Life during my Hiatus

I figured I should at least give you guys an update what what I was up to during my hiatus. I did not initially plan to take a break from this blog, but it all of a sudden seemed like I needed to cut back a bit in order to get some things in order.

2013 has started with a bang so far, and unfortunately my health has not been cooperating with my ambition! I have been plagued by back pain for a little over a year, ever since I had a spontaneous spinal fluid leak in December 2011. I finally decided I needed to pursue medical care, as nothing I was doing on my own seemed to help with the pain. Since Thanksgiving I have been in physical therapy at a place that specializes in spinal issues, and it has been going well. I still have my bad days and my good days, but overall my back pain has gotten better.

Icing my back with frozen peas and corn while reading a book (I own an icepack now)

In the middle of dealing with all this back pain and cutting my work down to part-time, I picked up several new obligations that overwhelmed me quickly. I accepted a volunteer coordinator position at a place I have been volunteering for several years, and it has demanded a bit more of my time than I thought it would. I also accepted a position to play for our local community orchestra, and we had just decided to move to a new apartment. After Christmas things started really picking up and getting hectic, and I realized I needed to let a few things go. Unfortunately, this is where my blog hiatus came in. I also gave up on the orchestra, although I hope to join it at a later time. I was able to focus my energy on fewer things and everything has now started to slow down again. Relief!

Now we are nearly done moving (we have a 2 week window between getting the keys to the new place and giving up the keys to the old place, so we've been moving slowly and trying to organize). I am so happy with our new place, and every day this seems to become more and more like home.

For Christmas my mom bought me this beautiful cross I fell in love with at Hobby Lobby. It was the first thing I hung up in our new home:

It is hanging in my kitchen, and multiple times a day I look up at it and remember that no matter how crazy things get, no matter how bad my back pain is, no matter if it is raining or if the sun is shining: It is well with my soul

Other things that happened during my hiatus:

-One of the things on my new years list is already coming true, as we bought the tickets to go on a big trip in March. We were hesitant about taking a vacation in the last two years due to wanting to use God's resources for getting out of debt. It seems that now we don't have much a choice, though. My husband's grandparents live in Poland and have suffered a deterioration in their health, so we realized we need to visit them very soon. So we will be going in March to visit Finland (my friends and family there from my year-long high school exchange) and Poland. I am very excited to do both, as it has been some time since I traveled

-It went to the baby shower of one of my best friends. Her mom hired a party planner for the event and it was by far the most beautiful baby shower I have ever been to! It was decorated as a tea party

-I got to visit my gorgeous little twin nephews again and it was the most delightful time! They are truly wonderful little boys and always put a smile on my face

So now that you are all up-to-date on what I am doing, I hope to keep you there! I'm excited to be back at Corner of Joy