The BIGGEST change I can think of is that we moved TWICE in 2016! That's right - you heard me - TWO TIMES in a year. (By the way, I'm fond of emphasizing words by using all-caps; just so you know, it's not that I'm yelling at you in text form. haha) In March of 2016, we moved from the apartment we'd been living in since we got married (a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment in Auburndale) to a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house in Winter Haven. And we did it all in one weekend, with the help of our families. The house we moved into, funnily enough, had just been vacated by my best friend, Hannah, her husband, and their two dogs, Major and Colonel. The house is owned by Pastor Osborne (the pastor of the church I grew up in - Faith Baptist Church) and his wife. It was a blessing for my husband, myself and our two cats, Jojo & Jeeves (pictured below) to have a place to stretch out in.
After living in the house (and did I mention it was on a LAKE?!) from March - October, we realized God was trying to get our attention about our finances. We were pretty deep in debt (from schooling and other investments into our current jobs), and with a rent payment, we couldn't afford to make the payments needed to get rid of our debt. So we started praying about it, and I asked my mom if we could move in with her until we got our debts squared away. She graciously agreed, and so, at the end of October, we moved (once again in a weekend) from the "Lake House" to my mom's condo, which was a whopping 2 minute drive down the road. haha It has been such a blessing to be with my mom during this season. We did have to make a few adjustments though. The hardest adjustment for me was getting rid of our cats. I probably cried for a week straight after we got rid of them, but thankfully, the woman who took them attends the same church we do, and she's kept me up-to-date with pictures and cute little anecdotes, so I know she's taking good care of them!
The second change I can think of is that Tyler, after having to move between jobs since we got married, is finally established as a mechanic at a full-service gas station and auto shop in Lakeland. It's such a blessing to us to know that we both have consistent income in order to pay off the aforementioned debt ;) Of course, I'm going on three years of being employed as an Office Manager at a tax & financial office in Winter Haven. It's not my dream job/career, but it's a full-time job doing something I'm qualified to do, so right now, I'll take it!
Tyler and I are currently attending Life Church in Auburndale where I serve as the Choir Director and he serves as part-time Bass player/part-time member of the security team. Being involved in the worship team there definitely keeps us active parts of a body of Christ, and it's a good feeling!
I'm still continuing with my hobby of writing; unfortunately, it's taken a backseat for me in light of other commitments on my time. Apart from work and spending time with my husband, I started a healthy eating plan back in mid-October and have lost 30 pounds so far! Below is a before and after photo JUST OF MY FACE! I recently joined a gym, so I'm going to try to become a regular at lifting weights, running on the treadmill, shaking my groove thing in a Zumba class, or whatever I have to do to reach my goal of either (a) losing 80 pounds by the time I turn thirty or (b) dropping 5 dress sizes - whichever comes first.
Well, that's all I can really think of for now. Hope you're all having a great 2017 so far, and if you'd like to learn more about my adventures over time, feel free to look around my blog!
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