Hi there! Long time no talk! How are you? I hope you’re doing as best as you can be considering life’s current circumstances. We’re all in kind of a funky boat–I’m 100% sure of it. But, despite that I do hope you’re doing well. Truly.
If you can’t tell today is kind of a big day in the blogosphere–Today is the official start to BLOGMAS 2020! {YAY} I’ve never actually participated in an official “Blogmas” before but I’ve been following along with plenty for the past several years. Can you believe I’ve been blogging for over 5 years now? Give or take a few minor breaks, it’s definitely been a REALLY LONG TIME and that deserves all of the celebration.
So, since I’ve been away for the past few months, I’ve been wanting to hop back into the swing of things and this felt like the perfect jumping off point. 31 days of blogs–why not? So, what you’ll see from me here over the next month is plenty of randomness, loads of Christmas happenings, and lots of pictures of snacks, dogs and life in between. I hope you’ll follow along for all the fun! I’m most excited to take part in this “holiday movement” to pick back up where I last left off and get to know other readers and bloggers along the way! If you’re a blogger, I’d love for you to drop your website in the comments below so I can visit your blog and stop by to say hi! If you’re not a blogger, no worries at all! I’d love to have you join in on the fun too! I like to ask questions at the bottom of each blog post, so feel free to pop in anytime you’d like and join the conversation. That’s definitely the best part about blogging to me–getting to know you and creating the ultimate community.
Should we get started? Let’s do it!

It seems best to start off with a life update. We have officially MOVED…again. If you’ve been a long time reader you know this is nothing new. Nick and I have been together over 8 years and we have moved over 12 times over said 8 years. Sounds insane because...it is. We flip houses and have moved and transitioned from each and every single project from rentals to houses and it’s been quite the adventure along the way. Not saying I’m the BIGGEST fan of it, but it works for us– at least for the time being. BUT, the biggest news of all? This last move we decided to sell pretty much e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g we own, besides the puppers of course, to take off and travel the US in 2021. As we speak, everything is 100% up in the air for a few different reasons, though {obviously}. Turns out making ANY sort of plans in 2020 and beyond is pretty much out the window. So we’re honestly just going with the flow and taking it a day at a time. We’re temporarily moved in with Nick’s parents for a few months since our lease on the cutest rental of them all, ended last month. We have plans to find another home to live in though, so when the perfect one pops up, we’re on it and onto the next adventure.
Another reason our life is in the air right now is because our parents health (all 4, can you believe it?) has really been a big challenge the past few months. From almost-2nd heart attacks to potential colon cancer and hernias, to unknown causes of serious swelling and inabilities to walk, to ulcerative colitis and arthritis flare ups, our parents have been hit with it all this year. So, to say that’s been extremely heavy to deal with would be an understatement. That’s one of the main reasons we moved in with Nick’s parents this past month was to be able to help out with his parents while we transition to our next home. While the floating “sickness” (dare we not say its name) hasn’t been an issue thus far, we’ve no less had plenty of other complications when it comes to health in 2020. I’m really hoping things will take a turn for the positive here over the next few months. But, I personally have taken on a lot of stress, sleepless nights, work burn out and a lot of gray hair in between it all. But, most importantly, you quickly realize how precious life is and certainly don’t want to imagine life without your parents at 31 years old. So, here’s hoping things all get back to a lot better here REALLY SOON.

When I mentioned we sold everything we owned- that meant we sold & bought a new car too! We upgraded from my 2012 Honda (aka Fonda the Honda) to a 2020 Volkswagon Atlas Cross Sport (Ozark Edition) (no name yet) and we are IN LOVE. It’s been so nice and so fun to ride in and we are all kinds of happy we made this decision.
But, the puppers don’t care all that much. Oh, by the way, Cooper and Joey say hi! They have no other updates for you besides sleeping is still their favorite hobby, snacks are (and always will be) their jam and age is just a number in their book. Other than that, no news is good news on the dog front in our household.
And…just like that, we’re officially kicking off December 1 (and BLOGMAS 2020!) with an Advent calendar from none other than the heavenly grocery store, Trader Joe’s! Day 1 is now in the books and the snacks have been eaten.

Alright, that’s a wrap for day 1! Thank you for stopping by the blog today! I can’t wait to see where this month takes us! Here’s hoping December will treat all of us well and will be a bright spot in the craziest years of them all.
Questions for you:
Do you celebrate Christmas with an advent calendar? If so, what kind?
What’s your favorite Christmas tradition?
How have you been? What’s new in your life? Any updates?
Favorite Christmas movie?
Talk tomorrow, friends!

loving your blogmas!! can’t wait to read the rest of your posts.
Thank you so much!! Its been so fun already! I know it’ll make the month of December fly by even faster than normal. Thank you so much for reading along!! 🙂
Okay…phew! This misfit is all caught up!