Transitions and Not Knowing

I think that one of the hardest questions I have to face anytime I see someone for the first time since returning is "What have you been up to?" Any answer I have to offer seems to sound like a whole lot of nothing. However, I promise that I have been up to a lot more than nothing.

If I have seen you, I have told you that we are living with my parents temporarily, we are helping with their house, Justin is working on some random projects and I am teaching dance as a sub for two teachers on maternity leave. It sounds like a lot of bits and bots, but nothing of real substance. So, I have compiled some pictures of what we have been up to, to try to portray what is going on in our lives.

As for the home renovations for my parents, it has turned out to be a lot more than any of us expected. When we arrived at my parents house after the holidays, they showed us a huge hole and leak in the ceiling of the family room Justin and I renovated about 4 years ago. The roof showed some signs of damage and we noticed water pooling on it. Some of the excess water was due to the improper drainage of the washing machine. The pipe where it should have been draining was destroyed by roots so it began to drain up through the vent and on to the roof.

So we began by putting in a new drain in that would give the water an alternate route out. While Justin constructed the contraption, I cleared about ten trash bags full of leaves and branches (they fall eternally here) to help prepare the placement. We (Justin mostly) dug the trench, and then covered the pipe. Lucy spent the day outside with us and felt like she needed to pose with the finished product.

After that, we were ready to move on to fixing the roof/ceiling. My dad and Justin planned a day to demo the roof and see the damage. They started on a Saturday morning with plans to get a U-Haul on Sunday to get new supplies and to haul off the demo debris on Monday morning. My mom and I took a trip to Ikea to find some stuff for my mom and they were off to work. They called around noon to tell us that The whole section of the roof and the side wall had extensive termite damage. We were lucky it did not just collapse. It was much more than expected.

In a matter of two days we ripped off one entire wall and the whole section of roof. We were left with a big pile of junk to take to the dump and a lot of work ahead of us. After a huge Home Depot trip that looked like we were building an entire house, we loaded all the junk up in the back of a U-Haul and sent it on its way. That night we covered the roof with a tarp and prepared to do work in the morning. Unfortunately, a TERRIBLE rainstorm came that night and we spent the entire night and into the wee hours of the morning fighting flooding and disaster. I was so sad that all the work we had put into a room a few years before went down the drain.

With the sun, we rebooted and got everything rolling with the construction. We ran into yet another completely damaged wall that we rebuilt and decided in the process we would need to paint the whole outside of the house.

It took a month or more with intermittent pauses and tired bodies, but we were able to get it all back together just before my sister came home for Easter. Justin and I spent lots of days working on the house part of the day and doing our jobs the other part. I showed up to teach dance a few times after painting the whole day, only to realize I missed cleaning the paint off that one spot underneath my arm. I think my students started to wonder what I was doing all day, and how I could be painting so much.

Many times, I was unable to help Justin with construction due to my lack of expertise. However, I spent many of those times cleaning and organizing inside and out to help keep things going. I then took over work for about a week with filling holes, sanding, and painting while Justin worked on some studio projects. So far, the drainage pipe is in place, the roof is fixed, the side and front wall are rebuilt, a storage shed is added to the house, and the majority of the house is painted. We still have some exterior repair/painting to do and some other little projects to complete. Nevertheless, It feels great to have made some progress and to have some finished projects now. We are so happy that we have been able to help my parents with everything as they have been gracious to let us stay with them.

So, amidst so many other things... that, is what we have been up to.

The end of an era and what is to come

So, it has been quite a while as usual. I am finished with having unrealistic expectations of how often I will write. I will write when I feel it is right and when I have something to share...

If you do not know, or have not figured it out, Justin and I have officially moved back to the U.S. We are currently in the "let's figure this out phase" and staying with my parents. While we are with my parents, we are helping out with some work at their house (more to come about that later) and making decisions about next steps. So, the answers to all of the questions you have asked and are thinking is truly "We don't know yet." Though this is not a satisfying answer for you, it is fine for us and we are completely at peace with where God is leading and guiding us in this waiting period.

We came home just before Christmas and spent it with my parents. The day after Christmas, we flew to Kansas and stayed with Justin's parents and sister for a couple of weeks. We had plans to fly home after that, but Justin's parents were super generous to offer us one of their cars to use, so we drove it home instead. We made a stop in Nashville for an overnight stay and were hosted by an awesome couple through Air BNB. Justin had never been to Nashville, so it was a great first experience for us.

After that, we have spent time doing much needed repairs at our Spring Hill home for our tenants, that they have been waiting ages for. We have also been to our storage unit, which was graciously packed by Justin's parents before moving away from Florida. We had to go through it, find stuff we needed, reorganize it, and add more stuff from my parents' house to it.

In the meantime, I am working on some projects that you will find out about later and filling in at the dance studio, where I grew up, while some teachers are on maternity leave. Justin is working on two video projects from China and building up the recording studio again. All of what we are doing though is intermediary, and not really an answer for the question "What are you up to next?" The reality is that moving across the world and back is huge, and the transition takes time.

Now that we have settled in a bit and are moving forward, I am now reflecting a lot on the experiences we had and all of the people we met while living in Shanghai. We are missing so many people that became our Shanghai family and hoping that we will get to see them again in the future. I have added pictures below of some of these people we love so much and we want them to know we have not forgotten them and are wishing we could easily give them a call or pay them a visit.

These are only a few pictures and many people we have no pictures of (sorry if we missed you). We are so grateful for the love you have shown us and the support you have given us! We have no way to say thank you enough. Our experience in Shanghai is one that we will never forget, and you all are a HUGE part of that. We never say goodbye, only see you later, because we believe our paths will cross again in the future. 

With Love,

Blythe (and Justin) Ure