Life Update: Traveling, Resting, and Beginning a New Season

I had grand aspirations after graduation to really amp up my blog and write more...but...ya know...life happened and I decided to take this past month off from basically everything. Andrew and I didn't work or do anything super strenuous...we just relaxed and IT WAS THE BEST.

Andrew and I ended up chilling at my parents' house for a week after graduation to just get away from campus and spend some uninterrupted time with family. His parents were still in town several days after grad, and it was nice to relax and have no agendas or tasks to complete.

We did, however, do some very important grownup things like look at apartments (...so many apartments...) and we were so excited to find a place!! It's only five minutes from my parents house and central to where we will both be working! We love it.

The first weekend of May, we went to one of Andrew's friend's wedding in Arkansas. It was beautiful!

We stayed with my relatives and were able to visit with them a bit, too, which was really special.

Funny story, though...on our way to Arkansas (we were literally ten minutes away from our destination) one of our car's brakes broke and were stranded on the side of the road. For a couple minutes, we were not sure what to do and honestly had no idea what was wrong with our car. A super nice guy named Brian pulled over (I swear, he came out of no where!) and offered to go grab his tools to help us fix our break. We were amazed at his generosity and told him we could use any help we could get. He came back ten minutes later and found out one of the bolts that held the brake in place was missing! He took us to an Ace Hardware and helped us pick up the right bolt and then repaired our brake for free (we did give him something for his time, but he took it reluctantly). He was definitely a blessing sent by God--we were so grateful!

We spent the next couple of weeks at our apartment at school and began to pack and get ready to move. Andrew's brother, Daniel, came to visit for a week and it was so good to spend time with him. We hadn't seen him since Christmas and we missed him!

When the time came to actually move out of our apartment, it was bittersweet. That apartment was our first place...a sanctuary and resting place during our time in school...but we also knew it was time to move on to a new season with new joys and rough patches. As we packed up, the apartment began to feel less and less like a home and it made me more excited to create a new home somewhere else. Our apartment now is smaller (one bedroom instead of two), but it's perfect. It's OUR place. A place we hope to fill with many memories, new friends, old friends, family, and (hopefully) a cat. (:

When we moved, we had the help of my wonderful dad and brother, Scott. I'm SO glad they were there to help us because I was not strong enough to lift our mattress and dining room table. And, we were blessed when we moved into our new apartment to have the help of two friends and my dad. <3

The day after we moved into our new apartment, we left for NY with my family to go to my cousin's wedding and to visit my grandparents. Andrew hadn't seen my grandparents in three years! The last time he was with them, we had only been dating for eight months...so much has changed since then. It was also fun to celebrate my cousin's wedding and catch up with some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins, too!

Here are some of my favorite shots from our trip to upstate, NY.

I know..I only took THREE pictures of food..WHO AM I??? (:

This past week, we began our first week of actual adulting. Like..figuring out financial stuff, job schedules, etc. It's nerve-wracking, but also super exciting. I love heading into this adventure and unknown with Andrew because I feel so sure that we are not alone in this new season. We have the steadfast and faithful love, assurance, and peace from God, and encouraging friends and family nearby and far away. We are so blessed!