Please email me @ wintermermaid@gmail.com
for our new blog address.
I will also email a link to the usual list of people... so if you're on that list, expect an email from me!
At some point I will be deleting or making this blog private and strictly posting at the other blog.
It will be exactly this one, just a new URL. :-)
Monday, May 25, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
It's been awhile..
We've had a busy month..
Mainly just trying to get the house put together plus just the normal day to day crap of working full time and always being so dang exhausted.
My mother-in-law visited us at the beginning of May.. she said she came to see us, but I suspect she wanted to see our house! haha :-) We were extremely lucky that weekend because she's pretty much super woman! She unpacked all the stuff we had been putting off, and most importantly she unpacked and safely put away all of our wedding china and crystal! I probably would have just left it packed away in boxes in our closet because I would be too afraid of using it and breaking it all.. but now, it's available and I do plan on using it soon!
We finished painting our kitchen! We love the color. It is perfect. We also decided to put the kitchen table that we (stole from my parents kitchen the day we left California) have in our kitchen... which sounds reasonable right? kitchen table in the kitchen.. but we didn't think it would fit, and then we felt horrible because we had (stolen) been given this great table from my parents and wanted it to be apart of our daily lives so that we had something from them.. so I was going to use it as a craft table in the office but I am so glad we decided to try it in the kitchen! It looks great and really works! It is really great to have the table there and have extra space to work on..
We have also decided to take on the previous owner's security system. Now I personally think this is pointless and a waste of money.. but I think part of that comes from the fact that I have never ever had a security system so the whole idea is foreign to me! I see some of the potential benefits... like in case I am home alone and scared, at least I know there's a system that will go off if someone is in my house.. or since we're in a quiet neighborhood, in a culdesac, and we have an alley that's at the end.. someone could quietly rob our house and no one would ever know..
so, because C feels strongly about it, I agreed and it will soon be set up. So watch out all you bad guys!
C and I are both still adjusting to our jobs... we both are wanting to be a little happier in them. We don't know if it will just take more time getting used to a new place, new people, new processes, etc.. or what. I am happy to be in hospice work again, it's just a lot of work, and a lot more work than I had originally been told about. It's those type of things that I don't like.
We still have painting to do.. some touch up in some of the rooms, and some rooms we haven't even started! I don't know when we are going to start them.. I suspect it will be awhile.. We have made a list of home improvements.. but the list is so long.. and well, we just are going to have to take time and slowly do things because it all adds up to money we just don't have right now!
This month we had a bunch of unexpected expenses.. we had roof repairs (big storm, wet walls, never a good combo!),.. that was the big thing oh! we also had to replace both of our toilets!
Then yesterday we had the dryer man out to repair our dryer.. it worked but wasn't blowing hot air! well, it turned out it had something to do with the breaker outside.. haha whoops! we're so stupid. :-P
Anyways, so this past week I was in a car accident. Ack! My poor Jetta! I was stopped at a red light, and a big boxed truck hit me from behind! I was on the phone with my mom when it happened (I was using an ear piece!)... so she heard the impact and me screaming.. ugh. It must have been awful for her to hear all of that. My car is pretty messed up. I am sore.. I am sure I will be seeing the chiropractor for awhile.. my back, neck, chest, ribs, shoulders are all messed up.
We are still waiting to hear about my poor Jetta... we don't know what the outcome will be.
Pics of my car: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=WinterMermaid&target=ALBUM&id=5337664696774436161&authkey=Gv1sRgCJCUloDqlab7vQE&feat=email
I am so excited! My family is visiting the first week of June! My aunt Terry, my cousin Brigid, her kids, Zerrell and Harper, and her Mother-in-law Sherry! I am also trying to see if they will bring me some goodies from Trader Joe's! I just really want all the stuff from the frozen section! haha too bad! Anyways, it's just been too long since we've seen my family. I miss everyone. It is hard not being able to go visit on a whim!
What else is new?
Hmmmm!
Well, I did finally get those pictures I promised. I wanted to get pictures for my mom (and all of you) and so I asked my mom's good friend Peta (www.petaphotography.com) to come over and take a few pictures.
These are some before and after ones.. plus I will throw in the link of pics that Chris took before we were even in the house!
Chris' pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/sinning/1605ToddvilleCircle?authkey=Gv1sRgCOqzl4Tk3OzLyAE&feat=directlink
Peta's pics: http://flickr.com/gp/petaphotography/226X25
Enjoy!!
Mainly just trying to get the house put together plus just the normal day to day crap of working full time and always being so dang exhausted.
My mother-in-law visited us at the beginning of May.. she said she came to see us, but I suspect she wanted to see our house! haha :-) We were extremely lucky that weekend because she's pretty much super woman! She unpacked all the stuff we had been putting off, and most importantly she unpacked and safely put away all of our wedding china and crystal! I probably would have just left it packed away in boxes in our closet because I would be too afraid of using it and breaking it all.. but now, it's available and I do plan on using it soon!
We finished painting our kitchen! We love the color. It is perfect. We also decided to put the kitchen table that we (stole from my parents kitchen the day we left California) have in our kitchen... which sounds reasonable right? kitchen table in the kitchen.. but we didn't think it would fit, and then we felt horrible because we had (stolen) been given this great table from my parents and wanted it to be apart of our daily lives so that we had something from them.. so I was going to use it as a craft table in the office but I am so glad we decided to try it in the kitchen! It looks great and really works! It is really great to have the table there and have extra space to work on..
We have also decided to take on the previous owner's security system. Now I personally think this is pointless and a waste of money.. but I think part of that comes from the fact that I have never ever had a security system so the whole idea is foreign to me! I see some of the potential benefits... like in case I am home alone and scared, at least I know there's a system that will go off if someone is in my house.. or since we're in a quiet neighborhood, in a culdesac, and we have an alley that's at the end.. someone could quietly rob our house and no one would ever know..
so, because C feels strongly about it, I agreed and it will soon be set up. So watch out all you bad guys!
C and I are both still adjusting to our jobs... we both are wanting to be a little happier in them. We don't know if it will just take more time getting used to a new place, new people, new processes, etc.. or what. I am happy to be in hospice work again, it's just a lot of work, and a lot more work than I had originally been told about. It's those type of things that I don't like.
We still have painting to do.. some touch up in some of the rooms, and some rooms we haven't even started! I don't know when we are going to start them.. I suspect it will be awhile.. We have made a list of home improvements.. but the list is so long.. and well, we just are going to have to take time and slowly do things because it all adds up to money we just don't have right now!
This month we had a bunch of unexpected expenses.. we had roof repairs (big storm, wet walls, never a good combo!),.. that was the big thing oh! we also had to replace both of our toilets!
Then yesterday we had the dryer man out to repair our dryer.. it worked but wasn't blowing hot air! well, it turned out it had something to do with the breaker outside.. haha whoops! we're so stupid. :-P
Anyways, so this past week I was in a car accident. Ack! My poor Jetta! I was stopped at a red light, and a big boxed truck hit me from behind! I was on the phone with my mom when it happened (I was using an ear piece!)... so she heard the impact and me screaming.. ugh. It must have been awful for her to hear all of that. My car is pretty messed up. I am sore.. I am sure I will be seeing the chiropractor for awhile.. my back, neck, chest, ribs, shoulders are all messed up.
