Friday, July 15, 2011

Pros and Cons

These are the things I am looking forward to when it comes to moving to Florida:
1. Living near my parents. We get along really well, and the older they get, the more I get nervous about them being so far away. They're no spring chickens!
2. The ocean. It is the most relaxing place in the world to be. If I ever get a job, I look forward to swinging by the beach on the way home to de-stress. If I don't get a job, I'll go there as often as I can to soak in the sights, sounds and sun rays.
3. No more snow. We watched a movie the other night where the actors were shivering in the wet, freezing snow. No thank you. I've had enough of it and I'll be happy if I never see another flake as long as I live.
4. I only have one grandparent left, and she lives in Tampa, FL. That means I'll get to see her more than once every few years and I think that will be fantastic! I also have some cousins there and it will be so nice to see them more often.
5. Change. I really crave change every so often, whether it's a hair cut or re-arranging the furniture. This is a rather large change, and pretty much everything is going to change with this trip. I say bring it on!
6. The warm weather. We'll be near enough to the ocean that we'll have the nearly constant breeze keeping the humidity away.
7. Adventure! There are so many new places to see and explore there! I've already looked up the local festivals and have a few in the fall I'm excited about. There are a ton of nature preserves there, natural springs, and other outdoorsy things for us to do.
8. Visitors. I'd like to think that living in such close proximity to St Augustine, Disney, and other various travel destinations will give the Hutcheson Bed & Breakfast some business. (Friends - please come and visit us!)
9. The housing market. Once we sell our house, we'll have so many wonderful new homes (at bargain, clearance bin prices!)


Things I am not looking forward to when it comes to moving to Florida.
1. I will miss my friends here so, so much. They have become a family and a community to Andrew and I. That's the only thing that is really making this move difficult. It wrenches my heart to think about it, so I'll stop...
2. I don't have a job lined up. We'll be fine and I'm sure I'll find something, but I feel like I'm starting over from scratch. It's taken me 2 years to build a reputation in the school system here and I've worked hard to do so. Now, it's back to square one.
3. Packing.
4. Unpacking.
5. Moving is expensive. We have a PODS and it sounds perfect - we load it, they move and store it til we're ready for them to bring it to our new home, whenever and wherever that might be.
6. The dogs are going to be cooped up in my dad's workroom for as long as we're staying at my parents' and boy do these pups like to bark!
7. Living at my parents' house. Their house is amazing and wonderful and so are my parents, but we hope it's a short visit for the sake of our relationships.
8. Trying to sell our house from several states away. We'll see how this works out!
9. Scorpions, snakes and alligators. They live in FL, too, and I hope to avoid them.


That's all I've got for now. I am so very thankful for my partner in crime, Andrew, for picking up the slack when I get worn out and for being the bread winner and actually getting a stellar job in this daunting and recessed market.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Boxes boxes everywhere...

I was in the zone this weekend. I packed up every blanket in this joint (to take to Florida...where it's warm all the time) along with sheets and towels. I was really surprised at the amount of blankets that we have. Most are useful (comforters, throws, etc) but then there are the nostalgic ones. The Care Bear blankets my mom made for me when I was a baby, Andrew's dinosaur afghan that he's had since he was little. But still...so many blankets!

Next, I boxed up the kitchen. I got about 75% of it done. It's no concidence that I boxed up all of my cooking gear first. No more cooking for me!


Thank you, Chick Fil A, for your wonderful boxes!



These have been my best friends over the past few days, and I feel like we're only going to become closer as the weeks pass.

Book Review of The Canary List

This book had a slow start, and there were a few spots where I was frustrated with the story-line (with the main character, Crockett Grey, being falsely accused and set up). There was not an overtly Christian message to this book, although there were a lot of nods to the idea of spiritual warfare. I was honestly hoping for more from this book. I am an avid reader of Ted Dekker and Robert Liparulo, and was hoping for more of a page-turner. The book was well written and kept my interest once I got into the middle of it, but it was not as exciting as I'd hoped. The ending is wrapped up neatly and I wasn't left with any questions, and I always appreciate that in a novel.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Side Salads

Andrew and I have a problem, and it is late night snacking. We can't seem to help ourselves, now that we have the summers off and are without a bedtime. I like to think that this worked for the good (Romans 8:28 in action!) the other night when he talked me into going to McDonald's somewhere around midnight to get $1 sundaes.

As we rolled up to the drive thru, I saw that they had a side salad on their $1 menu. On a whim, I ordered that instead of a hot fudge sundae (I know! What was I thinking?!)
Here's the thing - it was awesome! For $1 it is a decent sized salad, and seemed very fresh. I stopped on my way home tonight and picked 2 up to go with dinner! It's cheaper than buying a bag of mixed greens and it comes with your choice of dressing. It's a win-win.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Florida bound

In a month, we'll be living in Florida. Right now, it really doesn't seem quite real.

My parents retired in Palm Coast, FL last fall, and this spring, Andrew got a job teaching AP Physics at a high school there. I'm very excited to be closer to my family. My parents aren't getting any younger, and I am looking forward to living near them again. I haven't lived near them for more than a few weeks since 1999 when I left for college!

So we have our house on the market and are waiting for it to sell. The last bit of June and all of July seem like a total waiting period for us. Waiting for me to hear about the ten thousand jobs I've applied for, waiting to sell our house, waiting to pack, waiting to move. It's really not very fun...at all.

I've been fervently looking for a job as a school counselor down there, but there really aren't many openings. I haven't given up yet, but it's not a promising job market at the moment, so I guess I'll just plan to be a professional beach bum :) I do look forward to the constant ocean breeze and the warm weather year-round. I'll be happy if I never see another snowflake ever, ever again. Granted, that means no more snow days...but we'll have hurricane days to look forward to! And did I mention that we're only 10 minutes from the beach??

It's an exciting time for us, but also a time of being patient and trusting that God has a plan that is far beyond what we can ask or imagine. When I talk with God I feel like He says to me over and over: "Just trust me." Looking back over our last move (to VA) and several other circumstances where I wasn't sure how things would turn out - He has been 100% faithful and has proven His trustworthiness over and over...so I have nothing to worry about!