Life Update: March & April

Hi Friends! It’s been a while since we chatted, so I figured I should update you on what’s happening behind the blog! Prepare for a ramble! (Note: I actually started writing this post on March 17… and then again on April 2. Oops). 

The meeting that I had at the beginning of March went well… it was actually my interview for my district minister’s license. So, starting in April, you can officially call me Pastor! After getting my district license, I’ll have so many years to complete my classes and work as a pastor until I move toward ordination. It’s so crazy to think about how I ended up here. If you had told me even two years ago that I would be taking this path, the path of full-time ministry,  I probably would have laughed in your face.

Speaking of which, I cannot believe that I have been at my job for a year (it was a year on March 18). If I am being completely honest, this is definitely the most difficult job I have ever had, but I know that it is exactly where I am supposed to be. That week was really bittersweet because it was also a year since we lost Pastor D. Looking back over the last 12 months is a bit overwhelming. There has been so much change! Some of it has been really hard and some of it has been incredible…either way, God is in control.

I have not had a lot of time to just sit down and reflect on all of this until recently. Yes, we are still grieving this loss, but God has been so faithful to us! He has revealed Himself, even in the midst of tragic circumstances. I cannot even wrap my head around how much He has carried me through in the last year. Even in the moments of doubt (and there have been a few!), He shows up.

So, though it was a tough first year, I have also been very blessed. The song It Is Well has come up so many times throughout this year and our lead pastor mentioned it in her sermon on the 20 (which was the anniversary of D’s death). Not gonna lie, I had a few “moments” on that Sunday.

In other news, Farmer Ben and I took a vacation a couple of weeks ago and it was awesome. We got to spend time with the family, including this cute little lady!

She looks so much like my sister it’s crazy! (And said sister would kill me if she knew I posted this. Ha!)

We also drove around the finger lakes, ate way too much and I did something a little wild (for me)….

I got my nose pierced! My sister and I decided to do it together. She even caught my blood, that’s a good sister! Bahaha!

I also got to show Ben the sites and all of the places I hung out as a kid, including the ice skating rink. I have so many amazing memories there! We didn’t have much time to actually go skating because of the hockey schedule, but it was nice to show Ben some of my past.

Side note: I JUST now noticed the hockey player falling in the background! 

In other news, we moved! We were renting a cute little house just outside of town but we just moved into a house that’s about 1/2 mile from the church. Not gonna lie, I will definitely miss our sunny little kitchen in the mini-house.

We are currently in the midst of finishing up renovations/painting/cleaning but we have all of our belongings in one place now and even have a lot of them unpacked!

While I am a little sad to be leaving our old place, it was the perfect time to move on. I loved our mini-house but it was just a hair too small and we were starting to feel it (note to self: one closet for two people is rough!). I am most excited about having an office and a guest room. I am on the hunt for the perfect desk.

This month has been full of lots of fun things besides the move. I was very excited when I got to spend a few hours with some of my favorite people from high school. Two of them were in town visiting so we randomly got together for lunch and coffee.

Ben and I also spent some time at our friends’ maple farm to help them out with an event and eat copious amounts of maple syrup/drink lots of sap water coffee. It was rough. We even got to go for a ride!

In other news, I started doing an online bootcamp with Erica House. We are doing a carb-cycling program, complete with workouts. So far, I am really loving it, especially the accountability. With my schedule, it is all too easy for me to put off doing a workout, so this is great motivation.

I’ve followed Erica’s blog for a long time so when she opened up the program I knew it would be a great fit for me! She even sent each person a sweet journal and water bottle.

I’m a week into it and so far I am feeling pretty good. It definitely doesn’t feel like a diet and I am loving the motivation to get out and get some exercise!

Phew! I think that’s pretty much it! So, long story short, Farmer Ben and I have been busy!

What have all of you been up to? Any big weekend plans? Most exciting thing that’s happened in the last month? 

I have an event tomorrow and then hopefully I’ll have some time to unpack/clean/paint. Very exciting, I know!

Happy Friday!

 

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