Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Wow I'm Back!!

Wow I can't believe I got back on here!! I saw someone else on Facebook recently talking about getting back to their blog- on Blogger!- and I thought yikes I should really do that too! I was shocked when I pulled it up to see my last post was dated 2015!

So this is just a quick catch-up post. But I'll be back on here with photos and more good stuff soon. So much has changed since 2015. A lifetime ago! I will try to update and freshen up my page. Most of my little sidebar things are simply outdated info or the links don't work anymore. I'll likely delete most of it. I have two other blogs too, and I will try to get back on those as well. I'm still on our old desktop computer, still using the same office furniture that we've had forever- although we've been through about 3-4 chairs since then. I haven't converted to a laptop yet. Not sure that I ever will?!

Let's see- 2015. James had just taken a new job with his company's corporate office, a job that required 100% travel. He did that until fall of 2019. He traveled full time, left super early Monday mornings for the airport, and came home late on Fridays. At the time we were still living in Georgia, and thankfully very close to the airport in Atlanta. But because James was no longer tied to an office- he just had to have access to an airport- in 2016 we bought a beautiful property in his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. Most of his family still lives there, and after visiting there over the years I wanted to live there too. We hauled all our junk up there ourselves over long weekends, and finally moved in there the next year.

But after all the travel and only being home on weekends, James was ready to come off the road. He accepted another position with his company, but it meant we had to move again. We came here to Elliston, Virginia six months ago. James works in the nearby town of Salem. We have a nice home and yard here, but it doesn't compare to our home in Tennessee, which was gorgeous and private and, well, I won't lie I miss it a great deal. We're back in a "neighborhood" again, with other houses and loud kids in the yard and traffic up and down the road. Not really my dream. But, it allowed James to come off the road and be at home, so that's what matters the most. He still works long long hours every day- usually 12-14 hours and sometimes on the weekends too.

I'm still trying to get my craft stuff organized. Here at this house I am using two small bedrooms with a shared bathroom. I'm still doing the pottery thing, making beads for jewelry. Still on Etsy. Right now my kiln is not hooked up and it won't be until I can get an electrician out here. So in the meantime I'm painting shelves and hanging artwork and just making my workspace "mine" and getting things where I want them. I've been "working" a little- making new beads with clay and just setting them aside until they can get fired. I've glazed some things as well. Just in a holding pattern until the kiln is operational again. We recently opened James' Etsy shop back up- he has an amazing workshop at this house- and he's made a bunch of sales. My shop is still on vacation, until I have some things to list again. But it will be open soon!!

We've had some sad things happen since 2015. My mom passed away in 2016.We lost two of our sweet boys to cancer- General in late 2015 and Romeo in 2019. But we've welcomed new girl kitties Christmas and Pippa into our lives. Pippa is so adorable she even has her own Instagram account!  Senior kitties Spider and Maarten are still with us, though both are slowing down with arthritis and plain ol' old age.

And as always we've taken some fabulous vacations over the last few years. Lots of cruises, a few big road trips, and revisiting some favorite spots. When James was traveling full time, we reaped the rewards and perks with the airlines, hotels, and car rentals. I'll share some of those trips soon. I'm at home full time, so there's not much else to blog about, ha ha. Be back soon!! Stay safe and stay at home.

SANDY

 (Our new house in Virginia)

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