Finally!

So I just want you to know...I just now at 9:47pm put my feet up to unwind from my work day. Deep breaths all around. I am spent! Needless to say, we're back into the swing of things in full force, contributing to society by way of employment. No longer enjoying funemployment in which I woke up when I pleased and had no regard to what day of the week that it actually was. Monday was the same as Friday as the same as hump day as the same as Saturday. You get the picture. And if you're having trouble visualizing it, it doesn't really matter because my life no longer looks like that anyways! :)


So, jobs are keeping us busy, but we love 'em and are glad to have 'em. Andddd - we're finally moved back to Greenville! In a cute little upstairs unit of an old house in the North Main area of downtown. I'm still unpacking and decorating, but I'll get some pictures soon to share. Sully is adjusting well as the lucky stay-at-home component of our little family. He gets taken for a run just about every day since we no longer reside on the edge of the ghetto, so he's loving that. And we're getting plugged back into our church and Bible studies and our amazingly awesome group of friends and each other. That calls for a lot of happiness. 


And we ARE really happy! You know, life speeds up into a whole other gear sometimes and things are always changing. I read a quote just recently that says, stop in your tracks and love where you are. How profound! In hindsight of our traveling sabbatical, I believe my pause from my little strategic, uninspired path in life helped me discover a healthy balance of remaining aware of where it is I believe I am headed at any certain time but also taking the notion to enjoy where each moment has me. Which may be being new at my job, unsettled in a new house, busier than I've been in a long time, with less money in the bank, not yet buying or building or renovating a house like many of our friends, back a little farther away from my dear family. Its a balance I've really struggled with before, but is no longer such an overwhelming theme in my life. Gloriousness that is. 


And speaking of time flying by - our TWO year anniversary is coming up in 5 little old days. Happiness and loving where you are and enjoying where each moment has me - all of that applies. I ADORE being married to my husband, I just love him to pieces! What a blessing to have such a true constant! He's just the best there ever was and I'm so looking forward to celebrating together this weekend! 


Actually, I do believe I am feeling quite unwound and will promptly go snuggle up with said husband right now. :)

So, remember when I said...

So about those stars aligning. The wonderful joke of a commute Mike had mapped out from that cute little house with the cute little yard we found shan't be a-happenin'. We made an appointment to look at the inside of the house today after work and what looked like gleaming perfection through slits between the blinds turned out to not meet our expectations. Not for the price. We may have had the cart before the horse a bit. So back to the drawing board we go. But I've got a good approach going though. That worry-free, faithful, patient, skip-the-frenzy attitude. So the correction's been made, poor form blogging too soon. So here's to a somewhat lame Friday night perusing rental properties online.  

And the whirlwind continues!

I'm tellin' ya, an absolute whirlwind! And for all the real deal grown-ups out there you know just what I'm talking about! I am officially up to my ears in responsibility, thus my previous idle hours of accounting for my incredibly freedom filled life on this here blog have come to a screeching halt. Screeeeeeeeecccchhhhh. 


So official its scary. Rewind back, so I got that job right?! A week after we got back from our amazing trip, right?! And I've been cross-eyed busy ever since, right?! Right. Things have built up to their sure and steady pace for me and I'm still in the treading water phase, but getting more comfortable, gaining more confidence every day. So while I'm bouncing around from facility to facility each day fulfilling their every nutritional need, I would have to say its quite fulfilling to scribble my little ole Kayla Anderson, RD, LD/LDN at the end of my recommendations, knowing I'm the expert they're entrusting with the care of their patients. Not patients, residents - there are no nursing home patients! Day 1 people. Anywho, so I'm still learning, but I kinda love my job. Adjustment - yes. Full throttle - yes. More demanding than my previously nomadic life - yes, yes, yes. But hey, that's what I've got on my new big girl panties for :) 


Now, other big news. Drumrolllllllll...Mike pretty much got HIS dream job a few weeks ago, in Greenville, 9 measly minutes from our soon-to-be new house! That's a lot at once, I know. He's learning the ropes at the Bobcat Dealership of Greenville, grooming up to be their jack-of-all-trades, go-to man until he can figure out which path he wants to take - sales or management. And after much searching in the midst of our new schedules, we found a cute little rental house with a yard in a wonderful, residential area of downtown close to all of our friends and our church which are our very favorite aspects of Greenville. We are stretching our budget a bit, but we're so excited to fix the things we didn't enjoy about our last go-around in Greenville that we stuck to our guns with our criteria and found what we think will be our best option. And I'll be so glad to have Sully Bean back with us, I can hardly stand not coming home to him everyday! So while, as always, a good hefty chunk of our hearts are so sad to leave an inch away from home and being close to our family and friends there, stars are aligning the best they possibly could. 