We are still waiting to hear about my poor Jetta... we don't know what the outcome will be.
Pics of my car: http://picasaweb.google.com/
I am so excited! My family is visiting the first week of June! My aunt Terry, my cousin Brigid, her kids, Zerrell and Harper, and her Mother-in-law Sherry! I am also trying to see if they will bring me some goodies from Trader Joe's! I just really want all the stuff from the frozen section! haha too bad! Anyways, it's just been too long since we've seen my family. I miss everyone. It is hard not being able to go visit on a whim!
What else is new?
Hmmmm!
Well, I did finally get those pictures I promised. I wanted to get pictures for my mom (and all of you) and so I asked my mom's good friend Peta (www.petaphotography.com) to come over and take a few pictures.
These are some before and after ones.. plus I will throw in the link of pics that Chris took before we were even in the house!
Chris' pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/
Peta's pics: http://flickr.com/gp/
Enjoy!!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
We are finally home!
Seriously!
We are officially home owners as of 04/24/2009. We closed on our first home (and hopefully last home because we never ever ever ever, did I say never ever? want to move again!)!!!
We are thrilled. We are so excited. Well, excited and having emotional breakdowns all at the same time. Haha. It's a lot of work and a lot of change. Luckily C and I bounce off of each other so when one is melting down, the other one is strong and encouraging, and vice versa. it's a good balance.
We did our final walk through on Friday morning and then went and signed about 10 tree's worth of paper to officially close. The sellers were going to sign a few hours later. They did and everything went well........ except there was a glitch in the system and the money was never wired to the sellers account or whatever. So we begged to be able to go into the house anyway and they agreed. Essentially we had a "free" house for a few hours!
We have awesome friends. We are so blessed. C and I were talking about how amazing everyone is and C said that it is just so humbling to see all these people truly care for us and want to help us. It is truly amazing.
Anyways, these awesome friends showed up on Friday evening and painted, painted, painted, painted, went home and slept, came back Saturday morning, and painted, painted, painted, painted. We painted the entry, living and dining rooms. We painted the accent wall and wet bar. We painted our Masted bedroom. It was a lot of work and somehow we did it in 24 hrs!
We still have other rooms to paint, but that is going to have to wait for awhile. We are exhausted!
We hired movers to move all of our crap. It was well worth the money! They were great. We officially have all of our belongings in the same place! (well almost, we have a few things left at the apartment that we are moving over tonight. Just odds and ends, etc)
So one of the things we did was buy a king size bed! Woohoo! This is one of the most amazing investments, ever! haha. There is so much space!
I also got my gas grill! It was one of my requirements for when we bought a house. I made sure to go buy one on Saturday. It sits perfectly in my back yard. (see? I said MY BACK YARD!!)
I have already had to say NO to C because he is begging me to let us get a dog. NO NO NO. Can't we unpack first before we discuss this? I thought we had agreed kids first, then dogs (and only dogs when my kids are begging me for one and I am guilted into it... but not before then!!).......
We are slowly but surely settling in. Finding homes for all of our belongings... (homes within our very own home!)
Anyways I will be sure to post pictures, etc.. I know I know, I said that last time.. but I really will.. whenever we find our camera ;-)
Hope all is well!
Love,
A & C
We are officially home owners as of 04/24/2009. We closed on our first home (and hopefully last home because we never ever ever ever, did I say never ever? want to move again!)!!!
We are thrilled. We are so excited. Well, excited and having emotional breakdowns all at the same time. Haha. It's a lot of work and a lot of change. Luckily C and I bounce off of each other so when one is melting down, the other one is strong and encouraging, and vice versa. it's a good balance.
We did our final walk through on Friday morning and then went and signed about 10 tree's worth of paper to officially close. The sellers were going to sign a few hours later. They did and everything went well........ except there was a glitch in the system and the money was never wired to the sellers account or whatever. So we begged to be able to go into the house anyway and they agreed. Essentially we had a "free" house for a few hours!
We have awesome friends. We are so blessed. C and I were talking about how amazing everyone is and C said that it is just so humbling to see all these people truly care for us and want to help us. It is truly amazing.
Anyways, these awesome friends showed up on Friday evening and painted, painted, painted, painted, went home and slept, came back Saturday morning, and painted, painted, painted, painted. We painted the entry, living and dining rooms. We painted the accent wall and wet bar. We painted our Masted bedroom. It was a lot of work and somehow we did it in 24 hrs!
We still have other rooms to paint, but that is going to have to wait for awhile. We are exhausted!
We hired movers to move all of our crap. It was well worth the money! They were great. We officially have all of our belongings in the same place! (well almost, we have a few things left at the apartment that we are moving over tonight. Just odds and ends, etc)
So one of the things we did was buy a king size bed! Woohoo! This is one of the most amazing investments, ever! haha. There is so much space!
I also got my gas grill! It was one of my requirements for when we bought a house. I made sure to go buy one on Saturday. It sits perfectly in my back yard. (see? I said MY BACK YARD!!)
I have already had to say NO to C because he is begging me to let us get a dog. NO NO NO. Can't we unpack first before we discuss this? I thought we had agreed kids first, then dogs (and only dogs when my kids are begging me for one and I am guilted into it... but not before then!!).......
We are slowly but surely settling in. Finding homes for all of our belongings... (homes within our very own home!)
Anyways I will be sure to post pictures, etc.. I know I know, I said that last time.. but I really will.. whenever we find our camera ;-)
Hope all is well!
Love,
A & C
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Happy Easter!
Well this has been an odd day.. it's sorta the first "holiday" that we haven't had family to spend it with... We normally would spend it with C's parents when they lived near us in California, but this year is just different.
We're going to head to Mass tonight and then go out to a nice steak dinner. I told C that I wanted to be sure to do *something* to celebrate between us, so that's what we decided to do.
We have an update on our house!!
It is going to officially be ours by the end of this month!! Tentative closing date is April 24th! We are absolutely thrilled!!!! We had all of the necessary and recommended inspections and then presented the sellers with a list of requested repairs. We are thrilled that they came back and said they would repair almost *everything* we requested! WooooooHoooooo!!!!
Love to everyone!
We're going to head to Mass tonight and then go out to a nice steak dinner. I told C that I wanted to be sure to do *something* to celebrate between us, so that's what we decided to do.
We have an update on our house!!
It is going to officially be ours by the end of this month!! Tentative closing date is April 24th! We are absolutely thrilled!!!! We had all of the necessary and recommended inspections and then presented the sellers with a list of requested repairs. We are thrilled that they came back and said they would repair almost *everything* we requested! WooooooHoooooo!!!!
Love to everyone!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
From renters to potential home buyers...
We have had quite a busy week...
We had to make a choice financially recently and decide between 2 options... we both wanted to choose option 1, but we also wanted to choose option 2, or atleast make a really informed decision about option 2 because we could not afford to choose both!
