Hello November,

I know it’s been awhile since I have sat down and did a blog, I have so many excuses with the main one being…. WE MOVED!!! Not only did we move, we moved clear across the US. So a little back story on that, last November we found out my husband was being relocated to Georgia for his job. We had the option of staying in Ohio, or making the move. After much thought, we decided what the heck….let’s do this thing!

The first step in this big transition was selling our house. Well, putting a house in order and keeping it clean with two chocolate labs can be a bit of a challenge. So my parents were so great and took the girls for most of the summer. This was so very hard, but the only way we could make sure our house was in order and our dogs weren’t stressed. So the girls spent the summer on the lake (really terrible life 😉 ) while Dana and I put the house on the market and started this transitional rollercoaster.

The house was put on the market and we had a ton of showings. After about 2 months (I think, it’s all a blur) it SOLD!!! I will never forget the moment the offer came in, Dana and I were in the kitchen and our realtor called…it was pretty exciting! During that another offer came in and folks were in a bidding war!! We might have been jumping up and down in the kitchen yelling bidding war!

WHEWWWWWwww it was sure a relief to get the house sold, so one of the BIG steps was out of the way. Now comes the packing/moving. Well we got so wrapped up in selling the house, we really didn’t think through all the logistics. Our home closed but we had 2 weeks until we could be in our Georgia temporary living. SOOOOOOOOOOoooo time to go to WI, pick up those girls and spend some time up at the lake (I mean why not) plus it really makes sense to go to Georgia by the way of Wisconsin!

During our time in Wisconsin we were able to see some family, enjoy some rest and somewhat relaxation (can you really relax during a transition like this?). Dana’s family even came and surprised him for a belated 40th birthday celebration! It was a pretty fantastic 2 weeks, in the middle of all our crazy.

My parents were nice enough to help us make the move to Georgia. Mom and Dad traveled with the dogs (bless their hearts) and we had the Acadia packed with all our “essential belongings”. We decided to make the WHOLE drive, I think it was a total of 14ish hours. It wasn’t too bad until we were in the mountains, I was driving…. well you see the movers packed my glasses that I need for night time driving…AND I HAVE NEVER driven through the mountains. Let’s just say there were some white knuckles.

We made our way, stayed the night at the only hotel we could find (that could take dogs) its as pretty darn interesting, but hey we survived. We then made our way to our temporary living location. The temporary apartment is pretty nice and on the 1st floor, which makes it nice for outdoor potty trips with the girls. Now we have the temporary apartment for 90 days, which should be more than enough time to get the house built and us there. While Mom and Dad were here we explored GA, it was sure nice to have them here during this time.

During the month of September and part of October I became a stay at home puppy mom. I honestly didn’t mind this time AT ALL. I enjoyed spending time with the dogs, afternoon runs, and getting to know the new area where we lived.

The role of full time puppy Mom ended in October when I became the Coordinator of Student Activities and Service at Reinhardt University. I was a bit bummed as it’s not the director or dean role I would like to have, BUT at the same time it’s at a small private college (the type of college I always wanted to be at) and the students and staff are pretty darn amazing. It also is kind of nice working directly with the students again. Overall this whole job thing has been pretty amazing!!!

Weelllllllllllllllllllll some of the best made plans, are just that plans. You can try your best to have everything work BUT when things are out of your control they just might not. Remember when I said our temporary living is good for 90 days, well those 90 days are up at the end of this month and guess what?!?!??!?!?!! YEP the house isn’t done. So that added some stress to our situation. Where do two folks move to?? Oh yea also keep in mind we have two 70lb chocolate labs! After tears and searching, we found a place!! We will be moving to a lake house by where I work!! We will be making this transition at the end of the month with the hopes of being there for 2 weeks. I know the girls will love being out of apartment life, and I am pretty sure living on a lake won’t be too terrible =)

During our time in Georgia we have been trying to make the best out of our situation. Exploring the new area where we live, spending time with the dogs (we missed them so very much), watching our house slowly get completed (it sure is going to be fantastic once it’s done), I have been enjoying GA and running finally getting over my injuries and loving the sport again.

In the next couple weeks we have some transition AGAIN but will also be with family (always makes things a big easier). My inlaws will be joining us for thanksgiving. Now I was pretty sad we wouldn’t be in our house for when they come BUT it isn’t about WHERE you are it’s about who you are with!

So as you can tell life has been crazy busy. Now that is all my personal life stuff. I know this blog is about my fitness/running journey so a little bit on that. Running has been going well BUT Georgia is dang hilly! I have been taking on some pretty hill routes and do find myself getting stronger each and every week.

Weight loss wise I am at the end of the weight loss part and am entering maintenance. A phase I have NEVER been in, so that is going to be some trial and error, BUT I am pretty darn happy that I have reached this part of my journey.

Thank you all so much for your kind messages, texts, e-mails and comments. We are doing well, life has just been busy =) I hope to be blogging a bit more (always a goal of mine). Thanks for letting me share all of this and for staying with me while I went silent on the blog front.

I hope y’all are doing well (See what I did there),

XOXO

Jamie