Can we just take a hot moment to breathe?! My goodness, has 2024 been one of the roughest years of our lives...short summary, with longer explanations following...
A summary of 2024:
-February - I had a miscarriage at 13 weeks (baby was 9w3d)
-Under contract with a house local-ish to us in Fl late spring...
-We stopped going to our local Lutheran church we really liked, and started attending an Anglican church. (we loved BOTH churches but the Anglican suited our needs a little better, and we agree on Anglican theology a touch more)
-June - in county house falls through - too many huge $$$ repairs
-July - get job offer for job in NC, under contract with house in NC
-August - my husband is hit by red-light runner, our beautiful car(VW Atlas, with all the bells and whistles) is totaled, can't get a new loan because of the pending mortgage - my parents help us enormously by securing for us, another vehicle.
-September - we move to NC with enormous help from our friends and family, I start my new job
-October - we lose internet for a solid month (make sure you read the craziness on that month below!)
-December - our Florida-for-Christmas plans get cancelled, but we have a lovely Christmas in our new home nontheless.
I will elaborate a bit...
My February miscarriage was absolutely devastating - we were so excited for that baby - we named it Carwen Bay. While we don't know what caused the loss, low progesterone is a possibility. I had it on my radar that if I ever get pregnant again, we would get tested immediately for that and closely monitor it. Tuck that knowledge away for a bit. (I also give away all of our baby and maternity stuff in our future move-so much sadness linked with those items and very little hope of using them again)
We really liked this one house in the north end of the county - it had so much potential and needed a lot of work - but when all was said and done, we simply didn't have the hundred grand it needed, and we'd have no equity in the home for many years at the price they were asking. We had to let it go... (termites, roof, AC, etc etc...awful!)
We really liked our local Lutheran church(New Hope Lutheran on Hollywood for the Fl locals) - far more traditional service, we liked all the traditions they observed, the pastor and his wife were amazing. The families there were so kind. Our main qualm was that there was no childcare- Edmund being a handful, and me still in my grief, it was just very stressful for us to attend and keep Edmund even remotely respectable. We had Anglican, as a denomination, on our radar for quite some time - think C.S. Lewis...My husband and I love many of his books, and also several other Anglican theologians that he had been reading, so we gave it a whirl(Prince of Peace Anglican in Viera, on Murell near the zoo. Love them! They even sent all three kiddos their own card after we moved here to NC!) - they had childcare for kiddos Edmund's age, as well as children's church for the older kids. They were ALSO super nice, though a bit further of a drive, and we came to really appreciate the Anglican way. There's lots of scripture reading as a congregation, communion every Sunday, lots of singing, but not at all a show, and they stay out of the political sphere as they pray for peace. We have found an Anglican church near-ish to us here in NC(the church is actually in SC!) and love it just as much. Our priest and his wife are wonderful, very welcoming and family friendly, and has a nursery ;) If you are dissatisfied with the modernity and showmanship(and politics, and SIZE) of the modern style churches, highly recommend finding a Lutheran or Anglican church - we have been so thankful for both.
June-Sept- Frustrated with our never ending house search, I broadened the search to other states...and looked for jobs in those states. I was offered two of the four jobs I had interviews with, as well as an offer to be a sub at the one job, should I still end up in that area. So house hunts began, as well as looking into the laws and taxes, etc. of these other states. We landed in North Carolina - 8 hours from Florida, good train and highway access to Fl or the NE US -where I'm originally from, cooler weather, but not harsh...shorter summers, longer fall and spring...we found ourselves about an acre and a half of semi-cleared woods, big fixer upper, with a great basement for Daniel's office and game room, big bedrooms for the kids, and lots of wildlife! We cannot thank our friends and family enough for the *enormous* effort they all played in this move. We literally have some of the best people in our lives, and we couldn't be more thankful for them....it's a totally selfless thing to help friends move far away from you, and so so many of our friends did so, with a smile on their faces, tears in their eyes, and so much care for our family and our things. Dearest friends, and family, you know who you are, and we cannot thank you all enough.
October was a hard month with no internet....
-We were still so very new to the area, relying on maps and google searches for darn near everything. We weren't established with our new church yet, we knew next to nothing about our immediate and distant areas....Daniel works from home, via THE INTERNET, so he and all the kids often came with me to work. God bless my boss! and Daniel used an empty classroom or workspace to get his work done more often than not.
-Everything that could go wrong, does so, with our property in Florida- the hot water heater leaked, causing drywall damage as well as needing a new hot water heater, and our tenants destroyed our garden with no recompense. Hopefully in due time, if nothing progresses soon, we will be in small claims court with them for damages. So we we bleeding money on that property up until this December....fun times.
-In the middle of all of this....I find myself pregnant - quite literally magically. I was well outside of my "window" (if you know, you know)...I do not have any midwives' phone number or any crunchy mom friends, with a very pressing need to get tested for progesterone levels immediately! Thank goodness there were a few nights I had reasonable service on my phone - through a bit of begging online strangers to add me to a few fb groups, I found a few midwives, one that I picked <3 We got me tested, we saw my progesterone drop, and then got me on a supplement all in a week and a half's time....I'm so proud to say, I'm 13 weeks pregnant as of the end of December <3 Everything looks really good so far as far as labs, ultrasounds, etc, and should all things continue well, in July, BabyH #6 (fourth living baby) would be welcomed to our family! These are the best announcement photos I could muster under the circumstances... LOL!
And then December rolls on through - we had a nice visit from my parents, our coffee machine that is quite pricey and not quite 4 years old, dies, and we drink a lot of coffee in this house, especially with my parents here(this wasn't a huge deal, but certainly frustrating when money is already so very tight)...and our plans for Christmas fall through. It just didn't make financial sense to travel so far for only a few days - the kids really wanted to stay here and none of us wanted that drive in a car full of presents and clothes and snacks...Our new vehicle is great on gas, low on trunk space....its very hard to fit all five of us in for a few hour trip, let alone 8 hours plus the additional luggage that comes with Christmastime....We are on the hunt for a larger vehicle that can better accommodate our growing family...If you know of any free or low cost vehicles that comfortably seats 6 -2 adults, 4 kiddos (2 in carseats, one in a booster) that also has good trunk space and also good on gas, we're needing a unicorn like that <3 Asking for a miracle LOL! (another VW Atlas would be great - I loved that car!)
So here we are, heading into 2025 with empty wallets, full hearts of happiness, a yard full of wildlife, and so much hopeful uncertainty!
If you made it this far, cheers! You deserve some kind of medal of honor....
I wish nothing but the best for you and your's in this new year!
Becca H.