We were referred to a realtor, Sharon Borgne who happens to be my great-aunt Marg's (and late great-uncle Eddie's) dear friend(s) of over 50 years! I called her up and explained that we were clueless about this whole home buying process but that we wanted to look into it and see if now is a good time for us to buy (us personally, not us as in it's a good time in general for "people" to buy). We met last Sunday at her office and she had picked out 6-8 homes to go look at. She figured that we would be able to narrow down location, and be able to be more specific about what we are actually wanting in a home.
The first 2 places were "fine" but had a bunch of work and issues to deal with. They would be "fine" but they wouldn't be forever and they would take a lot of changes to make them what we want. The first one had bright purple kitchen counters, and this cold, hideous gray/black stone floors throughout the ENTIRE thing, even upstairs! It was bad. The other place was kind of a wreck on the outside but we really liked the openness of the kitchen/living area.. but that was about all we liked.
The third place was perfect. seriously. C even joked as we walked up to the front door (before we even got the door open!) saying, "hey, let's just buy this house and not even go inside, let's just assume it's as great on the inside as it is on the outside!" ... at that point our realtor opened the front door and C and I both gasped and LOVED it. It's a true dark red brick house with an open floor plan when you open the front door, with great lighting and just a nice warm feeling. It's 3 bedrooms and 2 baths; it has a small back yard with just enough space to have a place for kids or a dog to run around in, or to have a garden, or whatever.
Our realtor knew that we loved it and we left from there and went back to her office to make an offer! Our realtor actually called the other realtor from outside the house to let her know we would be sending an offer her way.
We offered full asking price (actually a little more than that) but asked for them to pay full closing costs. They accepted our offer the next morning! Woohoo! No counter offers or anything!
We had our inspection a few days ago and there are a few things that need to be repaired/replaced. We also have been strongly encouraged to have a foundation inspection so now that is what we are waiting on. We had to ask for an extension for our option period because we couldn't get an engineer for the foundation inspection in time. We are praying there are no issues with the foundation or atleast very easy and fixable issues!
We WANT this house!
It is kind of crazy how much money is involved in this whole house buying process... things that you just don't even think about until you're about to get into a house...
lawn mower?!
weed eater/whacker??
things like that!
Please say a prayer that we get the house that God has planned for us! (hopefully it's this one!)
Also please pray for the seller's of the home as they have some extenuating sad circumstances.
If you want to see pictures, just email me and I'll send you the pics!
We had to make a choice financially recently and decide between 2 options... we both wanted to choose option 1, but we also wanted to choose option 2, or atleast make a really informed decision about option 2 because we could not afford to choose both!
We were referred to a realtor, Sharon Borgne who happens to be my great-aunt Marg's (and late great-uncle Eddie's) dear friend(s) of over 50 years! I called her up and explained that we were clueless about this whole home buying process but that we wanted to look into it and see if now is a good time for us to buy (us personally, not us as in it's a good time in general for "people" to buy). We met last Sunday at her office and she had picked out 6-8 homes to go look at. She figured that we would be able to narrow down location, and be able to be more specific about what we are actually wanting in a home.
The first 2 places were "fine" but had a bunch of work and issues to deal with. They would be "fine" but they wouldn't be forever and they would take a lot of changes to make them what we want. The first one had bright purple kitchen counters, and this cold, hideous gray/black stone floors throughout the ENTIRE thing, even upstairs! It was bad. The other place was kind of a wreck on the outside but we really liked the openness of the kitchen/living area.. but that was about all we liked.
The third place was perfect. seriously. C even joked as we walked up to the front door (before we even got the door open!) saying, "hey, let's just buy this house and not even go inside, let's just assume it's as great on the inside as it is on the outside!" ... at that point our realtor opened the front door and C and I both gasped and LOVED it. It's a true dark red brick house with an open floor plan when you open the front door, with great lighting and just a nice warm feeling. It's 3 bedrooms and 2 baths; it has a small back yard with just enough space to have a place for kids or a dog to run around in, or to have a garden, or whatever.
Our realtor knew that we loved it and we left from there and went back to her office to make an offer! Our realtor actually called the other realtor from outside the house to let her know we would be sending an offer her way.
We offered full asking price (actually a little more than that) but asked for them to pay full closing costs. They accepted our offer the next morning! Woohoo! No counter offers or anything!
We had our inspection a few days ago and there are a few things that need to be repaired/replaced. We also have been strongly encouraged to have a foundation inspection so now that is what we are waiting on. We had to ask for an extension for our option period because we couldn't get an engineer for the foundation inspection in time. We are praying there are no issues with the foundation or atleast very easy and fixable issues!
We WANT this house!
It is kind of crazy how much money is involved in this whole house buying process... things that you just don't even think about until you're about to get into a house...
lawn mower?!
weed eater/whacker??
things like that!
Please say a prayer that we get the house that God has planned for us! (hopefully it's this one!)
Also please pray for the seller's of the home as they have some extenuating sad circumstances.
If you want to see pictures, just email me and I'll send you the pics!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Getting the hang of things..
Hello!
Well, C and I have had a very busy week. We are both officially working! Woohoo!
C is doing something similar to what he was doing before (but don't ya dare ask me to describe what that was or currently is!)... he is hoping to explore other options in the future and maybe get into something different, but for now he's hanging in there and bringing home part of the bacon!
I am working for hospice again. It is an interesting experience because the agency is very different from my previous hospice agency. I think it will be a good job, albeit a whole heck of a lot of work! I have to be in the office every day by 8am for a mandatory staff meeting! This is pretty laughable because those that knew me before know that I was barely waking up at 8am! It's been really difficult but I am just hoping that eventually I get used to this new schedule.
Speaking of a new schedule.. it's been pretty hard on me and C because our schedules are just slightly off from each other and we went from seeing each other every moment of every day to seeing each other barely for an hour or so each day! ugh!! I really was missing C this past week. So basically I wake up at 6-615am and leave by 715-730am at the very latest.. C is just getting up at that point or is still sleeping and he has to be at work by 930am... then I get off at around 5pm so I'm home shortly after, and then C doesn't get home until 7pm! Then there's enough time to have dinner together, maybe hang out for 30 minutes and then I am in bed by 930pm and C stays up a bit later. Ugh! Oh well, we'll get used to it I hope!!
The weather has been all crazy lately.. or as other people have pointed out to me.. "You're in Texas, ya know?" DUH!! Yes I know I am in Texas, but this weather is crazy!! It's been warm, and then really freezing cold, and then crazy thunderstorms that made me jump in my chair, and then pouring rain, and super windy and tornado warnings (not where we are but all around us)... so I never know what to wear each day because the weather literally changes like 5 times in the same day.
Today C found a delicious Chicago style pizza place that delivers! He was quite happy. He also had gyros last night from an ITALIAN restaurant? What the heck?!
There is so much good food here... we have so many restaurants to still check out..
I still have not gotten used to the early 7pm primetime tv time..... blah! I end up missing all the main tv shows. thankfully we have the internet!!
Thanks for the prayers! Keep 'em coming :-)
Love everyone!
A + C
Well, C and I have had a very busy week. We are both officially working! Woohoo!
C is doing something similar to what he was doing before (but don't ya dare ask me to describe what that was or currently is!)... he is hoping to explore other options in the future and maybe get into something different, but for now he's hanging in there and bringing home part of the bacon!
