Author’s Note: I stopped blogging regularly in 2020, but now in 2024, I am using Google Photos, Google Maps timeline, and my old planners to recreate a post about what we were up to each month!
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After the hustle and bustle of a busy holiday season, it was nice to start off the new year at a slower pace. Steve spent the weekend with us and we played games, watched movies, and enjoyed spending time together. On the 2nd, which was a Sunday, I led covenant worship services at Monmouth, Gwehelog and Trellech, though I didn’t take any pictures!
On the 6th I went to a new coffee shop in town when I had some down time in between meetings. The place is called “Coffi Lab” and they encourage people to bring their dogs with them! I love it because I usually get to pet a pup or two. I also tried the Tumeric Latte which was fantastic and perfectly warming for a cold winter’s day.
I have a dearth of pictures to share this month, apparently I wasn’t whipping out the camera very much! I do have this one I took of the Tibetan prayer flags in our back garden. They used to hang in my office and I finally took the time to hang them outside which is really where they are meant to be. These were a gift from one of our homeowners back when we were travelling.
On Tuesday the 11th I hosted the staff meeting at our house, and I served breakfast! I remember I made biscuits and gravy which is an exceedingly American dish. My colleagues were polite enough to try it but I don’t think anyone actually liked it very much. Ah well, more for me!
I think it was around this time that I got a new blind for my office. I wanted one that would let the light in, but wouldn’t allow people to see in. My office window looked directly out the front of the house and anyone walking by could see straight in! I initially thought I would go for just plain white but when we found this pattern with polka dots and bees (two of my favourite things) I just couldn’t resist. Look how cute it is with the sunlight casting shadows!
As part of our continued work the the community board game cafe idea, we spent a day viewing potential properties in town. We found a few that we liked but boy were the prices off-putting! Here’s one church member acting as Vanna White when I took a picture of this space that used to be a charity shop.
On Thursday the 20th we took an evening walk up to the Kymin - and by evening I mean this photo of near sunset was taken at 4:00 in the afternoon. Those January days are short!
The views of Monmouth from up here are always worth the drive.
I’m so glad I took note of this next event in my planner because otherwise I never would have remembered - on Friday the 21st we closed on our house in Fort Dodge! We tried to sell it when we first left the US in the summer of 2018, and when it didn’t sell we ended up renting it out for a few years. This time we listed it with our original realtor and he was able to sell it within a month or so. Some friends of ours were absolute angels and went to do some cleaning and damage repair after the renters left. I was so relieved to end my journey of being a homeowner and it’s not something I’ll be itching to do again anytime soon.
With the burden of the house officially off our shoulders, we decided it was time to buy a new car! We had been driving a £300 beater since August 2020 and while it was still in good running shape, it was starting to look a bit embarrassing professionally. Imagine me driving behind the hearse and family limousine for a funeral in my car that has duct tape on the bumper. We also decided we were ready to take the plunge to fully electric. Joel did a ton of research and found a place called Drive Green outside of Bristol that only sells secondhand electric cars. We went shopping on Monday and picked up our new car on Tuesday! I named her Miss Scarlett.
On Sunday the 30th we held a joint service in Trellech at St. Nicholas Church. I am always honoured to preach in such a beautiful historic building.
Since I just had the one service in the morning, we spent the rest of the day selling Taz to his new owner. We posted it on Gumtree and someone out in Carmarthen was interested in purchasing it. We ended up meeting at the bowling alley we checked out in November. She was happy with the car and we were happy to send him off to be loved and used by someone new!
On the last day of the month, a Monday, we took a trip to a Community Cafe in Brockweir. They have a shop, a cafe, and run events for the community - again something similar to what we were hoping to set up in Monmouth. We had a good time chatting to the manager about how everything works.
That brings us to a close on January of 2022!
XOXO, Bethany