I’m Back

Hey Ya’ll!  I’m back!  Paul and I have finished our move and we are getting settled into our new life in our new home!  Our move went so smoothly, and we cannot thank our family and friends enough for all of their help.  We loaded up the Uhaul on Friday morning, and hit the road around 2:30pm. We got into town around 6:45pm, ate dinner at my parents and had everything unloaded by 9:30!  We set up our bed, and passed out.

Saturday morning,  both of our parents came over and we basically had the entire house unpacked by the end of the day.  Needless to say, we were able to get settled in pretty quickly.  Now the only thing left to unpack is decorations, and I guess I’m just taking my sweet time to unload those boxes 🙂  Maybe this weekend Paul and I will start to hang things on the walls?

 

Our first two weeks here have been busy, but they’ve gone really well… aside from Paul getting diagnosed with the flu this week.  Fortunately, he’s on the rebound, and at this point I don’t have any symptoms… let’s pray it stays that way.  We have both of our offices set up, and working from home goes pretty smoothly now that we are all set up and organized.

Our new house has so much more room than our old house, and I still don’t think we are used to having all this space!

Bittersweet #4

Holy smokes ya’ll… Moving is no joke.  The last 2-3 weeks have been a whirlwind!  I am currently taking a packing break to watch Teen Mom 2 (guilty pleasure – no judging!).  I cannot believe that Paul and I are moving TOMORROW!  That just seems crazy!  The last 5 years in Tallahassee have flown by, but these years would not have been the same without my favorite people.  Which leads me to the final bittersweet post.

BITTER

This is by far the worst part of moving out of Tallahassee.  So awful, that I’ve been pretending it isn’t happening for the last 2 months, because when I think about it I cry.  My sister is my best friend.  I have never looked up to someone more in my entire life.  Her faith is so strong, she is so incredibly smart, she always knows what to say to make me feel better, and we ALWAYS have fun together.  We bake things we shouldn’t be eating, we laugh and shop and do sister things.  As we’ve grown up and moved to Tallahassee, we have always talked about how awesome it would be to live close to each other and our kids can be BFFs and we will live these happy little lives near each other.  Up until a couple months ago, I still saw this little plan working perfectly.

Not only is my sister one of my favorite people, but her husband is my other brother.  He has come to my rescue on more than 1 (or 5) occasions.  His sense of humor never fails.  There is never a night where we aren’t laughing with him… or at him.  Some of my favorite nights consist of my sister, David, Paul and I sitting around the table talking for hours.

As if Melissa and David weren’t enough for me to move away from, they have the 2 most perfect little girls… my nieces.  I am obsessed with them.  I talk about them like they are my children.  I whip out pictures and everyone knows I am such a proud auntie!  The thought of not being able to stop by and see Reese slouched in her high chair like a “G” and Kennedy running around listing off her trains from Thomas and friends makes me so sad… and now I’m crying while I type.  Kennedy is at the cutest age and she LOVES me and I LOVE that!  When I hear her call me “auntie’ it makes my heart happy… I don’t want to leave that!  They are so tiny and I don’t want them to forget me!  I realize that is completely irrational.  We will only be 4 hours apart, we will FaceTime, and I know Melissa and David will talk to them about us, but that’s just how I feel.   So anyway now you guys can tell me you’re moving home to Orlando too, and everything will be right in the world… Wishful thinking?

SWEET

That being said,  I am super excited to be moving home and living 10 minutes from my parents!  I’ve officially reached the age where my parents are my friends, not just my parents.  Well truth be told, I reached that stage a few years ago, but now that I’m married I see it even more.  I am excited to be around my mom’s cooking more! Maybe now I will actually take her up on spending time with her in the kitchen.  Paul already requests a few of her recipes, and I’ve learned them but my mom’s cooking is top notch.

I may be getting ahead of myself, but eventually Paul and I will be having a baby (or 2 or 3…), and I have seen my parents with my nieces and I cannot wait for them to be those amazing grandparents to our kids.