I am working for hospice again. It is an interesting experience because the agency is very different from my previous hospice agency. I think it will be a good job, albeit a whole heck of a lot of work! I have to be in the office every day by 8am for a mandatory staff meeting! This is pretty laughable because those that knew me before know that I was barely waking up at 8am! It's been really difficult but I am just hoping that eventually I get used to this new schedule.
Speaking of a new schedule.. it's been pretty hard on me and C because our schedules are just slightly off from each other and we went from seeing each other every moment of every day to seeing each other barely for an hour or so each day! ugh!! I really was missing C this past week. So basically I wake up at 6-615am and leave by 715-730am at the very latest.. C is just getting up at that point or is still sleeping and he has to be at work by 930am... then I get off at around 5pm so I'm home shortly after, and then C doesn't get home until 7pm! Then there's enough time to have dinner together, maybe hang out for 30 minutes and then I am in bed by 930pm and C stays up a bit later. Ugh! Oh well, we'll get used to it I hope!!
The weather has been all crazy lately.. or as other people have pointed out to me.. "You're in Texas, ya know?" DUH!! Yes I know I am in Texas, but this weather is crazy!! It's been warm, and then really freezing cold, and then crazy thunderstorms that made me jump in my chair, and then pouring rain, and super windy and tornado warnings (not where we are but all around us)... so I never know what to wear each day because the weather literally changes like 5 times in the same day.
Today C found a delicious Chicago style pizza place that delivers! He was quite happy. He also had gyros last night from an ITALIAN restaurant? What the heck?!
There is so much good food here... we have so many restaurants to still check out..
I still have not gotten used to the early 7pm primetime tv time..... blah! I end up missing all the main tv shows. thankfully we have the internet!!
Thanks for the prayers! Keep 'em coming :-)
Love everyone!
A + C
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Delicious...
We had these for dinner last night. Literally. Haha. We didn't have anything else with them.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/03/onion-strings-oh-yeah-baby/
I had extra buttermilk from the irish soda bread recipe this week and so I started looking around and asking around for some interesting things to use buttermilk in... well, i got all sorts of ideas from strawberry ice cream, to orange pound cake, to onion strings!
They were sooo easy to make and they were delicious.
I hate onions unless I cook 'em until they are dead... and these weren't quite dead but they were delicious. YUM
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/03/onion-strings-oh-yeah-baby/
I had extra buttermilk from the irish soda bread recipe this week and so I started looking around and asking around for some interesting things to use buttermilk in... well, i got all sorts of ideas from strawberry ice cream, to orange pound cake, to onion strings!
They were sooo easy to make and they were delicious.
I hate onions unless I cook 'em until they are dead... and these weren't quite dead but they were delicious. YUM
Been here a little over a month now...
and we've managed to avoid picking up a Texan accent! Woohoo! (Give it a few more months...)
I think I've been more homesick these last couple weeks. It's been difficult because I hate dealing with up and down emotions, or emotions in general for that matter. I contemplated flying to California for a short trip but then decided against it for now.. I need to stay here and just deal. Also I start work soon so I will give it some more time and figure out when I can come visit for a short weekend.
We're celebrating C's birthday today by having friends over for dinner and dessert. It should be fun.
Some good news is that C got a job! It's a little bit of a mixed reaction at this point so we just ask for continued prayers!
Well, I just wanted to be sure to update everyone...
I'll write more later.
I think I've been more homesick these last couple weeks. It's been difficult because I hate dealing with up and down emotions, or emotions in general for that matter. I contemplated flying to California for a short trip but then decided against it for now.. I need to stay here and just deal. Also I start work soon so I will give it some more time and figure out when I can come visit for a short weekend.
We're celebrating C's birthday today by having friends over for dinner and dessert. It should be fun.
Some good news is that C got a job! It's a little bit of a mixed reaction at this point so we just ask for continued prayers!
Well, I just wanted to be sure to update everyone...
I'll write more later.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Job news for me!
Well, last week I sent my resume to a local hospice agency. I had googled all the different hospice agencies in the area, but this specific one didn't come up. A friend from my NFP board told me to look into this specific hospice because she had seen it in the Texas Catholic magazine. I looked it up and unfortunately the website is rather plain and simple with very limited information. There was no job info but I took a chance and sent my resume to the email address listed on the website. I got a call back within 3 hours first wondering how I had heard of them and second wanting to schedule an interview.
I made sure to wear my lucky interview jacket (Thanks Janice!)... Janice went shopping for me over 3 years ago and brought home this great professional social worky suit and I have worn atleast the jacket part of it to every interview and I have always landed the job!
So I drove side streets to the office and it's approx. 9.3 miles from my house. It has a Dallas address but I definitely pass "Welcome to Farmers Branch" signs which I think is just a bordering town to Dallas? I don't know. I haven't quite figured it out yet. I filled out an application with as much info as I could recollect and just hoped that they would use my resume for info rather than the application. Oh, the other thing is there was a Noel St (or Dr.?) so that was pretty neat to see.
The interview process went well. There were 5 people interviewing me... I think if I had known that ahead of time I would have been *really* nervous but luckily I had no clue so I just rolled with it at the time and kept myself feeling at ease. So I was asked to provide information on my past hospice agency, on my responsibilities and caseload, and my experience and thoughts, etc. I thought maybe I overshared but candidly explaining challenges I experienced during my time there, but I figured that I was remaining true to myself and they would either like that or not. We also had to figure out terminology of Long term care facilities because they are all called different things in different places.. in California they are called Board and Care Homes, and here I think they are called Personal Care Homes. I wanted to make sure that we all had the same definition of what I was talking about. They had all sorts of questions for me, specifically they wanted to know more about my work with the Ombudsman which was so long ago!! It was during my time at UCSC.. it was essentially the start of my work. Then they gave me a scenario and wanted to know what I would do... I answered that to the best of my ability focusing on safety of the patient first, second on what my role is and then prioritized what, if anything needed to be addressed right then and there versus at my follow-up visit (all make-believe of course); they seemed very happy with my answer. I discussed conflict resolution, boundaries, teamwork, advocacy of patient and family, and the importance of self-care for myself and other team members.
They explained the responsibility of the job which in all honesty sounded pretty overwhelming. I thought I had shot myself in the foot when they told me how large the caseloads are because I had talked candidly about the challenges of carrying a highly acute caseload which was half of what they expect you to carry... plus the social worker helps with intake, they go to most, if not all deaths, there is an 8am daily staff meeting (8am!), they help with marketing by making contact within the medical community weekly, there is a rotating oncall, etc etc etc. I was a little bit scared but mainly only about the marketing contacts!! (well, okay and the 8am meetings.. yikes! maybe i'll become a coffee drinker?)
I left the interview feeling good about it but feeling conflicted too. How am I supposed to know if this is the right job for me? I essentially felt like I was challenging God because I wanted some very clear answers. I prayed and said, I think I am going to believe that if I am offered this job that I am supposed to be at this job, and if I don't get this job than it's just not where I am supposed to be right now. I felt like that maybe sounded convenient but you know what? Right now all I can do is just trust in God to lead me because I can't do it myself.
