Showing posts with label albany new york move. Show all posts
Showing posts with label albany new york move. Show all posts
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 then there have been some additional moves after that!*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 eight 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 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.
Condo Living
We have given our official 60 day notice to vacate and 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
I definitely look forward to sharing more in the upcoming weeks!
Blogging
As I shared last week (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. It has been a lot of work but I honestly I am enjoying it. 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. I miss teaching everyday...but this has been an extreme blessing during this season...
Teaching
I shared this last week, but since I am often asked if I miss teaching high school 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) 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 recently wept as I read these pages from the book, "The Making of Us"... it says it WAY more eloquently than my words could ever express (about the missing of a job that you loved):
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 February 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 this semester 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. 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 9 that God has in store.
I hope that you and your loved ones have a wonderful weekend!
Our story demanded that we change and so we did // donald Miller
There are some posts that you don't envision writing in this space, and yet life in its beautiful mysteries sometimes brings changes you don't expect.
Yesterday was my last day teaching. Two weeks ago some unforeseen circumstances arose and I submitted my resignation to my school and yesterday was my last day. This is due to some extremely personal reasons, but due to the overwhelming support I have received over the years in this space, I want to clarify that it has nothing to do with my past health history. I am (thankfully!!) still Lyme and Cancer Free!
But this past week and these past 48 hours have been an overwhelmingly humbling time as students poured out incredible love, kindness, support, prayers, encouragement, and gifts that has still left me beyond speechless. There are cards and words I will treasure and things that this time has taught me that I won't forget. To my students- thank you. Words fail me thank you thank you thank you.
Happy Saturday friends! I hope the start to your weekend is going great! It's been a little bit since I updated (a couple of months to be exact *smiles*) and 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 five months since the process really began and a couple of months since we moved in and I started teaching in New York. In some ways it seems like years because so many things have taken place... time is funny like that- isn't it?
Overall
Overall the move has been relatively smooth. I would say that there are many times that I feel like we are taking one day at a time and just taking things each moment as they come.
Blogging
Last year was a whirl-wind of getting adjusted to teaching full time and blogging and one that I didn't get to do as much with due to a variety of different commitments. I am so grateful to my blog sponsors for encouraging me to take time to get adjusted and this year be back to blogging. You may have seen in my instagram bio that Caravan Sonnet is going to start to go into a new direction and I am so excited to share more in the coming weeks! Thank you for all of your support! I am confident that y'all are going to love what's coming!
Teaching
This is probably the question that I get asked the most about *smiles*. Simply- it's going well and I appreciate all of your sweet support and prayers. Some people have asked if the school is like other schools that I have taught at and the answer would be "no" (no matter what school you are in). If you are a teacher than you understand- every single school has a different culture and it takes time to get to know it and the students. My co-workers are very friendly and I have an amazing department head who is incredible sweet. I am enjoying getting to know my students in deeper ways, my colleagues, and the community and am grateful during these times for a job with students.
Writing
It was with great humility and joy that I got to share that Praying through Lyme Disease was being translated into Italian last month (you can read more HERE)! I am so excited to share other news in the upcoming months about this book and also other new additions! 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 last month! Thank you for all of your support of this shoppe and for spreading the word about it! You can find the shoppe HERE!
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 January 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!
Condo Living
There is a lot of mixed emotions with this one. We are extremely grateful for the spacious condo that we have, but both of us have struggled with apartment/condo living for a variety of different reasons. One thing that has been a blessing is that my commute to work is less than 10 minutes and that has been the biggest blessing. At this point we are grateful for our space, but definitely appreciate prayers for future decisions.
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. If I am honest (and anyone who has moved understands this completely) it takes a lot of effort and time to develop friendships and at this point with all of the change that I am experiencing I am needing to guard my energy levels really carefully. I think anyone who moves understands all of the emotions that come with finding your "place" in a new space. 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... besides almost falling off of a mountain (some of you know what I am talking about *smiles*)... I would say there is nothing happening in this department right now. Haha. I am giggling because I would say this is one of my most asked questions. 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. *haha*
COVID does complicate dating (this could be an entire post in itself) but it is difficult and it is just hard right now for this season of life. As y'all know (because I have discussed this on the blog) I do long to be married and would love to dating right now.... so I appreciate your continued prayers for this area of my life. Y'all are the best.
