Apparently it has been about FOUR months since I last posted anything. To be honest, I planned on writing like once a week but then the overload of stress/Covid-sadness/huge life changes/general keeping-my-family-going motor and I never got around to it. I have been so busy in my head and inside my body for the last four months that sitting at a computer typing about what is going on seemed silly.

But.

I really love to write and so much has happened that I haven’t fully documented. Last night I decided it was time to say “Hello!” again. So HELLO again!

First things first.

We (and when I say we I specifically mean me and Sam) decided back in mid-April to make a huge shift for our family. We decided to move to Auburn, California. There will be a lengthy post on that whole decision/process following soon but basically we thought/researched/visited/prayed/discussed at length as a family and at the end of July closed on a truly beautiful property in Auburn. We move next week. We are so so so excited. This move represents a giant shift for our entire family and we are not naive to think it will be smooth sailing. But our team is doing it!

Also.

Covid-19 is the worst. Still here, still wreaking havoc, still taking any thoughts/plans we may have had for 2020 and upending them completely. More on that later.

Also also.

All school for my four kids will start the year distance learning which is just a fancy way to say that these kids are going to sit and stare at computer screens for months. Ugh. I hate it all. I can’t even pretend to be ok with it anymore. My senior in high school is watching his upcoming year veer completely off the course he thought it would be on. My two new 6th graders will start middle school behind screens. Maybe that’s actually not the worst thing (perhaps less interaction with kids ages 11-13 in middle school is a GOOD thing…). But still. I feel the wind come out of our sails daily when we think or talk about school. Ugh again.

Also.

Last month after 15 years of health problems related to multiple strokes, my father in law passed away. He was 85. He passed on July 4th and even though we knew it was coming it was still heavy and emotional. There is no escaping the emotions of losing a parent. This was new territory for our family to navigate. At the exact same time, my mother in law was surprisingly diagnosed with colon cancer and had surgery to remove a large section of her intestine. So that was also heavy and worrisome. I’m happy to report she is cancer free and on the road to recovery. July was a little rough.

Also.

We put our current house on the market at the end of June once our offer was accepted on our new place and living in continual readiness for showings wore thin quickly. We hope it sells soon. I am partially looking forward to our move next week so that I never have to pack things up for showings again…for a long long time.

Our kids have navigated breakups, friend drama, disappointment, elation, worry, unemployment and everything else under the Covid sun. Sam and I have taken more walks together in the last five months of quarantine than in our whole marriage of 22+ years. We have walked and talked and planned and vented. Walking has really helped. I have felt more tired than I can ever remember over the last five months. The only other time I d remember being this tired was when I had newborns. Stress does the strangest stuff to our bodies and brains, right? And then when I sleep, I sleep fitfully or am wide awake in the middle of the night. I think once we settle in our new home some of the sleep strangeness will disappear. Please cross your fingers for me that it will. Seriously.

I have felt my testimony of my Savior grow and my reliance on prayer and faith increase because it has had to! And that is a really good thing. I feel closer to my Heavenly Father than ever before. Thank goodness.

It has been a full and heavy five months of quarantine. We measure time now Before Quarantine and After Quarantine. We all thought this pandemic life would last a few weeks, a month tops. Here we are deep in it many months later and there is no end in site. At all.

But.

I am really hopeful and excited about moving. It is a fresh start for all six of us and that makes us happy. We have been in the Bay Area for 16 years! This change feels right and timely and big and all of the emotions you can imagine. I can’t wait to show you our new home as it unfolds. More to come.

And Hello again!