Moving lessons learned

We are packing in high gear at my house these days... and I have learned a few things while packing up our stuff, and moving our household.

1.  Label everything.
I have color-coded, because we will be moved into our new house by members of Jon's new congregation... But I just bought the pastel pack of index cards for that, and used clear tape to attach them to boxes.

2. Make a list of all that stuff you're labeling.
If for no other reason then because people are human, and therefore make mistakes, lists will be our friends in this move.  And then, after we move everything and need to set up renter's insurance, we will already have a list of things that need insuring!

3. Cull before you pack, then cull as you pack.
Ya.  We've been semi-embracing the Marie Kondo movement, but found even more things to cull as we packed all the boxes up.  It's a good feeling.

4. First Night Boxes.
I'll post what's in ours after I make them and use them, so the stuff I wish I'd had makes the list too.

5. Don't hesitate to have people over to say goodbye before you leave your old home.
If they love you, they will not mind the boxes.
This has been a real teaching moment for me, because I had to let go of the idea of showing off the perfect house in favor of time with friends who love us because of our mess and in spite of it.

6.  It will happen.

Growing

It's the end of springtime- Easter's arrival meant it was really feeling like it- you can't deny the world its celebration and its vibrant colors when we also celebrate a risen Lord, and as the weeks have gone on Spring's vibrant blossoms and buds have begun to give way to the bright sun and bustling gardens that have really taken off.

My grandmother planted things every Good Friday, and I added to my garden in that spirit.  A tomato and a bell pepper joined the ranks alongside the greens on Good Friday.
When I missed her on Mother's day weekend I added sage, thyme, parsley, and another tomato.  I found a strawberry pot like the one we got her for Mother's Day a while back, and I might just pick up the plants to fill it this week, even though it'll be another pot to move and be careful of on our journey South.
 I've started dreaming of next year, when everything won't have to live in containers that have to move, and when I will have a raised bed tucked alongside our little house.  Next year- when there's a yard and a little space for me to start seedlings, when peas and squash and cucumbers join the ranks, and sunflowers and bulbs are in the yard.

Next year.

But... there's joy in my tiny garden, and in my house.  There is something about watching the dog play outside the kitchen window and having the grill right outside the door- something about all of the oddities that made our strange little first house a home.  It's now.  And it won't be next year. It's bittersweet to think about the packing boxes stacking up in the next room, waiting to be filled.

Jon's career means we move in 4 weeks, and God holds something for us in the anticipation of planning and "probably" and "hopefully".  And my vocation becomes more deeply rooted in meeting people where they are, and in the glory God shows us every day in nature- in the great green growing times we have in our sights.

Preaching Preacher's Wife

Yup... That's me.

I didn't really realize it or come up with that phrasing till we were sitting in the fellowship hall of Jon's new church.  He starts there in a month, and it'll begin a new chapter for us... married for barely 6 months, and still getting used to one another.... And now to get used to a new town, new church, new jobs for both of us(I'm starting to look. Prayers, friends) and to make another house a home.

I'm tempted to blog all of the changes to the parsonage, because changes there will be.  And there are voices of preachers' wives and parsonage remodeling on a budget out there, but I don't feel like any of them sound like mine.  I want to write more, and this would be space for that- not just home decor and moving posts, but spirituality, curriculum thoughts and ideas, and gardening and seeking to care for God's earth.

But what I need to do now is run errands and make a couple of returns before I go to the dentist.  Ouch.

Stay tuned.  My hope is to write more.  Sooner than last time.

All the things!

We're making a chore chart, doing laundry every day, packing lunches, hitting 6AM spin class... The real schedule has begun. My calendar is getting a workout. We are budgeting time, resources, and making more concrete plans, and it feels... Odd in a way I know will lead to good. Routine is balm for my soul, but the getting there is always a little interesting.  Figuring out a chore chart that didn't make me pull my hair out is a topic for another post.  Meal planning is still a work in progress, but I suspect it'll get easier as I continue to work at it.