Then there is always my baby brother.  I love him, but I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that he is a grown up!  He’s smart and witty and I still find him taking me by surprise.  The downfall now of living so far from my brother is that we both suck at talking on the phone.  I don’t call.  He doesn’t call.  We text here and there, but unless you’re Victoria (his girlfriend) you can pretty much expect a very concise answer and very little effort to carry on the conversation.  SUCH. A. BOY. Now that we are living closer, I am super excited we will actually get to talk and hang out!  I am also really glad that he and Paul will get a chance to know each other better.  Paul has fit right in with my sister and David especially since we see each other so often, and I’m glad he gets that chance now with Travis.

I’m a bundle of emotions, and they are all over the place.  From happy and excited to sad and dreading leaving.  I leave my sister’s perfect little family, but I get to be closer to the rest of my family.  Can’t be too upset about the way this has worked out!

Bittersweet #3

Two weeks from today, Paul and I will be heading down to Orlando for our official move.  The thing we’ve been discussing for weeks now is getting closer, and it’s finally starting to feel real.  We’ve gradually started packing, and our living room is slowly being overtaken with boxes.  In case you didn’t know, packing sucks.

BITTER

Over my last 5 years in Tallahassee,  I have met some amazing friends.  Many of them I’ve met through my jobs, but they have made me love living here even more.  Many of us are in the same spot in life, or somewhere close: young, married, no kids.  It’s so nice having friends in the same place in life.  We don’t all have to hang out everyday, but when we get together it is an amazing time.  I have truly been blessed by some amazing people.  People who give me advice, who care about me, who support me, who share my beliefs, who respect and encourage me.  Leaving these people will not be easy.  Thankfully for me, I will be back in Tallahassee often, and they all know our home is open to them anytime they are in Orlando!

SWEET

One of the more exciting parts of moving is that Paul and I will be able to meet people together.  My hope is that we will get plugged in to a church, and we will meet people that way.  The hard part about this is that we will both be working from home.  Not being in an office will make it a little more challenging for us to me people.  I am thankful that Paul and I do have some friends in the area already, and we are looking forward to being able to spend time with them.

Moving to a new city is an adventure.  It’s scary and exciting all at the same time, and it’s only 13 days away…

Bittersweet #2

This past weekend was great!  Paul and I were productive, but we still made time to root for FSU at our first home game of the season!  This morning Paul left dark and early to head to Wisconsin for training.  By the time he gets back, I’ll be in Arizona for work.   Once I get back, Paul will be headed to Orlando for the week.  Basically 90% of the next 17 days will be spent apart, and when we are together it will consist of FSU vs Clemson next Saturday, and packing/cleaning/house projects.  There is a lot to do, and as much as I’m ready for this to be over… I want it to slow down at the same time!  Which makes perfect sense somehow, and brings me right to my next bittersweet parts of moving.

BITTER

Tallahassee is pretty well known for it’s amazing parks, and there are so many of them!  I started going to Tom Brown when I moved to Tallahassee.  I used to go with my roommates and friends, and we would bring all of our pups to the dog park.  Now Paul and I like to go to the dog park, and to take walks around the trails.  There is so much more to do at that park, I just don’t happen to have a need for the playground, dirt bike jumps, sports areas, and anything else athletically inclined.  The next park I love is Cascade Park, it’s new and beautiful!  Earlier this year Tallahassee unveiled this new park that includes a kids park, a splash park, different walking trails, an amphitheater, etc.  This has become my favorite spot for running – it is exactly 1 mile around, and it’s a really nice run.  If I’m not running in the morning, Paul and I like to go after dinner and walk the dogs.  My other favorite park is Lake Ella.  Lake Ella is a cute little area where you can feed ducks, visit little shops around, and of course… take our dogs.  This also happens to be the spot that Paul proposed.  How can it not be my favorite when it holds a memory like that!

