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Pivot 2.0 – We’re Home!
To pivot is one thing, to do it publicly…well, it’s taken time for me to process and gather strength for that. Writing a blog is like letting everyone read your diary. Suddenly my private, inner commentary is public. I failed to consider the pressure. I thought blogging was going to be a breeze. You know, all laughs & fabulous photos. I underestimated the time & effort. And I certainly underestimated the exercise in authenticity and vulnerability. Authenticity will forever be the bravest thing I ever do. In October, we jumped into long-term, nomadic travel as a family. We moved to Mexico and lived there for 2 months. We had some cool…
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Blanchard Springs Caverns in Arkansas
On our way home from Oklahoma, we took a detour to the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. A good friend lent us his family cabin for a few nights of off-the-grid relaxation. Country roads, sweet pups, and swimming holes comprise this slice of paradise. Mountain View is in the north central region of Arkansas, about 2 hours north of Little Rock, AR. Over the past two years, we’ve visited three times and easily fell in love with the quaint town, complete with old timey general store and finger lickin’ bar-b-que. If Mountain View was a cartoon character, it would be good ‘ole country boy playing folk music as…
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Oklahoma City = Surprise Hit!
When DJ landed a consulting gig, the entire family rode piggyback on his work trip to check a new state off our bucket list. We typically research a destination for months, but we seriously underestimated Oklahoma City (OKC). I’m ashamed to say the only pre-trip planning I did was checked out a kids book from the library, watch a few YouTube videos, and snagged a AirBNB with a pool. I imagined a tiny city surrounded by red dusty plains full of grazing bison. Time & time again, my favorite getaways are the ones I go into with no expectations. What a surprise! We LOOOOVED OKC. The people were delightful, warm,…
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Kayaking @ Eurharlee (Atlanta, GA, USA)
We had a blast in Atlanta visiting our cousins!! You might know Atlanta as the home of the Braves or the host city of the ’96 Olympic games, but we go there for hugs, game night, & a walk down memory lane. Meet the Cousin Crew Hang out with them for 5 minutes and you’ll know them! They are open books, genuine, insightful, grounded, and have the best wit around. We had 2 priorities for the weekend. Priority # 1 – Have Fun Together We bribed the weather to hold and took off down the Euharlee Creek for a great day kayaking. It was a relaxing drive there – through…
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Gratitude over Goodbye
This was supposed to be a beautifully curated, heartfelt farewell to our loved ones in Clinton. But I’m finding it next to impossible to give life to that vision. It’s easy to write lighthearted banter, but this gut punch of emotion puts a lump in my throat. The grief amplifies the overwhelm engrained in transition. I realized this week that everything felt new. New home, new city, new grocery store, new routine, new chore chart, new goals, new preparations, new school year, new, new, new. The only thing that wasn’t new was my anxiety level! Peace be with us when we actually leave the state… This morning, I awoke with…
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Moving day!
This week has been a complete whirlwind. DJ & I had our last days at work. I think we were both surprised how much emotion came with that transition. 2. We closed on the house. Wahooo! 3. We moved. Too many boxes were packed…way more than we expected. Which means we have a few more items to sell, donate, and consume. We welcomed a surprise guest – our elf got special permission from Santa to give us a send off. Here sheis driving the Roomba. The only thing we broke, so far, has been a few eggs…and I’m not sure why we tried to transport those anyway.…
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Goal Blindness & it’s Antidote
This season of life is simultaneously a logically hurricane, birth of a massive dream, and grief as we close a chapter in our life. I bounce between a human to do list, an excited Jack Russell terrier, and a sentimental cry baby. Needless to say, I’ve been struggling to be present in the here and now. I’m rushing towards the goal of getting on plane and forgetting the real goal of enjoying life and relationships. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time I’ve fallen into this pattern. It’s so common in my life, I’ve named it. (Insert face palm emoji here.) Goal Blindness Goal blindness is when the pursuit of a…
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Delays + Blunders + Reservations = Tantrum
We’re going to MEXICO!!! We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to celebrate Dia de los Muertos in Merida. But we have a few hurdles to jump before we hop on a plane. That’ll teach me to talk about personal growth and pivoting. Man o’ man, did we practice that over the past few weeks and it wasn’t always pretty. In fact, I wanted to title this blog Well, shit!, but my ‘good girl’ part vetoed it. I assure you, the sentiment stands. Here are the highlights… Strike 1 – Closing Delays Our original closing date has already been delayed by 10 days. Without going into the microdetails — One week…
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What will you take with you?
I get this question a lot & thought a video would be the best way to share. I really had fun researching capsule wardrobes, even though I didn’t exactly end up with one. About 75 clothing items and 4 pairs of shoes made the initial cut. (Even though in the video I said 3 pairs. Oops, I guess I wasn’t counting my flip flops?) Finding a pair of really comfortable and kinda cute sandals took ~6 months to identify & another 6 months to find them at a price I was willing to pay! So, here you have it…all you would ever want to know about what & how I’m…
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Where are you going first?
Our plans So, to recap, we’re selling our house, resigning our jobs/closing our business, and have some loosey goosey plans to travel abroad like a family of nomadic backpackers. Yup, that about sums it up. Can’t really blame my mom for her concerns, now can I!? First Stop = Hometown My only saving grace (in my mom’s eyes) is our first stop is our hometown. We’ll tie up the final loose ends and spend quality time with our families before we’re officially ex-pats. There are cars and sailboats to sell, deposit boxes to obtain, and lots of necks to hug. After that, the world is our playground. We could head…
