Ya’ll, I’m tired. 2018 has been the literal definition of a roller coaster year for me and mine. In some ways, it has been the best year of my life. In others, it has been the most painful of my life. For Six Dollar Family, it has been a year of getting pushed off and sometimes forgotten about while I dealt with things at home. I have done a state of the blog address every year since 2011 when I began blogging and even though things haven’t been “right” around here for a long time, I didn’t want this year to be any different.
For my daughter Emma and I, 2018 began on an extremely high note. We had decided to stop living in a hotel full-time and instead, do some full-time traveling. So, on her 13th birthday, we landed back home in Ohio to kick off our trip. I didn’t know it then, but we would stay in Ohio until the end of March and never actually make it to the status of full-time traveler. Asked by a friend to stay longer than the 2 weeks I had originally planned, I agreed and cancelled our trip to Houston from Ohio. This decision would forever change my life.
2018 State of the Blog Address
Two weeks after I agreed to stay, I lost one of the most important people in my life. My mother, the most beautiful woman I never saw, passed surrounded by myself, her best friend and my daughter. Our last words to each other were “I love you.” Losing one parent is tough and I experienced that for the first time in 2006 with my father. Losing both; having them both be gone from you; well, that is an entirely different ball field. As we have just celebrated our first Christmas without her, I am once again reminded of the hole that was left by losing her. Even if she could barely remember who I was, couldn’t remember my childhood or my Father, and wasn’t 100% in her right mind, there will always be that little girl inside of me who just wants her Mommy sometimes.
It wasn’t too long after that things got better. I had been quietly seeing someone for a few months and toward the end of March, Emma and I flew back to Texas to combine our families. When I say quietly, I don’t think my best friends even knew, lol. I simply wanted our relationship to be able to do whatever it was going to do without outside interference.
Best. Decision. Ever.
Most of you know that I haven’t had the best luck with men and relationships in my life. I think that is evidenced by the fact that I am a once homeless mom who spent 10 months in a shelter with my then five year old. The simplest way I can help you understand why it was the best decision I could have made is to simply put it this way;
He is the love I should have waited for.
The rest of 2018 for us all was spent adjusting to being a new family, getting settled into our new home and him going back over the road as a truck driver. Financially, things have been a bit rough the past few months, but I don’t want to get into that here. Check my January 2019 budget post when it goes live on 12/31 for more details on that if you’re interested.
So here I am; a new truckers “wife” -the wedding date is set for March 1, 2019 – on my own with not one, but two teen girls while he’s out there somewhere today helping to provide for the dreams we have dreamed together.
And now, while things are calm; it is time to set things upright here on Six Dollar Family which means the current state of the blog is pending. Behind the scenes, I’ve been working on plans, ideas and more that I will be implementing in the coming weeks and months. There are things that are currently on the site that are in the process of being moved to new blogs and things that will stay, but not be posted about any longer. Six Dollar Family was created with a goal in mind and over the years, we simply got away from those goals and became too loose with the types of content we posted for you. This year, we will be reigning that in
Thank you so much for being here still and thank you for hanging on through these bumpy roads of my personal life.
Have a blessed new year and let’s make 2019 the best we’ve ever had – together.