SWEET

TARGET!  Yes, Target gets it’s own “Sweet” bullet.  For the last 5 years, Target has been approximately 25 minutes away.  Which means, it involves planning for me to make it to that side of town, and it doesn’t happen very often.  This means, I’ve been venturing into WalMart on a regular basis… WalMart in Tallahassee… on a REGULAR basis.  I understand WalMart is great for some bargains, and I’m always down for a deal, but I can’t stand this place.  WalMart is terrible.  My trip may only take 3 minutes for me to run in and grab what I need, but I’ll wait 30 minutes for the 1 cashier to check me out so I can leave.  Or I’ll ask someone for help finding it, and they don’t know what I’m looking for, nor do they care to find out.  Now Target is glorious in comparison.  Target makes me happy.  This may not be beneficial to my bank account, because I always leave Target with more than I planned… like clothes, or shoes, or makeup, or food, or that lamp that would look really cute in our living room…   I LOVE TARGET!  Once we move, we will live approximately 5 minutes from Target… I. Can’t. Wait!!!

There are always bright sides to moving 🙂

Bittersweet #1

We have officially entered moving month.  In 21 days I will no longer be the Tallahassee resident I never knew I would be.  I always assumed I would move back home after college, but life happened.  I got a job, I met THE boy.  We got married and settled in.  Tallahassee has worked out pretty well, and we saw our future here.  Well life threw another unexpected curve ball, and we are about to start a new adventure. There are times when I get really excited, and then times I get sad to leave.  So here’s my new mini series of posts of our bittersweet move.

BITTER

I am pretty sure there aren’t too many things I love more than game day in Tallahassee.  The atmosphere in this small town is just amazing.  EVERYWHERE you look you see Garnet and Gold, FSU flags, FSU car stickers, FSU signs at businesses, and weekly “tailgates” downtown Friday nights during football season.  The entire community goes all out, and I didn’t realize I would miss it, until I realized we won’t have it anymore. I’m sure it is like this is most big college towns, but this is MY college town.  I’ll miss being able to go to the mall and find stores full of FSU things or hearing our Pastor talk about the Seminoles at church and cracks little gator jokes. I can’t get that in Orlando!!! Luckily, we will be back for home games, but during those away games when the atmosphere is still amazing and every sports bar is packed, there are house parties, little get togethers and everyone is rooting for the same team.  It just won’t be the same.  Don’t even try to argue that UCF is the same. It’s not.

SWEET

I have some great friends back home that I’ve stayed in touch with, two of them were my bridesmaids.  I am super excited to be able to see them on a regular basis!!  Leaving them was one of the hard parts of moving away to go to school, and now they get to be a reason that I’m excited to move back home.  When the new T. Swift CD comes out next month, I know I can call Megan and we will go to Target at 8am to buy the DELUXE version and then we will stop at Starbucks or Chik-Fil-A and drive around screaming her album at the top of our lungs like we are still 16.  Only to go back to our houses to decode her lyrics to figure out who the song is about, because that’s our tradition.  I will also have my personal stylist, Anna, back! Which is just happy, because we all know shopping and fashion are not my strong points.  That’s why I shop online and win the award for worst girl ever.  I have a lot of other amazing people I’m excited to move back and see, and I know that will help me with the transition.

There you have it.  The first bittersweet of our move.

Weekend Wrap Up – Labor Day 2014

This weekend was perfect!  It was relaxing, productive and fun.  The best kind of weekend!  

Friday after work Paul and I grabbed dinner at our favorite little pizza place, and headed to the mall.  I realized that football season started this weekend and I didn’t have any cute FSU clothes that weren’t t-shirts!  I needed to do some shopping so I didn’t look like a bum every game day, and get my closet stocked with some cute garnet and gold apparel.  While we were shopping, Paul found the shoes he has been subtly hinting at for the last week, and by subtle I mean texting me pictures each day and telling me he really wants them.  While we were at the store browsing, I ran to the back and put the shoes on hold without him noticing.  I figured I would give them to him for Christmas or something, but I would figure it out later.  

On Saturday, Paul and I woke up and headed to my sister’s house to watch our nieces.  We spent the morning playing trains, reading books, and laughing.  It is absolutely amazing how two tiny little girls can bring me so much happiness!  Being an auntie is seriously the BEST!  

