Lay-offs, fires, and s-t-r-e-s-s

I haven’t written in a while… well, not here. As I’ve been working on starting fresh for 2020 I thought I’d post an update here. Things have been- interesting- in our lives. I’m starting to wonder if God is ever going to give us a break??? Here’s a little update-

First of all, I’m writing a ton which has been amazing. I currently have six clients and I primarily write for 5 of them! I’m making almost all of my income writing right now. The kid in my who wanted to major in English and be a writer but was talked out of it because “it’s too hard to make money writing” is celebrating and so happy. However, I do want to do more personal blogging. I’m going to be moving to a different website in the coming months and working on writing more of my own words too!

Second update, my hubby got laid off… again… He started a brand new job in June with a big and well-established company (been in business for over 100 years.) They started a new division of the company and it flopped in a mighty way. He was laid off on the last day of September along with 95% of the division. Washington won’t allow him to collect unemployment since he was at the job less than six months and he willingly left his previous job. So… it’s been a little stressful. He’s been able to find a part-time job at REI (which those of you who know him shouldn’t be surprised about) and he loves it. I’m thrilled he’s so happy but we’re praying they can give him more hours or he can find another part-time job. We’re not quite making ends meet right now and it’s stressful.

But…. it was actually good to have him not working full-time in November when our neighbor’s house burned down. It was awful. I shared about it on Instagram if you’re interested in knowing more about what happened. It was scary and traumatic and happened less than 18 inches away from our home. If we hadn’t been home when it happened or if it had been overnight… I don’t want to think about it… I’m still dealing with health effects from smoke and all the toxins I got exposed to. It took us about 3 weeks to clean the inside of the Airstream and we had to get rid of a lot of belongings again.

For now we’re trying to find my hubby a job, I’m working as much as I can, and I’m still homeschooling J. Today we’ve got about a foot of snow outside and I’ve spent the last few days listening to tree branches break and being amazed at how heavy and wet WA snow is compared to CO snow! Sure am looking forward to warm, sunny days on the beach.

Things are difficult right now. I find it hard to write in seasons like this. And I find that my life keeps being a season of difficulty… I don’t really understand why. I’m ready for stability and consistency… not sure if it’s going to come though. As I’ve been reflecting on what I want this year, I want to write more, read at least 100 books (I got 76 last year), and stay off social media more. Even if we don’t find grounding or stability in life, I’m trying to cultivate good habits and cultivate better time management. Thanks for your prayers and love. You’re going to hear from me a lot more this year!