Changes

Well, a lot has been going here over the last several  months of not writing. However, it feels like the time for me to pick up the fallen pieces and start posting again. The summer has been highlighted by changes of all sorts.

To begin with, the past several months have been very challenging for Noah and I and we are currently separated. He moved out the first part of August but is still here in Asheville. In short, we still love and care about one another deeply but are taking some time and space to gain perspective on our marriage and the ways that we both, as individuals, fit into it.

A second major change is that my sister has moved out to Asheville and has taken up residence as my new roommate! She has been here since the first of September and it is impossible to explain with words how wonderful it is to have here. I flew home the end of August for a four day visit and then she and I drove out here to together in an uneventful (yet somehow epic) journey through the heartland. She also brought her cat, Pickle, with her and we have already spent much time laughing at the uniquely cat-ish antics of Buddy and Pickle as the learn how to share the house.

I'm not sure if this counts as a change, but it feels like one: So, summer is over--fall officially starts on Thursday I believe--but...it's not winter yet! Rather, we are on the verge of "leaf season" here which officially counts as a second tourist season. There is a leaf watching hotline, websites with fall foliage updates, vacation packages and more. I am SO excited on a variety of fronts for October's leaf season these days.

Many of the other changes I have briefly mentioned in other short blog posts before this one. But a short re-cap: I now live within the Asheville city limits in a great condo complex with a view and a swimming pool and quick and easy access to the interstate i.e. it is 10-15 minutes only to get most anywhere in Asheville. Obviously, I have opened up a private massage practice which is going well, albeit it slowly (primarily because I have been working so much elsewhere). I am on the verge of taking my North Carolina driver's test and switching my plates to North Carolina which will be the first time in the history of my life that my car will not have Idaho plates. (My mother firmly told me recently that I am NO LONGER allowed to vote in Teton County because I have "picked up and moved to North Carolina" (or something like that). Changing voting registration is also a new sign of permanence.)

All in all, things are going well. Some days life seems to be bordering on the chaotic and has been consistently ever-changing and unpredictable. However, patience has been a lesson of the summer and I would say I am growing more capable of dealing with and living life in the grey areas where everything isn't always black and white. I do hope there is some sort of slow-down to the pace of life in the relatively near future, but assume I will keep moving full speed ahead regardless.