I am now positive blessings are not all calm, sweet music and enlightened spring flowers… they have a muddy side.
Nate and Lindsey got married this last summer; the catch is that they will both be moving to Georgia next month. That is further away from me than I ever wanted my big brother to be. I was not ok with him moving into his own room down the hall when we were kids.
Grandpa just got married last weekend. Mom is getting married in March. Yes, I’m still ringless.
Finally found my house! I close escrow Feb 2. I can’t wait to play house! For real this time. It is a three bedroom, two bath home with vaulted ceilings and a fireplace. I will post pictures of it in a couple months. I want to do some renovating first. One of the best parts is that I will only be fifteen minutes from work. No more 45-minute commute, though I am so appreciative I have had such a beautiful place to stay the last few months in Oakdale with Grandpa. Even though the walls have been painted and new decorations hung, I still see my grandma in this house and miss her. I will be relieved to escape the painful memories.
2011 marked the last year of Hollman’s Fresh Christmas Trees. Wow. My whole life has revolved around the tree lot and now it is no longer going to be a part of my life. That has been a really hard realization for me. Talk about heart throb. I loved the tree lot. Loved freezing fingers and toes… fights with my brother… 5 a.m… difficult customers… aching feet from the bark… living in trailer for two months… white, itchy flocking all over me… the cold that always turned into bronchitis… the visa machine not working… wind and rain that would not stop… 16 hour days… my stressed out mother crying. Well, maybe I won’t miss those things. I will miss the family unity, the customers we looked forward to seeing every year, the aroma of fresh trees, pride of a job well done and of course, igniting the memory of my dad and honoring the business he started. If we didn’t let go of it now, we will never be able to move on. I admire my mom for making it happen and enduring all these years.
After 8 years on the market, our farm in Oregon finally sold to a blue berry farmer. Now mom and the girls are on a hunt for a new home. Crazy how everything happens at once, it makes me feel like I can’t catch my breath. I don’t even want to come to terms with that change yet. I am trying not to think about it.
Last on my list of blessings, I am happily employed at E. & J. Gallo Winery. The opportunities are boundless. May this start Part II of my life.
