Casual Fridays

Well hello there! I've decided to jump back into blogging with a Casual Friday post. It's been over two years since I've done one of these, but there have been some major life changes happening since my last post and I didn't want to hijack a recap with a lengthy explanation of why I've been blog silent for the past two months. 

If you're hyper-observant and prone to haunt my blog, you may have noticed that my "About Me" section over there to the right of the screen has changed recently. 

If you're just a normal person who occasionally pops in, what I'm trying to get at here is......

WE MOVED.

That's right. After living our whole lives in sunny Florida, we sold our house o' dreams, packed all our belongings into that truck (well, that truck plus two trailers full of books and bookshelves, and no, that is not a joke), and moved to the tippy-top of a mountain in western North Carolina. We live in a house with a fireplace now and there hasn't been a day we've lived here that's gotten to 80 degrees Fahrenheit yet. 

On April 1st, my niece and I got to take our first big roadtrip together. She wasn't too sure about running down the side of the highway to snap photos in front of the state welcome signs, but I hope we made some memories she'll never forget. After ten hours in the car, and a lot of "Auntie Hannah, are we there yet?!"s we arrived and the unpacking began. 

Turns out, we had a little stowaway from Florida. After he jumped out of a box I was unpacking in the guest room and scared the wits right out of me, I continued to catch glimpses of him making his way from one end of the house to the other. After two weeks of co-habitating, he finally got a little too close to my bedroom and I caught him and introduced him to his new, much colder home outside.

But if you start to hear any news reports about how there's been a disruption to the ecosystem in Western North Carolina and Floridian lizards have started to run rampant, you didn't see anything.

We've hit a few unexpected and not exactly welcome snags—like having to completely replace the roof of our home before we sold it, having electrical problems in our new house which resulted in half the power being out for more than a week, popping a tire on our truck and buying four new ones, and hearing a mouse—or something—scratching inside of the walls where we live now. But all in all, we're confident God brought us here and we trust Him to keep providing for us. Even though I'm really missing our Florida fam, hot weather, and the ability to pick up and drive to the beach whenever I feel like it, we're starting to settle in here and I'm excited for this new phase of our life. 

Still on the To-Do List: find a job and find a church. We've visited a different church every single Sunday we've been here, and now that we are smack in the buckle of the Bible Belt, we could probably keep visiting different ones for a whole year. Say a prayer for us!

In other news, this being the first Casual Friday post in over two years means it's been equally long since I've shared some of my favorite things. I recently discovered Reese's Puffs cereal for the first time in my life and wow. I can't stop with it. It is my new addiction and I think I've bought like, three boxes of it in the last month.

Also, as of Wednesday, I completed my first ever viewing of Avatar: The Last Airbender. This has been my sister's favorite show for years, and much like she did with the Harry Potter books, she persisted in wearing me down until I gave in. My husband got the series for Christmas and I agreed to watch it with him. 

And I dig it. I should just follow all my sister's advice from now on. (Don't tell her I said that.)

Other favorites lately:

-puppy snuggles

-roaring fires on cold days

-listening to the wind in the trees

-having a dedicated library room

-Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy every night because our antenna picks it up clear as a bell now

These are some of the books I'll be recapping in the upcoming weeks so be on the lookout for those. (And yes, this photo was taken in our new home library. Be still my heart.)

What's been going on in your life lately? Have you discovered any new favorite things that are making you happy or keeping you sane? And why hasn't anyone told me about Reese's Puffs cereal?!

As always, feel free to leave me a comment, contact me via the "Contact Me" form on the righthand side of the screen, or respond to this e-mail if it showed up in your Inbox. I'd love to hear from you!

Easter Sunday 2021