Ebb & Flow

"mom, don't take my picture when my hair isn't brushed!" 

Lately, things have been a little crazy on my side of the computer screen.  A year and 8 months ago when I got married my life drastically changed.  I went from living in a city where I could pick up the phone and call a friend for a cup of coffee, where I got invited to those awful purse/jewelry/[insertproduct] parties, where I knew almost every street and back alley and never needed a GPS.  The week after I married I sat down with my brand new husband and went over finances (something that would be a weekly thing for us from then on) and sorted through the mess.  We had taken several liberties with our wedding and spent some here, and some there and were in a big fat crap pile of debt.  We quickly figured out that we could not survive on my husband's income alone at the job he was at.  And so we started talking options, and this crazy idea of travel therapy came up.  Moving every three months?  Seeing the country?  Not having our very own things?  Being away from our families?  Well, that was ridiculous and crazy....and wonderful, and perfect.  We figured we could visit home often, get a never-ending vacation and start out our marriage on a crazy journey.  At the time it all seemed very exciting and romantic, and for the most part it has been.  But there was this part I didn't expect-- the part where I found myself in a new city every 13 weeks not knowing a single soul.  The husband would dutifully go off to work every day, sometimes upwards of 10 hours and I was left all alone.  At first it was fun, I was a married lady, all grown up running my own home (er, apartment) and making meals in my very own kitchen every night.  I was independent! I was free! I was.... so lonely.

We started out traveling in Lansing, Michigan and it was still close enough to home that we drove quite often to spend weekends and visit.  Next we moved Howe, Indiana.  Howe was a tiny city full of amish people and it was the dead of winter and at this place I got really depressed. I was so alone-- literally we lived a mile from a "main road" (which was a dirt road if that tells you anything).  Here is where my lupus symptoms began, though I didn't know that was what it was at the time.  The lupus left me exhausted and unable to keep the cottage in tip-top shape which made my husband unhappy which made me even more depressed.  I got little Bella Louise while we were here and she kept me company and was my little snuggly shadow.  She still is--no matter where I go if I look down, there is Bella.
It continued this way in Colorado and South Carolina, and finally we moved to LA and I made a few friends and went out a few times.  I still was pretty lonely through the days and have never felt at home in any of these places we have lived in.

Now, we find ourselves in San Jose and I can't even compare it to a place we have been before.  I have friends, and I am busy. Me. BUSY!  I don't even have time to watch Dr. Phil these days.  It helped that I had an old friend from Atlanta living here, and we have gotten to hang out with her and her fiance and, well, besides the fact we just love them, it is so nice to just have people to call up and do things with.  There have been some sweet as pie bloggers in the bay area who have reached out to me and,  in fact, I am going to be a make-up model for one of them today.  I am sure she will be another new friend.  And miss Michaela will be home soon for the summer from college and I will have yet another friend.  You know what that means?  That means someone to call up to have a cup of coffee, perhaps I will get invited to one of those awful jewelry parties and I might just leave my GPS at home today.

Things are good, I feel so blessed.  I am more than excited about the things happening on this blog-- nutrition and fitness are a passion of mine and I don't know why I was so scared and why it took so long for me to make it a part of this space.  I am working on my photography skills and am shooting my first event in a few weeks.  We found a great church and don't feel like we have to spend weeks searching for somewhere to go.  And the best part is being able to share it all here, and talk it out, and say out loud how thankful I am.  How my life has sort of been this ebb where things were taken away and now this flow of blessings.  All of it is a testament to a faithful God, and how He lined this up and how we are meant to be here, living in this city, in this month, of this year, right this very moment.

It's amazing if you think about it.  And its not by accident.

Think about that.

Over & Out,

A

p.s. don't forget to enter to win a custom blog design below,

and you still have the weekend to enter to win a fashletics tank! 

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