rewind.

Like I said, we have been busy. And then things got more hectic and crazy. And now here we are. There's way to much for lots of detail, so I'll do my best to give a good recap.

End of April
We began packing up our townhouse for the events of the future...

Early June

We packed up our townhouse in a leap of faith, hoping that the good Lord would bring someone to buy it. We had found a house in a new city that we wanted. Andrew still has to work, so he stayed in Houston, and me + baby + 2 dogs, headed to my parents' house an hour and a half down the road. We would see each other on the weekends.

June 5th
Without an abundance of time to plan it, we successfully pulled off baby boy's FIRST birthday party! Thanks to the help of lots of family + friends, who took my party planning instructions seriously. Glad they're still speaking to me!

July 4th Weekend
We are enjoying ourselves at The Lake when I get one of those phone calls from Mom that you don't want to receive. My sweet Gramma (who has been fighting cancer brilliantly) is not expected to make it out of the hospital. We needed to go home.

The next 8 days seemed like an eternity. She is such a fighter. I don't know why we thought she would leave this world any differently than she had lived in it. She fought for 8 long, hard days until she finally surrendered and went to be with Jesus. And her mama. And her daddy. We had some sweet, holy time with her, and I am so, so grateful that I was able to be here for it all. She has always been a role model and a hero to me; one of my closest friends. I miss her dearly every. single. day. However, I do know that she is saving me a seat next to her. I hope that I can live my life to carry on her joyful memory.

July 16th (in the morning)
We closed on our townhouse. It had been a very involved, very stressful sale, but God is so faithful. We could finally celebrate.

We have no pictures of the outside of the place. I guess that shows how much we loved it...

July 16th (in the afternoon)
Yes, this is the same day. We rushed back to Beaumont for sweet Gramma's service. It was beautiful and perfect. A sincere thank you to all of you who came to show your love and support. We were functioning on your love and prayers.

Now, we adjust to the "new normal." Our house has been full of family and friends from out of town for weeks, and now it is empty again. (Well, as empty as it can be with Mom, Dad, me, Bishop, weekender-Andrew, Todd + 4 dogs).

We are set to close on our new house in just 10 days. It has been a much, much smoother process. If this is the difference always, then I will forever buy new builds! It will have been close to 80 days that we will have been apart when this is all over with. I'm sure we are better for it somehow, but I will say, I don't know how so many people live this lifestyle! So many military families, and families of month-long oil shift workers. My hat is off to you! So here we are, about to embark on our new adventure, in a new city (that we couldn't be more excited about)!

Amongst all the chaos, I also decided to jump into something I've always wanted to do, and start making invitations, announcements, stationery, etc for people. I love doing it, and let's face it, if you've known me long, you know I'm a bit of a computer nerd. Gramma would've encouraged me to do it. So Keely Snyder Designs was born. Please don't judge my creativity by the name. As crazy as it sounds to do something like this during such a transitional time of my life, it's actually been a really nice outlet for me, and it's been keeping me busy/distracted! So I'm debating just merging, and having just the one blog. I know, I've done such a good job updating my (many, many) readers out there, that you are so confident I can do two. We shall see what that decision will be! For the time being, go check it out, and send your friends, too. I like friends.

ta-ta for now...