I had the day(s) of lectures you get when you start work in a healthcare field this week, where it seemed like the moral of the story is be nice and wash your hands. I knitted a lot, learned some, and am anticipating the next few weeks when more learning through the work of chaplaincy begins. Our boss gave us our official blue chaplain ribbons that attach to our official hospital nametags so that we are easily pegged.  We got keys to our office, and a tour of the hospital.  We went to visit patients with the residents... learned the mechanics of charting.  It's pretty great. Did I mention we have an office, and that it used to be a nun's bedroom??

Wearing a name badge and having a purpose outside of the little house we are making into a home and this new, strange role of wife is pretty great. And I'm only one week in.

Looking Back//Looking Forward

Happy Happy.
We're a week into 2015, and it's been a WEEK.

I onboarded for a chaplaincy internship(CPE, for you pastoral types) at St. Francis here in Columbus yesterday.

Last week, we hosted our first (hopefully of many) New Years Day gathering.  I learned a couple of things about hosting.  We had friends for lunch after church this past Sunday.  I learned some more things about hosting.

I've gotten to live in this town, grocery shop, meal plan, and do the things that make life go more smoothly.  It's been great to have time to figure it all out... and realize there will never be enough time to figure it all out.

 Jon and I have gotten to do things as a "we" in ways we didn't before now, even though the wedding was almost 2 months ago.  Working in Decatur, travelling back and forth, and then getting to witness the marriage of one dear friend and officiate the wedding of another, meant that the last weeks of 2014 went by SO fast.

Speaking of? 2014 went SO fast. Let's look at it by numbers in my poor attempt at an infographic...

More later.  Happy Day!

Moving Prep

Well friends, things are a-changin!

In 6 weeks and change I will be a married woman.
In 3 weeks and change I will have moved the majority of my posessions to Columbus.
In 2 weeks I will have finished sewing my wedding gown.
In 1 week I will have submitted an application for a hospital internship.  I will have a resume ready to send other places.

Whoa.

Tips? Prayers?

Thanks.

No-Spend April

When I did my taxes last week and saw how much money I made in 2013, it was a number that surprised me. What surprised me even more was that, outside of what my W-2s spelled out as going to the government and what I paid in rent, church giving, and bills each month, I had a hard time identifying where that money had gone. 

Sure, I've made budgets before, but I seem to get away from them on a pretty regular basis. I've tried different systems, stayed away from Target, gone on numerous fabric and spending diets... But I still have a hard time with money. 

I'm going to try something a little different in April, and check my consumer impulses at the first of the month. It's a season of examination, and examining my blessings and (mis)use of them is part of that for me right now. There are so many people who do without and I've been doing a lot that hasn't been the best for me. Mindless trolling of the Internet and buying(and buying into) a lot of things that will "improve" my life. Things are band aids. The tangible cannot be used to change my core or bring me much(if any) lasting happiness. 

 I will make it my goal to spend $200 on food and personal needs outside of a pair of rainboots (that I planned to purchase already), purchases absolutely necessary for the wedding dress, and medical needs. I'll keep myself accountable here, and try to muse on the fruit of discovery that comes with this adventure. I'm hoping there will be lots of discovery and a much shorter to do list at the end of it. God has blessed me abundantly with a full pantry, an overly full fabric stash and craft closet, and a great city to explore. Hopefully I'll use them all. And evaluate what I really need in the future. 

Celebration!

Well, it's official! 

Jon and I are getting married! He proposed after a bike ride and it was really great! I hear it wasn't at all what he had planned, but it was better, in some ways, for that fact. I think that's partially why I had no idea it was gonna happen until it was happening. I kept wondering why he wouldn't really smile in pictures. 

We're hoping we can stay true to the idea of very us throughout the planning and the process of preparing for a life together. There are so many THINGS that come out of the woodwork as soon as people find out you're getting married. 

"Are you going to have this? No? Really? How are you going to manage?"