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 6 that God has in store.
Happy Saturday friends! As I mentioned in June I thought that for the next year it would be interesting and helpful to those that might be moving to document and share some behind the scenes things of our moving experience.
Today's update is going to be pretty brief. To be honest, we are a bit exhausted and as a friend recently so well termed something "worn thin". Moving is exhausting and if you have done it this summer, in the midst of grief, in the midst of a pandemic, etc. then my heart is with you. So in the weeks to come I look forward to updating more things specifically.
If you are wanting to follow along on some specific highlights or questions I have answered through instagram you can do so HERE (Part 1) and HERE (Part 2). If you are interested in reading more of the updates you can click on the links below:
Post #1: The Beginning
Post #2: Week 1 Update
Post #4: Week 2 Update
Post #6: Week 3 Update
Post #7: Week 4 Update
Post #8: Housing Update for Albany
Post #9: Week 9 Update
Post #10: our new condo
Post #11: Week 11 Update
.This week I drive down to Albany on Monday for new teacher orientation and then will come back to the cabin for the rest of the week. School meetings start next Monday (the 30th) and then school officially starts on Tuesday, the 7th.
This past week I had an infusion and I am recuperating from that right now. Mostly as I sit here healing and resting I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Infusions look a little different these days and my heart is overwhelmingly grateful.
Grateful for the countless medical teams who have gotten me here.
Grateful for parents who believed the impossible during impossibly long and dark days.
Grateful for the nurses who are kind, gentle, and caring and have taken care of "Courtney" all these years.
Grateful for friends who spend hours of their work day talking through happy memories and laughing about everything and anything (and bringing happy ice *smiles*).
And most of all grateful for the opportunity to be working on happy and colorful PowerPoints for this upcoming year after so many years of being told there was no hope for me being back in the classroom.
So as this week concludes, I may be exhausted and worn thin, but mostly I am grateful. So incredibly grateful.
Want to catch up on all of the moving updates? Click below to read through the specific posts!
Post #1: The Beginning
Post #2: Week 1 Update
Post #4: Week 2 Update
Post #6: Week 3 Update
Post #7: Week 4 Update
Post #8: Housing Update for Albany
Post #9: Week 9 Update
Post #10: our new condo
Post #11: Week 11 Update
Yesterday we picked up our keys to our new condo! We are SO grateful to have a place after so many months of searching! To explain a bit of background...when we decided to move to New York we searched for a house & subsequently for a rental. Due to the market we kept coming up with nothing or things that were COMPLETELY out of our price range or were more than an hour away from my job or didn't accept pets (poor scamper), or fell through for a variety of reasons! It was very very discouraging & day after day we were traveling or on the phone/internet for hours looking at places. In the midst of a long distance (out of state) move this was extra stressful.
In the middle of all of this we found an apartment that we felt would be a good fit. We were thrilled to be chosen after a lengthy application process & signed the lease site unseen as we only could see pictures online & a floor plan. Yesterday we drove down to pick up our keys & were able to see it for the first time. Y'all we stepped in & were near tears with gratitude.
Is it the cozy cottage we dream of having? No.
Is it the perfect "dream home" that I see all over social media. No.
Is it WAY different than our minds imagined for us right now with so much upheaval over the last decade? Yes.
But is it a provision that is a gift and one we are humbly grateful for? Absolutely yes.
To us it is a space that is a gift & a welcome haven. As we stood & prayed over this condo & all who will enter we felt surrounded by grace & love.