After watching the girls, we decided we should take advantage of the Labor Day sales and buy a washer and dryer for our move.  We will be leaving ours here for the tenant in our house, so we had to purchase new ones.  This is when we decided we were getting old.  We were giddy like kids on Christmas morning picking out a washer/dryer and lawn mower.  All necessities for our move.  Not only were all 3 of these things on sale, but we used Paul’s Lowe’s card to save 5%, and then I actually ordered them online through Ebates.com to get 4% cash back.  If you don’t use Ebates for your online shopping you’re missing out.  Go sign up!  There is nothing I like better than getting a deal, and we saved a nice chunk of money by doing it this way!  The added bonus is that Lowe’s will be holding the washer/dryer until the weekend we move so we don’t even need to worry about delivery or installation.  

Once we accomplished all of this I headed back to my sister’s for some girl time.  We ended up going back to the mall, and I picked up the shoes I put on hold for Paul the day before.  I was trying to figure out how I was going to keep Paul from buying himself these shoes so I could give them to him for Christmas when my sister had the idea to give them to him as a “congratulations on your job present”… I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before.  He has worked so hard, and I am so proud of him.  He deserves a little something for that!  When I got home he immediately saw the bag and got this huge grin on his face while asking me, “What did you do?”.  When I told him I had a little surprise for him he was so cute!  He was so excited and appreciative.  It was absolutely adorable, and it makes me want to buy him things all the time just to see that face!  Now, I just need to accept that my husband will not be matching on game days.  His new FSU shoes mixed with his lucky 1970s FSU shirt (which he claims won us the national title last year) do not go together, but I don’t think I will be able to get him to pick just one.  That night he gladly wore his new shoes and his “lucky” shirt to BWW where we met some friends for the first game of the season!  It wasn’t an easy game to watch, but it was a good night that ended with a W!  

(Terrible iPhone picture, but it was all I had from Game Day! This also lets you see the sweet shirt and shoes together… not matching)

Sunday we slept in and went to the late church service, and it was so nice to sleep in a little longer!  We headed home, and even though I said we weren’t going to do anything house related this weekend, I don’t think either of us could help it.  Paul headed outside to do yard work, while I started going through our closet.  I have officially started the goodwill bag for things we will not be bringing with us on the move.  After a while of being productive, we both settled in and spent some time together reading and watching tv. 

On Labor Day, we slept in and had a lazy morning before we headed to the pool with some friends for a little while.  Now Paul is with the guys watching more college football and I am about to start on some laundry.  So there you have it.  Our long, relaxing, productive, and fun weekend that has also left us on a “spending freeze”.

The Calm Before the Storm

Today is Paul’s last day working for his current company.  He has worked so incredibly hard over the last two years, and I am so proud of him.   This means that his new job starts next week, and the chaos is about to begin!

September will be a whirlwind of a month… or maybe the rest of the year will be a whirlwind, but we are taking this day by day over here!  We sold “Frank”, my little Nissan on Wednesday.  We are down to 1 car until next week when he heads on over to Jacksonville to meet with his Regional Manager, and pick up his company car.  The following week he will be in Wisconsin for training, and I’ll be in Arizona for work.  When I get back from Arizona, he leaves for Orlando to start working his new territory.  The last weekend of September we move!  Not to mention that football season is upon us, and as proud season ticket holders of the reigning National Champions (GO NOLES!) we will be fitting all of the traveling/moving/packing in around our football games on Saturdays.

That being said this weekend is our calm before the storm.  We will be enjoying our long 3 day weekend watching our Noles scalp OSU in Dallas tomorrow night, and living vicariously through our friends who have ventured on out to Dallas to be there in person.  Then we may end up at a pool/beach, or anything that allows us to avoid the housework/packing that needs to begin.  This weekend we will enjoy the last little bit of relaxation we have, before we start a new adventure together.

Happy Labor Day Weekend and Go Noles! 🙂

Falling into Place

When Paul recently accepted his new job offer, we knew what it entailed.  We would have to move, find someone to rent our house, find a new house for us, and I would have to find a job.  To me this whole process just screams STRESS! Fortunately, to my surprise most of this process has been easy.  God has a plan for us and everything has seemed to fall right into place.

