Surprise...

WE'RE MOVING!!!

I have put off writing this post for longer than I should. Truth be told, I think I've been in denial about this huge change that is upon us. My family and I will be moving to Georgia in a little over two weeks. Yup, you heard that right! This PNW girl is headed to the South!

Maybe this will help clear up my lack of posting on here, and even on our Facebook page lately. I'm deeply sorry for my absence my beautiful friends! I've been a liiiiiitle preoccupied, and overwhelmed and exhausted, and excited, and on a straight and narrow mission for supporting my husband and family during this crazy-awesome time!

A little background: Kyle has been working his booty off for the past two years to get hired on as a professional firefighter. He started applying in WA state and unfortunately it was slim pickins'. He did however manage to make it through two oral boards with Seattle Fire which was HUGE! But it didn't go any further than that. For those who don't have much reference to becoming a paid firefighter: it is hard, extremely competitive, emotionally and financially taxing and a very long process. After things didn't follow through with Seattle, he started playing around with the idea of out of state options. I was hesitant at first, almost all of his suggestions were a definitive N O. But somewhere along the lines, my heart was being called to follow and support my husband, regardless of distance. Kyle and I have lived in a very small radius our whole lives. He has had an itch to get out and see and experience a different part of the country, and those feelings of adventure and excitement for the unknown started to whirl around in my mind, too. Flash forward to us flying to Denver, CO and Ventura County, CA... and then to Dekalb County, GA. Traveling was fun! Thrilling in fact. The thought of us actually moving to any of these places was so far off my radar. I was just along for the ride and there to back my guy. I will say this though... of those places we visited, Georgia instantly had my attention. It was so warm and inviting, and something about being there had us stopped in our tracks and appreciating all the beauty there. It was the first and only place we could see ourselves living. It must have been fate. From start to finish, it took almost 6 months for the process to unfold and to receive the official job offer. The suspense!

To keep this long story going... ;)
I have been riding this emotional roller-coaster for quite some time now, lots of highs and lots of lows. For those of you who know me as just the "painter girl" probably don't know how deep my roots are here in the Northwest. I am a family girl through and through, I consider my parents my best friends, I see my grandparents several times a week, have the greatest friends in all the land and I have... YOU. I started this painting gig from scratch. I knew very little going in to it, I just knew I wanted to be creative and paint. And somehow I've managed to gain such a tremendous support system and strong client base because you have believed in me and what I do. I'm blown away by you, my friends and truly mean it when I say you have inspired me and kept me going and learning. I think that is why I've been so negligent in telling you this huge news because it saddens me to leave you and everything I have worked so hard to accomplish here. I have met so many amazing, wonderful people, been a part of two very lovely and nurturing stores and been able to work side by side (a lot of the time) with my number one gals, my mama and baby girl. It has been the perfect world. But the fascinating thing about our world is that it is constantly changing, and we are too. We aren't meant to be stagnant, we are designed to explore and grow. Even though this is a really intimidating time, I do find comfort in knowing that no matter how big or little these upcoming changes will be, I won't forget about you or the memories I have. And I hope you won't forget about me. ;) I have to tell myself that you'll still stop by my page and check in on me... you will, won't you? Maybe I'll start shipping..!

So for now, this is not a goodbye, as I am altogether terrible at those. This is a "please wish me luck as I'm shaking in my boots" and let's remain friends. I can only hope I will be so warmly welcomed there as I was here. You guys have been so GREAT to me!

We are set to move mid September, but I will be back in October to do my first show, so please please come visit us there. We will be at the Clutter and Charm Vintage Market in downtown Puyallup on October 18th.

Before I go, would you like to see some pictures of our trips to GA? Ok, you got it!

 (The first house pictured is the house Martin Luther King Jr grew up in. Pretty neat, huh? The picture next to it is the firehouse he used to play at when he was a kid.

Bottom left: some of the most delicious gelato I've ever had the pleasure of eating. Bottom right: our new house!! ...just kidding. ;)

 Top left: Ok, we really bought a house! ...Psych. Got ya again. That is me jumping in front of the Swan House, an iconic home in downtown Atlanta (fun fact: part of the hunger games was filmed here.) Top middle: my babe on our first trip there, that smile says it all. He knew it was meant to be. Top right: our two kiddos we are taking with us!

Thanks for listening, I know I don't do "brief". Hope you're still awake out there!

I'll be back soon with more updates. My good friend Amanda suggested I blog about us moving to the South and documenting our steps along the way... I think I might just do that! I hear the painting community is pretty big there ;)

xoxoxo
Jill