All Belong Co

18/10/2024

What we need right about now (besides 🍷)

17/10/2024

She’s completed her first day of training, so it’s probably time we introduce you to the newest member of the team! Meet Demitri, owner of .premiumrentals in San Antonio, TX. (Let’s hear it for another Texas gal! 🎉)

Demitri’s space is super close to the San Antonio Spurs’ stadium and not only does the Ivy host overnight guests, but this gorgeous space serves as an amazing location rental, too.

For you enneagram lovers, Demetri’s an enneagram 1, wing 2 (just like me, Amy), which means she’s highly committed to excellence in all she does AND deeply wants to help others as she does it. We think that’s a great fit for the hospitality industry.

In addition to hosting, Demetri has a long background in social work and she’s madly in love with her hubby and her 2 fur babies, Benji and Missy.

We had close to 50 applications for this role of cohost (!), so it was no small feat to find the perfect fit. Join us in welcoming Demitri to the team! 👏🏾👏🏿👏🏽

18/09/2024

We're accepting applications through Sept 28th for a nights + weekends co-host to add to our team! Learn more here: www.allbelong.co/hiring

08/08/2024

10/04/2024

Join us today LIVE on Instagram at 4pm EST! 🩷

22/03/2024

✨NEW LAKEFRONT GETAWAY✨ Meet the Splash Pad!💦 Did someone say pickleball, indoor AND outdoor pools + hot tubs, tennis, golf, beach, and boats? Because with this 2 BD 2 BATH condo at Smith Mountain Lake, you get allllll the resort amenities. No hustle and bustle. Only rest and play are on your agenda here.

And what’s even better is that the Splash Pad is now the 2nd condo we manage at Mariners Landing, so why not grab another family to take a fun-packed getaway together!

Comment the word “SPLASH” to receive a code for 20% off your entire stay! (good for the first 3 people to book on our website).

Quiet waterfront condo we just 25 steps to Smith Mountain Lake! -SO many free resort amenities: pickle ball, indoor + outdoor pools, hot tubs, tennis, basketbal

07/03/2024

It's still ski season and we've got March availability at our beautiful cabin, the Evergreen, in Snowshoe, WV!

Private hot tub, gorgeous views, and you can walk to the slopes or catch the free shuttle. 4 bd, 3 bath sleeping up to 12!

Check it out here:

Private Hot Tub | Views | Easy walk to slopes

28/02/2024

✨NEW AIRBNB✨Meet the Traveler, where each bedroom is named for one of the owner’s trips overseas. He’s now living across the country and wants his bright and beautiful home to radiate hospitality to others. ❤️

Check out this 4 bd 3 bath home with mountain views in Forest, VA. The Traveler comfortably sleeps up to 11 and is just 12 minutes from Liberty University + close to multiple wedding venues.

It’s got a chalkboard wall for the kids (and heck, for us adults too!) And there’s nothing you won’t like about your stay here near the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.

Now live on Airbnb! www.airbnb.com/h/travelerlyh

But don’t forget, book direct on our website and save the fees 🙌🏾🙌🏿🙌🏽.

25/02/2024

All us Gen X’ers are turning the corner into middle age and while many are handling it in stride, Marc and I have recently admitted we’re struggling with this whole aging thing.

I’m gonna keep it real (because as you get older, you also don’t give AF 🤣) but man, why do our bodies start to revolt against us and when did we suddenly become the older, “wiser” one in the crowd?

We’re crossing this threshold where our own parents are old, our kids are heading to college when just yesterday they were screaming in their high chairs, and even our DOCTORS are sometimes younger than us.

Our bodies begin changing. Weird physical ailments come up that we’ve never even heard of before. I never had to google things like “symptoms of perimenopause” in my 20’s. 🤷🏻‍♀️

How are we supposed to handle life’s inevitable weathering besides hair dye and a good wrinkle cream?

So maybe we aren’t the spry chickens we used to be, but that doesn’t mean life is over for us as we face these challenges. Perhaps we’re being shaped into stronger, braver, more resilient people ready for the next chapter.

We tell kids “You have your whole life in front of you!” because the possibilities seem endless. But middle age doesn’t mean life isn’t STILL full of possibilities for us. It doesn’t mean we have to stop dreaming.

Every season comes with its own obstacles. Maybe we need more rest. Maybe we need to carve out time to create memories with our loved ones. (hey, we can help with that! 🙃) Maybe we have to fight the temptation to believe our best days are behind us.

Whatever the first half of life held for you, here’s to making the 2nd half even better. 🥂

(Those of you who’ve made it beyond the middle age years, please enlighten us Gen X’ers on all these changes we’re experiencing and what you’ve found beautiful in aging along the way.)

