Moving Forward

Goodness it's been a long time since I've been here! I will admit that I have been hiding out, not even checking emails or blog posts, but I've been taking some much needed time off. People who know me know that I write like I talk; it's part of me. Writing without emotion is not something I understand, so after all of the emotions of losing my Granny it was too painful to write again. It's still not easy some days but there is so much on the horizon that I know she would be excited about, and I think I'm feeling ready to slowly get back into blogging.

Over the past however many months I've been gone there have been lots of changes. Here's just an idea:

• After the University said Branden had to stay for another two years to complete his PhD, he downgraded to an MPhil (a degree between a Masters and PhD) which means he'll be able to finish in three years, like he signed up for, and be officially done in April.
• Because of this, he's applying for jobs and we are hoping to soon be out of a shared house and actually in our own place, with an actual income, and we can finally start traveling! It also looks like we will probably be moving somewhere around the Dublin area as that's where most jobs are.
• Also because of this, we have realized that we are super excited for the freedom we will have and being just the two of us again, so we have taken having children out of our future equation. You have no idea how much of a burden left our shoulders when we decided this, as neither of us has actually had the desire to have children but rather felt like it was just an expectation.
• Since we aren't planning on having kids now, I am feeling like I no longer have to sacrifice my body for babies so I am finally finding a reason and purpose to really take care of myself. I have been doing some really fun workouts for free on youtube and also been eating much healthier. I'll definitely be sharing some of my favorite new and amazing healthy recipes.
• Branden went back to the States for 10 days at the beginning of the month for his brother's wedding! Our family is now complete, as all of our siblings are married now and we will be adding a bonus member in May as his brother and new sis-in-law are expecting a baby! We of course are besides ourselves with excitement over a new niece or nephew (Dear Lord, Please let it be a niece!).

These are just some of the big things that we've been going through and we are really excited about our future and where it's going. Life is pretty hectic still, but as I said before, I will most likely be slowly getting back into the blog scene, so bear with me.

And just to give you a giggle, because that's usually what most people come here for, here is a little something Branden said the other night just before we went to bed, "You know it's Christmas season when you find a cookie cutter in your bed."