I do feel confident that hospice work is something I am called to do. I was just scared by the "other" responsibilities related to this job... what if I couldn't cut it? What if this job turned into a disaster and then what if I decided to leave it like my last job and then I would be a total and complete failure.. ugh.
The crazy thing is I have two voices.. one sane and one not so sane, one logical and one not so logical, one that can psychoanalyze me and one that is just plain psycho. So I know that I could do the job even with all the extra responsibilities and that I could very well be happy there since I would ultimately be working in hospice and that feels like my true calling (besides motherhood but well, that's just not happening yet). I know that my negative voices are just trying to distract me and make me question everything when I have to get my more positive, sane voices to exclaim the truth louder... okay now i am just sounding crazy.
At the interview they told me they were interviewing other people and would make a decision by Monday.
Anyways, so today I got a phone call. C and I had gone to the movies to spend some time together and when I got out of there I had a message from the hospice. The woman was calling to offer me the position and stated that they just loved me and really would love for me to join the team. I called her back and left a message.. she called me back shortly after. We discussed the details of the job, the benefits, etc.. I discussed some of my hesitations and she told me to please not worry about those things and not let those things determine whether I take the job or not..
I decided to accept the position!
I start next Monday-- C's birthday!
We are still waiting to hear about C's job leads... please continue to pray for us!
I made sure to wear my lucky interview jacket (Thanks Janice!)... Janice went shopping for me over 3 years ago and brought home this great professional social worky suit and I have worn atleast the jacket part of it to every interview and I have always landed the job!
So I drove side streets to the office and it's approx. 9.3 miles from my house. It has a Dallas address but I definitely pass "Welcome to Farmers Branch" signs which I think is just a bordering town to Dallas? I don't know. I haven't quite figured it out yet. I filled out an application with as much info as I could recollect and just hoped that they would use my resume for info rather than the application. Oh, the other thing is there was a Noel St (or Dr.?) so that was pretty neat to see.
The interview process went well. There were 5 people interviewing me... I think if I had known that ahead of time I would have been *really* nervous but luckily I had no clue so I just rolled with it at the time and kept myself feeling at ease. So I was asked to provide information on my past hospice agency, on my responsibilities and caseload, and my experience and thoughts, etc. I thought maybe I overshared but candidly explaining challenges I experienced during my time there, but I figured that I was remaining true to myself and they would either like that or not. We also had to figure out terminology of Long term care facilities because they are all called different things in different places.. in California they are called Board and Care Homes, and here I think they are called Personal Care Homes. I wanted to make sure that we all had the same definition of what I was talking about. They had all sorts of questions for me, specifically they wanted to know more about my work with the Ombudsman which was so long ago!! It was during my time at UCSC.. it was essentially the start of my work. Then they gave me a scenario and wanted to know what I would do... I answered that to the best of my ability focusing on safety of the patient first, second on what my role is and then prioritized what, if anything needed to be addressed right then and there versus at my follow-up visit (all make-believe of course); they seemed very happy with my answer. I discussed conflict resolution, boundaries, teamwork, advocacy of patient and family, and the importance of self-care for myself and other team members.
They explained the responsibility of the job which in all honesty sounded pretty overwhelming. I thought I had shot myself in the foot when they told me how large the caseloads are because I had talked candidly about the challenges of carrying a highly acute caseload which was half of what they expect you to carry... plus the social worker helps with intake, they go to most, if not all deaths, there is an 8am daily staff meeting (8am!), they help with marketing by making contact within the medical community weekly, there is a rotating oncall, etc etc etc. I was a little bit scared but mainly only about the marketing contacts!! (well, okay and the 8am meetings.. yikes! maybe i'll become a coffee drinker?)
I left the interview feeling good about it but feeling conflicted too. How am I supposed to know if this is the right job for me? I essentially felt like I was challenging God because I wanted some very clear answers. I prayed and said, I think I am going to believe that if I am offered this job that I am supposed to be at this job, and if I don't get this job than it's just not where I am supposed to be right now. I felt like that maybe sounded convenient but you know what? Right now all I can do is just trust in God to lead me because I can't do it myself.
I do feel confident that hospice work is something I am called to do. I was just scared by the "other" responsibilities related to this job... what if I couldn't cut it? What if this job turned into a disaster and then what if I decided to leave it like my last job and then I would be a total and complete failure.. ugh.
The crazy thing is I have two voices.. one sane and one not so sane, one logical and one not so logical, one that can psychoanalyze me and one that is just plain psycho. So I know that I could do the job even with all the extra responsibilities and that I could very well be happy there since I would ultimately be working in hospice and that feels like my true calling (besides motherhood but well, that's just not happening yet). I know that my negative voices are just trying to distract me and make me question everything when I have to get my more positive, sane voices to exclaim the truth louder... okay now i am just sounding crazy.
At the interview they told me they were interviewing other people and would make a decision by Monday.
Anyways, so today I got a phone call. C and I had gone to the movies to spend some time together and when I got out of there I had a message from the hospice. The woman was calling to offer me the position and stated that they just loved me and really would love for me to join the team. I called her back and left a message.. she called me back shortly after. We discussed the details of the job, the benefits, etc.. I discussed some of my hesitations and she told me to please not worry about those things and not let those things determine whether I take the job or not..
I decided to accept the position!
I start next Monday-- C's birthday!
We are still waiting to hear about C's job leads... please continue to pray for us!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
What have we been up to?
The weather in Texas is quite different and the funny thing is everyone who lives here keeps saying, "this is so unusual, this doesn't usually happen." Oh yeah? Why has it happened each time I've been here then? So basically it seems to get hot and humid for a few days (like 80-90's) and then all the sudden it's in the mid 30's the next day or two... there is no packing your winter clothes or your summer clothes because you need them ALL, all year long! And then these past few days it's been pouring rain in addition to being freaking freezing so our little grass area that we walk on to get to our cars has been flooded, plus the roads are just covered in water... I just keep praying that all our stuff that is UNINSURED still in storage isn't swimming in water. We really need to take care of that! Ugh! It's supposed to clear up over the weekend and go back to being hot and humid.
We've had some major vegging out time this week. I stayed in my robe all day long yesterday. We keep sleeping in until the early afternoon. Whoops! Oh well, we figure we will both be working soon and will get back to normal life soon enough.
We went out with friends on Wednesday night for Sushi. It was fun but pouring rain and we didn't realize it but we parked essentially 3 shopping centers over from the shopping center we needed to be in so by the time we reached the restaurant we were soaking wet! Like dripping. It was crazy.
But the sushi was great!
Then tonight we went to "bad movie night" with some friends and well, as the title of the evening said, we watched some really bad movies tonight! Haha they were AWFUL. I was a little prepared but I had no idea they were going to be *that* bad. Oh well. Regardless, it was fun!
Don't know what our plans are for this weekend besides some grocery shopping.. we're hosting St. Patty's day dinner next week. Should be fun.
I'm feeling a little homesick this week but I know it's just part of the process.. adjusting to a new place. I kinda keep forgetting that we just moved half way across the country.
