Where I Left Off

Whew...what a year it has been in my life. I think it was about this time last year that I last blogged anything, but I am going to try to get back in the habit of coming here to chronicle thoughts, musings, and happenings in our life. Blogging takes a backseat every now and again; you can tell that pretty easily if you look at my history on this old blog. Not sure if it has always surrounded major life happenings, but that was def the case with this little break. Things have calmed down in our world, and I am back pounding away from my Mac for a few reasons.

This is going to seem random, but stick with me. The whole time I was away from writing, I was still reading all my favorite blogs, and several of my favorites have shutdown in the past year. I loved reading John and Sherry over at Young House Love. I never imagined that they would walk away from their DIY blog, but strangely enough when their spark went out on the blog I could tell something was off when I was reading. I think I knew when they stepped away for their "break" last September, they wouldn't be back. But losing that blog was like losing a connection with an old friend. And why in the heck did they have to quit just when I bought a house? But after almost a year, I find I still reference their blog a good bit, and I'm happy to hear from them on instagram every now and again. Can't wait for their book to come out here shortly either! So I think I'm almost over that one.

The other blog I loved to read was Leslie's over at A Blonde Ambition. I tried to remember how long I had been reading her blog, and I know I started long before lots of people. I found her through a link up for "Show Us Your Life" over at Kelly's Korner, while I was still living in Birmingham, so that was at least 6 years ago. Anyway, I started following her because she was my age and Southern, and the girl had fashion and make-up tips. Something I am always in need of, since I often feel fashion challenged! I read her blog and watched her life and blog transform much in the way my own life was changing from young married life to life with babies, and it was fun to watch someone else go through the same life stages. And then back in February, shortly after the birth of her second child, she got really sick with some cardiac problems. I remembered from the early days of reading about her, she was born with Epstein's Anomaly. Well, being a NICU nurse, I can tell you that diagnosis is no joke. Babies born with this condition often don't live. I assume the birth of her second child put too much strain on her heart with this previous congenital heart condition, and after several months in and out of hospitals with this, sadly she went to Jesus a few weeks ago. It's hard for me to fathom, and I feel a lack of closure because as a medical professional I want to know the details of why this happened. I am working on letting that go though. It wasn't something Leslie wanted to share. But in all this I've thought what a blessing her blog will be for her sweet children. Her girls will know how much she adored them. She will be alive to them because her words and thoughts and feelings are recorded on her blog for them. So because of Leslie, here I am writing again, for myself and for my Nathan, so that my thoughts and words and our life can be captured and remembered!

So that brings me to my family and what we have been up to. I am not going to lie. It has been a HARD year around here adjusting to lots of changes. This year has probably the most challenging we have ever lived just because there were so many new things to navigate. We bought a house last June and moved into it in early July. Then in July, my baby turned 1 and after a wonderful year at home with him, it was time for me to get back to work.

It is no joke being a first time homeowner! I was so excited to own a home, but I forgot about all the stuff you have to buy. Just to move in we had to buy all the lawn stuff. Hello Lowe's as my new favorite place to shop. And then with an ice storm in February, we had our first major problem/damage which we are still working on fixing. It was leak in the roof we thought was well repaired when we moved in that failed with the storm. After exhausting a few different avenues, the best thing for us was to fix all of it out of pocket, which may explain why it's August, and we still need the carpet replaced. Yuck!

Fun in the snow!

Then pile on top of that a baby who was never sick the first year of his life and the worst cold and flu season in years!!!! Can we talk about how hard it is to build up immunity? After my Nate got tubes in March things have improved vastly, but prior to that it was an endless cycle of colds that turned into ear infections that left me with a little boy who was miserable but couldn't tell me what was wrong :(

Pic of my little guy. Was this really almost a year ago?!

And then just add to that, a girl trying to navigate a new job with new faces and new skills. New jobs are never easy, and I hate changing hospitals because even though you know how to be a nurse, every place does it different, so you have to learn the new way to make your skill fit in. Plus with a new job comes very little banked PTO, and with a sick baby, that makes things a little stressful.

Visitors at work

But I don't want to make it seem like it was all stress and illness this last year, we had some fun too! J and I went to Arkansas to see the Blazers play the Hogs, and after reading about it on Kelly's Blog for years, I knew everything awesome to do in Bentonville. And I also got to call the Hogs, even if they were playing my school. And now I'm so glad we went because there will not be another Blazer game for 2 years. The president of our alma mater tried to completely shut down the football program at UAB, but so happy to say the community and alumni rallied together, and it will be back!

Original Wal-Mart

Best Steak of my Life! Hands down.

Football Game

Also, my college roomie and bestie, Stephanie, got married, so we took a little trip to Pennsylvania (does anyone else find that word difficult to spell?). After a day in Philly to see a few sights and have a Cheese Steak, we were off to party with Steph and Steve. It was a great day and it was awesome to see my college roomies, even if it was record high temps for the area. Guess all those Southerns together in one place, the good Lord knew we wouldn't be at home without some heat with humidity.

The Liberty Bell

So that was our year in a nutshell. As for me, I think I am finally getting a handle on things around here. I seeking balance and simplicity. I am learning where and when and how to spend my time. I have found making short term goals is helping me immensely, so I'm making this little blog one of those. I hope to be posting here much more often! Until next time, in the words of Leslie, be blessed lovlies ;)