Over the last two years I have re-read @robingunn beautiful book, "becoming us" at least 20 times. I love all of her books, but in my opinion this book was one of the best ones that Robin has ever written. I have taken away so many precious nuggets from the story, cried through it, have the main verse from the book as my classroom verse, & have gently been encouraged in a raw season of starting over. My tender heart walked away full yesterday as we start this new season that looks very different than we could have imagined a couple of years ago, but with a plan to plant all the sweet things here in this haven.❤
PS- If you would like to find the book that I mentioned, click HERE!
Post #1: The Beginning
Post #2: Week 1 Update
Post #4: Week 2 Update
Post #6: Week 3 Update
Post #7: Week 4 Update
Post #8: Housing Update for Albany
Post #9: Week 9 Update
For today, I wanted to share something very special that happened on Thursday...As you can see from the picture above...it was a gorgeous couple of hours by the lake... but as I shared on Instagram, there was more to the story. Here is what I shared...
.
I could leave that caption there & it would be true, but often times the story behind the picture holds infinite value as it is here. I have been getting a lot of messages from people who are struggling this summer with so many mixed emotions, feelings, &experiences & my heart truly goes out to you. In this space of social media it can look like things are always just a gorgeous couple of hours when there is a lot going on behind the scenes.
This move has been good but HARD. It's been months, & weeks &days of intense work, thousands of hours, lots of tears, LOTS of details & lots of energy that only those doing a long distance move can only understand. At the end of an intense year of teaching (my first back after my health crisis) I was exhausted in deep ways. To go into a strenuous move alone with my mom was overwhelming each day. YES, we were met with a hundred thousand different details that were blessings, but after a week of traveling back & forth to TN, finalizing the moving, a broken toe, preparing for a treatment round, my mom's hurt knee &back, my pulled back, & then other private things, we arrived back at the cabin to deal with an intense cabin situation...&our uhaul still needing to be unloaded...&after hiring someone who didn't show up I was in tears from exhaustion & discouragement...and exhaustion.
I found out that dear old friends were in town & texted desperately for help & Nate & Wes arrived & in less than an hour had our uhaul unloaded & packed in one of the cabins, helped unpack our car, &helped turn the trailer (not an easy feat in a woods). It may sound simple but I wept after they left because it created a ripple of hopeful & blessing circumstances, including the opportunity to truly rest for a couple of hours for the first time in months....all because two people gave of their time...
So this afternoon was a treasure mostly because of the sacrifice of time & the helping that went beyond what words could express...it's not easy as single women & I am deeply challenged to look around more & help those who may need this same ripple of hope today...
Want to catch up on all of the moving updates? Click below to read through the specific posts!
Post #1: The Beginning
Post #2: Week 1 Update
Post #4: Week 2 Update
Post #6: Week 3 Update
Post #7: Week 4 Update
Post #8: Housing Update for Albany
Post #9: Week 9 Update
Happy Monday friends! We are up early and driving down to Albany again today to look at additional houses and apartments for something to rent. As some of you know and I have shared on instagram we definitely would covet prayers as we have had a TON of things just fall through in a living situation for numerous reasons over the last several months. We are definitely down to the last minute and need this finalized immediately, so PLEASE join us in praying for blessings on our time and search today!
Thank you!
We are slowly getting settled into the cabin for the summer and savoring the slow and quiet moments. We are so grateful for your love and support and your continued prayers in our upcoming move as we pray for my mom's house to sell in Tennessee and we search for a home in the Albany area. Thank you friends! I am so grateful for this community!
Happy Saturday friends! As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago I thought that for the next year it would be interesting and helpful to those that might be moving to document and share some behind the scenes things of our moving experience. Last week I shared our week three updates, and today I am looking forward to sharing some from this past week. If you are interested in reading more of the updates you can click on the links below:
Post #1: The Beginning
Post #2: Week 1 Update
Post #4: Week 2 Update
Post #6: Week 3 Update
This past week was so busy and once again it feels like we have crammed in several weeks worth of work into this one week. The weeks seem to go so slowly in some ways and then in other ways they seem to fly by with a ton of things that we are doing.
This week held a lot of ups and downs in regards to this move and I would say we are again, just like last week, taking one day at a time. It was a crazy week of some BIG changes...and some we weren't expecting at all!
