I feel like it’s been a while since we’ve checked in with each other. How are ya doing? What’s new? How ya feelin?

Life over here has been a little bit nutso lately, so I thought I owed ya an update – especially since I was mildly MIA from the blog. And can I just say a heartfelt thank you for all y’all that stick around when I do get a little inconsistent, and encourage me, and just make me feel like the luckiest peach in the pile. Ya’ll the best.

 

 

A NEW PROJECT AT WORK…..

For those of you who don’t already know, though I obviously dream of blogging full time one day (could y’all click my affiliate links and buy a t-shirt already or what?! – just kidding, really), right now I’m hustling with the blog and my 9-5 as a management consultant. In consulting, your work is most times…….. unpredictable. Unless you get on a long term project, you’re often jumping from one client to the next in a matter of months, in different areas of work, with VERY different types of projects. Sometimes the projects go smoothly, you have a big team you are working with, and its easier to balance work and life. Then there are some projects that are a whirlwind that happen in a few short weeks with lots of work and not much time to get your head above water. Right now, I’m pretty much in the deep end begging for a hot lifeguard to come save me…… alright that’s a little dramatic but this new project is a little bit faster speed than my last few and I am feeling that difference hard with my other life priorities that have come into play. So if you notice me lack of Insta-stories, or any other difference in my engagement, it’s probably because of that, and I PROMISE I will get better.

 

HOUSE HUNTING……

After we got married, my husband and I talked about what we wanted to do next. Having lived in Orlando my whole life, I was open to perhaps moving somewhere new for a bit for a different experience before we plant roots with home-buying but my husband, being the big ol sap he is, was eager to get his own yard to mow and backyard to BBQ in (I WILL hold him to both of these things). We also decided that we were REALLY over paying rent each month to something we were getting no equity in, so when it came time to renew our apartment lease in February we set a goal to save up for a house and STOP paying rent by September. Well holy moly did September get here fast and now we are house hunting hardcore. We have been looking passively for months, but nothing had caught our attention and because it seemed so far away we took our time. House hunting has been both fun AND discouraging as we haven’t found anything yet that we LOVE and the one house we were REALLY LIKING (but didn’t want to start using the L-word yet because – SERIOUS) got an offer two days after we looked at it and is now off the market (still sad about that one). In the meantime we will be shacking up with my parents, who are WONDERFUL, but it will be tough, so we are very eager to find our first home.

 

PACKING UP OUR APARTMENT…..

We’ve been in our apartment for four years now, and moving out has made me feel WAY more emotional than I was anticipating and frankly would like to admit. But this place has SO MANY MEMORIES. It is the place that I decided to break my own rules and live with a boy (my now husband then boyfriend). It is the place I threw so many fun parties and sleepovers with friends and family. Hosted the most special holiday events. Enjoyed being engaged. Planned our wedding. Had so many wonderful nights in with my husband. ALL THE MEMORIES AND ALL THE FEELINGS. As we started to pack things up and it hit me that we were leaving I have been really second guessing if this is the best thing, but I keep telling myself that it’s the right time to move on, and though it was an amazing time had, there are only more exciting memories to come and it will be wonderful to make them in our very own house. And also I’ll cry, definitely real tears.

 

THEN THERE WAS A HURRICANE…..

So with everything else going on in life (see above) there was then this little thing called a HURRICANE that swooped in last week. Being Orlando born and raised I’ve dealt with my fair share of Hurricanes and probably am more calm than most when they are coming because I know what to expect and how to prepare. But this being one of the largest/strongest ones and coming after the devastating destruction in Houston, it was a little more intimidating. The husband and I prepared the best we could, and ended up sleeping a few hours in our “safe room” aka the closet when it got really rough and just plain scary sounding outside. Thankfully we experienced no damage and didn’t even lose power, so we were extremely fortunate and are completely ok. But this has certainly thrown us off a little as well, and even just mentally as we see on the news everyday all of the clean up work and destruction that still remains from it, it’s hard to shake to get back into normal life.

 

 

Life lately has been a little different, a little uncomfortable, a little emotional, and just plain busy. I’m thankful for all of the positive momentum and try to balance it all out (see Wednesday’s post) and focus on being grateful through all of the seasons. And to top it all off, I have a few more “things” I’m putting on my plate which I’m not yet ready to talk about but hopefully will be soon that is further adding some element of chaos/business into my life. But again, it’s all very positive and instead of feeling overwhelmed (which I often do) I’m doing my best to focus on thankfulness for all the opportunities God blesses me with, the people, the work, and all the things in between that make me so “busy”. It’s all about perspective right?

 

XO,

JESS

 

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