Growing up in Michigan, my father was an elementary school principal and my mother was a stay-at-home mom for many of my early years but then went to work as a tutor at the local community college in their math lab, helping students who struggled with their basic math skills. With both of them being in education, their time off periods lined up with our time off from school and we never spent a Christmas at home in Lansing, but instead often had the car packed and ready to pick my dad up from his school on that Friday at 4:30pm to hit the road and drive through the night to Kentucky to be with family in Murray and Providence. When you drive, what then were often not main highways, through the middle of the Midwest down across the Mason-Dixon line, on one of the shortest days of the year, it gets dark basically while you pull out of the state of Michigan. The drive would take us at least 9 hours and we would arrive the wee hours of the morning to our destination. Seatbelt laws were not in effect and I would often lie down in the back window of the Oldsmobile Delta 88 and watch the world go by as we drove down the road - searching for Christmas lights on houses in what seemed like the middle of nowhere and wondering what magic was filling those houses for that holiday season. In order to spend almost 2 weeks in Kentucky bouncing around grandparents houses, my mom had to be so organized. We had presents wrapped in the trunk of the car, Santa had received the message that we would be located in a different locale this year and provided with the exact address. She also had sat down and written “the letter” that went inside all of the Christmas cards that had been posted prior to our leaving. This letter was filled with all the details of the months gone by, our joys and sorrows, our accomplishments and our goals. It was the precursor to social media and we were all read her final version before they were added to cards and mailed and we, in turn, waited for the mail to arrive every day during the holiday season so that we could read all the letters that had been included in those cards that were taped to the wall for us to read and re-read until they were tucked away for safe keeping. Here is my attempt, using a social media platform, to capture The Barnett 2024 Year in Review.
January: this was the month we said goodbye to our home of 21 years in Columbus, OH and to our friends that meant the world to us. The crazy idea to pack up a home we had settled in to for 21 years, remodeled to make it just how we wanted it, took root the previous October 2023 and grew like a wildfire. We downsized (some would call it purging) dramatically, went through all the inspections successfully and walked into a title office on 1/26/24 and signed paperwork that released us as the owners of 3620 Mullgrove Ct. We promptly began loading a 26 foot U-Haul truck and trailer with the help of hired college students on break and swept the floors of a now empty house in a feeble attempt to zone things up for the next owners. On 1/30/24 we purchased the home we live in in Fayetteville, NC - having never stepped foot inside of it one time. Our faith that this was the right choice for us was strong and little did we know it would be challenged pretty quickly. The sun shone brightly that day and a troop of unknown neighbors helped us unload the truck in record time and welcomed us into our new community.
February: the month that will live in infamy. On Super Bowl Sunday the plumbing, that had already been giving us indications that things were not right, really decided to just take a crap on itself…literally. We didn’t know when we woke up that morning that we would spend the next 2 months replacing every single pipe underneath our home and some in the walls. To say it was stressful would be an understatement. There were lessons learned during this process about what a home inspection really tells you and what it doesn’t. Through the help of our daughter in law we found a great handyman who was in the down time of his year and could work tirelessly on getting us back to a great place. You know, the one where your toilets work correctly. He kept telling me that this was a great house and it was all going to be okay and I gotta admit, my relationship with this house was on the rocks.
March: Chris tried working at a golf course. It had always been an appealing work option to him until he actually did it. They have have very early mornings, lots of repetitive work and it is in fact not just riding a lawn mower making sick straight lines and edges. We came down here in the hopes that his previous job would pan out with a position that allowed him to be remote and to travel to train people but they just never got it together. We would find out later in the year exactly why. He continued to apply for jobs and got a call from a headhunter about a possibility here with a local oil company. By the end of the month, he was offered a position he didn’t even interview for and had many reservations about taking. There are still days (most if we are honest) where those reservations persist, but he is making a difference where he is planted and is riding this out for 28 more months, but who’s counting? The kids bought their first home and it is an absolute stunner.
April: Chris started his new job. I flew to Barcelona Spain to meet my 88 year old parents off a trans-Atlantic cruise and drive them through southern Spain and into Portugal…it was an AMAZING trip and so good to be back in Portugal, but tinged with sadness that Chris was not there to enjoy it with me. We toured Barcelona, Cartagena, Seville, Faro and Lisbon and everything in between. We drove over 1500 miles (well, I drove) and saw a good portion of the topography of Spain and southern Portugal. My parents reveled in the architecture and the food. I was just so happy to have my need to connect with Portugal met and to see some of Spain as it had been decades since I had last been there. I had such a wonderful time going back through parts I had been in before and could share insights with them and hopefully they too could see what makes Portugal such a special place to Chris and myself.
May: Chris and I flew to Minneapolis, MN and rented a car and drove another 5 hours to the top of the state to watch our youngest son, Colson, graduate with his degree in Natural Resources - Wildlife Biology from the University of Minnesota - Crookston. We could not be prouder of him if he had walked on the moon. His accomplishments academically and professionally actually are better than if he had walked on the moon. He is so passionate about what he does and loves he is the embodiment of “if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life”. His work and research will take him all over the country, and maybe outside the US, and we cannot wait to watch it unfold and cheer him on from the sidelines. My brothers and parents made the journey to the northern tundra for this event and it was a wonderful time celebrating his accomplishments. To watch a kid go from struggling in high school to knocking his studies out of the ballpark, all while paying for it himself through scholarships and hard work and living in an apartment off campus and balancing academics and living is just the best feeling as a parent.