Monday
Monday morning started off very early with an appointment at the mechanic to have Proey's oil changed. I hadn't even made it out of our neighborhood before the brake light came on. As a side note the check engine light has been there for several months and we have been watching it (under the supervision of our mechanic). So when I dropped Proey off I also asked the garage to look at the brakes because we were preparing to leave for New York this week.
After the drop off we did a quick stop at Whole Foods for a few last minute grocery items before heading back to the house to tackle a bunch of things on our to do list.
Monday was spent cleaning out, purging, and working on the final closets.
Over the last two months we have been slowly going through these closets and items and cleaning out and really deciding about the items we want to keep with us and take with us, but it is amazing how many things you realize you don't really want as you prepare to move cross country. Mom and I have really purposed to keep only necessity items and treasured items and this has really helped us clean out in this process.
After taking a break to drop off another load of items to the local charity, we came home to pack some more. This week the days have been long as we have been working for about 14-16 hours straight each day to finish up.
Scamper ... "helping" or playing with the paper. Haha. You can see a video of the whole thing HERE on instagram! Haha!
Unfortunately we learned that Proey needed new brake pads and so those were replaced. We were so grateful to find this out before we took the drive to New York. I also had a conversation about how Proey's engine was going to need to be replaced sooner than expected and also the heat would need to be fixed along with getting snow tires as we move to New York. All of this was a bit overwhelming financially and as we drove back to the house I just kept praying and wondering if Proey might need to be traded in.
Tuesday
On Tuesday morning I had another dental appointment so we quickly dropped off my mom's car at the mechanic and picked up mine before the appointment. While I was that the dentist we received the news that my mom's car was dying and would need thousands of dollars in repairs. None of this was a huge surprise (my parents bought the car and have had it for almost 20 years and it has more than 433,000 miles!), but we realized that it would be unsafe to drive it to New York.
While that was all going on I started talking to them about fixing Proey or trading in Proey. I didn't see any cars that were in my budget at this point but the trade in value that they were offering was much larger than other conversations of possibly selling Proey or trading it in somewhere else, so Proey is now on her way to a new home. I was so sad to say goodbye. A white Jeep Liberty (after a white Toyota Sequoia) is honestly my dream car... and so this was a very hard thing. Proey has been a gift this year... and I still have tears, but it was the wisest financial decision for me and I appreciate your prayers as I start the process of looking for a new (used) car in the next couple of months.
We literally were there at the Toyota dealership till 9pm and drove home thankful for the Lord's provision for my mom and exhausted from the day.
Wednesday
On Wednesday we continued packing and had several people stop by to pick up items that we were giving away, said goodbye to some neighbors and friends and just continued to take multiple runs to the dump and to the different charities.
Unfortunately I hurt my knee on Tuesday and Wednesday I was having a difficult time walking which slowed down a lot of our plans.
Also, we were waiting to hear from our realtor (again- sometimes it has been frustrating with no communication honestly) who was on vacation and we made the last minute decision to wait to move from Thursday till today (Saturday) so that we could finish up things and also wait to hear from our realtor.
Wednesday evening because I couldn't really walk I decided to spend time going through different items, including jewelry. Thankfully my knee started to feel better on Thursday!
Thursday
Thursday morning a photographer came out to the house to take pictures and we continued to pack. We also ran a bunch of errands (yes... including the dump and different charities *smiles*)
Thursday evening we met with the people who are going to be living at the house for the next few weeks- they are trusted friends who have watched our home over the years and we are grateful for them!
Friday
Yesterday we kept packing headed out to do a thousand little errands that we had to do around town and some appointments that we had. Of course, our day would not have been complete without another trip to the dump and a drop off at a local charity!
We were so grateful for another miracle that we encountered on this day. Our air conditioner had been (we thought) making lots of weird noises and so someone came out to check it out on this holiday weekend. Thankfully it turned out to not be our air conditioner at all, but our neighbors and we were so grateful that we did not have any issue!