Much love to you all. ❤️

19/02/2024

Moms of littles, I heard it all, too. “Don’t blink because they grow up so fast.”

Just yesterday we were in the days of diapers and Thomas the Train. We blinked, and now she’s 16 and one of the most amazing people I know.

Little did I know how much she would teach me along the way about courage, beauty, embracing your true self without the need to cover up.

When she lost her hair at age 2, I wrote a little book called “Everybody’s got Something.” And it still rings true. Whether you can see it or not, we’ve all got something that makes us different.

But here’s the cool part. What makes us different is actually what makes us beautiful.

From the moment her birthmom put her in our arms to 11:48am yesterday when she officially turned 16, I won’t lie. It hasn’t been all roses 😆. It has been hard, but it has been the joy of our lives to watch this girl shine.

What a story she has to tell and what a light she is to this world.

Happy happy 16, sweet Caroline! 🎂 We love you!

24/01/2024

They’re all trained and tackling their new roles this week, so it’s time we introduced you to our 3 newest team members!

✨Eno is joining our team of cohosts handling reservations and guest messaging. She lives in the Pocanos Mountains where she’s a busy mom of 2 and an Airbnb host herself of a beautiful vacation rental, .

Eno grew up in Nigeria and her dream came true when, at age 14, her family was able to relocate to the US. (Look at the traditional Nigerian wedding outfits! 😍)

✨Watch out, we’ve got 2 Amy’s now! 😆 is an AMAZING watercolor artist who teaches classes locally.

Amy is joining us as an inspector, where she’ll make sure everything is in tip-top shape before you check in for your stay. She lives by this inspiring quote (in the pictures above), and feels that working with All Belong is another way she’ll get to do just that. ❤️

✨In addition to being a hard working wife and mama, Sarah is an outdoors gal who loves the mountains, sewing, needlework, and planning the next family vacay.

She’s also joining us as an inspector for our Lynchburg area properties. “I feel so honored to be included in this team of magic-makers who are creating such beautiful spaces and memorable experiences for all of our guests.”

Ladies, our hearts are beaming and we are SO thrilled to have each of you on the team. Can’t wait to see the magic we’ll make together! 🫶🏾🫶🏿🫶🏼

15/01/2024

✨Introducing the MLK Dream Home✨ In collaboration with and , we offer this grand, historic Airbnb in Downtown Lynchburg to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

We wanted the design of the house to capture MLK’s boldness, his unwavering faith in God, and his revolutionary ideas to fight hatred with nonviolence and love.

The home features art by black creatives such as and , amenities by black-owned businesses like and , and reading material by black authors and activists. (Be warned: it’s not all warm and fuzzy, but it is a much needed message that if heeded, can change the world.) 💪🏾💪🏿💪🏽

A portion of the profits will support organizations committed to racial and economic justice in our city.

We hope you’ll visit and enjoy all our charming downtown has to offer. Take an afternoon nap on the hanging daybed. Walk across the street to get donuts or dinner. Experience a historic home on a street where MLK himself walked.

On a personal note, this home is our family’s heart on full display. Over the past 14 years, our story has brought us to this moment and we remain humble learners and listeners of our brothers and sisters. 🙏🏾🙏🏿🙏🏼

We hope this home will inspire, educate, challenge, and build bridges. No matter where you are in your journey or understanding of racial justice, you belong here. ❤️

Visit the link in bio to see more and book your stay.

03/01/2024

Oh Amy of 5 years ago, I get you.

I get how chaotic everything feels. You’ve just been wounded and betrayed. By church leaders. The ones who were supposed to protect you. You’ve survived the trauma of a major mental health crisis. And all without a supportive community by your side to help pick up the pieces.

You and Marc were courageous to leave your W-2 job after 17 years without knowing what was next, but really? You didn’t feel there was any other choice. You needed to find a place for your family to belong. 🫶🏾🫶🏿🫶🏼

But despite all the tears, counseling, and government assistance over the past year, it was still the right decision to brave the wilderness and heal.

Look at you now, Amy. You got scrappy. Through all that fog, you figured out what you’re meant to do. You gave it a name and freaking bought the LLC to do the thing.

AND you‘ve just announced it to the world. (It’s even got its own Instagram account and everything!) 😆

Listen to me. It’s okay to be afraid and not know what the hell you’re doing. You’ve got the determination and you’ll figure it out as you go.

Just wait until you see all you’ll accomplish in 5 years. You still won’t know quite where you’re headed, but man- you won’t feel so alone and made to feel like you’re the crazy one.

