Hi y'all. I'm still here, I promise. It's just been an icky week for me. I can't I haven't had time to blog, but I usually spent that time watching You Tube videos or oversleeping.
That's my Traveler's Notebook Bullet Journal/Planner and my Lilly Pulitzer weekly planner. The journal is one of the reasons I didn't blog at all in the last year. I was writing everything in my journal instead of posting it here. I used to be upset that I didn't journal anymore,... but I have been - all these years I've been blogging, it's been my journal. Last year made it plain I can't seem to keep a paper journal and a blog at the same timer, so I am really trying this year to do both.
There's so much to catch up on from the last year. I think I may actually go through last year's journal and do occasional Flashback posts to talk about things that happened last year so I have a record of them here as well as in my books. That could really work!
But I don't want to just dwell in the past, so here's some stuff going on recently!
My 3rd daughter, Faelyn turned 18 this year, is a senior in high school and graduating next month, and just got her acceptance letter to Berea College! She didn't make the first round of selections, so we were stressed that she might not make it even though we thought she had everything she needed... and FINALLY! She got the letter a couple of weeks ago. The local non-profit she has been a part of since she was little has been really instrumental in getting her into Berea. Rural Resources has a partnership with Grow Appalachia which is based there in Berea, KY. They've been such a great help with the teen program and encouraged the teens to go to Berea and check it out and do the tours etc. Faelyn went a couple years ago and fell in love with the school. I went with the group this past year (That's a whole other Flashback post!) and she had her interview and I got to tour the campus. It's an amazing school. The tuition is 100% free to any student who gets in and then there's even more grants etc on top of that for room and board. Laptops are even provided! The catch is that it's a working college. Virtually everything is done by the students. There are very few staff members other than faculty and a few admins etc. It's run by the students, so they work off their tuition. They also have paid internships all over the world, The college pays for them, so an internship that would normally not pay or just be a volunteer position can be a paid position through the Berea program. I am really hoping she can get into something like that for the summers on the coast so she can intern in her field. She wants to be a marine biologist/conservationist. I'm so proud of her!
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Let's see... what else is going on. My youngest daughter, Zoe is now 13 and prefers to be called Ren and is gender fluid. Her goal is to look so androgynous that you can't tell which gender she is. She feels that's the best fit for her. I support him/her fully. I'm still getting used to the "they" pronoun. I'm not against, it, I'm just hard to change my ways. To be honest though, most days she does her makeup and looks very much like a girl, so I just go with whatever feels right at the time. She's not too picky.
She does a really great Dean Winchester Cosplay though!
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My oldest daughter, Corina has had a rough year and then some. She's finally got a great job. She's a manager at the local Sonic and just loves it. She's supporting the whole household of her and her husband and sister in law and mother in law though. I worry she's just pushing herself too hard, but she's such a hard worker and is determined to make it through whatever comes their way. Recently, they finally got the eviction notice they knew would be coming since her father-in-law had passed away and then her mother-in-law had lost her disability due to a paperwork error that was the doctor's fault apparently. So, they couldn't make the house payments and would be homeless as well, but someone heard about it and offered them their trailer since they were buying a new one and didn't need the old one. Corina and them just had to pay to move it and get it set up. The guy even hooked them up with a man who had a lot all set up and ready to put the trailer on for just $150 a month. Sounds great right? Well, it's been a nightmare trying to do all of that in the winter and wet season here, and having non-trustworthy folks doing the work so they got farther and farther behind with what needed to be done. They finally moved into it with no power on and lived like that for almost 3 weeks before they got the stuff done that was needed for the inspection to get the power on, but they're still not happy with some things and they have to get more stuff done or they'll turn it back off. I can't believe the amount of rules and permits! It's ridiculous. These fees and crap are how the county is making their money! I really hope they can get it all taken care of and settled soon so they can relax a little and finally just live their lives in peace!
This is the view out their new front door! They have a huge lot too. I'm a little jealous lol!
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I sort of adopted a son this past year as well. I think I've blogged about him before. Ducky is such a sweet heart. He's one of Rhiannon's best friends and has borrowed our couch a few times before, but this last summer he was homeless so we let him move in. It was tight, with someone always on the couch or Ren sleeping on an extra bed we'd set us in the master bedroom, but it was worth it to help him get on his feet and figure out what he needed to do. And he sure did! He enrolled at the local private college and is in pre-law/political science. So, since January, he's been living on campus, but in a couple of weeks, he'll be back here, and then a week after that Rhiannon will be back as well.
I always told my kids they'll always have a home here, and they take me up on it LOL! Rhiannon's husband Joe is currently deployed in Afghanistan and she's staying in college until she graduates, even if it means they're still not together for a couple more years so she'll be home for summers when he's deployed or somewhere she can't be. And Ducky will likely be staying here when not in school until he graduates as well unless he ends up finding someone to move in with. Though his job wouldn't work around his college schedule, so he had to quit and just to work study... I think most of us know that doesn't pay much. So, my house will be full of kids for some time to come at least during the summers! This Fall is will be so quiet! Ducky, Rhiannon AND Faelyn will all be gone back to college. So this summer we have a lot of memories to make! And I'll try to post them all here!
Okay, I think that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be able to get my act together and get a video done soon - though I have no idea if anyone would have any interest in watching it, but I'll give it a try.
