A Year in Review...

Over a year has passed since we've shared & that's mainly because it's been moving fast & furiously!!
Christion has turned 9, Ari turned 4 & Chris & I have both gotten a little older too! (a few gray hairs later)
Chris & I made a decision in October 2008, to divorce, but in consideration of our financial affairs & the well-being of our children, we have taken the process extremely slow & with great caution.
We determined that cohabitation was a good alternative to physically separating or relocating, allowing the children access to both parents on a day to day basis & an opportunity to pay off some existing debt before changing our living arrangements & legal marital status.
We have been emotionally separating from our marriage & have agreed to the pursuit of other individual outside relationships as we transition out of an unhealthy marriage.
Fortunately we make for a good friendship, and should, considering we have spent most of our adult lives together. We've looked greatly at the possibilities of reconciling on numerous occasions, but it is evident that old habits are very difficult to break and destructive patterns still exist in our relationship. Frankly, alcoholism and different religious perspectives has played a very significant & damaging role in our relationship, one that neither of us is willing or able to fix at this time. Though the fall of a family is extremely sad and has brought with it many of painful days, a future that fosters healthy relationships and an abundance of love well received and generously given far outweighs the hurts of yesterday. We both agree that there is greater joy outside the unhealthy marriage we fostered for 13 years & wish the greatest of success and love in life for one another. We also value the family that we've created and look forward to continued co-parenting and continued new memories shared together in our own unique way.
Now that we've gotten the heavy business out of the way...
Christion is in the 4th grade now. Illness and mom's lack of structure has affected his success in school this year, but we are slowly rebounding. He is incredibly intelligent and shines under the right conditions, as is true for most of us.
Chris is still working full-time at the warehouse but has begun pursuing his DJing. He's been researching and pricing DJ equipment and programs, along with building his music collection. He has a real passion for the turntables and it's fortunate he has a dream like this to foster through such a difficult time in life. Not to mention, he's had this dream for a long time & now has the drive to make it happen!
Autumn is still writing! She's been collaborating with a couple of friends in song writing and is looking to expand this music project into live performances. She is writing a few children's books and collaborating with another woman on a couple of these as well. This winter, starting in January, she will be teaching a creative writing/journaling elective course at Sojourner Elementary (Christion's school). Just one more foot in the waters of that which she loves the most... WRITING! She's still in search of "work by day", with a decent amount of pay, as the search continues. Another significant twist occured when Autumn formed a creative cluster! She invited a group of women to gather once per week, using Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way" as a model for the group's purpose and structure- it's been a wonderful success! Stay tuned, 2010 should be a big year!!