A Year in the Life

I've been pondering writing an updated post on this almost defunct blog for a while now.  I just recently got around to actually looking at it and realized that the last time I wrote was almost a year ago.  Wow!  Time really does fly...whether we're having fun or not.  Don't worry; I won't try to catch up everything at one posting.  If I did, I'd never finish writing it and you'd never finish reading it.  

As a side note, I'm actually using a computer as I type this.  When my laptop died, we crossed fully into the Apple family and got an iMac for our home use to add to our iPhone and iPad.  I still don't really know how to use it for much more than a word processor which is a little sad, so the immediate goal is to figure out how to get pictures in this post.  (And as you're about to see, I was successful!!)

The best place to begin is to share two of the most exciting things that happened in the last year.

A little over a year ago, this precious angel was born to Michael and Bekah and recently celebrated her first birthday.  Miss Lily is our first grandchild and she's brought much joy to our whole family.  She's squishy and lovable and funny and the only negative thing to say is that she lives too far away!

And a little over two months ago, Matthew and Melissa got married to the joy and happiness of us all!  Their school year just ended today so they're looking forward to some down time this summer after a busy spring filled with teaching, wedding planning, and coaching.

When I last wrote, Hamp was working in Richmond after his job ended somewhat unexpectedly in Nashville.  We ended up moving in June and lived there for 6 months before realizing that life as we knew it was not working anymore.  Like so many other fields, the printing industry has changed drastically in recent years and it became obvious that something had to give before we did.  When a call came in October from our pastor friend in Baltimore that funds had become available to add Hamp as director of operations for his church, we said goodbye to the corporate world and moved back to Baltimore at Thanksgiving.

As you might imagine, our salary doesn't look the same as it did in printing, so we knew I would have to work outside the home again to supplement our income.  We had heard that a new ChickFilA was opening in the city close to where were living, so as of about a week ago, both of us are now official team members there.  Hamp will only work sporadically as needed for special occasions, but I will be leaping back into full-time work for the first time in a while.  It will be an adjustment, but one that will be made easier by the quality of the company, the owner, and the people who will be my co-workers.

Before this gets too long, I wanted to catch you up on Tiffany and her wonder cat, Ellie.  Nikki (Tiffany's roommate) got married in February, so Tiffany had to find a new place to live.  Ellie had been with us because Nikki had some allergy issues, so my drive from Baltimore to Orlando for the wedding turned into a road trip for me and Ellie so she could move back in with her mommy.  I miss her chatty company at times, but she's quite happy to be back in the Sunshine State!

 

It's been an interesting and busy year and this is just a small factual sample of some of the things we've experienced.  Now that my computer and I seem to be able to work together to create a post, I'm going to add more soon (really!) that will help you keep up with the Joneses.  Once that's done, I'll be transitioning to a new blog that I'll tell you more about soon.

I'll leave you with one last picture of me with our girls that was taken at Melissa's bridesmaid luncheon. We are a blessed family and do not take for granted the gifts God has given our boys in their wives, nor in our own daughter.