Where Have I Been: The Big 2-Year Life Update, Part 2

I feel like a blog post or multiple blog posts is not enough to really explain everything that happened over the last two years. Looking back at my last blog post I felt it was jumbled and very surface level. Maybe that's the only way I know how to tell it.

So let's add a little more context about where I have been, you know, like the title says, the big two-year life update.

This photo was taken the just before we said good-bye forever to our Missouri house.

Recap - A Detailed Timeline of the Last Few Years

In November 2020 we moved to Missouri--just after Scott returned home from a year and a half in Afghanistan and 6 months deployed to another part of the middle East with the military.

In December 2020 we decided to grow our little podcast into a business.

In April 2021 we launched our first product and it quickly failed. Our savings were depleted and we needed to pivot. Scott got a job, but it was a huge pay decrease from what we were used to. I applied for a few jobs and even interviewed but nothing came my way. I did a few freelance jobs and kept up with yoga and writing as much as pregnancy brain would allow.

Also in April 2021 we learned we were pregnant with our miracle baby. (We'd been struggling with infertility for years and Berks was truly a miracle).

In December 2021 our miracle baby was born. It was crazy pregnancy--I had an injured groin from doing the splits early in my pregnancy and I had gestational diabetes and a fibroid that required us to induce. But she came healthy, and we were extremely happy.

In April 2022 Scott got a new and better paying job offer but it was in Pennsylvania, away from our beloved home in Missouri. We decided to rent out our house and hope for a return in a year or so.

In May 2022 we made the official move to Pittsburgh where we lived for a year. It's where I began to heal from all the stress and disappointment we had experienced during our time in Missouri, when we wondered why we were prompted to move to Missouri, when nothing was working out for us and we were suddenly in debt.

In April 2023 Scott got a job offer back in Missouri. It seemed serendipitous because everything lined up perfectly with interviews and visits and moving.

In May 2023 we moved back to Missouri. My parents and sisters moved there too, which was perfect since our house was still being rented out and we needed a place to stay to for a few months. Berks got to meed her aunts for the first time too and had a blast playing with them.

In September 2023 we moved back into our Missouri home. We moved in with renewed energy and dreams. Scott was doing well at work. It seemed he was getting a ton of compliments from his co-workers. And I started working on clearing away overgrowth around our home and organizing the interior.

Sometime in 2024 Scott started to notice some weird things with his company. They weren't doing well financially and were looking for fall guys. Many people were ousted and they started coming after Scott. It was a weird time--a huge jump from "We love you; you're doing great" to "we're keeping an eye on you."

In April 2024 corporate restructured their IT department and the local factory decided they didn't need on-site IT anymore. Scott was let go. Also during this time we seriously considered selling our property and making some pivots. But after much deliberation we decided the property was what we really wanted so we kept it and started working harder on clearing away brush and turning the land into what we really dreamed it could be.

During the summer, Scott continued to look for a job but no one was hiring. He finally decided to call up the recruiter who got him the job in Pittsburgh a few years ago. The recruiter had two possible jobs--one in Illinois and his old job back in Pittsburgh. After interviewing, Scott was offered the job in Illinois, but the pay was too low. So we decided to move back to Pittsburgh.

And Now We Continue with the Story from Last Week--The Big Life Update

In July 2024 Scott moved to Pittsburgh and was able to stay with a member of our church. Berks and I stayed back in Missouri to sell our house. We didn't move with Scott because wed had no money to move or pay for two homes

We decided to sell because, well, it was time. We considered renting out the property again but knew it would be too expensive. Our property taxes and home owners insurance had gone up the year before and we knew there was no way we could rent it at a reasonable price, pay our mortgage and escrow, and have money for renter repairs. Plus, we needed relief from our debt. We knew that if we sold our home at a good price, we could have enough money to pay off part or all of our major debts.

Our realtor was very confident about the listing price. And we decided to trust him and the Lord. The Lord understood our situation and something would work out. He's always given us the miracles we needed.

When we listed the house we received a good amount of showings. With each showing we hoped, "This is it. It's the one. They'll buy the house." But no one bit.

I got worried and went crazy making updates to the house, hoping this next project would make the buyers fall in love with it and make an offer.

We waited and waited. Soon the showings started to fizzle out. Our realtor kept assuring us the price was fine. It's just the market right now. Truthfully, that didn't help our anxiety. We wanted to be together.

Luckily, Scott was able to come home and visit every month. But only for a weekend each month. And Berks and I called Scott every night for books and bedtime. After Berks when to sleep, I would Skype Scott and we would talk, play online games, or make future plans. But it wasn't enought. We missed each other terribly.

Thanksgiving came and went. Berkley's third birthday came and went. Christmas came and went. Scott didn't miss them, mostly. Some were celebrated late, but they were still celebrated together.

2024 came and went and 2025 was here.

I cried and lot. I questioned the Lord a lot. We called up our realtor and had conversations. The market was just much slower than it had been in a long time. He wasn't selling anything as much. His entire office was experiencing major slowdowns.

The frustration was frustrating. How else do you put that. My husband was in Pennsylvania. I was Missouri. Hadn't we been apart enough throughout our marriage? Would our house ever sell. Were we missing some important revelation and direction from the Lord? What were we doing wrong?

We had all the frustrations and questions.

Finally, Some Good News

In January 2025 we got the offer we had waited so long for. And it was a good offer. Yay!

The buyers had all the inspections. There were a few hiccups and negotiations, but we were still happy with the outcome.

And in February 2025 the day of moving out and signing papers came.

It was bittersweet to move all our stuff out of our Missouri house. We said good-bye to the three-acre pond that we wanted to create a running path around, where we wanted to plant asparagus and build a gazebo on both sides, were we wanted to have late nights by a fire and fishing and enjoying the sounds of the fish in the water.

We said good-bye to our giant fire pit we had created with the rock we tore off the fireplace in the walkout basement. We had one really good part with friends around that pit and had hoped at one time to have many.

We said good-bye to the detached garage that we were going to turn into a barn for some Jersey cows and goats.

We said good-bye to the chicken coop that we never got to fill.

And to the cozy area in the middle of our roundabout that we were working to turn into a garden with a greenhouse and trees and all sorts of plants.

We said good-bye to the house that gave us a lot of anxiety but we loved and had made many plans for to turn it into our dream home.

We said good-bye to big dreams and desires for our family, our home, or future.

I still miss that home sometimes. But I have embraced a new future.

To be continued...