4 days in Nashville - and then some!

I got the news literally on my way out of town just barely 2 weeks ago the landlady is unexpectedly jacking up our rent. Since that bombshell dropped late on February 1, things here in Chaos Central have been particularly hectic. I flew to my beloved Nashville for a long-anticipated weekend with friends, but the question was looming over my head - should we be thinking about moving out?....

A fantastic, relaxing weekend in Nashville later (+ 2 extra days due to the monumental snowstorms here in Wisconsin), and I found myself dropped head-first into the action. Do we move? When? Where? Should I just screw it all and move back in with my parents? How would I justify any move at all?! I mean, didn't I just freakin' get here!?!

And thus (sparing you from a good deal of the drama), within 24 hours of arriving back home to the snow-laden tundra of Wisconsin, the decision had already been made. Hannah found a fantastic 1-bedroom apartment in town, miraculously available by the first of next month. I continued to sit on the fence about the whole thing - "should I stay or should I go?" And in the midst of my indecision, we gave our landlady 30-days notice and I found myself staring at an unexpected future....

I really wasn't keen on the idea of living with my parents again, to be honest. I think I had this stereotype in my mind somehow that living at home is for those who HAVEN'T finished college, who HAVEN'T had a job or are simply too lazy to get one.... I couldn't get past the idea I would be putting myself in a box....

Now a mere 7 days have passed since I was thrust off the fence into action, and I've discovered benefits and opportunities are continously presenting themselves. I've continued to pray through it, and suddenly I cannot suppress my excitement!

• I get to be with my family (puppies and all!).


• I get to spend time with my little brother before he finishes college in the next couple years and moves on with his life....


• I'll be a mere 2 hour drive from my best friend and my dear goddaughter, Grace (below), with the ability to really spend time with them and be a part of her growing up!

I will get to jump headfirst and hands-on to help my Dad with his business as it continues to grow! (He's in need of someone to organize and handle the office "stuff," and guess who has plenty of experience with that?!...)

For the first time in 4 years, I'll really - dare I say it? - begin to put a dent in the student loan debt that is ever ominously overhead (Pun intended.)

The list could go on, but you get the idea... And all of this is exciting enough to keep me powering through all of the planning and the packing (RE-packing), and familiar stress of moving that's suddenly upon me once again. But as if that isn't enough to keep me occupied:

Yesterday I received the news that a dear family friend (20 years old - same age as my brother!) was airlifted to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. She'd suffered a massive brain aneurism yesterday morning, and in less than 12 hours her brain activity had withered to almost nothing. This morning they made the decision to take her off of life support, and Liz went Home about 9:30am.

It has been (and is) a serious and fast-moving turn of events that has kept us all in solemn urgency for the last 48 hours. If you think of it, please join us in prayer for Becky (the mom - MY mom's best friend from college). She's a single mother who's just lost her only child - it will certainly be a hard road moving forward...

Lord, if moving home means I can help somehow... lead the way..........

All of this news comes in the space of 7 days - only 168 hours - and I'm more than a little overwhelmed. But I'm also tremendously excited. I think that this is it - the answer to my prayer since before I left Nashville three months ago: "What's next for me, God? What am I supposed to do with my life now?" I still don't know the answer, of course, but I can't help but believe this is the solid first step to whatever comes next. Finally...clearly... a direction.

And that, folks - long as it was, is the summarized update of life in my world. I've been out of touch with some of you for FAR too long, and I dearly miss writing my former email updates (mini-novels, as they have sometimes been called). Perhaps it took a week like this one to really kick my butt into action. Please accept this as my feeble-but-heartfelt attempt to stay in touch. Perhaps I will finally get on board the "Blogger" train and keep this site updated.... that is - for the record - my goal. I hope you'll check back from time to time.

All my best to all of you.
With much love,
~Courtney

"If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't go any further than my own backyard... Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with...." --Dorothy Gale, "The Wizard of Oz"