Before I begin I just want to say that an update on moving in light of everything going on in the world right now would seem callous and heartless without acknowledging the brokenness that I feel for all of those in the Ukraine fleeing their homes. I have shared a lot on instagram about different things, news pieces, ways to help, etc. but my heart goes out to those in the midst of a forced move. I can not even imagine...our hearts and prayers are with all of those affected.
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Happy Saturday friends! I hope the start to your weekend is going great! It's been a month since I updated on our move to New York from Tennessee and I don't know about y'all but the days seem to be flying more and more this year!*smiles* I thought today would be the perfect day to update on our move up to New York as I receive so many questions each day about how things are going, how teaching is going, how we are settling in, etc. In many ways it is completely surreal that this week marks nine months since the process really began and a couple of months since we moved again (from Albany to upstate New York). In some ways it seems like just yesterday that I was in Tennessee teaching, that we just did our senior day and yet other times it seems like years because so many things have taken place... time is funny like that- isn't it?
Overall
Overall, I would say that we have been met with peace in deep ways as we have moved back to upstate New York. Honestly a peace that is beyond on my understanding. Last year at this time both of us were completely against moving back here for so many different reasons, but as the Lord opened doors to this space, job, and area it has been a peaceful and sweet transition. I think that there are still so many things that you have to give yourself grace for and so if you are in the midst of a lot of big adjustments and moves like we are... give yourself a LOT of grace.
Personal
I shared this on instagram but I had a treatment last week. I am so grateful for no serious reactions, but I will admit that I am still recovering from it and have been feeling pretty poorly. I definitely covet prayers.
As some of you are aware, my mom will be going in for knee surgery in April. We definitely appreciate your prayers for this. My mom did not have a good experience last time that she had knee surgery (about 10 years ago) and so this is weighing heavily on both of our hearts. We definitely covet your prayers for her and for us as we approach the surgery and also as we prepare for the recovery.
Condo Living
We will be moving completely out of the condo in March. There is a lot of mixed emotions with this one specifically with the energy to be packing up another place and paying for another move, and we appreciate the prayers for all of these details. We are planning to use the same moving company that we did with our move from Tennessee to New York as we were so impressed with them and I will keep you updated.
Bungalow
Right now we are in a continuous process of cleaning out things from our time when we lived here with my dad and grandmother and also unpacking lots of our things that we have already moved in. Our goal right now is to make as much room as possible so that we can fit the rest of our items in here (even if it is crowded) so that we don't have to use a storage facility. We definitely appreciate prayers for energy and for our emotions in this process. Sometimes grief hits very deeply and the process is painful and other times we both have small smiles at precious memories. I definitely look forward to sharing more in the upcoming weeks!
Blogging
As I shared last month (click
HERE if you missed it) Caravan Sonnet is heading into a
new direction and season and I am truly grateful for all of your sweet support, love, and encouragement! If you want to see the reel on IG that I shared with my community there you can click
HERE! Thank you again for all of your support! If you are a brand or sponsor and desire to work with Caravan Sonnet, please reach out to the team at: caravansonnet@gmail.com!
Library
I am truly loving and enjoying this new adventure. I will be honest it is a lot different than what I expected or what was told to me when I interviewed. Sadly the state of the library after a lot of neglect from the previous director was in complete disarray (financially and also circulation wise). There were hundreds of books that had not been cataloged just laying around, books that hadn't been ordered in months, a children and teen room downstairs that hadn't been properly tended to (I am talking books switched around in the computer system and on shelves mixing non-fiction and fiction), stacks of books that were supposedly withdrawn that were brand new, circulation that had been held up, hundreds of books upstairs that needed to be taken downstairs, finances completely disorganized, bills that hadn't been paid, and the list went on and on and on and on).
It literally took me 4 hours one day just to clean out my desk and 4 trashbags of junk, dirt, trash, ect later. It was so sad to see how this small town library that I have always loved got to where it was at. The previous director before the director that I replaced had done such a fabulous job... it was heartbreaking. I can only imagine that the previous director before me was going through a hard personal time to have left things in such a mess. Y'all know how I love to problem solve, organize, and be creative and this has allowed me to tap into those things in a different way.
