Random Life Update: September 2021

This recap of September is quite late. Life here in the Reschly house has been crazy and up in the air lately (as you will see) and I haven’t had much time to actually sit down and write out this post. I also apologize for the lack of pictures. I’m too tired to try to find many when most don’t even exist for most of the activities.

September was a very full, frustrating, fun, and exciting month. At the beginning, I got to meet my friend and pen pal Sara Abbott! It was soo good to meet her in person. Our family went to her church and spent a lovely evening together. ❤

My friend Amie invited Jehosheba, Mama and I to see Hamilton in the Fox Theatre with her, her dad and her sister Ruth. Jehosheba had wanted to see it performed live for a long time and was so thrilled when she heard that we were going.

Everything was going perfectly. It was a rainy night, we arrived at the rather empty parking garage and met up with Amie and Ruth and their dad. But alas, our night was doomed. *sad music* At least partially. The show was canceled. *weeps* We made the best of it, though, and walked down to The Varsity and got some drinks and chatted for a while. It was great to see Amie and Ruth and to be able to redeem the night. ❤

Thankfully, they rescheduled Hamilton and we were able to see it on the following Monday. It was amazing. It was so cool to be there in person and to watch it live – and to be able to do it with such amazing people. ❤ I was so happy that I got to see Amie one more time before we left for Utah.

It was bittersweet – knowing that hey, I actually have a couple friends in Georgia. But also knowing that I’d be leaving them soon. I’m just thankful that we got to visit Sara and Amie before we left. *thumbs up*

Our plan was to leave Georgia on the 26^th of September. That was way faster than any of us had thought. We did a lot of packing and I was amazed at how quickly and smoothly it all went. It was such a blessing. I was also thrilled to see that we got rid of most of our old, ratty very heavy furniture and that we wouldn’t have to drag it across the country again.

Cardamom, my little sugar glider joey, had his neuter on the 21^st. I would have preferred to have it done earlier because it was so close to our move date and the wound wouldn’t heal for two weeks. But that was the first available appointment they had and I was just thankful we were able to get it done before we left.

Cardamom did amazingly well and he had no problems. But paranoid little me slept beside their cage for days to make sure that he didn’t die. Did I say slept? I set an alarm on my phone to wake me up every hour so that I could check on him, water him and feed him (which he couldn’t do himself because of the e-collar). I was exhausted, but God gave me strength to be able to function fairly well and to be a useful part of packing and cleaning. XD

On the 22^nd, Mama took Jehosheba, Yoveil and I on one last girl’s date in Georgia. We went downtown (for the last time *weeps loudly*) and got brunch at a lovely little café called Sugar Cakes. Then we walked around and visited some little shops. None of us wanted to go home yet. We just wanted to savor the last little bit of time that we had in that warm, inviting downtown area. ❤

On the 25^th, we had the final walkthrough of the house. We did a very, very deep clean and then (to keep it that way) we left the house and went to Six Flags. It was a much better experience than last time. It wasn’t as hot, there weren’t as many people and the whole atmosphere was a lot nicer.

We were able to ride quite a few rides and it was a lot of fun. Except for the Great American Scream Machine. We rode that last time, but this time it was…not as much fun. It was so jerky. The entire time I was just saying to myself, “It’s almost done, it’s almost done, it’s almost done” while Baruch was screaming his head off next to me. XD Poor Yoveil, who was just barely tall enough to ride, broke down into sobs as soon as it was done. After crying and crying and crying, she hugged me tight and told me that she never wanted to go on it again…maybe. Probably. XD

After that we dropped Daddy off at the house to do the walkthrough with our landlord and the rest of us went to Henry’s – a favorite bakery. A really nice man saw Dovid looking at the cookies and bought us all one! It was so kind.

Then we went to a bookstore and…*dies of happiness* Bookstores are awesome!! Jehosheba and I headed straight for the classics section. It was so fun to look through the books and see so many that I’d read recently for school. In the end, I bought The Iliad and The Diary of a Young Girl. *heart eyes*

It was a really good last full day in Georgia and we were so blessed to meet so many kind people in it.

