Ohmigosh!  We are moved!  We are finally, finally moved!

The moving itself was kind of nightmarish, because they pushed our closing back to Wednesday, and the people we sold our house to were moving in on Thursday.  So basically, we moved everything we owned in six hours on Wednesday.  Ugh.  What a stressful thing to do. 

But...WE DID IT! After all the craziness, the heartache, and the delays, we've signed on the dotted line, initialed a million papers, and got the key! We are moved in!

We have a beautiful old two-story farm house, 2.87 acres, mature trees, a barn, a basement, a gorgeous spot for my garden, more flowers than I've ever seen planted at one house before, and more room between the basement, garage, and two stories than I can shake a stick at.

We're going to be putting my garden in on Tuesday and Wednesday, then adding fencing and space for the goats and chickens that I hope to have very soon.But, now, that is all over and done with and we are living in the roomiest, prettiest old farmhouse you'll ever see, and we have acres of our own to ramble over and dream about, and the irises and bleeding hearts and petunias and begonias are blooming, and I'm sublimely happy.

There is just so much ROOM! And closets!  And nooks!  And crannies!  And shelves, cabinets, cupboards!  Woohoo!


Pictures will be forthcoming, as soon as I find my camera.  :D

It's been a really long time since I've posted on here!  I've just been really, really busy between work and school and everything else.  I had a great Imbolc and then Valentine's Day and am getting ready to start spring cleaning.  Actually, I sort of already started.  I rented a great big steam cleaner last weekend and cleaned all the carpet.  Now, I'm looking forward to doing the easier stuff, like culling clothes for charity, organizing my books (Preston bought me a really pretty new bookshelf because once again my books have overflowed the three bookcases we already have), and cleansing the house for the return of the warmth.

Of course, it's kind of hard to believe spring is on the way in the middle of an ice storm.  My county was declared a state of emergency because of the ice storm here last week.  Trees were exploding under the weight of the ice in my neighborhood.  We in fact have a huge branch on our roof that we need to take off when it's a little warmer.  Luckily, our power has been on pretty consistently, unlike a lot of folks in the area.

Also, I'm really happy to report that Stellaluna has already reserved our date at Lake Murphysboro for our Celebrate Women gathering.  It will be held May 30-June 1 and our theme this year is "Gathering the Goddesses," inspired by and in tribute to the work done by Z. Budapest and other founding mothers of Goddess Spirituality.

I'm going to be 26 on Sunday and am excited to see what this next year brings to my life.  I'm so proud of the progress that I've made in this last year, and the progress that Preston and I have made towards accomplishing our goals and dreams together.  I think I'm getting inspired already.  I may just have to go start some spring cleaning right now!

 

 

Between an amazing Christmas (it was great!) and then coming down with some sort of viral throat/cough thing, I nearly forgot to update my journal for Yule!

 But, other than being sick, this whole holiday season has been wonderful!  Even with Preston's crazy work schedule, we've managed to spend some beautiful time together, to exchange mountains of crazy-great gifts, and to spend time with family, having some wonderful meals.  :)

 Stellaluna's Yule celebration was a jewel on the crown of this great holiday season for me.  I'm completely amazed by how close I've grown to our new members so quickly.  It's like they've been here all along.  In a few months,  I've come to see them as family and dear friends.

 Our Yule ritual was really fun and really revealing.  We welcomed the light back, following the myth of Amaterasu, the Japanese Goddess of the Sun, and finding the beauty in ourselves and in each other in mirrors which reflected our light and warmth out into the world.  We chose blessings off our adorable, pink Stellaluna Yule tree, and, naturally, ate lots of good Yule snacks.

 We'll be setting our schedule for the next year soon, so keep an eye on the Events page of the website if you're interested in going to Stellaluna open events.

 Happy holidays, and have a wonderful and blessed New Year!

Last night's ritual, that is.  It was very pretty, and I was really pleased by how well it went.  The energy was high and joyous, the circle was inclusive and close, and Stellaluna's new Dedicants are really great women that I am honored to work with.  I can't wait until our next ritual!  I can already tell that these women have jumped headfirst into our group and are as excited and enamored with our work as I am.  I can see down the road, and it's wonderful--a community of women circling together, sharing, growing, teaching, and learning.  Each new person who comes to Stellaluna Circle brings some gift with them, some wisdom to share, to complete us.  I'm really thankful that I get to go to ritual and be a part of that.