In Our Home:
This month has been a big month for our family.
A few years ago we packed up everything we owned and moved our little family of (then) three across the country to Colorado. My husband took a dream job and we decided to take a leap of faith and head West. God had been making us uncomfortable for sometime and we knew we were heading into a 90% unchurched area.
It was our mission field for three years.
Our time in Colorado was a time of great trial and growth. We learned who we were as a family, who God is in our hearts, and what exactly
God intended for His church to look like.
I can never express what the years in Colorado did in our lives, but suffice it to say it was big. Really big. We died and came back to life in so many ways. We were forced to work together as a couple and as a family. We experienced extreme loneliness but also the deepest community during our time out West.

Then last year,
my husband quit his job and we became
a work at home family.
We made changes in our lives and started saying, “Yes” to what God had in store for us.
I guess you could say that we stopped trying to fit square pegs into round holes.
We took a big road trip as a family last October, and in the end, we discovered our desire to travel more and be a family more. We loved the simplicity of life and discovered that we really did work hard to live in one of the most expensive places this country has to offer. We missed our family. We missed the south. We missed home.
So at the end of January, we made the decision to move our (now) family of four across the country back to my husband’s home town.
We arrived in Virginia just a few days ago and are trying to get settled in. We’ll be living with
my in-loves for a few weeks while we wait for house to sell in Colorado and find a house here in Virginia. I’m so thankful for their generosity and I look forward to what March has to offer us!
In My Heart:
I’m feeling really lost in so many ways, but really settled in so many others.
Moving to Virginia has been my desire for two years, and it’s such a relief and answer to prayer to finally be here.

I’m grateful to be here, but I’m nervous too. I’m “Mark’s wife.” I’ve lost a lot of my identity as Leigh Ann, which is just fine by me. I hate being the center of attention, but that also means everyone recognizes me but I don’t know them from the person next to them. Everyone is a stranger to me though they definitely try to make me feel welcome.
What’s weirder to me is that I’ve learned a lot of people read this little blog from this area and so now they… um, you? … are reading this and know that I feel a little weird. ha. It’s a strange thing to me to be “known” but not know you. It’s the conundrum of blogging. I open up, but you don’t unless you have a blog and tell me about it and I get to read it. Or meet you in person.

I get pretty vulnerable and share a lot here at Intentional By Grace. As a private person this calling to write is way outside my comfort zone. So often I wish I could just squirrel away into a hole, but I know that God has called me to write and I’m honored to do it. It just gets uncomfortable sometimes.
I’m rambling, but that’s my heart right now. A little rambly. A little unsure of myself. A little unsure of what life is like now that we’ve finally made it to this place in Virginia. A little raw and vulnerable. A little … hopeful?

I’m excited to grow and change alongside the messiness of family, even if they do think I’m really darn weird. By the way, I’m the only introvert in a sea of extroverts. That alone makes me hyperventilate a bit. Mostly because “they just don’t get me.” That’s okay. I think. I don’t “get them” either. ๐
What I’m Reading:
I didn’t do as much reading in February as I hoped to. There were many days and nights that I was just too exhausted to read, write, or do anything except veg in front of the TV.


I did spend most of the month reading
Educating the WholeHearted Child 
and dreaming about our future homeschool space. Being in a position again to buy a new home makes me a little excited! I look forward to the coming years of educating my little ones at home.
What I’m Watching:


We’ve continued with our addiction to
Gilmore Girls
. We really enjoy how light-hearted and upbeat the show is. It makes us laugh and shake our heads. Plus we love pointing out the errors in the script or the lighting guy who can’t seem to get out of the shot! It’s just a fun game for us.
What I’m Listening to:
I spent a lot of time listening to podcasts this month as I packed boxes and cleaned out our home.
Grace Laced Motherhood with Ruth Simons on Inspired to Action
It was so, so, so refreshing! I believe it’s my favorite podcast from Inspired to Action to date. I needed these reminders as a mother who often feels like a failure.
EntreFamily Podcast continue to be the first ones I listen to when I open my podcast app. I love hearing from families like us.
On the Blog:
February was another fun month at Intentional By Grace. Even though several of my plans had to be put on hold for our big move, I’m looking forward to what we have in store this Spring at Intentional By Grace.
Popular Posts in February:

Since the movie released last month, my post telling you why
I’m Not Reading Fifty Shades of Grey went viral several times. Suffice it to say my site crashed three times last month. A good problem to have!
9 Ways to Prepare Your Body for Pregnancy and Boost Your Fertility – Since
experiencing a miscarriage, this post was timely in publication as I recover and prepare for a hopeful fourth pregnancy.
How to Keep Your Children Quiet in Church – We’ve been asked a lot about how we keep our children quiet in church, so this post was fun to write!
What’s Coming on the Blog:

I’m really excited about the series we’re running on the blog this month. You can read
the introduction here! I need a refresher course on planning my time better, so I hope you find the series helpful too.
What were you into in February?
You can read what I did in January here.
This post contains my affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy here.
Oh my goodness, it was pretty much exactly the same when I would go back to my husbands hometown. His tiny little church that he grew up in all knew us/me and every time I would visit id have to be like “okay, now who is that again?” Then, last year we lived wth my inlaws and it ended up being such a blessing. Dave was gone for half of that time and everybody just accepted me right into the family. I made some very good friends, eapecially one that is, as Anne Shirley would say, “a kindred spirit.” I’ve never quite seen a church body like it. It was sad to leave that and start all over in Mississippi. And now starts the military life, so this introvert is going to get a lot of practice making new friends! ๐
We’ve been there, done that, so I can totally understand! Best of luck with your move and house hunting and all the rest of that! We lived with my in-laws for a month and a half between places too and while it was a lovely time, it was also a time in which I looked forward to having my own house. ๐ We’ve also made big moves across country several times. It’s always hard (and I’ve blogged about that). Jump in, get involved, and trust God! ๐ Blessings to you in this knew place!
Being near family is a wonderful blessing (except when it isn’t ๐ )! I hope you all get settled soon and are able to get into a place of your own before too long.
Also, I really loved Ruth’s podcast too! She is always so wise and encouraging!
The only introvert in a sea of extroverts! You poor dear! Find yourself a closet to hide in once in a while. ๐
You are in my thoughts and prayers during this transition time in your life. I am also an introvert and also experienced moving recently, living with in-laws while we tried to find a house, etc., and I just really struggle with change. It takes me a long time to settle and not feel discombobulated, and it takes me a long time to make friends. But, it will come for both of us, and being near to family is so important. May God bless you and your family! I am praying that you will be able to settle into your own home soon as it probably feels like no “settling” is going to happen until you have your own place.
Great February! ๐ So many exciting things! Moving to Colorado was a struggle for sure! Thanks for sharing! BTW I also will not read FSOG… I think that it’s not worth reading! Greets!
Moving definitely is a hard and exhausting process for the whole family… Wish you to have your own place soon! Greetings!