A Life Update

Hey, there! It's been a minute since I've had the chance to sit down and write. April flew by for me and I'm still not even sure where it went! We took a mini vacation to the western side of Montana and it was such a lovely time away. We stayed in a tiny house (which was a blast) and enjoyed seeing old friends and the mountain views.

After a few days there in Bozeman, we went to Red Lodge to take the children skiing. We have never gone as a family before and that was such a fun experience for everyone!

After coming home and settling into our routine again, we had a huge spring storm and lost power for 3 days. Since our home is only heated with electricity, it got pretty cold! Thankfully the next town over still had power so we packed a small bag and headed to a hotel. We spent the next few days visiting shops in the town that we hadn't been to since moving back to this area. It was a fun, unexpected time as a family. I found many places to buy things that I didn't know I could get locally because many stores carry quite different types of things and don't advertise what they sell. Case in point, we wandered in to a furniture store and found that they had a huge selection of kitchen items and lots of kids toys/gifts. I thought the only place to get toys was the little Family Dollar in town which just had lower quality toys that break quickly and not something I would want to gift to someone. So that was nice to discover more items we can source locally.

Spring in a farming community is busy. Our friends are in the midst of calving and trying to get crops seeded. My husband works longer hours to stay open for people who need last minute things. The grass has turned lime green almost overnight and the trees have leaves and buds. We have gotten some spring rains which the ground so desperately needs after the drought last year. You can feel it collectively raising the spirits of the entire community as they hope for better yields this year. There is a different level of faith and hope that courses through the people whose entire life's work and livelihoods hinge on the unpredictability of the weather. I am blessed to call these type of people my friends.

I have so many ideas and things I want to share with you. Spring has been a good season of disengaging so that I can focus and engage more fully here - in my home, in my community. It has been a time of taking inventory of my life and feelings, of priorities and goals. Figuring out what is needed and working. I have read and researched things, tackled projects, and begun dreaming again. It has been nice to take the time and space to do that. I feel like the shock of the sudden move and change of plans from last year is wearing off and I'm starting to feel like we are actually here and this really is life now. I feel like I'm getting more clarity and that is very helpful.

I look forward to sharing more with you and I so appreciate your patience with me.

Blessings, Grace