At night we started packing up the car for the trip to New York and went to bed pretty exhausted at the end of this week.
Saturday
As we close out this week both mom and I are feeling very tired, but grateful for all of your prayers in this process. Our goal is to leave TN today so that we can get up to New York to have time to find a place to live, settle in, and also have a break to recuperate from a long and difficult year of losing my grandmother and a ton of other changes and things behind the scenes before the start of my school year. We appreciate your support and love as we work to accomplish this!
We specifically ask again for prayer that the house would sell quickly for my mom, that the price it sells for would be a blessing to her beyond our expectations, for our energy and for our health in these busy and stressful days, and for the Lord's continued guidance and provision. Thank you so much for praying for us! I can't wait to share in a week more updates and progress! Some of you have asked about our realtor and honestly... I am not sure what to say... the lack of communication has really been frustrating and disappointing. At this point I don't see the house listed which is confusing and we do appreciate your prayers.
(PS- I well understand that we are not the only ones moving in the midst of a season of unexpectedness or in grief... or even those who are military families moving to a different country. My heart and prayers are with you if you are in one of these situations.)
Want to catch up on all of the moving updates? Click below to read through the specific posts!
Happy Saturday friends! As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago I thought that for the next year it would be interesting and helpful to those that might be moving to document and share some behind the scenes things of our moving experience. Last week I shared our week two updates, and today I am looking forward to sharing some from this past week. If you are interested in reading more of the updates you can click on the links below:
Post #1: The Beginning
Post #2: Week 1 Update
Post #4: Week 2 Update
This past week was so busy and in many ways it feels like we have crammed in several weeks worth of work into this one week. The weeks seem to go so slowly in some ways and then in other ways they seem to fly by with a ton of things that we are doing.
This week held a lot of ups and downs in regards to this move and I would say we are again, just like last week, taking one day at a time. We have been able to go through a lot of things and we did get a lot accomplished this week so that has been good and we just continue to press forward. Sometimes it seems like there is an end in site of all we are doing and other times it seems like we are never going to finish. Haha. I think anyone who has moved a whole house and is approaching a long distance move has felt this way!
This week we tackled our bedrooms in deep and purging ways. I constantly feel like we are running to drop things off at charities, the dump, or to friends. As hard as it has been to get rid of things, it has been feeling so good to really pair down to a more minimalist lifestyle.
One of the things that I did was start to go through my jewelry (starting with earrings, rings, and bracelets). Y'all know that I love fashion and jewelry but after so many years "away from real life" I have found that I don't wear as much as I used to. So one evening I decided to go through this area and was amazed at how much I got rid of and I plan to go through even more.
Purging and cleaning out is a common part of moving I think, and this move in particular (after being away from this house for 5 years) has encouraged me to really think through my belongings. One of things that I started reading after mom announced her decision to move back to New York was The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I know, I know, it has been out for a long time and talked about for even longer (*smiles*), but at the time it was released I was so extremely sick that this was something that I feel I am catching up on after all of these years. *smiles* There was a lot of good tips and thoughts in this book that I am still working through and reading through and it has inspired me in many ways. If you haven't read the book and are interested in reading it you can find it HERE.
So Monday we spent a lot of time in our rooms cleaning out, purging, and working on our rooms. Monday was a bit emotional as I was still dealing with a very hard father's day last Sunday and so it was a slower day. One of the things that I am constantly learning is the way that it is good to give "breathing space" into the moving process. I mentioned this in my post 5 Tips for Staying Healthy During a Long Distance Move, but giving yourself grace is so important in this process.
On Tuesday morning the temperatures were cooler so we spent the morning down in the garage finishing up the last few items that we needed to deal with there. Honestly, this was emotional to have to go back through, especially the things of my dad's with lawn care items and tools. So there were tears... and times were we just gave each other a lot of hugs.
On Tuesday afternoon we tackled the closets in the bathrooms, bedrooms, and the hallway. We had already begun the process of going through these closets before, but a couple of months later we found ourselves getting rid of even more things. It is amazing how many things we are realizing do not bring us joy and life and how many things we really want to have with us after this move.