 "You're getting married THIS YEAR?! Wow..."

"You're making your wedding dress?"

8 months, by the standards of many, is not a very long time in which to plan a wedding. But it is the time we have given ourselves to plan our wedding... And it's the time we've given ourselves to prepare.  

I want to be the best me I can be when I walk down the aisle. 

Healthy. 

Balanced. 

Happy. 

Whole. 

Because if I can be my best me, we have a better chance of being the best us. 

I promise, this wont turn into a wedding blog. But I hope to post accounts about the journey to the best me; to the best us. All of that resolving needs to continue to happen. And I can't wait. 

Resolve.

I've discovered I'm not a very good blogger, because a. I am an introverted soul; b. one who is very much a creature of habit; and c. a lover of pen and paper.  There are a stack of composition notebooks filled with musings and other smaller notebooks that are tucked into my purse or pocket at all times for prayers and lists. In the bag I am carrying with me right now, without looking, I could guess that there are at least 10 writing utensils, a paper planner, and no fewer than 3 notebooks of varying sizes...(okay I just checked. 11 pens, my shiny new 2014 planner, 2 notebooks, an address book, and my stationery wallet. Heaven help me.) It is just who I am, and I don't think it's something I'm likely to change. I'm not sure it's something I would want to change.

But you know, it's the year of better regular habits for me this year. 

Over a lovely breakfast on New Year's Day, J. and I thought about our resolutions, as folks are likely to around this time of year, and I kept saying I should do this or that more often. Or I should remember to... You get the idea. I was just vocalizing what I'd been thinking for weeks, months. 

And now I'm putting it out there for the universe- and whoever happens to read this. These are my resolutions, which I'll build on slowly throughout the year to make into daily habits, but which I began trying to do more often before the big calendar flip. Here's what I wrote down at breakfast on New Year's Day. 

Hey 2014. 

So, you're gonna be the year of daily habits. 

Everyday, I want to...

     Do something spiritual. 

          Write a prayer. Meditate. Read scripture. Wonder. Sing to God. 

          Look at the stars. The oceans. The sunrise. 

          Remember I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and thank my Maker. 

     Do something creative. 

          Ten minutes of sewing or knitting or embroidering or doodling. 

     Do something active. 

          Walk. Ride my bike. Dance. Yoga. Jazzercise. Moving!

    Do something healthy. 

          Water. Veggies. Sleep. Repeat. 

     Do something to remember it all. 

          Take a picture. Journal. Write someone a note. 

Tall order. But I have the whole year to fill it!

And, God willing, a lotta years after that. 

Life After School

I still can't believe, that for the first time in my life, my primary occupation is something other than that of "student". When I filled out camp forms late in the Spring, with graduation looming, out of habit the occupation line read 'student' in my hurried scrawl, but I knew by the time camp rolled around it would change to 'barista'. Or 'nanny'. Or 'writer'. Depending upon the day.

Crazy. 

I don't regret the choice at all, as a matter of fact I relish the idea of, for likely the only time in my life, a job where I clock out and am off the clock in being a barista.  I love the kids I care for.  And in my writing and in the combination of all of these things, I have a chance to figure out what it is to be an adult.  

I have a chance to pursue my passions for writing and creating and it is exactly what the doctor ordered, especially coupled with the fact that there are facets in which I will be able to nurture people and be pastor, too, without it as a job title: I slowly discover the truth in the words of a mentor that, no matter where I am, God will have me living out my call. 

Above all, I am thrilled beyond measure that I get to re-discover and discover with greater depth God's awesomeness in my adventures this year, and God's hand in who I am and who I'm becoming... In the art coming from my heart and soul, in the movement and stillness, in the flurry of emotions that will surely beset me in the coming months. 

And God's pull toward my purpose is a strong one, and one I seek to follow more closely every day. This is a great journey, which, though it is a very figurative one in this moment, will hopefully (prayerfully, passionately, excitedly) become a very literal one in the coming months. 

I'm blessed to have the chance.