Arizona for the Holidays

Happy Tuesday, friends!

Obviously, last week was a wash when it came to writing the blog. In all honesty, I only thought about it once last Tuesday, and after that I didn’t remember that it needed to be written until my Aunt mentioned something about reading my blogs that night at dinner. So, let’s talk a little bit about our lives the past two weeks and how we’re already in Arizona!

Two Saturdays ago we packed the car up and officially left the boat for the winter.  Batland is winterized and ready to sit until it gets warm enough for us to sail (and live on) her again.  That Saturday night we drove to Chester, VA and watched Good Shot Judy’s A Crooner’s Christmas.  It was FANTASTIC.  If you’re local to the VA area, they’re an incredible group and so fun to watch and dance to!  On Sunday we drove to Greensboro, NC and saw Jagged Little Pill the musical.  It was INCREDIBLE.  Alanis Morrisett was the first concert Steve and I ever saw together, so seeing her music become a story was unreal.  

On Monday we drove to my parents’ house in NC and spent time Monday and Tuesday and even had an early Christmas dinner with family on Tuesday (hence the reason I totally forgot about the blog- busy cooking!). I’m going to miss them this Christmas, but I’m excited to spend it with Steve’s side of the family and to enjoy the warmer weather.

Wednesday began our journey West. We stayed in Atlanta Wednesday night, Meridian, Mississippi Thursday night, and Houston on Friday night. Luckily, we have family in each city to crash with which makes the trip a lot more fun. On Saturday we left around noon toward Tucson, drove through the night, and finally made it around 3:30am Mountain Standard Time. On Sunday we were a bit exhausted, but so so so glad to be somewhere that we could relax and not drive another 8 hours the next day.

So, now we’re in Tucson, spending time with family and waiting for the rest of the siblings to come in this week, and celebrating love and the holidays and the lovely company we have with each other.

As the year is coming to an end, it’s insane for me to look back and realize all the places we’ve gone this year.  Last year this time, we had no idea if we’d even have a boat after the hole fiasco happened.  Now, she’s in the water and waiting for us to return.  We were planning our trip to Mexico, Tucson, and San Diego.  We were adjusting to all of the things that went wrong and focusing on all of the things that went RIGHT.  So many good things came out of that crazy squall that broke the boat, and though I wish we never went through it, I’m still a bit thankful for it.  We got to see Mexico, eat incredible foods, I swam in the Pacific ocean for the first time, and so much more.  

Now, it’s incredible to sail on Batland and think about all of the places we’ve been and the place that feels most like home.  Every sail feels a little more dreamy.

This life makes me wonder, wander, love, laugh, cry.  It’s wild and lovely and I never want to stop experiencing it, even the hard parts.

Lucky is an understatement.  Grateful is an understatement.

Cheers to every day, good and bad, and all the days we are yet to experience.

-Skye