Before we knew Paul got the job, his old roommate contacted him looking to rent in our neighborhood.  Paul told him that if he could hold off until Paul knew about the job, he may be able to rent from us and we would give him cheaper rent then the house he was looking at.  Low and behold, Paul accepted the job, contacted his friend, and he will be moving in the same weekend we are moving out.  Seriously?  How perfect is that?  Not only do we have a renter, but we know them.  Which makes the whole accidental landlord thing easier to take in!

So we had his job and our house rented out, but  I was stressing about finding a new job.  I work for the same company I worked at during my last semester in college – just a little over three years.  We have been voted one of the best companies to work for in Florida 3 years in a row.  Our little office really does feel like a family for the most part.  I know the people I work with care about me, and vice versa.  I absolutely love the team that I work on, and I hate the thought of leaving.  Our owners are AWESOME!  If there has ever been a problem or something I needed, I know I am able to go to them.  They know my goals in my career, and they help me make a plan to get there.  There aren’t many companies like this nowadays… or at least from what I hear.  I was terrified to find a new job, and hate the company.  I also just felt like the job I found would be in Orlando – meaning commuting on I4 everyday… I HATE I4.  I avoid it at all costs.  Hating my job and commute would not help in our transition.  Well imagine my joy when I found out that I would be able to continue to work for my company… FROM HOME!  I knew it was an option they were exploring.  I brought it up when I gave them the news that I would be leaving.  I figured it was worth a shot… but I thought it was a long shot.

No job hunt!  No commuting on I4!  No working for an awful company! The homebody in me seriously had an all out party (but by myself… because I’m an introvert)! I get to work in  yoga pants everyday and stay at home?!  Seriously, I cannot even describe how incredibly overwhelmed I was when my boss told me.

Every step of the way for this journey, God has provided for us.  I have been completely overwhelmed by the blessings He continues to give us.  To be honest, a couple years ago I would have considered it luck, but as I’ve grown in my faith there is no denying that this is God at work in our lives.  Now we are just waiting for him to give us a house to live in… that allows 3 dogs.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. – Jeremiah 29:11

We’re Moving!

Now that this information has been given to our bosses and co-workers, Paul and I can officially publicize that we will be moving next month!

Paul was recently approached by one of his manufactuers for an internal sales position with them.  This was a long 2 month process, and if you know me it was a TORTUROUS secret to keep.  From the very beginning, we thought he had a great chance of getting the job.  He was told he was the “top candidate for the position”  (yes, that’s my husband that was APPROACHED as the TOP candidate for a position – super proud wife moment so I have to brag!)  Originially we were under the impression he could stay in Tallahassee and work.  As the weeks progressed, he learned that was no longer the case.  Due to his new territory, and the amount of business in Orlando, we decided the best place for us to relocate to within his territory will be Orlando!   This new job is a huge blessing, and with Paul covering less territory and the majority of it in Orlando, it means a lot less traveling for him!  Which makes us both happy!

This past weekend in Orlando, we started looking for places to live.  Our next hope will be to find a house to rent that allows 3 dogs… call that landlord crazy but I will love them forever if it means we get to take our 3 babies with us!  Luckily for us, my parents are in Lake Mary, and so we have a place to stay if it takes a while to find a place (thanks mom and dad!).

We are extremely excited about this opportunity for Paul, but it is definitely bittersweet.  Tallahassee was home to each of us before we met, and now it holds all of the memories we have created together.  Paul and I both really love our jobs, and not just our jobs but the people we work for!  Which only makes the decision that much harder, but we know it is the right one for us.

God has really outdone himself on this one.  It just goes to show that God’s plan will prevail. Without the job opportunity Paul was given two years ago, he wouldn’t have the opportunity he has now.  He has gone above and beyond when answering our prayers! We even already have someone to rent out our house when we move at the end of September!  Whew!

Paul starts his new job on September 1st in Orlando.  We will basically have a long distance marriage for a month, and we will move at the end of September.  September will be busy… and stressful!

We are sad to leave Tallahassee, but since it is the Home of the Florida State Seminoles and football season is approaching… so there is no doubt that we will be back regularly! Well back for football… and our adorable nieces and their parents 🙂