Arriving back in the USA & lots of little blessings

Life feels full of a thousand little blessings at the moment.

Life has been slow and deliberate and delicious since getting back to Arkansas. Everywhere I look, I can see little blessings. Everything has been clicking in to place with such ease and joy since we got back.

We had a week of essentially enforced rest, because I didn’t have a vehicle to travel around in, and it was so needed. Travelling takes a toll - it’s a ~22 hour journey door to door from our home in the UK to our home in the USA - and solo-parenting the flight over here with a wriggly nine month old who no longer has the capacity to sit still was definitely not for the weak of heart. But, we did it!  I kept (gently) reminding myself that ‘this is just one day’. It wasn’t an easy one, but (almost) anything tough feels more doable when you know it’s coming to an end at some stage 😂 and I have to say we were blessed with the loveliest seat-mates on our row (two 20-something guys!), who made the experience that much easier.

After our lovely restful week I started to get itchy feet and AJ and I began seriously looking at cars. I know little to nothing about cars (I’ve driven the same Toyota Yaris for the last 10 years!) and just wanted something comfy, big enough to fit the whole pram in the boot (as my Yaris couldn’t do that, lol), ideally fairly new and that I can drive around for the next 10+ years. The universe delivered almost immediately - AJ found a 2024 Nissan Kicks (little SUV crossover), with just a couple thousand miles on it and 6 years left on the warranty - so basically brand new, without the price tag of a brand new car.

We headed up to the dealership to find it, but on finding a big yellow ‘SOLD’ sign in the window, my heart fell a little. There really hadn’t been anything comparable as such a good deal that we’d seen online, and I liked it even more on seeing it in person. Buttt then the salesman did some digging and for whatever reason, it wasn’t actually sold. It was a sign! I took a test drive (it still had the new car smell!), and after AJ negotiated a bit of money off for me (something I would never have the confidence to do), I signed the contract and paid in cash! I am very happy with it and loving having my own vehicle over here, plus I’ve got a few accessories en route to help keep it pristine for as long as possible 🥳