The Eminem song "Guess who's back?" has been in my head for about a week. Maybe that's not even the title of the song, but I know you know it. Anyway...I'm back. This wasn't planned as a "comeback", I just missed this space and I took a snowy day to revamp it. I feel like it reflects me pretty well right now.
So much has happened since that last post about the Franklin County Fair. Where do I begin?
We were still broken into a million little pieces around that time. Trying to recover from my Father in Law's unexpected death that was unfortunately a traumatic and personal experience that I think about daily. Both our dads dying and me being the one that was called to the scene for both in less than two years will always be a part of how I deal with/don't deal with life. I let go of a lot of things around that time.
Anyway. We took an amazing, carefree vacation to the Outer Banks, I briefly considered moving the entire family there, and then we started back to school. Matt was juggling nursing school, a nursing job, and both kids were in school of some type. I pushed myself super hard in photography and stayed extremely busy in the Fall with family photo sessions. Oh, and I changed from kindergarten (the only grade I had ever taught!) to second grade. That was a HUGE positive move for me.
Last winter, for some reason (Oh, I don't know, maybe because it's HORRIFYING), the February school shooting really affected me. I wanted to move all of us to a remote mountain town like I see on Instagram. I wanted my kids to be safe. After Matt decided that nursing school was not a great fit (most stressful job in the world...I don't know how you nurses do it!), we put our house up for sale.
We didn't exactly know where we were going, but it just felt right. Prepping our home for sale was a nightmare I don't want to do again any time soon, but it sold within 24 hours of listing. We found a home in a quiet nearby neighborhood. The home is much more of a project than we thought, but we are on a court (I will never call it a cul-de-sac), have what appears to be a wooded backyard (but surprise, there is a train track!), and we just finally have room to spread out.
So. There's that. We went to Disney the day after moving in, which was insane. There will be a whole post on that, and we are actually headed back in a few weeks! Let's just say...you know I am sentimental, and I can't take this whole idea of time ticking away with my kids and all things magic.
Over the summer, in my attempt to find friends for Larkyn in our new neighborhood, I found something else! A new passion project of sorts. I joined Beautycounter as an advocate for changing outdated personal care laws, which I absolutely love. It was love at first application of the products, and once I did my research and realized WHY we need safer beauty and personal care products, sign me UP. That was the first domino to fall for me in a series of "let's clean up our lives" changes. I am building a team of new friends, earning a second paycheck, and most importantly, impacting the health of others.
Yes, I still take lots of photos. No, I will not be pursuing photo jobs in vain like I did for the entire first half of 2018. It was too much time away from family, for sure. Yes, we still explore Columbus, but my kids have their own opinions now. As a wise friend once warned me, "They're not going to be 'little' forever...what's your blog plan then?" I guess this is it. Just us, without the boundaries and pressure.
I plan to catch you up on lots of party and travel posts that have been neglected. Hope you enjoy following along again...
So much has happened since that last post about the Franklin County Fair. Where do I begin?
We were still broken into a million little pieces around that time. Trying to recover from my Father in Law's unexpected death that was unfortunately a traumatic and personal experience that I think about daily. Both our dads dying and me being the one that was called to the scene for both in less than two years will always be a part of how I deal with/don't deal with life. I let go of a lot of things around that time.
Anyway. We took an amazing, carefree vacation to the Outer Banks, I briefly considered moving the entire family there, and then we started back to school. Matt was juggling nursing school, a nursing job, and both kids were in school of some type. I pushed myself super hard in photography and stayed extremely busy in the Fall with family photo sessions. Oh, and I changed from kindergarten (the only grade I had ever taught!) to second grade. That was a HUGE positive move for me.
Last winter, for some reason (Oh, I don't know, maybe because it's HORRIFYING), the February school shooting really affected me. I wanted to move all of us to a remote mountain town like I see on Instagram. I wanted my kids to be safe. After Matt decided that nursing school was not a great fit (most stressful job in the world...I don't know how you nurses do it!), we put our house up for sale.
We didn't exactly know where we were going, but it just felt right. Prepping our home for sale was a nightmare I don't want to do again any time soon, but it sold within 24 hours of listing. We found a home in a quiet nearby neighborhood. The home is much more of a project than we thought, but we are on a court (I will never call it a cul-de-sac), have what appears to be a wooded backyard (but surprise, there is a train track!), and we just finally have room to spread out.
So. There's that. We went to Disney the day after moving in, which was insane. There will be a whole post on that, and we are actually headed back in a few weeks! Let's just say...you know I am sentimental, and I can't take this whole idea of time ticking away with my kids and all things magic.
Over the summer, in my attempt to find friends for Larkyn in our new neighborhood, I found something else! A new passion project of sorts. I joined Beautycounter as an advocate for changing outdated personal care laws, which I absolutely love. It was love at first application of the products, and once I did my research and realized WHY we need safer beauty and personal care products, sign me UP. That was the first domino to fall for me in a series of "let's clean up our lives" changes. I am building a team of new friends, earning a second paycheck, and most importantly, impacting the health of others.
Yes, I still take lots of photos. No, I will not be pursuing photo jobs in vain like I did for the entire first half of 2018. It was too much time away from family, for sure. Yes, we still explore Columbus, but my kids have their own opinions now. As a wise friend once warned me, "They're not going to be 'little' forever...what's your blog plan then?" I guess this is it. Just us, without the boundaries and pressure.
I plan to catch you up on lots of party and travel posts that have been neglected. Hope you enjoy following along again...
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