2021: A Year in Review

Could we handle the cold?

I swear I almost had an aneurysm as I flipped back and forth. But after much prayer and talks between me and Mark, we decided to start the process of moving to Minnesota and see what God had in store.

We sold the house, lived in limbo with different family members for a couple months, moved into our Minnesota home, signed the kids up for ice skating lessons, bought some sleds/snowboards/mittens/snowpants/skis/etc…AND HERE WE ARE!

And while our reaction to the cold temps and winter months was totally unpredictable before moving, I can honestly say that we’ve embraced it….

Okay, most of the time…today was -26 windchill and that’s just wrong.

But it’s amazing how quickly we’ve adapted to thinking that anything above 11 degrees is nice. Honestly, with ice skating and cross country skiing as new hobbies, we’re sad when the temps get above 30. (I’m sure you won’t hear me saying that in mid-April though.)

It feels like home here. I forgot how much I missed the months of cozy clothes, warm drinks, and a completely different landscape from season to season.

While I miss North Carolina and it will most definitely ALWAYS have a large part of my heart, I’m happy to report that the upheaval feels worth it. I get to play cards with my grandparents regularly, we visit both sets of parents for weekend retreats, and we’re loving the time with cousins. Moving is never easy and transitions, especially with kiddos, are ridiculously intense. They’re also great opportunities for growth. I am so proud of my kids who can ice skate and eat pounds of snow in one sitting without freezing their mouths solid.

Despite their new Minnesota ways, I’ll always consider them to be North Carolina babies. It was the place where we transitioned through so many major stages of life and met such wonderful people along the way.

How incredibly thankful am I to have images of so many of those people!!? While I didn’t take nearly enough (even with the thousands, maybe millions, that I have), I do love going through these “Year in Reviews”. It’s the one blog post I don’t want to give up on. As I look at some, I can’t believe they were from 2021 - feels more like they happened five years ago.

How have we been in Minnesota for only five short months?!

Another unpredictable aspect of moving was if I could do photography in Minnesota. It honestly took a bit for life to feel settled here, but some amazing people have given me opportunities to strap on my cameras. I’ve even been able to continue some of the non-profit work that I loved in NC.

Thank you to everyone in these images below and everyone who has been a support to us in this season of change. We love you and hope for peace, more hugs, and some predictability in 2022!