We're so deeply grateful for how things fall into place. We've had so many blessings just through this time of transition alone - at the top of the list is OD and Cat and all of their sweet, hospitality. Their open arms have been so special to us. And my new boss is a real peach, so fun to get to know and great to work with. And Mike is so much happier with his hours and general workload - its nothing like the soul-signing he did before. So we're full-fledged baby adults and through all of these little life phases, I think if I could just learn to skip the frantic, worried, unfaithful frenzy when things are uncertain I would say a whole lot more for my ever-faithful Father. Must do better. 


So lots on our plate, lots going on, but it'll be so nice to get moved into a new house near our jobs, get more comfortable with our new responsibilities and settle into the swing of things. A little different from the swing of my hammock, but I'll be sure to make time for that too.


And what fun to nest into a new house with all of these creative juices flowing with new ideas from Pinterest. 


Some things off my list to create...

I know, with what free time right? :)

What a whirlwind!

So we're back! Back home! After such a trip it feels amazing to be back in familiarity with no use for maps or our GPS or campgrounds or trail mix. Forreal. And to be back with our family and friends that make home home - that's what they'd call icing on the cake. Delish! 


Now I swore I'd sleep a whole week when we returned, but if our trip taught me a single thing it is that things hardly go as planned. And oh so rarely is that little life truth proven wrong. 


So to catch you up...our way home was supposed to be filled with visiting a bunch of friends right?! And a big final bash in DC right?! Welllll, about that. So to start off, we spent some great quality time with my cousin Laura and her man, Bob in Columbia, MO where we were treated to dinner and loads of unbelievable hospitality. Laura and I stayed up late chatting and catching up, giggling over old family photo albums and what everyone in the family is up to now. We just appreciate them so much, they're always up for a visit for the books! From there it was off to another staple stop for us, to see Shawty in St. Louis. And bless her, she and her great boyfriend, Nick were quite the host and hostess with the mostest for three whole days! She filled our days with a perfect blend of fun and relaxation - some 24 marathons, homemade dinners, bookstores, downtown strolls and a oh-so-fun trip to St. Louis' awesome city museum! Seriously, in you're ever in the area, ya just gotta go! Its like a huge, creative, recycled playground!

And the fun continues for 10 stories, all the way up to the roof! So after a bittersweet goodbye to Shaw, who I wouldn't mind hanging with everyday, we headed to another set of camp friends that I would love to live closer to - Julie and Jeremy. The hospitality just kept right on going. We kicked off with a homemade spaghetti dinner and a perfect, lazy night on the couch. Did I mention I missed some good couch time while we were gone? The next day the workers had to work while the bums had to bum (tis our duty) and that we did. But most importantly, I did spend time on the phone with Katie and Harper to get plans situated for DC. After some back and forth and rearranging, and wonderfully appreciated flexibility on their part, we settled on a plan. Mike and I were siked to see them! We ran to the grocery store to get stuff to barbecue ribs and bake sweet potato fries for dinner for the Julie and Jeremy, earn our keep you know. Repay our sweet friends for being so dear to us. Dinner was well on its way when they got home and we kept adding delicious goodness to our menu and wound up with a feast. It was oh so good! All seems according to plan so far right?! Well we go to check on Sully outside on the back patio shortly after dinner and dun. dun. dun. Sully had thrown up everywhere and we instantly figured out he'd gotten skunked. As in sprayed by a skunk. My poor, pitiful, sweeter than sweet boy! We washed him twice with every tomato juice product Julie had in her kitchen. It knocked the edge off to odor, but not enough. We set up a fan and had Sully sleep his stink off in the garage, and went to bed assuming it would be gone in the morning. Or a the very least bearable. What was that thing about life not going as planned again?! Yeah, in the morning it was worse! We could hardly stand to ride in the car with poor Sully, much less take him to people's homes while we visit in DC. Soooo we made the decision to head on home, although disappointed not to get to follow through with our plans with Katie and Harper in DC! Bummer, but what could we really do at that point? Thankfully, they understood our situation and it'll just make our eventual visit that much sweeter! 


So, a bit on the unplanned side but, nonetheless, we made the trip home on July 14th. And after a month and a half away, we hit the ground running. First on the agenda. Jobs. C'mon, have you seen our bank account?! It looks like we've been traveling for a month and a half. Imagine that. We splurged and had ourselves a weekend filled with catching up with family and friends (like my best guy friend that moved to Michigan that I miss so very much, and my BFF that insists on becoming a vet so has to spend her time in Auburn learning and junk) and going up to our high school hangout spot at Wilhite's mountain cabin on Crystal Lake. Such a great time catching up with friends from high school. Yes, please. And later we visited another old tried and true hangout - TTT's in downtown dear old Clemson for Meg's (that soon-to-be vet I was telling you about) 24th birthday. 