Update Y'all later..
We've had some major vegging out time this week. I stayed in my robe all day long yesterday. We keep sleeping in until the early afternoon. Whoops! Oh well, we figure we will both be working soon and will get back to normal life soon enough.
We went out with friends on Wednesday night for Sushi. It was fun but pouring rain and we didn't realize it but we parked essentially 3 shopping centers over from the shopping center we needed to be in so by the time we reached the restaurant we were soaking wet! Like dripping. It was crazy.
But the sushi was great!
Then tonight we went to "bad movie night" with some friends and well, as the title of the evening said, we watched some really bad movies tonight! Haha they were AWFUL. I was a little prepared but I had no idea they were going to be *that* bad. Oh well. Regardless, it was fun!
Don't know what our plans are for this weekend besides some grocery shopping.. we're hosting St. Patty's day dinner next week. Should be fun.
I'm feeling a little homesick this week but I know it's just part of the process.. adjusting to a new place. I kinda keep forgetting that we just moved half way across the country.
Update Y'all later..
Monday, March 9, 2009
Well this is interesting...
So, guess what?
I quit my job today.
I decided that it was just not a good fit for me. It was a really difficult decision because I felt stupid and embarrassed to go in and quit my job after only 3 days but I knew it was the right thing to do. I also felt bad because C is unemployed and I didn't want to be putting us in a worse position by quitting and having us both not be working. I felt bad that I might be stressing C out more, but he fully supports my decision and knows that we will figure this all out and that God will continue to provide for us.
I think this has been a good learning experience for me. I purposely didn't apply for hospice when I first moved out here. I thought I needed/wanted to focus strictly on mental health issues but what I realized was that I already do that through hospice work! I also really like the broader scope of hospice social work. I have always felt that end of life work is sacred and I have really missed it during this last month. I knew I would eventually get back into hospice work in one way or another, and this experience has just made it that much clearer that that's where I am supposed to be. I really do love the work.
I have applied to various hospices and will keep you updated.
C and I both have a couple job leads.. we hope to update with good news later this week.
I quit my job today.
I decided that it was just not a good fit for me. It was a really difficult decision because I felt stupid and embarrassed to go in and quit my job after only 3 days but I knew it was the right thing to do. I also felt bad because C is unemployed and I didn't want to be putting us in a worse position by quitting and having us both not be working. I felt bad that I might be stressing C out more, but he fully supports my decision and knows that we will figure this all out and that God will continue to provide for us.
I think this has been a good learning experience for me. I purposely didn't apply for hospice when I first moved out here. I thought I needed/wanted to focus strictly on mental health issues but what I realized was that I already do that through hospice work! I also really like the broader scope of hospice social work. I have always felt that end of life work is sacred and I have really missed it during this last month. I knew I would eventually get back into hospice work in one way or another, and this experience has just made it that much clearer that that's where I am supposed to be. I really do love the work.
I have applied to various hospices and will keep you updated.
C and I both have a couple job leads.. we hope to update with good news later this week.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Back into the swing of things...
Well I had the opportunity to do some touristy things before my family went home.. We took the DART into Dallas and saw all the JFK stuff. First, the DART was really easy, affordable, overall clean, not very smelly, etc... pretty much the opposite of BART! We did have one interesting moment when a woman got on the train and my dad tried to make small conversation with her (commenting on the weather) and she didn't get what he was saying so it was awkward and weird and she sat down and threw a bag of McDonalds that someone had left on the seat and french fries went flying all over the place. So opposite of BART but similar in having weird things happen while on it.
The JFK museum, pictures, the story, the road, the grassy knoll, etc etc was all very interesting. I mean I obviously knew the story but I learned a few things that I never knew, plus some of the pictures were heartbreaking.
So, did I mention that on the day we went to Dallas it was in the low 30's? IT WAS FREEZING. The wind whipped you and made you want to die. Because atleast if you were dead you wouldn't be cold anymore. You know, that cold where all you can do is scream and yell to keep yourself going? Yeah. It was that cold.
In typical Autumn fashion I wasn't dressed appropriately for the weather. I had flip-flops on which presented quite a problem as the temperature continued to drop. I stopped at a CVS drug store and bought knock-off crocs that have this super warm fuzzy sock sewn into them... They saved the day!
And of course to continue typical Autumn fashion these very ugly, very cheap shoes have been on my feet ever since... I've even worn them to work! Haha. I laugh each morning I put them on because I can think of several people who would be horrified knowing I am wearing those shoes to work. Oh well. They are warm and they are comfortable (comfort being the key).
C was still sick over the weekend unfortunately so he wasn't able to join us.
I took my family to St. Jude's 5pm Youth Mass. It was overall a nice Mass. The priest seemed friendly and open. The music wasn't bad but the parts of Mass that are sung were surprisingly done in the very traditional way. I would have wished it to be a little bit different but I am willing to go back and check it out again. We might also try the 12noon Mass and see if we like that one. There are also a ton of other Catholic churches around here so we might check those out too.
On Monday we drove to Denton and went on a college campus tour of UNT... Micah is interested in their Music program so it was cool to go check it out with him. The school is pretty darn impressive with all the services and amenities that they offer for the price of tuition.
On Tuesday we drove my family to the airport and they flew back to California. It was a bittersweet moment. I think bittersweet is the word I'm looking for... Luckily I have been so darn busy since they left that it hasn't really hit me that I'm in Texas and they are all the way in California. I did look at plane tickets to get a sense of how much it would cost me to go home for a weekend... So back to bittersweet, we were talking with my parents and we figured out that essentially we had had visitors starting way back in November and pretty much nonstop through this past Tuesday! Haha. We had really been constantly with someone for the past 2 or 3 weeks though. Surprisingly I think we handled it beautifully. It didn't feel overwhelming or like it was too much. I think in fact that it really helped with us feeling more settled in and normal here. Thank you Micah and Ian (and mom and dad!)! So the bittersweet part comes in because now it's just me and C here at home... and it IS nice to have some time alone together but on the other hand... it's pretty quiet now. So back to adjusting, settling in, and adapting to all these changes........
Wednesday was my first day at work. Today was my second day and oh my goodness, tomorrow is my third day at work! I think I will like the direct interactions with clients but the paperwork makes me nervous. I am hoping with more time and experience I won't be so nervous, stressed, or intimidated by all of it. It's just something different than I did before and I want to make sure I do it right and that I uphold my ethics in the process. This whole idea of billable hours makes me nervous. I asked for a challenge and I certainly got one!! I've also been asked to work on a project already plus I have a busy schedule seeing clients so I am feeling a bit overwhelmed but I am assuming, hoping, praying that I will feel better about everything once I get the hang of things. Right? ..........sigh!
We already have quite the social life around here. I even put a calendar up on the refrigerator because we have so many things going on!
We are asking for prayers for Chris' job. We know there is the perfect job already waiting for him; we are just hoping and praying and asking that this job finds him (or he finds it) already! We're doing okay still but we will feel better once we're both employed and we finally get health insurance again.
Updates from last post:
Alright, that's all for now... email me if you have questions that I didn't answer.
Love you!!