(I know you can’t even imagine this.)

And get this, there will actually be an entire COMMUNITY of people who get you. They’ll cheer for diversity and want what you want: safe spaces where anyone can belong. They’ll be ok with you as you truly are and you won’t have to hide from their judgment and gaslighting. You’ll feel so free to be yourself that you’ll be opening up an entire HOME in honor of MLK. 😱

I’m so proud of you. Go get it, girl. It only gets better from here.

Love, the Amy of today ❤️

01/01/2024

🥂Happy New Year!🥂 Bring it on, 2024.

#2024

10/12/2023

Surprise ‘em with an overnight getaway in a train Airbnb! 🚂 James Station ornaments + gift cards (to any of our properties) are available. Comment “GETAWAY” here if you’re interested!

09/10/2023

In 2013 I found a DIY home project on Pinterest to cover the electrical box (aka eye sore) in my hallway. I know, I know, it’s technically out of code to do that. But, design… 🤷🏻‍♀️

I just needed to pick some sort of text to paint diagonally across a canvas. What would be meaningful?

Our kids were little, and Marc and I had immersed ourselves in learning more about the issues of race and poverty in America. In our white academic and evangelical circles, though, conversations about cultures and racial justice weren’t exactly a “thing” back then.

But we’d adopted our black son and moved to a diverse neighborhood downtown, and things were no longer political. They were personal. We felt caught in between two completely different worlds and cultures where we didn’t belong.

I’d watch our kids playing together and sit amazed at the family I never knew I’d be so lucky to have. And to think, just a few decades ago, this family of mine wouldn’t have been possible without a famous dream that little black boys could one day join hands with little white girls “as sisters and brothers.”

So here was this little naive white girl making what she thought was such a courageous decision to paint MLK’s dream on the canvas. It’s utterly ridiculous how much I agonized over that choice, y’all. I guess in some small way, it could perhaps compare to the feeling of coming out.

“It’s just going in a hallway alcove,” I justified to myself. “It’s not like I’m hanging it over our couch.”

Because I didn’t want to offend our white church members and friends who might visit. Or even worse- make them think we were “liberals.”

And though I adored my MLK quote canvas, it hung tucked away. (and some dumb wall decor thing from Kirklands I didn’t care about took prominence over the sofa.)

Until in 2014 when the body of an unarmed 18-year old named Michael Brown lay lifeless in the street at the hands of police in Ferguson, MS. He looked like my son. Night after night, I watched in disbelief as police used tear gas, rubber bullets, and tanks to disperse protestors who were calling for justice. This couldn’t possibly be America in 2014.

And yet no one in my circles was watching. Or caring about the thing I was losing my mind over.

One black woman looked in my eyes and said, “Amy, Michael Brown is living in your house. And the advancement of the disadvantaged is now your family crest.”

Call it being “woke” or whatever you want to call it. But our eyes had been opened to a whole new world we previously had the luxury of never seeing before.

And in my own feeble act of resistance ✊🏿, my MLK canvas was moved above my sofa.

To be continued…

06/10/2023

Ready for some fun? Take our quick and easy quiz to see which Airbnb is right for your next trip! (We wanna know which one you got!)

Each short term rental in our Collective is a unique destination and we love providing our guests with top notch hospitality.

17/09/2023

Here’s what the savvy travelers already know…

We all complain about the extra fees on Airbnb, and often it’s the host that gets the blame.

But the truth is, Airbnb is charging both you AND the host between 10-15% extra service fees on your stay.

And now there’s a way you don’t actually have to pay them. 😱

Many professional hosts on Airbnb and VRBO have developed ways for their guests to save money by booking direct with them.

It’s the sharing economy at its best. Cutting out the middleman.

You may feel protected by Airbnb and a direct booking would never appeal to you. That’s ok. We’re not asking you to go against your conscience.

But at the end of the day, Airbnb is not providing you with insurance (only a sense of assurance) and if you are concerned about any issues on any trip, you should go and purchase trip insurance.

It’s also important before booking direct with a host to do your due diligence. Read their reviews. Read the terms and conditions on their website. Call them on the phone if you need to.

And when you’re ready to book, go to that host’s website directly to save both of you some cash. ❤️

10/09/2023

I can’t drive through this city without seeing signs of your hands. Over many years, you inspired and shaped Lynchburg, VA into a vibrant, flourishing community through vision and restoration. You made the homes and buildings of this town reflect your own beauty.

Though you are younger than me, I wanted to be you when I grew up. I called you and Daryl the “Chip and Joanna of Lynchburg” to all my friends in faraway places. They all knew who you were. I should have told you how much I looked up to you while there was still time.

