ago and we’re at the stage where we need to start installing an HVAC system (our house has forced hot water baseboard heat). We’ve gotten about 7 HVAC quotes, all of them recommending completely different (and equally terrible) solutions (like: “Install 6 condensers on the back of your house.”) and we’re at our wits end trying to figure out how to move forward. We live in New Hampshire where HVAC professionals don’t seem to be on the cutting edge of technology. I’m wondering if you can recommend any resources for finding competent professionals when you’re faced with a job you just don’t have the skill set to do your self? We are both pretty handy and are willing to do some of the work ourselves, but some of the work requires a professional and we need help figuring out what the best option is for our home. We’ve used Angie’s List, Googled our brains out, and basically have come up empty. My husband has spend hours researching the myriad of HVAC options and it seems Canada and California are light years ahead in this department. What do you do when you can’t find a professional to help you in the area where you live?

    I know you do most of the work on your house yourself, but thought you might have some suggestions. Thanks so much for any advice you can offer! All the best to you and your family!

  3. Roxanne Veinotte says:

    I hope you get this Annet – it’s called Joker Marbles

  4. It sounds like your son has a difficult path to pave and I wish him success and contentment. It’s so hard for kids that are extraordinary to make it work in a mainstreamed ordinary environment.

  5. She is intellectually ready for anything but at one week into 17 years old, she is still growing, physiologically. We just want to give that frontal lobe a little more time to develop before she ventures out into the world on her own. She will learn abroad, just not yet. 🙂

Comments are closed.