Siegrists in Florida- January edition!

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you’re all warm and healthy!

A few months ago we made a big change- we decided to spend the winter with my family in Tallahasse, Florida. I wrote up a “newsletter” for friends over email but the format was a little odd with the photos so I decided to do the next edition here on the blog.

The weather down here in Florida has been mostly warm with one VERY cold snap the week of Christmas. But look: This beautiful photo on the left was taken at one of the prettiest places I know- Tallahassee Nurseries, right at the end of November! And the one on the right was from a sunset hike we did at a lake right outside of Tallahassee. 

The twins finished their fall college classes with Suny online and are working on their regular classes for their junior year. Neither of them has been hired for a job yet but they don’t seem to care, haha! Aurora joined a chill soccer league and Giselle has been excited to take up skating at the local rink- she got a new pair for Christmas and has been learning to zoom. They’ve been attending youth group with two different churches and also joined a leadership group with 4-H. But most of their time they spend improving their art skills and hogging the spotify! (I found this piece of art on the computer and I THINK Giselle did it but they’re both sooo good these days.)

In November passed my Florida Real Estate exam and have been working at my mom’s brokerage. I haven’t closed anything (yet!) but I’ve hosted two open houses and met a lot of people in the real estate industry. It’s been interesting seeing all the different houses for sale in the area and learning so much- but the best part has been all the social events that I’ve gotten to attend in the real estate industry- especially because it was the holiday season! 

In December I also completed my two year mentoring program with the Global Prophetic Alliance. I really enjoyed my time with them and I’m kinda sad that it’s over! But I’m still connected as a member of the alliance and I’m currently leading a small virtual group and loving it. I also (of course) recently got involved with the worship team at the church we’re attending, Freedom Assembly of God, and I’m still doing some worship at the House of Prayer in the area, too.

The weekend of thanksgiving, Brian and Cheri came down this way and brought Eric and our niece, Elyse. We spent Thanksgiving together at my sister’s house and then that weekend we all drove south to Charlotte County (where I grew up) for a wedding. One of my bridesmaids, Aimee, asked me and Tasha to be her bridesmaids! We had lots of fun seeing her such a happy bride and visiting some of the places we spent our youth in. On Sunday we even all went to church at Peace Christian Fellowship, which is where Ez and I attended church when we met, and then on Monday we spent the day with my brother Shawn and his wife Veronica. You might not know that I grew up in Florida and moved to New York State when we were first married, and we’ve only returned to that area about three times since we moved away. It’s always interesting to remember where you came from and to get a refreshing vision of what the Lord has been doing in your story.

Ezra accepted a job with a company in the construction industry in the month of December. He has been driving a dump truck mostly for a new development in the area right outside of the city. We’ve spent quite a bit of time looking for an investment project but haven’t closed on anything yet. We’ve also spent lots of time together in the camper calling it our “second honeymoon” or “early retirement!” I really feel like one of the greatest blessing of this season has been the increased time that we’ve gotten to spend together.

Ezra and Eric found a Ford tractor that desperately needed some love and so they’ve been working on that. Hopefully when I update you again I’ll be able to replace this photo with an impressive “after” shot and a report that it’s sold! While we were moving it from the property it was on, Ezra made an impromptu tiktok video about how I didn’t want to jump start it, and it went semi-viral, so that was fun. See it here.

It has been really fun enjoying life in this beautiful southern city with these three. They were sure fun as babies and kids but grown-up kids is better than I imagined! They’re so smart and funny, and strangely enough, we have so much in common! haha! We are also living with two large dogs which has it’s ups and downs in the city vs. the farm, but they’re so well-behaved I shouldn’t complain much.

Over Christmas/New Years, we spent time with my sister and her family and also my brother, Preston, who came over from the air force base. We went for Mexican after church on Christmas Eve and then spent the next day playing games and watching Benji on his new swing set. Then after New Year’s, I drove south to spend a few days with my friend Brandy. We had a sunrise swim and it was dreamy!

That’s about all the news from down here! No hurricanes or alligators to report about but maybe next time!

Let us know if you’re traveling this direction at all, it’s a balmy 68 degrees as I type this next to the open glass door!

With lots of love,

Ezra, Brianna, Eric, Aurora, and Giselle