I'll be honest - I've been struggling to get back into the swing of things. I don't typically do currently posts and I'm not a fan when people vaguely mention personal issues, but I'm going to disappoint myself and do both of those things (feel free to skip this post if those things irk you - I won't blame you one bit).
Something happened that hurt me very badly. It was less than a week after I'd gotten back from Australia, 4 days after moving into our new home, and 2 days before I started my new work schedule. Even with all those amazing things in my life, it's been a huge challenge to shake myself out of it.
But 3 weeks in I'm finally succeeding, and managing to enjoy life again and move forward (if you're curious, feel free to ask - I've already talked to a couple people about it). I feel like the moment has kind of passed to do a trip recap or a "wow, we have a new house" announcement, so Kristen's What's New with You? linkup seemed like the perfect way to sum up all the changes that have been happening.
I did a wildlife post shortly after returning (although I'll admit to writing it before I even left), but I never talked about the trip. It was mostly good! It was nice and relaxing to travel somewhere where communication wasn't a problem (unlike Europe where we were heavily reliant on our guidebook for basic communication). We drove on the left, zorbed, saw Hobbiton and New Years Eve fireworks in Sydney, held koalas, snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, and ate SO MUCH FOOD. We also spent too much time together, bickered, and made my aunt cry (by accident!). But despite those ups and downs, we managed to get a lot out of the experience and we had our first ever sister heart-to-hearts about feelings and how to get along better, which is kind of a huge milestone for us! So I have no regrets.
If you want to read more about the good stuff, we documented it on this Tumblr blog: wellsbellestravels.tumblr.com. I also just revealed the not-so-secret identities of my sisters, but the whole "Sister2," "Sister3" thing is more because it's easier to know who I'm talking about in relation to myself if you haven't happened to read previous family posts than for any sort of anonymity. Side note: Tumblr is the worst!
Ryan, Roommate and I moved in the day I got back from Australia. Yep, you heard that right. Ryan picked me up from the airport, and we hustled around getting things ready for our awesome crew of movers who was scheduled to arrive 2 hours after I did. Thank goodness for the pit stop in San Francisco between international and cross country flights or I might not have made it (we stayed at Sister3's apartment for 12 hours and got food and a solid nap).
It's a townhouse, but about twice the square footage of what we had, so our living room and computer room furniture all fits in the basement and our main floor is so empty is echoes a bit (the hard floor doesn't help). It's absolutely gorgeous, and the seller had put in lots of little details that we love (came with curtains, and all the hardware is antique-y looking, which matches all our stuff).
It took a little while to feel like home, but now that we're finished unpacking and moving on to decorating and hanging I am so in love with this place. We have plants (which I may or may not be able to keep alive), our stuff is on the walls, and I get to paint, which is a first since we've always rented. Currently in the process of figuring out how to acquire a glaze paint for a marbling effect if anyone has knowledge in this area! (Evidently Sherwin Williams stopped carrying it a couple years ago.)
This year got off to a pretty rocky start, but I'm starting to find the good in that situation and I'm doing my best to embrace healing and growth. I'm happy again. Mostly. And it's going to keep getting better. I know that and I continue to work towards that. Back to the usual programming next week.
Something happened that hurt me very badly. It was less than a week after I'd gotten back from Australia, 4 days after moving into our new home, and 2 days before I started my new work schedule. Even with all those amazing things in my life, it's been a huge challenge to shake myself out of it.
But 3 weeks in I'm finally succeeding, and managing to enjoy life again and move forward (if you're curious, feel free to ask - I've already talked to a couple people about it). I feel like the moment has kind of passed to do a trip recap or a "wow, we have a new house" announcement, so Kristen's What's New with You? linkup seemed like the perfect way to sum up all the changes that have been happening.
What's New?
We Traveled Down Under and Nothing Tried to Kill Us
I did a wildlife post shortly after returning (although I'll admit to writing it before I even left), but I never talked about the trip. It was mostly good! It was nice and relaxing to travel somewhere where communication wasn't a problem (unlike Europe where we were heavily reliant on our guidebook for basic communication). We drove on the left, zorbed, saw Hobbiton and New Years Eve fireworks in Sydney, held koalas, snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, and ate SO MUCH FOOD. We also spent too much time together, bickered, and made my aunt cry (by accident!). But despite those ups and downs, we managed to get a lot out of the experience and we had our first ever sister heart-to-hearts about feelings and how to get along better, which is kind of a huge milestone for us! So I have no regrets.
If you want to read more about the good stuff, we documented it on this Tumblr blog: wellsbellestravels.tumblr.com. I also just revealed the not-so-secret identities of my sisters, but the whole "Sister2," "Sister3" thing is more because it's easier to know who I'm talking about in relation to myself if you haven't happened to read previous family posts than for any sort of anonymity. Side note: Tumblr is the worst!
We Bought a House
Ryan, Roommate and I moved in the day I got back from Australia. Yep, you heard that right. Ryan picked me up from the airport, and we hustled around getting things ready for our awesome crew of movers who was scheduled to arrive 2 hours after I did. Thank goodness for the pit stop in San Francisco between international and cross country flights or I might not have made it (we stayed at Sister3's apartment for 12 hours and got food and a solid nap).
It's a townhouse, but about twice the square footage of what we had, so our living room and computer room furniture all fits in the basement and our main floor is so empty is echoes a bit (the hard floor doesn't help). It's absolutely gorgeous, and the seller had put in lots of little details that we love (came with curtains, and all the hardware is antique-y looking, which matches all our stuff).
It took a little while to feel like home, but now that we're finished unpacking and moving on to decorating and hanging I am so in love with this place. We have plants (which I may or may not be able to keep alive), our stuff is on the walls, and I get to paint, which is a first since we've always rented. Currently in the process of figuring out how to acquire a glaze paint for a marbling effect if anyone has knowledge in this area! (Evidently Sherwin Williams stopped carrying it a couple years ago.)
My Work Schedule is Kickass!
I go in to my old job on Mondays and Tuesdays. They were awesome and moved the ping pong table away from my desk, so with the reduced hours and that distraction removed, there is nothing to annoy me or dishearten me when I'm there. The rest of the time I'm basically on call for whenever my clients or contract employer needs me. I'm a contractor, freelancer, and employee all at once and I love it. I get so much variety in my work and just enough stability that I don't have to stress about how to pay the bills.That's It
That's all the big stuff. The rest is the stuff of standard "currently" posts: reading the Mortal Instruments series (and missing my neighbor, who got me started and then moved back to NY), starting my 3rd class towards a Masters degree in Web Design, staying up too late because I procrastinated on my DE Fun-a-Day project and I had to do most of the project in 2 days instead of 31, researching a new puppy friend for Luke, and ogling all the beautiful home décor you can imagine. (We just bought this painting, tell me that's not amazing!)This year got off to a pretty rocky start, but I'm starting to find the good in that situation and I'm doing my best to embrace healing and growth. I'm happy again. Mostly. And it's going to keep getting better. I know that and I continue to work towards that. Back to the usual programming next week.
What have you been up to this year? How do you handle it when private life interferes with blogging?
The link up is with Kristen and Gretchen (I'm not actually linking up because of all the annoyingly vague personal stuff, but I like the idea a lot so I figured I'd share it with you guys!)
