Summer 2021 updates
The past couple months flew by as Sarah and I have been getting settled into our new house. Weekdays have been filled with trips to Menards, and weekends have mostly been trips to see family. I don't want this blog to fall by the wayside completely, so here's a short recap of how things are going.
I guess that this must be the place
As mentioned back in May, we bought a house and have been working on making it a home. The downstairs looks to me like we've lived here longer than we have, and even the upstairs isn't too cluttered. Sure, we still have quite a few boxes of CDs, DVDs, and office stuff stacked in the spare room; but we also have a bonafide guestroom that people have stayed in!
Sarah's friend Sara (of Lady Jane fame) came to visit from Virginia and played a huge role in that "settled in" vibe. The two of them unboxed and hung up a lot of artwork and just generally put rooms together. It was so good to have a dear friend break in the guestroom and bring a little bit of Virginia to Barron.
Additionally, my mom and younger brother came to visit for a few days around my birthday. Then Sarah's parents came for a couple days to celebrate the Fourth. All in all, it's felt good to have a place where people can come and stay. We're hopeful to have some of our nephews and other friends spend some weekends with us as time goes on.
Back to my home town, though I know it'll never be the same
Living in Wisconsin has meant being just a couple hours down the road from the places we grew up. Our first few weekends were spent visiting Sarah's family in Merrill. We've also had opportunities to see more of the North Woods, including a trip to Ashland on my birthday.
I went to the Iola Car Show with my dad (pictures here), and then spent a weekend in Wisconsin Rapids where I was born and raised. A lot of things are the same as when I moved to Virginia five years ago, but some things seem quite different. It was good to visit loved ones at Calvary Baptist Church that Sunday.
A new career in a new town
Last week Monday, I had an interview for a position at Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College (soon to be Northwood Technical College). Less than 24 hours later, I received a call offering me the job. God did that. I'm excited to work at the same place as Sarah, which has been our tradition.
I'll be working in the Academic Support Center, providing help and processing student paperwork. I enjoyed my interactions with folks during the interview, and I'm looking forward to working with them. Coming from a tech college and support background, the opportunity to help others navigate college is exciting.
All I really wanted to do is music
In all the commotion, my intentional music listening has lagged a bit. However, music still underpins so much of what we do. Many of the hours spent in the car these last couple months have been scored by Joe Jackson, Jenny Lewis, and others. But there's something about the physical discs being in boxes that keeps me from wanting to write about them.
I did get a new CD this week that I suppose will eventually show up under "Various Artists": the soundtrack for David Byrne's film True Stories. It came bundled with the Criterion Collection Blu-ray release. Both the movie and soundtrack are something special.
And that's all I have to say about that
I'll leave it at that for now. On the one hand, I could probably write a lot more about the last couple months. On the other hand, I wanted to post something brief. On the other hand-- Wait, where did that third hand come from?
"For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: 'If anyone is not willing to work, don't let him eat.'"
2 Thessalonians 3:10, WEB
Tags: about-me, meet-the-mayhaks, photography