We can't quite kick it like we used to. :) Anyways, the following Monday I contacted a lady, such a sweet lady, that owns a RD consulting company out of Greenville and went for my interview just yesterday. It went really, really well. Like I'm in, but may have to do with more part-time work until she has more for me to do. That part's a bummer because we can't really pick up and move from our graciously free basement dwelling to our own place in Greenville with one part-time job between the both of us. Not that home isn't our first choice, but we gotta go where the work is. And we'd like a place (a house with a yard for Sully) that we can plant ourselves for a while, and the certainty that Mike can find a job there that he enjoys. He actually impromptu interviewed with an equipment dealership the same day I did. Lloyd was amazing and brought him a set of nice clothes all the way from home so he didn't have to take advantage of the employers free time in the shorts and sandals he initially rode to Greenville wearing. Bless him! Although no effort was in vain, the opportunity they proposed doesn't feel like what we're looking for. Mike was just too overqualified. We'll just keep pumping out his resume and sifting through the nibbles. So, really, even when you get downright serious about planning things they don't quite always go as planned. 


But as Mark Twain says, "Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is." Highly applicable to life at the moment. Which is beautifully uncertain. And we thought the adventure was over! :)

Homeward Bound!!!

Sittin' here on the eve of our eastward trek back to HOME.SWEET.HOME, Mike and I have done some reflecting. Oh how we've missed our families and friends and the sweet, comfortable, easy kind of summer that goes along with living life in our neck of the woods. But we've certainly had ourselves the adventure we set out to have. From Great Sands to the Tetons there's been ups and downs, we'll make no bones about that, but we've lived. Lived a smidge of the dream we dreamt. Amen and Amen!


Fortunately the dream's not over just yet. We're stretching our homeward bound to accommodate 8 glorious days of visiting with precious friends and family! The lineup - Columbia, Missouri to visit and catch up with my cousin Laura, St. Louis to have such a sweet reunion with my dear camp friend Shaw, Kentucky to potentially crash on the lake with my BFF Meg and her boyfriend Dan, Nashville to stay and play in the brand spankin' new home of more dear camp friends, Julie and Jeremy Spencer, then finally up to Washington DC to reunite with my long lost Hokie, Katie freakin' Horner and to pay a solid visit my cousin, Harper, whom me and South Carolina miss so much! I CANNOT WAIT!!! No lie, we've seen some beautiful places, but seeing people is my absolute favorite and I'm so thankful to cap off our trip with such a special lineup. 


But with the entirety of Kansas as our foe tomorrow, I truly need to get to sleep. Seriously, Kansas could burn. Am I right Megan and Mike Martin, Chris Ward, am I right?! But in honor of reflection I'll collect some of my favorite memories of our trip, although I know with such special people to visit there will be many more to collect.

Feeling so small on top of the dunes at Great Sands

Catching it just right for a night on the town in Ouray during a local food festival

Hiking with my two favorite boys

Being joined by Ben and changing up some scenery to the red rocks of Utah

Getting to photograph some of America's most photographed places for myself

Climbing my first 14er and getting to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day from the top of a mountain

Not that I liked the truck breaking down, but we did learn to roll with the punches

Auto-touring through Rocky Mountain NP

Besides the 5 star meal at Chico Hot Springs (thank you Bonnie!) and our post-14er meal at Outback (thank you Shellee!) the Mountain Buzz was our best meal of the trip

Our lazy day on the South Platte River near Denver

Exploring the winter wonderland that was the Beartooth Highway

Staying busy or not so busy at Chico

Seeing the double rainbow in the West Thumb of Yellowstone

Mike getting to fly fish in the premier Gibbon River

Getting to see all the wildlife, but especially the Mama Grizzly and her cubs (from a safe distance!)

Having Sully Bink with us every step of the way

Hiking with the family in the Tetons

Getting to play around and try out some bouldering at Enclosure in Jackson Hole - very cool! 

Watching the sunset over the Tetons from Shadow Valley Road on the 4th of July per recommendation of a local

Sharing this adventure with the love of my life!

Hiking to Leigh Lake in Teton NP - hands down the place I would take home with me if I could!

"Happy are those who dream dreams and are willing to make them come true."

The new mix!

Things have livened up here on the road trip, as the Anderson clan has finally joined us! We're so excited to have them here with us and are so blessed to call such a special bunch family! We've been catching up and jumping right into vacation mode - so far all along the wintery Beartooth Highway and while relaxing at Chico Hot Springs. And lots and lots and lots of laughing has commenced, in true Anderson form. Michael and I are just so very thankful to kick off the tail end of our trip with them!


Photo dump:

Don't you worry South Carolina, we are coming back to you!