On The Road Again!

The beach at low tide at our wedding venue.

We hit the road on Monday and have begun the second leg (out of I don't know how many) of our journey! I'm making a point to blog more this time around, so even though I don't have too many pictures from the past few days on the road, I'm gonna tell you all about it anyway!

Corey looking silly in the fort we built with his nieces and nephew.

We LOVE playing board games with Corey's fam. Here we are playing Rail Baron!

We got back to our Boston home base on Tuesday, November 19th after driving about 9 hours from my Grammy's house in Frederick, MD. The East Coast is not a great place for driving the trailer--with winding roads, construction, and lots of traffic we were stressed out and DONE by the time we reached Newton, MA. One mistake we made was taking the Merritt Parkway through Connecticut which has very low bridges that we weren't sure we'd make it under. We held our breath under a few of them, and made it with a couple of inches to spare. Eek. We won't make that mistake again!

My sweet and silly nieces, Teagan and Avery.

Teagan learning to walk in my heeled clogs with a little help from her dad.

The first week we were home consisted of lots of family time, with a trip to Maine to see Corey's family and to check out our wedding venue. We had booked our venue while on the road, which was a BIG risk for me considering how picky I can be. The venue was beautiful and the area is just so quintessential Maine with lobster boats dotting the rocky coastline. We are very relieved! Corey and I are both very committed to our families, and were happy that we had the time to really hang with people on his side and my side.

Our family's a little loud for Avery...here she is with noise cancelling headphones on.

We got to meet my bestie's baby, Alice! Corey's big arms are instant relaxation for babies.

Corey's arms are also instant relaxation for kitties.

After Thanksgiving celebrations were done, I went into crazy work mode to get ready for the Mass Art Holiday Sale. I spoke about my depression and lack of motivation in previous blogs which had a lot to do with my art. I had applied to a holiday craft fair over the summer that I was hoping to get into in order to have something to work toward while on the road. When I wasn't accepted into the craft fair I felt pretty defeated and wasn't sure if there was a point to making stuff on the road (spoiler alert: there's always a point to making!) About a month into traveling, I found out about another Holiday sale that would occur when we were back in Boston. This one was also juried, so it wasn't a guarantee I would get in, but it gave me motivation to keep making. Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I was in fact accepted into the craft fair! I had never done one before, so there was a lot of extra stuff I had to do, like get everything I would need to display my work, make a logo, order bags and business cards, etc. It was a lot of work to get all of this together, while trying to make sure I had enough inventory. The sale was a HUGE success and was so affirming. I sold all of the plant hangers I had made, got a ton of compliments on my setup, and the best part of it was that it was so fun to meet people and socialize while making money!!! I have new found motivation to keep doing craft fairs and am so psyched to get making again!

My craft fair set up of macramé plant hangers, sewn wall hangings, and macramé ornaments on a tree.

Our last week in New England was filled with doctors appointments, Christmas shopping, and getting our $#*t together. Corey was commuting to work, reliving the life we had left, and being reminded of how great it is to work remotely! We were very busy, and starting to miss the road. We spent our final weekend with Corey's family in Maine, and were planning on leaving on Sunday to drive from Maine-Pennsylvania. Unfortunately we had forgotten to re-register our trailer, so we had to go back to Boston on Monday and go to the RMV. It put a little bit of a wrench in our plans, but we were still able to make it to our hotel reservation in Lititz, PA to celebrate our anniversary! Our fancy dinner and relaxation in the hot tub was definitely a soft transition back to life on the road, but we are a few days in today and loving every minute of it!

Corey relaxing in the hotel hot tub.

Corey and I in the hotel hot tub.

On Wednesday we stayed with my Aunt Marie in Waynesboro, VA and got to see my cousin Andrew who lives in the area too! It was once again a wonderful reminder of how lucky we are to have such a wide net of family and friends all over the country. There are still so many people we have yet to visit, but don't worry, we think we'll be on the road for a bit! We've landed in Asheville, NC for a few days, and will continue onto Atlanta to spend Christmas with more family. Happy Holidays, y'all!!! (Sorry I had to)

Russell the cat's face surrounded by a cozy blanket.