The beginning of the beginning

To say it's been a rough few months would be an understatement. Put aside the divorce and all the drama associated with that (hah!) and it's still been a rough month. Our house is being foreclosed on, which is actually good news because, you see, the house was trying to kill us. Between the lead-based paint and the black mold, it's a miracle any of us got out alive. In the last month alone, while trying to get into a new place that doesn't want me dead, I've had pneumonia, bronchitis and strep throat. The baby has had strep and bronchitis twice as well.

But, we're out. We found us a just-right-for-us apartment close to the school. Much to everyone's fear because I'm so clumsy it's on the 3rd floor. But it's perfection. The boys are sharing a nice-sized room. The kitchen and the living room are one big open floor plan which delights Joshua as he can now destroy everything in sight run very free and play. I have a great big bedroom with a walkin closet and a half bathroom (what?! TWO bathrooms!) and a laundry room for my beloved washer and dryer. There's ample storage space and a great big patio. It's nice and clean and quiet and they put new carpet, linoleum and paint in.

Far more important than the new paint and the new flooring and all the storage is the new life that comes with it. It's me and my boys and my Shelby dog in this little house. For the first time in my life I am living on my own. I moved out of my parent's house and in with Mike 2 weeks after I graduated high school. I have never lived on my own. And yeah, it's been tough already. There were some days I wasn't sure I was going to get the stuff in the house, even the most basic of steps, and I still haven't figured out how to install child-proofing hardware and I realized with a start that I am now the person who has to hang eleventy hundred all those pictures. But I know, without a doubt, that I have totally freakin' got this. There is no pain here. No holes in the wall. No "this is where x y z happened". There is hope. There is the start of my new book, my schooling, my career. There are happy memories to be made and a new love to cherish. There is life to be lived.

And I can't wait

P.S. I have not forgotten about the rest of my pictures and my new hair but we haven't quite had time to get it finished with the moving and all. Soon, I promise :)