A few months ago (nearly four, to be exact), my family and I packed up, left our home in Iuka, drove five hours, and moved in with Dennis' parents on the farm. It was a move that we had been planning for quite some time, but that somehow came all of a sudden. For years we had been talking about moving "back home," but we didn't think it would become a reality so soon. And then a job opportunity opened up, and before we knew it, we were packing boxes and putting a sign up in our yard.

Life changes fast, y'all.

I haven't said much, or anything really, about it because it took me a while to process. In case you don't know, I don't handle change very gracefully. It takes time for new things to sink in with me and for me to adjust to the newness of it all.

That said, I'm so glad that we moved. Of course, I miss our friends. Very much, in fact. I miss being a short three hours away from my parents. I miss having lunch with my two best friends and their little girls. I miss spending afternoons at the park watching Micah play with her best friends. I miss pouring into "my girls" at church. I miss our home. I miss our church family. I miss all sorts of things about Iuka. It's never easy to leave behind people and places that you love. Our life in Iuka changed me. The people there are very dear to me, even still. They won't be forgotten.

But I'm very excited to be here. Micah and Kendall have been loved and doted on excessively since we moved here - both from Dennis' parents and from my aunts and uncles. I've enjoyed spending time with family that I only got to see once or twice a year when we were in Iuka. It's fun to know that my girls are making memories with some of my very favorite people in the world.

It's also fun to know that my girls will grow up in the same place that I did. Interesting tidbit about Dennis and me: we grew up right down the road from each other and only met when we were in college. Our lives criscrossed more than once when we were kids. We have mutual friends and acquaintances. We participated in the same countywide quiz bowl tournaments. He went to prom with one of my softball teammates. Our world, it seems, is very small indeed. We moved to Franklin just before I started eighth grade, and I thought that was the end of my life in Brandon. I never would have guessed that I would move back 17 years later. And yet, here I am :)

This week, I'm (hopefully) going to lunch with one of my friends from middle school. We will (maybe) go look at a house. We have a (tentative) playdate with a little girl from church. Micah is signed up for preschool in the fall, and Dennis is really happy at his new job. In short, we're moving on.

At least, we're trying :)

Until next time, grace and peace.