Have a great day y'all!
Patty
That's my Traveler's Notebook Bullet Journal/Planner and my Lilly Pulitzer weekly planner. The journal is one of the reasons I didn't blog at all in the last year. I was writing everything in my journal instead of posting it here. I used to be upset that I didn't journal anymore,... but I have been - all these years I've been blogging, it's been my journal. Last year made it plain I can't seem to keep a paper journal and a blog at the same timer, so I am really trying this year to do both.
There's so much to catch up on from the last year. I think I may actually go through last year's journal and do occasional Flashback posts to talk about things that happened last year so I have a record of them here as well as in my books. That could really work!
But I don't want to just dwell in the past, so here's some stuff going on recently!
My 3rd daughter, Faelyn turned 18 this year, is a senior in high school and graduating next month, and just got her acceptance letter to Berea College! She didn't make the first round of selections, so we were stressed that she might not make it even though we thought she had everything she needed... and FINALLY! She got the letter a couple of weeks ago. The local non-profit she has been a part of since she was little has been really instrumental in getting her into Berea. Rural Resources has a partnership with Grow Appalachia which is based there in Berea, KY. They've been such a great help with the teen program and encouraged the teens to go to Berea and check it out and do the tours etc. Faelyn went a couple years ago and fell in love with the school. I went with the group this past year (That's a whole other Flashback post!) and she had her interview and I got to tour the campus. It's an amazing school. The tuition is 100% free to any student who gets in and then there's even more grants etc on top of that for room and board. Laptops are even provided! The catch is that it's a working college. Virtually everything is done by the students. There are very few staff members other than faculty and a few admins etc. It's run by the students, so they work off their tuition. They also have paid internships all over the world, The college pays for them, so an internship that would normally not pay or just be a volunteer position can be a paid position through the Berea program. I am really hoping she can get into something like that for the summers on the coast so she can intern in her field. She wants to be a marine biologist/conservationist. I'm so proud of her!
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Let's see... what else is going on. My youngest daughter, Zoe is now 13 and prefers to be called Ren and is gender fluid. Her goal is to look so androgynous that you can't tell which gender she is. She feels that's the best fit for her. I support him/her fully. I'm still getting used to the "they" pronoun. I'm not against, it, I'm just hard to change my ways. To be honest though, most days she does her makeup and looks very much like a girl, so I just go with whatever feels right at the time. She's not too picky.
She does a really great Dean Winchester Cosplay though!
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My oldest daughter, Corina has had a rough year and then some. She's finally got a great job. She's a manager at the local Sonic and just loves it. She's supporting the whole household of her and her husband and sister in law and mother in law though. I worry she's just pushing herself too hard, but she's such a hard worker and is determined to make it through whatever comes their way. Recently, they finally got the eviction notice they knew would be coming since her father-in-law had passed away and then her mother-in-law had lost her disability due to a paperwork error that was the doctor's fault apparently. So, they couldn't make the house payments and would be homeless as well, but someone heard about it and offered them their trailer since they were buying a new one and didn't need the old one. Corina and them just had to pay to move it and get it set up. The guy even hooked them up with a man who had a lot all set up and ready to put the trailer on for just $150 a month. Sounds great right? Well, it's been a nightmare trying to do all of that in the winter and wet season here, and having non-trustworthy folks doing the work so they got farther and farther behind with what needed to be done. They finally moved into it with no power on and lived like that for almost 3 weeks before they got the stuff done that was needed for the inspection to get the power on, but they're still not happy with some things and they have to get more stuff done or they'll turn it back off. I can't believe the amount of rules and permits! It's ridiculous. These fees and crap are how the county is making their money! I really hope they can get it all taken care of and settled soon so they can relax a little and finally just live their lives in peace!
This is the view out their new front door! They have a huge lot too. I'm a little jealous lol!
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I sort of adopted a son this past year as well. I think I've blogged about him before. Ducky is such a sweet heart. He's one of Rhiannon's best friends and has borrowed our couch a few times before, but this last summer he was homeless so we let him move in. It was tight, with someone always on the couch or Ren sleeping on an extra bed we'd set us in the master bedroom, but it was worth it to help him get on his feet and figure out what he needed to do. And he sure did! He enrolled at the local private college and is in pre-law/political science. So, since January, he's been living on campus, but in a couple of weeks, he'll be back here, and then a week after that Rhiannon will be back as well.
I always told my kids they'll always have a home here, and they take me up on it LOL! Rhiannon's husband Joe is currently deployed in Afghanistan and she's staying in college until she graduates, even if it means they're still not together for a couple more years so she'll be home for summers when he's deployed or somewhere she can't be. And Ducky will likely be staying here when not in school until he graduates as well unless he ends up finding someone to move in with. Though his job wouldn't work around his college schedule, so he had to quit and just to work study... I think most of us know that doesn't pay much. So, my house will be full of kids for some time to come at least during the summers! This Fall is will be so quiet! Ducky, Rhiannon AND Faelyn will all be gone back to college. So this summer we have a lot of memories to make! And I'll try to post them all here!
Okay, I think that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be able to get my act together and get a video done soon - though I have no idea if anyone would have any interest in watching it, but I'll give it a try.
Have a great day y'all!
Patty