Update!!

I apologize for being such a sucky blogger. It just gets a little crazy around here sometimes!!

So, here's a quick, end-of-the-day update on the Allen's!

Update #1: We're crashing at my bosses house for a bit while we continue our home search. Got a great lead in that tonight, actually. The guy next door is moving in with his girlfriend and wants to rent his house! It would be absolutely perfect since we've fallen in love with this neighborhood and don't want to leave!
I love having a five minute walk through the mountains to work every day. :)

Update #2: Very long story short, everything is going great at my job and I absolute love it. If you follow the shop on Facebook (which you should!), that will get you up to date with what's going on with work.

Update #3: Dustin works with me now!! They've hired him on starting full-time next week. For now, he's working a few hours here and there to help how he can around the shop. I'm SO excited that this is happening. It's something we really wanted from the beginning (since he was my lifeline my first two weeks when Tyler was away). We really wanted the chance to be involved in something we valued and appreciated so much. Dustin was planning on going back to school in the fall (we had the parking permit decal and everything) but found out at the last minute that he'd have to pay triple the tuition due to be an out-of-state student. We were really bummed and facing the reality that school's just not an option now. Two days later, Tyler offered Dustin the job. :)

Update #4: In exchange for a discount on Matisse's tuition, I'm teaching a music class to 1st-5th graders at Montessori Elementary School of Asheville (MESA). I'm really excited about this opportunity and the first day went great today! The head teacher and I had a lot of the same ideas, so it'a really going to be fun. It's just in Monday's from 1-2, so since I have Monday's off, it's pretty perfect. I'm thankful for the opportunity to get back into the classroom. I do truly love teaching, so I'm grateful that the universe made it so I could have this awesome new job and still get to teach. :)

Update #4: Dustin and I might be forming a little band with the wife of one of our furniture artists. She's super adorable and has a lot of fun ideas. VERY excited at the thought of playing music again.

I guess when I put it all out like that, life's pretty great! ;)

But of course, it isn't without our share of challenges. Dustin and I have both been a little on edge the past couple of months, but I suppose when you take into consideration all we were dealing with, that's normal.

Despite it all, I really do wake up every single day wondering what I did right to deserve such a great life. My bills might not always be paid on time, and I know I have to work as hard as I can every single day, but it's all worth it. I'm living life and enjoying every minute of it. Taking the time to be happy is what matters most.

A Young Professional

So I know I haven't updated in forever and you probably all feel there's tons that needs to be filled in, and I'll get to it eventually. I just don't want to miss out on nights like tonight where I really want to talk about what's going on NOW.

Junk Recyclers joined the Chamber of Commerce today! SUPER exciting for a small business owner.  Its benefits can really help us out a lot as long as we utilize them.

Which we did! Tonight!

We found out this morning that the Young Professionals Association was having a meeting of some sort tonight. We knew we needed to start networking ASAP, so we figured, why not, we'll go for a bit.

It ended up just being a "social" where everyone basically drinks and mingles. And it was surprisingly fun. You really have to just out yourself out there and introduce yourself sometimes, but it's all welcomed. We met some really great people. Even if we can't do business with them, we still might just become friends. ;)

It was just a really nice day that allowed me and Tyler to meet some good people and brainstorm about the company. It also just gave us a chance to spend some time together and have some good talks to get to know each other. He's a great guy who I'm proud to work with. And it helps that he speaks so highly of my husband and us as a couple. ;)

Even though I really miss my friends and family (who I'm so excited to see this weekend!!), I'm really very happy. Like Dustin said in his status the other day. I wake up with a smile on my face every day. I'm thankful for the opportunity I've been given, and I can't wait to see how great we can make this.

Because we can. :)