Moving Forward

With an incredibly busy August and lack of internet recently, I have done quite the horrible job blogging. Most of you have heard our news or seen posts on other forms of social media, but I wanted update here as well.

As you read in the previous post, we have been living with my super sweet and gracious Aunt Vera during this time of transition. Once we decided to stay in Birmingham, I obviously needed a job, and we needed to determine our future living arrangements. Late July/early August I accepted a position with EyeCare Associates in Trussville and have just finished up my first month on the job! (Yay real world and paychecks!!) I'm very excited to join this team of doctors that provide eye care to the Birmingham area and beyond, and it is so nice to be back in patient care after my "summer break!" If you're in the Birmingham area and need an eye exam, new glasses/contact lenses, or have any concerns about your vision (or your child's vision), I'm gladly accepting appointments in Trussville! ;)

The last four years of living in Birmingham were spent in a apartment. We were tired of renting and wanted to settle into our own place, so we looked into buying a house. Our expectations and styles were very different. I would be perfectly happy living in the land of Joanna Gaines, and Jesse would have a stroke right after she painted the brick and distressed the wood. So after several long conversations, making lists of priorities, and looking at photos and listings, we bought the first house we walked through. Can you believe it? WE bought the first house we walked through! When we found the listing, we didn't even have a realtor yet. Thankfully we acted fast and swept up our new abode - out from under the open house. :)  We love it. And really still can't believe that we found everything we (realistically) want in a single home. While it was a difficult decision to decide to stay, we were blessed over and over again throughout the home-buying process. It was such an unexpectedly peaceful process, we know that we are where we need to be. We can't wait to see how God will use us here in this city. Many thanks to our awesome realtor and lender who guided us along the way and went above and beyond!

We moved last weekend with the help of several incredible friends and family members, and have most things put away already. It has truly felt like home from day one. The first night we slept in the house, I woke up in the middle of the night, and in my slumber I panicked a little with the realization of home ownership. "What did we just get ourselves into? This is a lot of responsibility. Did we buy too much house? It's a lot easier to rent, why didn't we just keep doing that?" I reassured myself we made the right decision, rolled over and back to sleep. We're excited what the future will hold for this space. Eventually we will grow our family, but in the meantime we want this home to be open to friends and family. We want to use it to build and strengthen relationships with others. We don't want it to just be a haven from the stressors of life and work, but a place for being intentionally present in other's lives. I don't know what that really looks like yet, other than feeding and housing you; maybe hosting a community group or Bible study in the future. So, if you'd like to visit, need a ride to the airport, want to tinker on a project in the garage, want to prep some freezer meals in the kitchen, want to throw a steak on the grill, we're probably game. Just ask. Or say yes when we ask you. :)  Here we are looking especially tired after 3 days of moving boxes and unpacking: