Roomies!

Meet our roomies. They are a huge reason our move across the country was so smooth.

Carolyn, Lauren, Lindsey, and Michael

After living with them for 4 weeks (yes it took me this long to get them all together for a photo!), I've decided that they are one of the most loving families I have ever met or interacted with. Now I have to be honest, I already knew they were great. They are family. But their warmth, grace, and love for each other (as well as those around them) is simply beautiful. Their hearts are big. Their faith is strong.

Let's go back to last summer for a second. One year ago I started to seriously entertain the idea of going back to school. After perusing my google search results, the University of North Carolina stood out as a top prospect. I thought, well if having family in the area doesn't make this meant to be, I don't know what would.

Now fast forward a couple months to when I was invited to interview. This family did not hesitate to open up their home to me for a quick trip. On top of that, they picked me up after my late flight in, and they rearranged their plans so that I could have a car to get around town. In the less than 24 hours that I actually had with them, we shared a walk and 2 meals. I just knew this would be the best move for Josh and me. We would have people in a new place. And I can't think of any better people to have.

During my visit they casually mentioned that we would be welcome to stay with them. They had a spare bedroom that could house us. I thought oh how nice, but I'll be nearly 30 if/when we move here. We are too 'old' to be shacking up with family. Plus we have a dog that is the size of another human.

Well, after I officially received notification of my acceptance, Michael and Carolyn again mentioned the idea that we could plop down with them. Again, I thought how nice, but we should really have our own space. We don't need to be cramping their style.

Weeks and months passed, and Josh still wasn't able to secure a teaching position. I knew what my student stipend would be, and it definitely wouldn't be enough to have housing AND eat. So, the moment came when we had to make a decision. I still worried about cramping anyone else's style and sharing a kitchen, but Josh played it fiscally smart and said- "We need to see if they were serious".

Thank goodness for technology, because FaceTime allowed us to have an actual face-to-face conversation. So much better than text, e-mail, snail mail, or standard phone call. We were a little nervous to be like "Hey were you serious when you said we could live with you? Because we're going to take you up on it." But they were so laid back about the whole thing that it put our nerves at ease.

They essentially said they wanted to pay it forward. What beautiful words. I total you they had big hearts and are full of grace. When we got off the phone, Josh and I committed to one day paying it forward like they have for us.

At that moment, our move just got a lot less stressful. We had a landing pad. We didn't have to worry about finding a place in the wrong side of town or even finding a time to come down and find a place.

We have such an awesome set-up here- a fenced yard, a dishwasher, a Keurig, it's way bigger than our last apartment, and our landlords aren't crazy. More importantly, we have people. True Josh and I have each other, but we also have people who have taken us in as their own. They include us in the family meals (don't worry we share responsibilities), ask how our day was, invite us to "redneck" with their fun neighbors, and we get to find out what cool high school and college kids are up to these days.

Redneck = sitting in your driveway and having adult beverages with good conversations.
I don't really consider this to be redneck,  but maybe that's just me. 

Lindsey is a little fish.

Lauren goes to school with Pirate Pee Dee. The name is actually quite complicated. You should google it.

Doing fun local things- Durham Bulls game.

Emma even has some fun roomies! She is learning important life skills- like not eating off other's plates.

We like to go for walks together, even if it is raining.

And when walks aren't enough, they can frolic in the front yard.

Josh and I had a special bond with this family before we moved in. Mine extends a little longer than Josh's because they were my family first. On top of being family, I had the honor of rocking teased hair and a hoop dress for Michael and Carolyn's wedding. I was the flower girl. I actually came across my head piece while packing for the move. My mom couldn't part with it. I loved that hoop-skirted dress, so much so that I cried when my cousin Brett stepped on it and ripped it.

Michael & Carolyn's wedding day. Yes this was the 90's. 

Flash forward 21 years and you will see Michael officiated our wedding ceremony. Having family oversee our union kept things feeling so personal and so right. He affectionately deemed us Joshney. It was an accident, but ironically that was the time in pop-culture when it was cool to combine the names of people who were dating or married.

One of my favorite images from this day. Michael's expression makes the picture. 

So as you can see, this family holds a special place in our heart. They always will. Josh jokes we will live with them for the duration of my program, but rest-assured Michael/Carolyn/Lindsey, that won't be the case :)

Moving across the country has the potential to be scary and lonely. But I have yet to feel either of those things. We have felt at home since day one. I can't wait to see what the next few years have in store.

Tip for this week:

• Plan your meals. This is Josh's favorite time of the week, not. We have ended up sharing dinner cooking responsibilities. It has been awesome to come home to dinner some nights and share the love and appreciation on others. Planning ensures that we don't duplicate meals or buy too much food. I use a weekly planner so that I can visualize what we need. This then helps me create grocery list that gets me in and out of the store faster and on budget. I also plan in pencil because things change. Maybe the menu says enchilada casserole on Tuesday, but we just aren't feeling Mexican flavor that night. The good news is we have other items available to create a balanced meal that better suits our time or taste. 

Until next time :)