i'm just here

We've been back in Canada for almost three weeks now. 

It's actually really surreal to be back. In some ways I almost feel like, Did the last two years even happen? because some things are just exactly like how they used to be whether it's relationships or places or people. But in other ways I feel such a disconnect that reminds me {quite loudly} that I've spent the last two years of my life living and loving in Africa. 

It's been busy and full and tiring and fun and lots of time at parks and splash pads and full of trips to the mall and shops that are full of lovely, pretty things that remind me how easy it is for me to fall into

I want, I need, I must have. 

We've been living with friends and it's been good but I am longing for our own home. Somewhere to settle. Somewhere to love and make memories and turn into a building that welcomes others in to join in on our loud, messy, love-filled life. 

And on that note, we did find and buy our very first home! {More to come on our house, what we thought it might be, what we ended up getting and my hopes for the different spaces in it.} We get possession mid-August and I am all over Pinterest and Apartment Therapy and tons of other design blogs getting ideas and plans to turn into a place that encourages creativity and soul-refreshment and joy-filled living.

I haven't journalled and I obviously haven't been blogging so there's a lot inside my head. I just need time and space for it all to come out. There's a lot to process and I'm not going to lie; most evenings I just want to watch a tv show and go to bed. It's exhausting. But we'll figure out how to make the last two years mesh into the life we find ourselves in to make our new normal. Thanks for still following along here despite the quietness.

**all pictures except for the first two were taken by my very talented sister

when there's silence

When it's quiet on a blog {at least when it's quiet on my blog} there are usually two main reasons;

1. There isn't a whole lot going on in my life to blog about.

2. There's too much going on in my life to blog.

I've found this to be true with a few other blogs I've been reading lately and with pregnancy announcements and some other pretty big life changes the silence on those blogs has been explained. {No, I'm not pregnant.}

Our time here is winding down. With less than three months left here in Uganda, I'm having trouble shutting off my brain. It's always, always going. Usually at hyper speed. I'm making lists in my head, on my computer, and on paper. I'm googling and researching and emailing and crossing things off said lists. {Which feels amazing, by the way.}

We've been house hunting online and our agent and a good friend of mine have been going to view a few houses for us. It's been a bit frustrating to not be physically present in these houses but also really amazing that they would take time from their lives to take pictures, videos and seriously consider the best options for us. But we've also been a bit disheartened with how expensive everything is. So we've started to rethink a bunch of things and now we're just not sure where we'll end up exactly. We're putting all the viewings on hold for now as we just can't fathom buying a house without first stepping inside of it.
But I'm still looking at houses online and favouriting all the ones I like. Even though they probably won't be around by the time we get back to Canada.

Trust. It always comes down to trusting Him. He's got a plan. He's got a house, our home. 

So if I'm not blogging as much as usual, you'll know the reason why.

a home to call our own

we have a home in Uganda!

you can read the story about how we found it here: on our ministry blog, the Strickland scoop.

it was quite the adventure and nothing short of what i expected finding a house in africa to be.

when we move there and i put my 'womanly' touches on it, i'll post some pictures of the inside, but for now here's a shot our friend took when he went to scout it out before we visited last week.

yay!
a home!