simply homemaker

Hello friends,

June is here, which means summer is here, which means I am a giddy human being.

I am also giddy because I am sitting on the train to Orlando, Florida, to start my new job in ministry TOMORROW. As I texted the update in the group chat, a friend of mine said: “Talk about a quick turnaround.” Yes, tell me about it.

Three weeks ago, my parents arrived for my MBA graduation! We made a big family meal (almost every day), went to the canyons, packed all my life up (so thankful for my dad and brother), and they left yesterday morning. I am thankful that during the last three weeks in between finishing my finals and leaving for Orlando, I got to spend some time with friends, celebrate Blair’s birthday, and now starting piano lessons with Sydney, a new friend I just made at church over the last two months!

With that said, I am exhausted. I slept from 10PM to 7AM this morning after a 6-hour train delay, ate my mom’s egg sandwiches this morning, and read a little bit from The Great Evangelical Disaster by Francis Schaeffer. How crazy is it that 8 MONTHS ago I was at L’abri in Switzerland, reading about how Francis and Edith Schaeffer started L’abri? Where did the time even go?

To be fair, a lot of life happened in between. I was in Vietnam, and then I was finishing up my degree, and I was trying to see if this relationship worked out (it didn’t), and I was traveling to LA, and I was just interviewing for jobs back in Texas. I was in a major transition stage, and I was just pushing all the doors to see which one ended up opening. And then I heard about this job in Orlando.

Well, this one opened. That is why we’re sitting on a moving train.

I think after 4 straight years of trying so many things (sourdough, travel, sewing, dresses, cooking, pilates, pottery, cycling, etc.) I come to Orlando with the desire to just follow the Lord and experience life a little bit more in a slower pace. And to solidify things.

To find my absolute favorite recipes.

To find my favorite workouts.

To find my favorite skincare routine.

To find the route that I’m going to walk every single day.

To settle more into my skin.

Yes, I will also be a tryer. But more than anything, I long to be a settler.

And as I am still willing to go on all kinds of adventures the Lord has for me, I know building certain routines, habits, and essentials are the key to feeling at home!

Like right now, I am snuggling in the yellow blanket mama Julie gave me as part of my TCU graduation gift, eating my mom’s egg sandwiches, reading a book a friend from church gave to me.

As we go to new and unfamiliar places, we can take the familiar things with us. What a blessing to be held in people’s hearts!

This upcoming week, I will focus on making this new place more of a home. I will be visiting the grocery store, getting to know my roommates, getting acquainted with a local gym, and scheduling my driver license appointment.

I will also sleep a lot, watch TV, visit a new church, and put together cute outfits to go to work in.

I am also puting together a list of summer reading – which right now includes:

Becoming You – Suzy Welch

The Last Battle – C.S. Lewis

Just Beyond the Clouds – Karen Kingsbury (a Christian romance rec from a friend!)

Grit – Angela Duckworth

The Hole in the Gospel – Richard Stearns

The Pope and the CEO – Andreas Widmer (Blair gifted this to me on graduation)

6 books for the summer – do we think I can do it?

My other goals are pretty simple: to cook from scratch at least once a day and to take a walk at least once a day 🙂

And just maybe, to reward little wins with Thai food every once in a while.

Follow along as I embark on new adventures and hopefully make some friends! So grateful you are here. Now I have to go back to reading my book – I’ll talk to you again soon.

Love,

Tram