THE NEXT JEN

I’m writing from the place we are newly calling home – a far cry from the ‘luxury apartment’ we paid a premium for in our downtown area.

Three weeks before the shelter-in-place mandates were issued in our state, we provided an official ‘Notice to Vacate’ letter to our leasing office. Our lease was up mid-April and because we were preparing (and still are!) for our wedding later this year, we wanted to move to a place that was, at the very least, less expensive. And at best, somewhere where we didn’t have upstairs neighbors who were fond of 2am jumping jacks.

The timing became a definite challenge as the mandates rolled out and became stricter and stricter. We were quite concerned about outside factors, as was everyone else of course. We considered sticking around for a few months to ride this thing out, but we couldn’t afford to stay past our lease’s end date – our month-to-month agreement would be an increase of an additional $2k per month. Our original plan was to briefly move in with my folks, but that was now off-the-table as well. But by a blessing from above (and a little help from my grandparents, who actually put us in touch with the landlord) we ended up stumbling into a rental that was outside of the city, less expensive than our apartment, and in a much quieter area. It’s a cute little home with a lemon tree in the yard and shag carpet on the floors. In the midst of all the turmoil and uncertainty, it felt great to settle in a place where I felt a little safer.

In the midst of all the turmoil and uncertainty, it felt great to settle in a place where we felt a little safer.

However, now that the move is finally complete and boxes full of who-knows-what stare me in the face while I dodge them in the hallway – the current state of our country and the world has really begun to settle on my mind. The distraction of finding a place to live isn’t consuming my day-to-day anymore, and I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been having some off-days.

But It’s a balance. I’ve allowed myself to shed some tears of fear and frustration. I’ve journaled my thoughts – good, bad, and ugly. But at the end of the day, my focus falls back on what I’m grateful for. I’ve found ways to exert pent-up energy that I neglected for a long time – through long walks and trying new recipes. I’ve come to terms with the fact that while my goals remain the same, the journey may be different from what I had initially envisioned.

I’ve come to terms with the fact that while my goals remain the same, the journey may be different from what I had initially envisioned.

I hope that whoever you are, wherever you are, and whatever you’re currently going through right now… you take that to heart.

Your dreams and goals before this chapter of your life are not destroyed forever.

Regroup.

This is a season, not a prison.

Sending all the love & encouragement to you and yours,

Jenni