This quote. Just this quote.
Also on Tuesday here on the blog I shared 5 Amazon Prime Deals for Moving Items that were part of the Amazon Prime Day. As I looked up these items though they are still on sale and hold great deals for those with an Amazon Prime Membership so definitely check them out. You can find the post HERE.
On Wednesday morning I had a zoom meeting with some of the faculty and the principal of my new school. It was SO nice to meet some people I will be working with in a few short months, and I am so excited to get started! My department head (also named Rebecca *smiles*) is delightful y'all. Simply wonderful. She has been going above and beyond to make me feel so welcomed and I am so excited to work with her! Everyone was extremely kind and I can't wait to get to know everyone in the months ahead!
On Wednesday afternoon we continued packing and had several people stop by to pick up items that we were giving away. It was fun to see a few friends for a few minutes as it has been so busy we really haven't had a lot of time for proper goodbyes as we would like.
Also on Wednesday we were excited to have a potential buyer come to our house, only to find out that at the last minute they had to be rescheduled for Thursday. It has been confusing because there is really no constant updates from our realtor. Because this is a personal friend, we try to stay patient, but sometimes the lack of communication has been ... concerning. The ups and downs of moving definitely are difficult and so we continue to do all that we can from our end as we trust the Lord in this process. Wednesday night we took more things to a charity and then took some books to be sold at a local bookstore.
Thursday morning we were again disappointed as the buyer that was going to look at the house backed out and I headed off to another emergency dental appointment. Unfortunately I have an infection of some sort that is not wanting to heal and it has been causing a lot of pain which I would appreciate prayers for. It was a long appointment and painful, and so the morning had a lot of tears as it was not what we had wanted in many different ways.
Thursday afternoon we tackled our screen porch with tons of items and made another trip to charity and a huge trip to the dump.
Lots of donations and lots of recycling.
In the midst of all the discouragement and tears about the house not selling yet or as quickly as we were hoping, we continue to cling to the knowledge that the Lord is in charge and will provide each step of the way, including the perfect buyer for our house.
One of my favorite quotes that I read in a book this week was such a gentle reminder:
"Our forefathers had many dangers to contend with... on either side of them rose a wall of water like none they had ever witnessed. The wind raged, the sea churned threateningly, like a lion ready to fall on its prey. The army of Pharaoh sat on the edge of the land intending to pursue them. How easy it would have been for our people, through every step of that perilous passage to set their eyes on these dangers. How easy to give in to fears and discouragement. These are the rushing waters of our lives, surrounding us like a churning wall on every side. They are the army of our Pharaoh. But instead of growing distracted and fearful, we can choose to set our eyes on the path that the Lord opens for us. One step at a time, we can go forward..."
Yesterday we headed out to do a thousand little errands that we had to do around town and some appointments that we had. We were out for nearly 14 hours, but were able to get a lot of things done that we needed to and we were so grateful for that! Of course, our day would not have been complete without another trip to the dump, a drop off at a local charity, and selling more books and DVD's to the local used bookstore. Haha. They are getting to know us very well at these places. *smiles*
As we close out this week both mom and I are feeling very tired, but grateful for all of your prayers in this process. Our goal is to leave TN this coming week so that we can get up to New York to have time to find a place to live, settle in, and also have a break to recuperate from a long and difficult year of losing my grandmother and a ton of other changes and things behind the scenes before the start of my school year. We appreciate your support and love as we work to accomplish this!
We specifically ask again for prayer that the house would sell quickly for my mom, that the price it sells for would be a blessing to her beyond our expectations, for our energy and for our health in these busy and stressful days, and for the Lord's continued guidance and provision. Thank you so much for praying for us! I can't wait to share in a week more updates and progress!
(PS- I well understand that we are not the only ones moving in the midst of a season of unexpectedness or in grief... or even those who are military families moving to a different country. My heart and prayers are with you if you are in one of these situations.)
Want to catch up on all of the moving updates? Click below to read through the specific posts!
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