The next day was move out day! We were all excited. The U-Haul was packed, the house was empty and the pets were safely stowed in buckets (fish), cages (guinea pigs) and pouches (sugar gliders). As you guys have read already in this post, the drive was exhausting and very very long. It was supposed to be thirteen hours to my grandparents’ house in Iowa, but with various slowdowns and breaks, it turned into a total of 17 hours in the van/U-Haul. We got in around 4 AM and were all very happy to be there.

We stayed at Grandpa and Grandma’s house until the 30^th. It was such an amazing time and I wish it could have lasted longer! Grandma made amazing food (as always), we had fires in the fire pit and roasted and ate too many s’mores. We had a lot of fun and got to see and do a lot of great stuff. We got to visit my great-grandma. It was really good to be able to see her again. ❤

My parents planned a graduation party for me while we were at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. It was so special! (And awkward being the center of attention, lol). The day of the party began with a great breakfast (and pesto cookies from Grandpa). Then we set to work on decorating the garden where the celebrations would take place. Decorating is…a great evil, lol. Especially since most of us have no clue how to do it. But the whole place turned out looking very festive and fun.

(All pictures are taken by Mommy)

(Jehosheba did these beautiful signs!)

Uncle Tim, Aunt Carrie and their adorable baby had arrived the night before. It was our first time meeting Aunt Carrie and Emmianna and it was really fun to get to see them face-to-face! Nana, Papa, Uncle Grand and Cannon arrived that afternoon. Dovid and Cannon got along much better this time and it was adorable to see them playing together (and both gazing upon the cake with longing eyes).

I changed into my cap and gown (and Baruch promptly laughed at me) and stood inside the teahouse.

The music started and I walked out and stood in front of everyone. Grandpa and Papa gave beautiful words of encouragement and love. Uncle Tim came up and gave an exhortation that was amazing and inspiring. 🙂 Then Daddy came and gave me a beautiful and encouraging blessing. They all meant so much to me and made me feel so loved and so not alone.

Then we ate! Grandpa made amazing meat and we had BBQ sandwiches, wonderful salads, cake and drinks. (And Dovid ate an impossible amount and then went on to have two big pieces of cake. XD)

After that we went and hung out with Nana and Papa at their hotel. We had a meal at Apple Bee’s together before we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

The whole afternoon – my personal and extended family, the work that Mama and everyone else did, the words, the food, the gifts, the encouragement – it was all a beautiful reminder that I am not alone and that there are people who care about me a lot and who love me. ❤

All was going so well…until we realized that we wouldn’t be able to close when we had hoped. Because of our mortgage guy, the house closing was pushed off and we would have to find a place to stay while we were waiting to finally close.

We left Grandma and Grandpa’s house on the 30^th, all wishing that we could stay longer and continue the fun. That day was one of a lot of driving. We also had car troubles. We had to stop and get the van repaired. We didn’t get into our airbnb in Cheyenne, WY until after midnight. We were all exhausted and worn out. You can see my full (humorous) post about it here.

That was technically the end of the month, but I’ll include the first few days of October in this recap. *nods*

The 1^st of October, after much driving and frustration because we still weren’t able to close on the house, we made it to Utah late that night. You can read my post about it here.

Long story short, as I write this, we are staying in an airbnb and have been here for a while. We should have closed on the house a long time ago, but alas, we haven’t. For a while we were really worried that we would lose the house. But Daddy feels confident that we will get it. Hopefully (though we are all cynical about it) we should close sometime this week. We shall see, though.

However, despite the whole house situation, we have had a wonderful time in Utah so far. The mountains are amazing in their glory and robed in their fall colors. The people here are amazing as well. It’s been such a blessing to see how strangers have welcomed us and have been so kind and so welcoming. God has blessed us richly.

One thing that I learned in September was to savor each moment. I read Annie Down’s new book That Sounds Fun and in it she talked a lot about savoring each moment because they all come to an end – both the good and the bad. That really stuck with me and stayed in my mind. So throughout the month, I focused on savoring these experiences. The good, the bad, the happy and the frustrating. It helped get my mindset straight and let me to be thankful in circumstances that I would otherwise have complained about. 🙂

~Hattush

What was your September like? Are you excited for fall? What are your favorite parts about it? Have you ever had a move that didn’t go as planned? What makes you smile during hard times? Have you ever been to Utah? Let’s chat in the comments!