June: Chris bought a Jeep and we became Jeep people. Driving to the hills or the ocean and just thoroughly enjoying the wind in our hair and the smells on the air. It got hotter in North Carolina and we continue to be wowed by her never ending display of colors through her flora and fauna. Our eyes were in overload while we soaked it all in - the bright pinks, purples, oranges, reds and yellows of eastern NC. And the aromas that fill the air were not like anything we had ever experienced. Our hearts started to find a home here.
July: Elias, the grandchild who made us move (just kidding) turned 1 years old and we hosted his party. His birthday is very close to July 4th and the steamy days and nights have settled in for the long haul at this point in the South. We had completed the build of our garage outbuilding and the adjacent carport out back. We had installed new wood fencing around our yard and expanded our oasis out back. We planted, and would continue planting, new things to watch grow and fill in on a parcel of land that had long been neglected. We discovered why people in the South hire out their yards to be mowed if they can. I learned a little bit more about how much I despise palmetto bugs aka cockroaches. They are GINORMOUS here and completely unwelcomed. Chris learned his former company in Ohio shut the doors with no warning and all his former co-workers were immediately looking for jobs. God’s providence is amazing!
August: at the end of this month we moseyed over to Hilton Head Island for a week of vacation and rest and relaxation. We had already been through the edges of our first hurricane and there were more brewing out in the Gulf and Atlantic. We rode around in our Jeep and hosted family at our house. We each continued to settle into our work roles, mine is 100% remote and Chris in his new role he started in April. There were lots of challenges that came our way this month. I was told on 8/23 after many tests and a biopsy that I would need to have surgery on my right breast to determine if there was cancer lurking in her. It was a hard month. It was a month that continue to reinforce in my journey of learning that I can do hard things. It had been a year of hard things, most of which I will spare you the details on, but my confidence in being resilient was growing with each passing month.
September: Surgery was set for 10/3. I prayed often that this would be the month that the hot summer of the South would come to an end but down here, it goes on and on and on. We continued to spend dinners together with the kids watching them grow and transform in front of our eyes. Every time we sneak a hug out of them, it reminds us of all we have to be grateful for and all that still lies in front of us. We decided that October 2025 we are going back to Portugal again to get another fix. I thrive on having future plans and while I was scared about my surgery and that whole experience, I needed these future plans to sustain me. I joined a community choir and finally have begun to feel like I am finding a community to be a part of here. We are performing The Messiah in December. It’s a tough one.
October: Surgery was a success and the lab results came back with the best news: no cancer! Healing took more time, with twists and turns I didn’t foresee, but nothing that was too hard to navigate at all. We watched the Cleveland Browns get worse and worse and in conjunction with that our weekends got a little more productive, at least on Sundays. We connected with a long lost close family member and his wife and made promises that we would not let 25 years go by again and because we live close to each other, we would connect at least every few months. January is on the docket. We started our new tradition here of going big for Halloween, along with our neighbors across the street, and next year there are already plans to go bigger - think grilled hot dogs and a giant movie screen.
November: We drove back to Ohio for the Thanksgiving holiday and just thoroughly loved spending time with family, eating wonderful food, and catching up with friends! We also experienced a revelation: Ohio is familiar to us in our hearts but NC has become home. It feels so good to know that as you work through all the parts that are both exciting and very, very hard about moving that you are going to be okay and it is all going to work out in the end. I decorated for Christmas and was so happy to have found 90% of what I had remembered packing and moving here. The house looks amazing and this year is just the start of how I envision her in the holidays to come. I have become that person who loves inflatables in her yard and I will not apologize for it.
December: Oh you lovely, month filled with chaos, sadness and merriment - all depending on where you are in life. The Messiah was performed and it went spectacularly. I volunteered for the Yuletide Feaste event and made new acquaintances that I look forward to getting to know better in the new year. There was a Sunday afternoon of cookie making shared with local family that was just magnificent and also produced far more cookies than I had thought it would. Many were frozen and taken to Gatlinburg, TN this past weekend to share with my family that converged there for a long weekend in the Smokey Mountains. Dollywood - what a glorious place on earth! Filled with lights and food and sounds and Dolly. Snow/slush falling on the mountains was such a special treat to experience and soak in. Delicious meals were made and consumed together, a white elephant gift exchange occurred and much laughter was shared.
Today is the 24th. Santa is coming! Gifts still need to be wrapped and lasagna needs to be made for tonight’s tradition. Tomorrow will be filled with watching our family enjoy thoughtful things chosen just for them to unwrap, wonderful food, and playing with newly acquired toys. We did it. We have nearly completed our first full year in NC and we did it. We went through all the highs and lows that 2024 could sling at us and we are closer than ever. Merry Christmas to you all! Or, whatever holiday you celebrate at this time of year, Hannukah or Kwanza, may it be filled with light and love and the expectations for a magnificent 2025!
Amazing 😍