Life Changes

Seems only fitting that my blog post about our life changes would come about a year after I said it would…I warned you I wasn’t a great blogger!

Anyway, I feel like I owe you a little background information and context, so just in case you’re interested:

Our Jobs
If you’ve somehow managed to follow along–I’m truly impressed and honored–you might remember that this blog was created in an unknown season of our lives. Kyle graduated from UCA with a doctorate degree in Physical Therapy, and we were moving to Fayetteville for his new job at Washington Regional, but I did not have a job lined up. Anxiously anticipating another year of prayer and waiting, I had taken a job at a local Starbucks, signed up for substitute teaching, and enrolled in graduate school. However, God answered our prayers when I interviewed and accepted a position a week after school had started. I taught 8th grade English at Woodland Junior High with some of the nicest coworkers I could have asked for–still miss them! The next year I moved to Fayetteville High School and started teaching 9th grade English, where I am currently, and Kyle is still loving it at Washington Regional.

Our Home
Well, we decided we kind of liked it here in Northwest Arkansas and wanted to stay awhile; plus, we weren’t big fans of the apartment rental life. So, we started looking for a house. When we found one we liked, of course it sold, but the realtor talked me into building, and then I talked Kyle into building. What followed was an extremely stressful and frustrating process that resulted in a great house that we’ve loved for the past two years.

My Masters
Even though I had accepted a teaching position, I decided to continue pursuing my Masters degree. Yet another reason my blog fell to the wayside–I was now spending my extra time reading and writing papers. It was a little rough getting back into the swing of things, but I’ve always enjoyed classes, so, after a little over a year and two semesters that included a weekly drive to Russellville, I graduated with a Master of Arts in English from Arkansas Tech University.

River Reed
All right, let’s be real…if you know me, you know the real reason I needed a house: we needed a yard so we could have a dog. Selecting a breed we could agree upon was a hot debate, but we had settled on a German Shorthaired Pointer awhile back, and, once we got settled, we started looking. Soon we were excited to find a friend of a friend who had just had puppies, and we found our girl, River Reed. She’s almost a year and a half and crazy as ever.

My Coaching
During my first year at the high school, I started volunteering with the high school golf team. Coming from a coaching family, coaching has always been something I’ve been interested in, especially in a sport that has been such a big part of my life. I guess I did an okay job, because the next year I officially became the assistant golf coach and assistant swim coach. I’ve been living the dream ever since.

Our Life Group
When we started attending New Life Church, we got plugged into a life group. When we moved to Fayetteville, that didn’t change. We became part of a great life group where we found some of our greatest friends, but, when our leaders, the Cookes, let us know they would no longer be leading, God started writing on the wall. Kyle and I had always discussed leading a life group; in fact, one reason we chose the home layout we did is because we knew we wanted to have people in it. Even though leading had been mentioned, we still hadn’t decided to jump in; when Tiffany and Marcus told us they weren’t leading anymore, we were pushed in. We’re going on our third semester, and, while who knows how good we are at it, we’re just praying that God continues to use us in some way.

Our Travels
I love to travel and want to go basically everywhere. While I’ve traveled a little internationally, Kyle and I had never been overseas together and were a little hesitant. When one of our couple friends told us they were going to Thailand and asked if we and another couple wanted to go with them, it was the perfect opportunity for us to experience international travel with the security and fun of a larger group (not to mention it was beautiful and super cheap)! We traveled to Thailand last November, and Kyle caught the travel bug just like me.

Have you seen the movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty? Well, do yourself a favor and watch it ASAP! When it came out in 2013, Kyle and I both fell in love with the message and the scenery. As soon as we discovered that a large part of the movie was shot in Iceland, we knew we had to go. Although we had to wait for finances, timing, and some confidence, we finally made our way to Iceland this June, and it was everything and more that we’d hoped.

To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life.

One day I will blog our travels, but no promises on when 😂

…and I Wouldn’t Change It for the World
Thomas Rhett’s song says it well:

Ain’t it funny how life changes
You wake up, ain’t nothing the same and life changes…
You never know what’s gonna happen
You make your plans and you hear God laughing
Life changes, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I don’t know what’s coming next, but I know who’s in charge, and, if it’s anything like the past few years, I can’t wait to see what He’s got in store.