Long time, no post.

I'm settled in cozily, laundry running the washer, cup of coffee in my hand. We finally have our own place, Alex has a steady, well-paying job, and I'm quitting mine at the end of the summer. It's a new phase, me as the housewife, him as the provider, and hopefully a family in the near future. Hopefully a plot of land to build a country home in the next five years. And many years of learning to be joyfully content as I fall more in love with my husband and closer to Jesus every day ahead.

I can't express how grateful I've been. Nothing about my life has been what I imagined as a teenager. It is so much more than I could have dreamed.

I plan on getting back into blogging for real soon. I've got homemade recipes to share, pictures to take, fun stuff to chronicle.

Until then!

It's been too long.

No internet in our little camper home has made keeping this updated near impossible, but my laziness is what really did it in. So, for a brief update to whoever cares:

We live in Lenoir City now, still in the RV. About the same distance away from work and town, just in the opposite direction.

I still work at Starbucks, just got promote to a shift supervisor. The biggest blessing is, though, Alex found a job at the Tennessee Farmer's Co-Op, getting his hands dirty and talking farm talk with good ol' country boys, so he is thrilled to be there. He is still technically a temp worker, but is in training for a permanent position. He's making more money than he's ever made, and it looks like God is smiling on us financially. Our goal for the year is to wipe out what small debt we have left ( > $2,000) and build our savings.

Our Jeep Cherokee died, so we just bought a Saturn for me to drive. The Moeller's so generously let us borrow Emily's Bravada so Alex drives that, but we traded the Jeep in for a neat old Ford truck in very good condition, so once he changes the fuel pump and gets it running we'll have two vehicles of our very own. We looked and looked at vehicles but nothing would make Alex happier than a old truck he can tinker with and restore. Another smile from the Lord.

Housing is a different story. A friend of Alex's had told us that we could rent his rental home as soon as he was finished remodeling it, end of January-ish. So, we waited. End of January started to approach so we tried to get a hold of him, no luck. We tried several other times to no avail, so we are still in our little camper. We're keeping our eyes open, have spotted a few possibilities but now that winter is nearly behind us we are in no hurry. God will lead us to the right place at the right time.

It's fast approaching a year since we've lived in the South, and we feel more at home every day that passes. We're excited to see what lies ahead this year.

Wow, it's been a long time. I believe I promised several people in Indiana I'd keep this blog updated, but I have been failing at that lately!

I've been taking a couple of free (unaccredited) writing classes online lately, and I've signed up for a legit one through a real university online! Starbucks and Strayer University apparently have some kind of deal, and us employees have some classes we can sign up for, for free. So, if I like it, I may sign up for couple more next quarter.

My goal is to spend the next six months - one year taking classes and working on my writing skills. After I feel like I'm where I need to be, I plan on starting to submit pieces. I want to be a freelance writer for newspapers and/or magazines. We'll see where this takes me.

As part of my goal to really hone my writing skills, I am going to start blogging regularly again. Telling stories about my days, writing about things I care about, whatever comes to mind. So your feedback is valuable to me.

Anyway, other than that, life has been pretty uneventful around here. I've been working a lot. Alex hasn't been working a lot, but apparently Tremont starts back up in full swing for the fall, so he'll be busy soon. I honestly really enjoy working at Starbucks, some days are better than others, but altogether it's really a great job.

I'm really excited for fall. It's been a bit crisp here a few evenings, and I'm ready for the weather to be like that all the time! Jeans, cardigans, boots, hats and scarves here I come! Not to mention the leaves changing.. I'm so excited to spend fall in the mountains. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some pictures up!

Anyway, that is all for now, everyone. Until next time! 

it's been almost a month since i've last posted... i'm not good with blogging about the day-to-day stuff and my days have been so busy that they seem to run together. it's hard to believe that it's the middle of july. that this year is more than half over. but what a year it has been so far..

i'm really loving living here. i like the simplicity of living without a lot of bills, working on becoming financially free. working at starbucks is fun and rewarding, i really am starting to feel at home.

i'm sitting outside right now, listening to weedeaters, birds, and the road. it's warm, but a breeze is blowing. our a/c is broken, the part comes today to fix it!!! i have about an hour before i want to leave for work. some gentle acoustic music playing..

my birthday is next week. i like being 22, and i don't see 23 being much different. life gets more amazing every year i live it. i'm thankful i get this time here. and don't get me wrong, it's not like i don't have bad days. sometimes i feel like i have more bad days than good ones, but the bad days get easier and the good days far outweigh any of the bad.

good always wins.

even if evil seems to triumph for a while.
even the wise cannot see all ends.

i'm so thankful for alex, too. i couldn't do this without him. he saved me from myself, and life is so much bigger now. more beautiful. the transition from black and white to color, from 2D to 3D.

found this today online. there's a lot of truth in that.

this has been a rambling look into my life, and i'm sorry for any incoherence. i'll try to write again soon. 

Long time, no post, I know. I've started working at Starbucks, and that plus working at The Shire means 50+ hour weeks for me, leaving me a bit drained and short on inspiration! But, I'm starting to get used to the new routine so hopefully I'll be able to keep on top of this a bit more.

So, in recent news...
Our air conditioner is broken. The fan motor needs replaced, we finally found one online that is compatible, now we just need the funds to purchase it! Hopefully that will transpire in the next couple weeks. It's not horrible expensive, but we are going to Indiana next week for my sister-in-laws wedding and want to save what we can for the trip, hopefully fix it when we get back.

Alex is working part-time at Tremont, with my mother, cooking food for the summer camps and such they have there. He is loving working in the National Park and the easy pace and good pay. He is still landscaping for our friends and working at The Shire as well, so he is having some long weeks too!

Today, I took myself out on a lunch date to Panera Bread, which is where I am writing this from. I have to work at 3:30 and didn't really feel like spending the time in the very warm camper, seeing as the high today is supposed to be 91 degrees!

I've not done anything crafty, creative or fun in the kitchen these days! Any baking in the camper is put on hold until the a/c is fixed. Running the oven makes it simply miserable in there. Hopefully soon I can start whipping things up again. I've been dying to make a cinnamon raisin bread.

Anyway, that's all for now folks! I'm gonna finish my salad :)

saw this on tumblr. i tend to feel like that a lot. but, i guess i have to learn to be content and make the most of the life i have.

"When the morning comes

and Your mercy is renewed...

You're still the God who opens seas,

every flower, even me, 

You're all I need"

[bethany dillon]