Life Right Now

Hi.

Remember me?

Yes, I'm still alive.

What a crazy few months it's been!

I'm sorry that I've been absent for so much of it.  I was so proud of myself back in January and February for blogging nearly every day, inviting guest bloggers, hosting giveaways, and starting the new tradition on a monthly Pinterest Party.

And then my two work-from-home jobs got the better of me.  And my baby became mobile.  And my husband got a new job.  And I'm moving in two days.

But you know what?  I finished teaching last Friday.  Hooray!  It was an awesome-scary-exhilarating-fulfilling 2 quarters of teaching online college level ESL Writing, but summer has officially begun, and I'm so excited!  I haven't really let myself believe it yet, because I still have to pack this apartment up and move to another one in the next few days, but after that...there will be peace.  And blogging.  And new organization.  And life.

I'm so thankful that God provided ways for me to stay home and still be able to help our little family out financially.  But it exhausted me.  I had 20 college students who were each required to send me a 1-2 page essay every day, which meant that I had 100 essays a week to correct.  All while trying to keep my little mover away from the spiral staircase of doom (guess why we're moving?!?)

I'm so excited about our new place.  It has an open floor plan that means Kayleigh will actually have more than a 4'x5' space to move around in (which WON'T be the high-traffic path through the middle of the apartment), an actual kitchen with enough cupboards and counter space for this crafty/cookin' momma, a gated-in front yard AND a backyard/patio for Kayleigh to enjoy the outdoors, a garage instead of a carport (no more munching up the sides of both of our cars!), the first dishwasher I'll have ever had in my adult life, central AC which I have learned is a MUST for out here, and my very favorite part, a laundry room with a washer and dryer!

After 8 months of living in this apartment, I am ready to cry with tears of joy.  No more coin-op laundry.  No more having to Moby my baby up to be able to wash her burp cloths.  No more waiting until evening for Jesse to be home to do the laundry because I can't leave Kayleigh alone in the apartment to switch loads over.  YAY!!!

We're thankful for the time we've had in this apartment.  It was the cheapest that we could find at the time, and the only one with a month-to-month lease (which we knew we needed because we weren't sure if we'd have to be moving out of state for Jesse to find a job).  Now that he has a job, we know that we can sign a lease for a year.  And happily!  Even though his job is 30 minutes away from where we'll be living, we mutually agreed that this is where we want to live.  I have two momma friends within walking distance, many of our old church friends live within 10 minutes from here, and it's all too wonderful to give up.  We're so thankful that even though Jesse has a new job, we don't have to give up any of the dear friendships we've made here!

Next week is pretty much looking like heaven.  We'll be in our new place, I'll get to do one of my favorite things (unpacking and reorganizing--woohoo!!!) and after that, the main things on my daily list will be:


1) Sharing my day and heart with my loves (God, Jesse, Kayleigh, family, friends)
2) Helping Kayleigh explore the world around her (including books, games, songs, and adventures)
3) Keeping house
4) Blogging!

I think that's a list I can keep up with.

And I can't wait to begin!