When one door closes...

When one door closes, another opens! I feel like that is a pretty perfect description of how life has been going since I resigned from my job in July. Nothing has actually earned me any money yet, but since quitting:

• Two families from my school have contacted me about doing freelance work for them (in the form of doing art projects with their kids for specific locations in their homes). Whoa. To say it made me feel like a million bucks that they like me enough to privately contact me and ask me to continue working with their kids would be an understatement. It made my heart so happy! The conversations ended with, "We'll be in touch," since I was honest with them about our impending move.
• We bought a house! Well, closing isn't until Nov 10, but all has been moving along smoothly! It met all of our criteria (and then some) except for the fact that we ended up paying more for it than we had planned. We are okay with that decision, though, because: 
• the house is 1.8 miles from my husband's office
• there are three 2-year-olds (and a handful of older kids) in the neighborhood
• the house backs up to a nature park reserve with walking trails, a lake, and beautiful woods
• it has 2 garages...an attached one-car garage and a second garage behind the attached one that is SET UP AS A WORKSHOP/STUDIO! Oh. my. gosh. Considering we live in Minnesota and it gets cold as heck here (and it is an unheated space) we know it won't be used for a good chunk of the year, BUT...it will be perfect for the toddler art group I want to start in the spring/summer and will be a great space for holding private art lessons, should things move in that direction!
• there are 3 great schools within walking distance that (maybe, someday?) could be the key to getting me back in an art classroom
• there is a public library within biking distance
• A co-worker of my husband's needs temporary childcare in February and March. It is not a for sure thing that she'll choose me to watch her babe, but there is a good chance since we will be so close to the office (1.8 miles, yo!). They have a 2 month gap between the end of her maternity leave and the opening in their daycare. So, I might have a 3-month-old baby to snuggle for a couple of months and make a little money in the process.
• A local art-teacher-turned-sort-of-stay-at-home-mom (triplet boys after endometriosis/infertility! wow!) opened a family art center in our current area. My daughter and I attended the grand opening and she asked for my contact info for when she makes a sub list in the next couple of weeks! 

Now we just need to make it through the move so I can feel like there has been some real CHANGE for our family. I am feeling hopeful that great things are to come!