Georgia

Hello, Georgia! I’m settling in to life here and wake up each day grateful for the opportunity to make this move.

This move has been on my heart since May, 2019. Austin received orders to Moody Air Force Base mid-May and my heart dropped at the news. He immediately said that he would like me to join him when he moved, which brought mixed feelings. I was flattered but also knew it was early in the relationship for such a big decision. I’d also renewed my teaching contract months before for the upcoming school year. So I decided to spend the next year prayerfully discerning the move.

 Fast forward to now and I’ve made the giant leap. One of my greatest anxieties came from what to do for work. I couldn’t leave my work without some sort of income.

I wasn’t comfortable going into a teaching position without experiencing the culture of the school and knowing it was the right fit for all. My initial plan was to substitute teach for the year. However, the complication of the pandemic and virtual, hybrid, and in-person instruction variables changing frequently, I realized that it was best to set that aside as well. I spent months praying for God to place me where He wanted me. Each day closer to my final paycheck made my anxiety levels rise.

Once again, God came through and proved that He has a plan. I stumbled upon the opportunity to nanny (which I’ve done several times before) for this school year. I’m able to use my experience of teaching preschool and pre-k and love it! The situation has been exactly what I needed. I started working on the day my final paycheck came through from teaching. God is good!

Moving during a pandemic has proven to be a challenge in meeting people and exploring a new city. I have been able to meet a couple women and have at least driven around to see what places I’d like to try out.

So far, the biggest adjustment has been transitioning to a new parish. There is only ONE Catholic church in town and trying to find Catholic young adult events hasn’t been easy. Just this week, I finally stumbled into a Blessed is She women’s group at church. I popped in during the virtual meeting on Thursday and am so thankful to have some sort of parish tie and way of meeting people.

I also had the opportunity to drive with Austin to visit his family in Kentucky over Thanksgiving. He takes leave each November to hunt and see his family. Since we would be distanced from others, we went ahead with the trip. I brought Tucker and Maddie with me and he took Aspen.

The trip was so so good. Though we didn’t get to make all the stops he would have liked due to Covid, the visit exceeded my expectations.

(post in progress)