Where I’ve Been – Buying a House, Christmas, New Year’s, and Life Right Now

Hello! It’s been a while! I figured it would be a good idea to do a little recap post of what life has been like for me lately before I start posting the typical blog posts again without explanation of why I disappeared for four months. So here it is, a full recap of what I have been doing, from buying a house and moving, holidays, and what life looks like for us right now.

First off, I did not intend to take four months away from the blog going into this. The original plan was to take the month of November off as a way to focus on what I was thankful for in my every day life, such as family. But then we closed on our house on December 1st, and started packing and planning for our new home as well as moving. And then all of a sudden it was Christmas, and New Years came and went. And now we are passed Valentine’s Day and I’m realizing how long it has actually been. It feels so good to sit down and write again, and I am hoping to make it more of a habit.

With the house, it was a true blessing from God. The timing of everything was so incredible that it couldn’t have been anything other than His timing. The same day that we got the notice of the mutual acceptance on our offer, I also got an email about my worker’s compensation claim payout amount for my achilles tendon injury. The amount I would be getting was more than expected, and we received the check for it a couple of days before we closed on the house. It helped pay for our appliances (the house didn’t come with any), and left us less financially strapped for cash after closing on the house.

We moved in the weekend before Christmas. And let me tell you, it is hard to coordinate help with friends when Christmas is seven days away and most people are busy with their families, or out of town. Not to mention that it unexpectedly snowed about six inches that day, and we lived on the fourth floor of an apartment complex. Everyone was slipping and sliding through the parking lot trying to get our couch, bed, and everything else into a trailer that our friends thankfully let us borrow for the afternoon. We were so blessed to have those few friends help us with that.

Two days after Christmas, Garrett left for a week to Coronado, California with the Whitworth Swim Team for their annual winter training trip, leaving me in our brand new house by myself. It definitely didn’t feel like home yet, and I was surrounded by boxes and new sounds that kept me up a couple of nights.

New Year’s Eve was uneventful for me, seeing as I was home alone, and had to work early the next day. I didn’t really have many, if any, resolutions for this new year, but one thing I have been trying to focus more on is patience with myself.

I want patience to be able to take this new experience of owning a home at my own pace, rather than giving in to the pressures of showing my house to others, perfectly put together. I am still coming to grips with the fact that it could take a year or more to really have this house feel like our home and get it towards the way that we want it to be. I want to be able to host my friends and our life group at church, but I also have to admit to myself that I am not superwoman and can’t repaint a whole house in one weekend. There is already a long list of projects that we would like to get done, and prioritizing that with our finances has been a challenge, because as you can imagine, Garrett and I have different ideas of what is the top priority (he wants to finish and frame in the basement, I think it is more pertinent to put a door up for our bedroom first!).

Through this process of owning our own home, I have been tested so many times. When I get overwhelmed, I tend to snap at the closest person to me, which unfortunately has constantly been my husband. Learning this about myself, acknowledging it, and trying to change that reaction has been difficult, but I know it’s necessary. We have learned so much about each other and our marriage through this process as well. We are stronger after each struggle, and we rely on each other when we are both physically and emotionally exhausted.

In all of this, I have also let my habit of diving into and reading God’s Word slip more than I would like it to. I am really trying to refocus on this, and spend time with God every single day with intentionality rather than to just check it off of my to-do list. We are currently in a very busy season in life, and I don’t want to get into the habit of putting my relationship with Jesus on the back burner. He should be at the center of everything, and I lost sight of that a little bit. The stress and expectations of our circumstances right now has been tough, but every time I spend time with God and pray, peace washes over me in the most reviving way.

I also read a lot of books in 2021 – 26 to be exact. I am trying to keep track of the books I have read so far in 2022 as well, and so far I am up to five. Reading continues to be a good escape for me, and I recently also purchased a new Kindle Paperwhite after having my previous one for going on ten years, so that was exciting!

And, last exciting bit of news! We are going to Thailand! We will be serving on a mission trip with the Whitworth University Swim Team in August of this year to teach kids how to swim, teach English, and about human trafficking. Here is a link to our GoFundMe if you would like to support us in this journey! https://www.gofundme.com/f/v2zmf-thailand-missions-trip?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer

So there you have it! A recap of what has happened in my life since November! And hopefully, starting with this post, I can get back into the habit of posting something at least every two weeks. I have lots of ideas, and I can’t wait to see where God takes me next! And here’s a cute picture of us from Christmas Eve to end with!