I’ll never forget asking you over lunch many years ago what you wanted in life, and your response was, “Daryl and I want our legacy to be here in Lynchburg. At the end of our lives, we want to be able to point to this place and point to that place and say, ‘We did that.’”

You did that. Not only through houses and buildings, but in the hearts and lives of so many. We are forever changed by knowing you.

This city will never be as beautiful without your presence in it, Jo. But your touch will forever be upon it. We love you.

23/08/2023

Ever had a big moment where it seems like all of time is measured by it?

In 2017, a bomb completely blew up our lives then as we knew it. We were badly wounded by church leadership (not ironically, we were in a place we didn’t belong 🤔) that it triggered a major mental health crisis that would require a long recovery with speed bumps ahead.

In our attempts to “stop the bleeding,” we stepped away from the security of salaries and 17 years in college ministry to rest and heal.

We had no idea what was next. All we knew was that a 💣 had just gone off, everything went dark, and we needed to evacuate and figure out what the hell just happened.

Looking back, I don’t know how we’d have survived that year without government assistance, free meals from our public schools, and discounted rates from our therapists. We had to get scrappy to make ends meet. We had left our only community (the church) and only a few friends knew the trauma we were facing.

Life doesn’t stop or slow down when you’re clawing just to stand up, does it? The kids still needed to be fed. The schools were sending home so many papers that it felt like a Mt Everest I couldn’t begin to climb. Behind the smiles of the photos was SO.MUCH.PAIN.

Of course, fast forward and the story thankfully didn’t end there. Because it was out of that very dark place and a deep conviction that diversity is BEAUTIFUL that All Belong Co was born. ❤️

I still walk with a limp from that bomb. I still can’t do church. It isn’t safe.

But my kids and husband are thriving and my wounds have healed into scars. Scars that tell a story of bravery and courage. A story about the cost of standing up to power. Of loving your kids enough to stand up against mysogeny, white supremacy, and Christian nationalism.

This is the first August since 2017 that I’ve had the head space for my kids’ school lives without the frenzy of anxiety screaming wildly in the background. My body has felt a calm that it has not known in years.

Perhaps the dust is settling.

16/08/2023

✨We are HIRING!✨We’re looking for a full-time maintenance person/handyman to serve our local properties! Must have extensive handyman experience, transportation, professional demeanor, quality workmanship, leadership, general contracting abilities, and work well on a team.

We need someone to help free up Marc from doing it all! 😆

Most of the position would include maintaining ~25 properties in the Lynchburg area as guest issues arise. The remainder would include serving as a general contractor on Marc and my personal renovation projects.

Pay will be based on experience.

Know someone who’d be perfect for the job? Share this post and email Amy (link in bio) by August 31 to apply, thanks! ❤️

20/07/2023

We were sooo overwhelmed when the doctor said it was highly unlikely that our 2 yr old would ever get her hair back again.

How would we face a lifetime of baldness? Will she be bullied and teased? How will we help her navigate the teen years without hair?

There were many days I crumbled under my own desire to be like everyone else.

It wasn’t until a few years later when a birthmom rejected us from adopting her lily white baby boy that we began to lean into our own identity.

💡Maybe we weren’t meant to be like everyone else.💡

And as it turned out, the very reason I feared another birthmom would reject us- our daughter’s difference- was the very reason our son’s birthparents picked us. 😭

There aren’t too many families out there that look like ours. You can’t miss us. 😉

But instead of covering over what makes us unique, we’ve decided to embrace it. ROCK IT OUT.

Be fully you in this world. Don’t let others control your narrative.

What’s this “normal” we hear so much about? It doesn’t exist.

Why fit in when you were born to stand out?

We all belong.

18/06/2023

Couldn’t be more happy for our own Lisa Quell! We love you and wish you and Wade Candler a lifetime of joy together. ❤️💍

12/06/2023

Today we take a tour of a rare style of Airbnb! A train caboose converted into a tiny house. This is located only 1/2 mile from downtown lynchburg VA so lots...

12/06/2023

Today marks our 100th Google review, ALL of them being ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️’s.

We are a small business with the BIGGEST heart for you. This milestone makes us, your All Belong Co team, giddy that you guys feel it, too. 🫶🏾🫶🏿🫶🏼

We really couldn’t do it without amazing turnover pros, inspectors, contractors, and most especially our hospitality-minded owners who allow us the privilege of hosting in their beautiful homes.

It’s our delight to bring welcome and belonging to the world, whether it’s in our properties or here in this space on the web.

Even if you never stay at an All Belong Co property, we hope you know that no matter where you’re from, you ALL belong. ❤️