It has been a lot of work but I honestly I am enjoying it and it seems that after nearly three months we are heading into an excellent direction. I was so pleased as I left on Thursday (yesterday the library was closed due to a huge snow storm) to see where we were at. I can't wait to show y'all some updates and pictures in this next month!
Teaching
I shared this last week, but since I am often asked if I miss teaching right now in this unexpected season, I wanted to clarify yes. Yes. Yes. Yes... definitely yes.
More than words can express.
More than words can say.
DEFINITELY yes.
This picture (above) popped up in my memories recently (from a precious "senior day" that we did last year in February) and it brought tears to my eyes. Last year was one of the biggest blessings of my life... and I will ALWAYS be grateful. More than words can express.
I am definitely excited to share that there is a potential opportunity of something next year and I would definitely appreciate your prayers about this possibility. I can't say much about it right now, but would definitely ask for prayers as I am hoping and praying that this specific opportunity would come to fruition.
Writing
Something new is on the horizon and I am SO excited to share with y'all in the coming months! Stay tuned!! AHHH my little heart is bursting!! Thank you for all of your support! You can find all of my books
HERE!
Teachers Pay Teachers Shoppe
This has been such an exciting adventure to be on with the new opening of the shoppe a couple of months ago! Thank you for all of your support of this shoppe and for spreading the word about it! You can find the shoppe
HERE! The one huge favor I have is for y'all to share this shoppe with those you know and love! Thank you SO much!
Etsy Shops/Ebay Store
December Lane has continued to remain open throughout this whole transition time. With the holidays coming up this could be an excellent unique opportunity to purchase a curated watercolor travel print for you or for your loved one! You can find the shop
HERE!
December Caravan is still on a brief hold until July 2022. There are some BIG changes coming with the shop and I am excited to share and show y'all what is coming! Stay tuned for some big announcements!
I have currently placed the Ebay stores on hold. To be honest I am not sure at this point if they will be opening back up. I have found that while it was nice to do, it didn't spark joy or a passion within in me as it was less creative so I am prayerfully considering what to do next about this!
PhD
AHHHH... I start classes next month and am truly so excited. I can't wait to share more as this progresses! Thank you for all of your support!
Church
One of the things that I was most excited about was getting back involved in a church community and finding other people my age (single and married). Honestly... it has been hard to do this with COVID. It definitely has made this moving process feel a lot lonelier and I know that I am not the only one feeling this way right now. At this point we are continuing to listen to church online but I hope that in the future this can change and change quickly.
Social/Friendships
COVID has made this a more complicated process and with my fragile immune system it is not as easy as I would like it to be to just get together with and develop new friendships. I think anyone who moves understands all of the emotions that come with finding your "place" in a new space. And that wording of "new space" may sound silly because we have lived here before, but it is a new space, since I was so extremely ill when we lived here before. I am grateful for grace in just giving myself time to adjust. I definitely don't have the social life that I would like to have, but again I think some of it is a mixture between moving, adjusting, work schedule, and COVID.
Dating
I am giggling as I write this... there are some stories to share about some dating site adventures but nothing that is happening in this department right now. Haha. I am giggling because I would say this is one of the most asked questions I receive ALL the time. For personal reasons I have always kept my dating life private on this blog (out of respect to the men and out of respect for just the need for a personal boundary line) but right now... no, I am not secretly hiding any story.
Yes, I have been asked this numerous times. Yes, I desire to be married more than I could ever express and yes, I still pray faithfully for my future husband every single day. Yes, my heart aches to be married, and yes I so appreciate your prayers. Thank you so much for caring so much. I am so grateful for your love and prayers for me also in this area!
Thank you so much for reading today... I am so grateful for your prayers, for your love, and for your support in this time of transition and change. I plan to start doing this as a monthly update and I look forward to sharing next month the adventures of Month 10 that God has in store.
I hope that you and your loved ones have a wonderful weekend!
Want to read through all of the moving updates? You can find them all below:
Moving from Tennessee to New York
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