Tea Time Thoughts No. 3

Hello from South Carolina! Today I’m writing this post while visiting our families. Matt’s family lives in Charleston and my family lives in the upstate area, close to Clemson University. My sister, Tara, and her husband, Zach, are also visiting SC from California with my new niece, Nusa. It’s Nusa’s first visit to the Palmetto State! And, this is the first time our whole family has been together since Nusa was born this past January. Such a special family reunion that we will never forget. 

I wanted to take time for this week’s Tea Time Thoughts post to reflect on a special anniversary we celebrated last week. A little more personal than usual but I hope you don’t mind!   

5 years in Orlando 

We celebrated our fifth year of living in Orlando last week. I honestly cannot believe it’s been that long. It seems like we just moved to Orlando from Charleston, SC…and yet…it also feels like we lived in SC a lifetime ago. I am grateful for our time we’ve had in Florida and excited to see where the future may take us. Life looks a lot different than it did even two years ago!  

It’s crazy to take a step back and reflect on all that’s transpired since we’ve moved here. Matt is still not back in his ‘normal’ position at Walt Disney World. And what’s even stranger is that we don’t know when…or if he’ll be able to go back. Probably…maybe?! We don’t know. Everything feels a bit up in the air right now…but I’m at peace with the unknown. Which is saying a lot coming from a self-professed Type A planner. 😉 And I think here’s why… 

My “word of the year” (something I do instead of New Year’s resolutions)  at the beginning of 2021 was surrender. Ironically, my word for 2020 was freedom, and I’m sure you know that spending most of last year inside our homes away from friends and family was definitely not freeing. 

However, last year the word freedom gained a deeper meaning to me. Freedom in 2020 meant loosening the grip of control I thought I had on my future. And my health for that matter, since Matt and I both got COVID in November despite our best efforts of precautions.     

But like I said, I’m a planner and I always try to think ahead. However, in March 2020, when Matt was put on furlough, we had to adapt, adjust, and make changes that I never, ever planned to make. When I got COVID and couldn’t get enough endurance to upkeep my daily workout routine for months (or walk upstairs without being winded for that matter), I had to adapt and find new ways to destress and approach daily tasks. While we had new restraints on life, I had freedom to slow down and give my attention to areas in my life that I’d been ignoring because life had been so busy and on-the-go.  

And so, this year I chose my word of the year to be surrender. No one could’ve predicted what occurred in 2020. As we celebrate our fifth year of living in Florida, I’m also surrendering to the resistance to change. Because as we’ve seen, things can change so suddenly without notice. I don’t know where the next five years will take us, but I’m grateful for this crazy adventure. And I’m excited for what may come next. 

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this post. I’m grateful for this safe space to share my thoughts with you. I know I took some time away, but it’s been amazing to reconnect and share here again. I appreciate your support more than you know!!

Here are a few family photos we took this week (thanks, Zach!) 🙂