A & C
The JFK museum, pictures, the story, the road, the grassy knoll, etc etc was all very interesting. I mean I obviously knew the story but I learned a few things that I never knew, plus some of the pictures were heartbreaking.
So, did I mention that on the day we went to Dallas it was in the low 30's? IT WAS FREEZING. The wind whipped you and made you want to die. Because atleast if you were dead you wouldn't be cold anymore. You know, that cold where all you can do is scream and yell to keep yourself going? Yeah. It was that cold.
In typical Autumn fashion I wasn't dressed appropriately for the weather. I had flip-flops on which presented quite a problem as the temperature continued to drop. I stopped at a CVS drug store and bought knock-off crocs that have this super warm fuzzy sock sewn into them... They saved the day!
And of course to continue typical Autumn fashion these very ugly, very cheap shoes have been on my feet ever since... I've even worn them to work! Haha. I laugh each morning I put them on because I can think of several people who would be horrified knowing I am wearing those shoes to work. Oh well. They are warm and they are comfortable (comfort being the key).
C was still sick over the weekend unfortunately so he wasn't able to join us.
I took my family to St. Jude's 5pm Youth Mass. It was overall a nice Mass. The priest seemed friendly and open. The music wasn't bad but the parts of Mass that are sung were surprisingly done in the very traditional way. I would have wished it to be a little bit different but I am willing to go back and check it out again. We might also try the 12noon Mass and see if we like that one. There are also a ton of other Catholic churches around here so we might check those out too.
On Monday we drove to Denton and went on a college campus tour of UNT... Micah is interested in their Music program so it was cool to go check it out with him. The school is pretty darn impressive with all the services and amenities that they offer for the price of tuition.
On Tuesday we drove my family to the airport and they flew back to California. It was a bittersweet moment. I think bittersweet is the word I'm looking for... Luckily I have been so darn busy since they left that it hasn't really hit me that I'm in Texas and they are all the way in California. I did look at plane tickets to get a sense of how much it would cost me to go home for a weekend... So back to bittersweet, we were talking with my parents and we figured out that essentially we had had visitors starting way back in November and pretty much nonstop through this past Tuesday! Haha. We had really been constantly with someone for the past 2 or 3 weeks though. Surprisingly I think we handled it beautifully. It didn't feel overwhelming or like it was too much. I think in fact that it really helped with us feeling more settled in and normal here. Thank you Micah and Ian (and mom and dad!)! So the bittersweet part comes in because now it's just me and C here at home... and it IS nice to have some time alone together but on the other hand... it's pretty quiet now. So back to adjusting, settling in, and adapting to all these changes........
Wednesday was my first day at work. Today was my second day and oh my goodness, tomorrow is my third day at work! I think I will like the direct interactions with clients but the paperwork makes me nervous. I am hoping with more time and experience I won't be so nervous, stressed, or intimidated by all of it. It's just something different than I did before and I want to make sure I do it right and that I uphold my ethics in the process. This whole idea of billable hours makes me nervous. I asked for a challenge and I certainly got one!! I've also been asked to work on a project already plus I have a busy schedule seeing clients so I am feeling a bit overwhelmed but I am assuming, hoping, praying that I will feel better about everything once I get the hang of things. Right? ..........sigh!
We already have quite the social life around here. I even put a calendar up on the refrigerator because we have so many things going on!
We are asking for prayers for Chris' job. We know there is the perfect job already waiting for him; we are just hoping and praying and asking that this job finds him (or he finds it) already! We're doing okay still but we will feel better once we're both employed and we finally get health insurance again.
Updates from last post:
- Time Warner cable finally sent out a tech that knew what he was doing-- he resolved all of our issues and we now have cable in both rooms. Woohoo!
- Remember my computer wasn't working? Well the hard drive crashed and I lost everything. yes we have an external hard drive; No I did not back up my computer because that would have made too much sense. UGH!
- My mom and I went shopping and I found some really great work clothes. Some nice classic pieces to work with. Yay!
Alright, that's all for now... email me if you have questions that I didn't answer.
Love you!!
A & C
Friday, February 27, 2009
Uh Oh, We're officially Texans!
There's no turning back now!
We officially handed in our California Driver Licenses for Texas ones! (which also means that for the next 30 days we have NO PHOTO ID'S!!!) What if something happened? What about cashing checks? What about flying on an airplane? What about simply having identification available? What about buying a drink? What about....
So the legal process of registering our cars and getting our licenses was semi-complicated... We started the process a few days ago. We went to the "DMV" Driver's License office (it's an office that deals with DL's only), we waited in line just to be told that we had to go and register our cars first. So we drove across town to that office only to be told that we had to have our cars inspected which was located back near where we had just come from... along the way we also realized we needed C's birth certificate for his driver license...
We got our cars inspected-- they both passed. $$$
Then today we went and registered our cars. We paid a "Welcome to Texas Tax" which was 4x the normal amount they charge to register a car. Thanks. Welcome to Texas. $$$$$ We got our license plates and now our cars are one digit from each other! kind of silly.
Then we went and got our drivers licenses. We ordered C's birth certificate and that arrived yesterday! yay! (This also means we are going to be applying for passports soon too!) We had to wait a long time in a room full of people. It was not fun.
The worst part of this is that Texas changed my name. I am upset that they would do this and it still makes utterly no sense to me. What?! How you might ask? Well, they said that they only have room for 3 names, and since I have 4 names (2 first names, 1 middle, 1 last) they would have to leave one of the names off of my license. I stared at them and said, well what do you want me to do? This is my legal name. That's my legal first name(s), my middle name and my last name. So the lady went and talked to the deputy in the office and he said I could use my first name (2 names) and last name, or I could use my first, first name, my middle name, and my last name. I'm irritated by it because it's not correct however they do it! I would think they would want the person's real, legal name, right? I mean, that's the point isn't it? So I ended up with my 2 first names and my last name.. although they put my 2nd first name in the middle name section which is totally incorrect! Ugh. I hate stupid things like that. They drive me *crazy*-- especially because it makes no sense whatsoever.
C got sick 2 days ago and he's been as sick as I was last week. Boooo! My folks and 2 bros are still here so unfortunately C has been in bed and hasn't been able to hang out with us. He's feeling a teeny tiny bit better, but since I just got over this same stupid sickness, I know he'll be down and out for a few more days. :-( Hopefully he'll recover quicker than I did!
We're still battling with Time Warner (which is essentially Comcast) and they are just awful. Terrible customer service, terrible service in general, blah blah blah. We've been having issues all week and everytime C calls, he's told one thing and then I call to follow-up and I am told the opposite of what C was told, and vice versa, blah blah... I don't even understand how it keeps happening except someone is just flat out lying to one of us. It is so weird.
My computer isn't working right now. Ugh. I have to take it in on Sunday. It just stopped working yesterday. So that is really difficult for me!! I want my computer!!
I need to go to the Mall. I am still looking for some work clothes and some shoes. I desperately need a few things!!
I continued to find my way around my new area. It's pretty cool.. things are coming together so well and I am getting my bearings pretty quickly.
