Time flying by. Or standing still? My assumption is that many of you can relate to that feeling over the past year and a half.
So?
Here I am, right on point for another how has it been so long since I’ve posted here?! post.
Hey peeps!
Last word here was I had gotten hitched and was in the process of passing the big test to get my real estate license. That post was last YEAR. (What the?) That is seriously ridiculous.
Time warp or something?
For sure.
I’ve always been a pretty hard worker, but during the past lockdown/Covid/stay-at-home/what end is up? year and a half, I have gone full-monty work addicted and just recently realized (after losing my…ahem…a couple times), I needed rehab from YES! SURE! NO PROBLEM!
So I am playing catch up now, and breathing a little bit.
We humans have done and felt all kinds of crazy things over the past 500 or so days, losing our minds, ourselves, and all “normalcy.” I happened to replace all my social activities, community events, tropical travel, and other big adventures that typically keep me sane…with work. The good thing is, I passed my real estate test on the first try, dancing out of the testing center at midnight, and I’ve helped a LOT of people (clients) since, make big life changes or get into their dream homes! The bad thing is I never read all those books I was going to while things were shut down. The good thing is Jason and I walked about a zillion miles at to entertain ourselves most days, and I got pretty good at selfies, because, well…we were just with ourselves. The bad thing is my gym that I used to spend 4 to 5 days at a week at the most fun booty shaking classes shut down for months on end and now is open but pretty much all my favorite classes are never coming back. The good thing is, business is slammed busy, the bad thing is, it’s really hard to say no when you work for yourself.
The best thing on any day is that we are alive and healthy.
Even if I never fully learn not to burn the candle at all ends, I always learn a little bit more about myself. I still absolutely love my work, living on this Blue Lollipop Road, and being able to have the freedom to write my own story.
Here’s a little montage from the past blur of a zillion days: Showing houses masked up, taking walks, celebrating house closing day with bubbly, taking our first flight in months this spring, and bike riding to preview homes for clients…
I’m so glad to be here again. As always, this is my most favorite place in the whole wide world.
I hope you have realized and recognized some things about yourself and life during this twilight zone-esque 2020 and 2021. I realized I’ve totally sucked as self-care, so I’m letting myself sleep a little more now. My biggest takeaway lesson is once again…we never have any idea what is going to happen in this life, so we may as well live while we are living.
Here’s to self reflection and catching yourself before you go too far down a rabbit hole in the wrong direction.
Does a few days mean 2+ months to you? I didn’t think so, me either. But life always steps in, and here we are again so long between posts, even though I promised you some very big news “in a few days,” – back on August 25th.
(Let’s be real…it’s probably always going to be like this. We all wish there were more hours in a day:)
So, onto the VERY BIG NEWS!
For about the past 20 years, I’ve been told I would be an amazing one, that I would “love it” and that it would be a perfect fit for me. I always said, nah, I don’t think I want that. I really rejected the idea of this thing for a very long time for no good reason.
Then? Over the past several years and many many experiences, added to the place I’ve grown to now, a huge shift has happened, so I can’t believe I am sharing this with you all, but…
I’M GETTING MY REAL ESTATE LICENSE!!!
You didn’t think I was going to tell you I was pregnant, did you?
(HA! I had to mess with you there leading into this news because so many throughout my life have told me they wished I had babies.)
Yes, it’s OFFICIAL! I have finished my real estate classes and I’m just 1 test away from being able to help you rent, buy, or sell a home! (And yes, anywhere in the country, but I’ll get more into that in a later post.) By the time you’re stuffing your face with Thanksgiving turkey, this Blue Lollipop Road will be a licensed agent.
Can I get a WHOOP WHOOP?!
Insert nerd alert photo shoot here with me and my slim 886 page book. Crazy face included:
Do you notice anything in these photos you haven’t seen on me before?
Take a minute to do a little Where’s Waldo-ing.
In the meantime, I will say that I’m THRILLED to jump in and now be able to handle the last piece of what I haven’t been professionally/legally able to handle for clients during the big life transition processes I have been managing all these years…
the HOUSE piece! (Condo, apartment, etc. included.)
I’ve been a part of real estate transactions each week for years and years at this point through proximity/planning/osmosis during client projects, and I’ve seen the really good, the really bad, and the very, very ugly. It’s been frustrating at points to not have my license to be able to directly help friends, family, and clients through and with renting, buying, or selling. The good thing is, it’s at least been a little easier for me to be involved on this next level real estate thing over the past couple years, since my husband is a broker.
Did she just say…HUSBAND?!
Yep.
(I asked you if you saw anything different on me in the above photos. There’s a ring on my finger:)
I GOT MARRIED!!!
Well hot diggity, there’s big exciting news coming from every direction now!
(If you look closely, there are 2 blue lollipops in my bouquet.)
We were married exactly a YEAR ago, (see date in the sand?) in a tiny town in South Carolina with only 1 other person in the room (the one who was marrying us), on a Friday morning with a slight chill in the air, then drove straight to Hilton Head Island where we had been engaged a few months earlier. The goal was to have toes in the sand with bubbly in hand by sunset, and it turned out perfect. Beach, bubbles and sunset were the only things we planned, and strong mojo took care of the rest, including temperatures warming throughout the day, and the one random stranger walking on the beach who took these amazing photos with our old iPhone. All we said was “Hi! We just got married! Would you mind taking a few photos? Just quick shots…whatever you think. Thanks!”
How fabulous that a few snaps on a cell phone could’ve captured such a special day so beautifully.
One other little addition to the wedding day story to illustrate how mojo works? We had written vows and said them to each other that morning when we actually got married, and wanted to read them to each other again alone when we made it to the beach and popped our bubbles. We made it to the resort and out to the beach, set up our blanket, bubbles in hand, and Jason read his vows to me again, then I read mine to him. At the EXACT moment I finished my words, and we said cheers! – a huge roar of clapping and woo-hoo-ing erupted behind us from the place we were staying. There was another couple getting married that day at the event venue, and we had seen them upon our arrival setting up. As we were making our way out to the beach, it looked like they were about to start. They must’ve hit their “And now you may kiss the bride!” moment, right as we finished our second reading of our vows, too, sitting on our blanket in the sand. It was such a cool moment.
I love, love.
We never made any kind of formal announcement about getting hitched, so there you have it, 1 year later, coupled (see what I did there?) with a huge professional update/real estate licensure news!
We thought we may have a big huge happy shindig celebration in July this past summer, but you know…COVID, so we shall see what the future holds as far as us all shin-digging together to officially toast our marriage. This might be a long series of micro-shindigs. We’re good with that. We love good old fashioned quality time with friends and family in small groups.
My husband’s name is Jason. We grew up in the same Vermont small town, but didn’t even know each other or meet until the summer of 2017. I lived and traveled around the country and globe all those years, and my person not only ends up being from my same town, but I met him there, too?
Tell me you don’t believe in the mojo (magic) that can happen.
Oh yeah…and that whole anniversary celebrating thing today as well of course.
A toast:
To staying open, and curious, and always learning. To not being afraid to walk away from something to walk to the next. To getting creative, to loving your work, and to chasing dreams. To following your heart and finding your best friend. To respecting the clock, to letting love rule, and to always keep looking up.
