The Summer of a Thousand Changes

It's been about 3 months have past since my last post. So much has changed that I didn't foresee. It's kind of crazy how God works in our lives and through us. This summer has been the summer where I have had to deal with the most change. Every aspect of my life has been completely changed.

6 Months of Marriage

Ready for the Toby Mac Concert!

Josh and I hit our 6 month mark of marriage a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully, we still like each other despite being around each other almost 24/7 since we both work from home. It has been such a fairly easy transition for both of us as I had been living on my own for a while so I wasn't used to having someone around all the time. Josh, on the other hand, had 4 other people living with him before we got married. Despite that, it's been a blessing to have Josh around to encourage me and be the stability I needed, especially with all my health issues I was having. We have grown so much in such a short amount of time and I see how much God has used both of our lives and personalities to prepare us for our marriage. Because we met during Covid and things didn't start opening up until after getting married, I feel like we get to do a lot of firsts together, such as going on vacation together, going to concerts, and the Washington State Fair. They always say you should always keep dating your spouse and I feel like meeting and marrying each other during Covid is a blessing in disguise. I am really looking forward to seeing where the next 6 months take us.

My Health

My health has been a roller coaster for about 9 months to a year. My blood work from the end of June came back mostly normal. It just showed indicators that my adrenal levels are a little higher than they should be. It thought it was from all of the stress that I was dealing with. I also received results from my food test. I am not super sensitive to many foods, but it turns out the two main foods that I tend to be most sensitive to is dairy and brewer's yeast (or beer). I already avoid those in addition to most gluten which has helped.

After receiving the results and finally having time to think over everything, I came to realize the timeline of not feeling well with a medication I started taking right before then. At the beginning of this month, I got off the medication that I was taking for almost a year. Before I was off the medication, I was feeling like I could barely make it through the day despite how much sleep I got and I had to take Ibuprofen or Excedrin every day to keep my headaches or migraines (depending on the day) at bay. I was also dealing with some severe anxiety and some intense nausea on some occasions, too. Within a couple of days off the medication, I started to really feel back to myself. Now I wake up feeling like I got enough sleep unless I went to bed way too late. I rarely have a headache and I haven't had a migraine for almost two weeks. This is a huge answer to prayer and I am so very grateful since this medication gave me some very intense symptoms that was taking a huge toll on my body and mind. I feel like I have my body and mind back. I'm going to enjoy the time I have feeling this way and also continue the gluten-free keto diet that we have been on. I can definitely tell a difference even with that.

Job

I'm still job hunting. It's been a bit frustrating and disheartening since I have been so close to getting an offer at least a handful of times. I'm still doing what I can and I will continue working on getting a better paid job.  I decided that I will take a couple of certification courses in the mean time to help assist in the job searching. I'm currently working on project management skills through Google Coursera, where I got my IT Support Specialist Certification. Once I complete that, I plan to get a certification in UX Design, which would marry up all of my skills (instructional design/technical writer, IT, and project management) and mark me as a skilled (more clearly on paper) User Experience Instructional Designer/Technical Writer. I know God will give me the job He needs me to have in His timing. He has been keeping me busy with my current job as an Instructional Designer/Technical Writer at MATC Group, Inc.

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Our Apartment We Just Moved Out of

Right after being engaged (November 2020) to Josh we moved me in an apartment that was closer to his family and that he'd move into when we got married. The past 6 months of living there have been a blessing, but we knew this apartment would be temporary. We wanted to move closer to his family and friends that live quite a ways away so (despite my disdain for moving) we found a beautiful townhouse that allows us to grow and save until we are ready to buy a house. This move is #7 or #8 for me in just over 5 years. I am becoming more hopeful that I have a couple more moves left before we officially buy a home and live in it for more than 1 year.

We don't know what the next year will look like but we talked about plans of what we might do depending on our finances and the politics in Washington. We are just continuing to pray and rely on God where He wants us to be. We are listening to His call wherever that takes us.
He has always provided personally for me in His timing and I see it in our marriage as well.

 

Overall, I think this summer has been the best summer I ever had despite all my health issues, the difficult job hunting, and the impending move. I'm just grateful I feel better and have health insurance that actually covers medical expenses and for a home that is perfect for us right now. I'm also thankful that I wasn't dealing with it alone and that I still have a job that allows me the flexibility I need right now.