A floridian at last...

Who knew after marrying Joe 7 years ago & not wanting to leave Florida that by Feb. 2013 my wish would come true! I'm back, baby!
God has been good to us. It's been a bit chaotic over the last week but we are managing to hold our own. Joe flew out for an interview last week & we are still awaiting (eagerly) news if he got the job.
My mom arrived on Saturday, we packed all weekend & when the movers arrived Monday we were nervous to see if all our stuff would fit in the UHaul Pods.It didn't.
So, last minute we had to make a decision to fill a third one or leave a huge amount of stuff behind. We decided to keep our stuff so there goes another chunk of change and we had to fill it ourselves. Cue mom, Joe and I frantically trying to get it done while the kids slept on the egg crates on the floor we had saved.
We flew out that night, Joe sold his car that evening, got the rest of the place cleared out & today we closed on the condo. It's really satisfying to have this chapter closed. Thought it might be more sad leaving our home that we started our married life in & brought Blake home (and Iris too)...but as I held their hands and said bye bye house with them, it was just time to go. We are ready!

It's been a good week, but also trying to be here without Joe, look at all the tlc this new house needs & still be unsure of Joe's status with being employed. It was good news today that I can take down some very sad vertical blinds, give a fresh coat of paint and update some lighting in our new place.
Everything feels dirty so a good cleaning is in order and I'm dying to slap some paint up on that wall. For anyone curious I'm going with a very neutral gray called Dolphin Fin by Behr & I can't wait. Thankgoodness for pinterest/blogs to help me out there. No more navy blunders.
We sold lots of furniture and threw out a ton so on my never ending list to get is a dining table & chairs, a desk, something to put the TV on, a dresser for our bedroom and on and on it goes.

I will do my best to get some before pictures posted so I can have one of those amazing transformations. It can't be all that I hope since I can't do anything drastic, but a few small changes should make a world of difference.
As for now, I'm trying to keep the kids feeling secure, hoping our stuff arrives the end of next week & Joe makes it safely down here. It's not an easy drive to do alone!

Style by Iris

Iris loves to put on my black gloves. Much of the time we can only find one & so this is just her chilling, michael jackson style.

When I bring this to her attention she responds with "don't criticize what you can't understand", only she says it in Ahmaric. Point taken, Iris.

Losing It - My top 10

10 Signs You are Losing Your Mind

1. You cry over nothing or everything.
2. Little Caeser's actually tasted really good to you.
3. You wish you had showered yesterday because you can't today & tomorrow is looking sketchy too
4. You absolutely go nuts because your new clearance pillow got a food stain on it and you try to explain this to your 1 yr old.
5. You continue watching Tom & Jerry even when your kid lost interest in the episode 5 minutes ago.
6. You cannot leave the house till it warms up to 20 degrees.
7. You trust two toddlers in a small closet together playing a game.
8. Try to get through a rough day and not open your bible (what are you crazy?)
9. You pack up all your kid's clothes so they have to wear the same thing every day for a week unless you wash it every day.
10. You are still wearing what you had on after church on sunday.

Yep, on top of all this Joe is leaving on Thurs, returning Friday after an interview, mom arrives Saturday, movers come Monday & boarding a plan mon night with mom and kids. Calgon, take me away!

And so it goes...

Well, here's the scoop. Joe did not get the transfer with CDW. They won't even throw him a bone and give him a few weeks to work from the Florida office so now the whole team has to scramble to find his replacement and it's just so ridiculous to me. Oh well, after 13 years it's clear they don't care a whole lot about their employees & they will never have someone as great as Joe in that position, that's for sure.
So, cue the panic button. No job in Florida. Well, we knew this was a possibility when we put our place on the market last winter. Truth is, it's pretty challenging to seriously be on the job hunt when you live in a different state. I always felt if we were located in Florida he'd have a better chance of finding something. Joe's been working so hard to apply & get so much done...and still nothing. Until today.
He's gone a phone interview on Monday (please pray!) with a good company and if all goes well he'd fly down for a face to face interview next week at some point. My mom is arriving on the 26th & helping me to fly down with the kids on the 28th.
I don't know if I remember the last time I felt the pressure and stress of life in such a unique way, but it's a good place to be ...needy & desperate for the Lord to work a miracle and depend on Him.
Our place closes on the 31st & poor Joe has to drive my car across the country all by himself. What a man.
I look forward to looking back a few months from now and see all that He has accomplished & brought to pass in this crazy little adventure.

So far so good

It's not been the calmest week back...Iris got a cough & fever in the night. That is actually the first time she's ever woken us from sickness in the night. Guess there's a first for everything :)

We continue to wait news of a transfer for Joe (or any job for that matter)but we did get great news about our place - after all this time we are closing at the end of the month!!! So glad to put this place behind us and press on in our new adventure as a family.  Lots of packing & boxing up...lots of purging and organizing and lists of what has to be done. Soon!

Today, in celebration of the new life that awaits I got a new haircut. Now you wouldn't think that I could get a whole lot shorter, but you'd be wrong. Walked in and saw the coolest cut on a girl & thought now that would be adventurous....and I did it. It was the first time I remember feeling nervous about a hairstyle but so worth it because I love it! Colleen @ Paul Hyland Salon in Crystal Lake is so super talented and man will I miss her.
I'd post a picture but I can't for the life of me seem to upload a pic on the blog lately, not sure why. Anyway, it's a bit wild, even for me. Let's just say I've been buzzed in places and leave it at that.

Lots of good things going on, now let's just hope Joe finds work SOON and maybe I'll do a cartwheel.