We have some awesome food around here. C always told me about these places he used to go to while growing up (when he used to live here) and wow! they are so good! Taco Bueno is like way superior to Taco Bell, and WhataBurger is also pretty awesome. Rudy's BBQ is delicious-- especially their creamed corn. Kroger's cherry amaretto ice cream thing is delicious-- (THANKS MOM!!)
What else to say?
It doesn't seem quite real yet.. I mean, I know we're in Texas but the reality of how far away family and friends are.. well that part hasn't set in yet. I haven't figured out when we're going to be back in California,.. how often we can visit, and all that stuff.. so I am trying not to think about that just yet because it will freak me out!
Okay, have a good day y'all!
We officially handed in our California Driver Licenses for Texas ones! (which also means that for the next 30 days we have NO PHOTO ID'S!!!) What if something happened? What about cashing checks? What about flying on an airplane? What about simply having identification available? What about buying a drink? What about....
So the legal process of registering our cars and getting our licenses was semi-complicated... We started the process a few days ago. We went to the "DMV" Driver's License office (it's an office that deals with DL's only), we waited in line just to be told that we had to go and register our cars first. So we drove across town to that office only to be told that we had to have our cars inspected which was located back near where we had just come from... along the way we also realized we needed C's birth certificate for his driver license...
We got our cars inspected-- they both passed. $$$
Then today we went and registered our cars. We paid a "Welcome to Texas Tax" which was 4x the normal amount they charge to register a car. Thanks. Welcome to Texas. $$$$$ We got our license plates and now our cars are one digit from each other! kind of silly.
Then we went and got our drivers licenses. We ordered C's birth certificate and that arrived yesterday! yay! (This also means we are going to be applying for passports soon too!) We had to wait a long time in a room full of people. It was not fun.
The worst part of this is that Texas changed my name. I am upset that they would do this and it still makes utterly no sense to me. What?! How you might ask? Well, they said that they only have room for 3 names, and since I have 4 names (2 first names, 1 middle, 1 last) they would have to leave one of the names off of my license. I stared at them and said, well what do you want me to do? This is my legal name. That's my legal first name(s), my middle name and my last name. So the lady went and talked to the deputy in the office and he said I could use my first name (2 names) and last name, or I could use my first, first name, my middle name, and my last name. I'm irritated by it because it's not correct however they do it! I would think they would want the person's real, legal name, right? I mean, that's the point isn't it? So I ended up with my 2 first names and my last name.. although they put my 2nd first name in the middle name section which is totally incorrect! Ugh. I hate stupid things like that. They drive me *crazy*-- especially because it makes no sense whatsoever.
C got sick 2 days ago and he's been as sick as I was last week. Boooo! My folks and 2 bros are still here so unfortunately C has been in bed and hasn't been able to hang out with us. He's feeling a teeny tiny bit better, but since I just got over this same stupid sickness, I know he'll be down and out for a few more days. :-( Hopefully he'll recover quicker than I did!
We're still battling with Time Warner (which is essentially Comcast) and they are just awful. Terrible customer service, terrible service in general, blah blah blah. We've been having issues all week and everytime C calls, he's told one thing and then I call to follow-up and I am told the opposite of what C was told, and vice versa, blah blah... I don't even understand how it keeps happening except someone is just flat out lying to one of us. It is so weird.
My computer isn't working right now. Ugh. I have to take it in on Sunday. It just stopped working yesterday. So that is really difficult for me!! I want my computer!!
I need to go to the Mall. I am still looking for some work clothes and some shoes. I desperately need a few things!!
I continued to find my way around my new area. It's pretty cool.. things are coming together so well and I am getting my bearings pretty quickly.
We have some awesome food around here. C always told me about these places he used to go to while growing up (when he used to live here) and wow! they are so good! Taco Bueno is like way superior to Taco Bell, and WhataBurger is also pretty awesome. Rudy's BBQ is delicious-- especially their creamed corn. Kroger's cherry amaretto ice cream thing is delicious-- (THANKS MOM!!)
What else to say?
It doesn't seem quite real yet.. I mean, I know we're in Texas but the reality of how far away family and friends are.. well that part hasn't set in yet. I haven't figured out when we're going to be back in California,.. how often we can visit, and all that stuff.. so I am trying not to think about that just yet because it will freak me out!
Okay, have a good day y'all!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Settling in...
It's been less than a week and we're almost all unpacked, organized and moved in! We have 5-10% left to do. Woohoo!! I'm so proud of us. :-)
We have mainly stayed in our apartment this whole time minus a quick run to the store or cable company. We all got sick right when we arrived.. I am still recovering. It sucks. I lost my voice, have felt like crap, I'm coughing and coughing...
We found a grocery store that we like. It's Tom Thumb which is essentially the same exact store as Safeway. It's the same company, the same set-up, the same store!! It's definitely a comfort being able to walk into a grocery store and see familiar things. I am still missing Trader Joe's and haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do without it.. but I am sure we'll figure something out.
Our apartment is very cute. We are really happy with how things are coming together. It feels nice and familiar and "normal." The only thing I wish we had was maybe a second bedroom and a pantry in the kitchen. We were spoiled at our other apartment by having a second bedroom. I like it because guests have their own space, we have our own space, and we have a living area to share.. it's just more difficult to have the living area also be the area for guests to stay. It's not too bad, just one of those things that I miss. The kitchen pantry.. we didn't have one before, but some of the other apartments in this complex have kitchen pantries and I wanted one! We definitely could use the space... oh well.
There are so many good restaurants here! We are going to have to budget an "eating out" category just so we can explore the town! Yum!!
We have mainly stayed in our apartment this whole time minus a quick run to the store or cable company. We all got sick right when we arrived.. I am still recovering. It sucks. I lost my voice, have felt like crap, I'm coughing and coughing...
We found a grocery store that we like. It's Tom Thumb which is essentially the same exact store as Safeway. It's the same company, the same set-up, the same store!! It's definitely a comfort being able to walk into a grocery store and see familiar things. I am still missing Trader Joe's and haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do without it.. but I am sure we'll figure something out.
Our apartment is very cute. We are really happy with how things are coming together. It feels nice and familiar and "normal." The only thing I wish we had was maybe a second bedroom and a pantry in the kitchen. We were spoiled at our other apartment by having a second bedroom. I like it because guests have their own space, we have our own space, and we have a living area to share.. it's just more difficult to have the living area also be the area for guests to stay. It's not too bad, just one of those things that I miss. The kitchen pantry.. we didn't have one before, but some of the other apartments in this complex have kitchen pantries and I wanted one! We definitely could use the space... oh well.
There are so many good restaurants here! We are going to have to budget an "eating out" category just so we can explore the town! Yum!!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
We're home!!
We did it!! We arrived safe and sound late last night.
Our apartment is great! We are surrounded by boxes and boxes of stuff. We hope to be all unpacked and moved in by this weekend. Wish us luck!!!!!
The drive was pretty uneventful... there was a whole bunch of nothing between here and there. We drove 12-13 hours each day. That first day was really tough-- it was raining like crazy. We made it to the Arizona border and then crashed at a super 8 motel. The second day we made it to El Paso, TX! We stayed at La Quinta for the night in a smelly smoking room! Thank God for our air purifier that night. The third day we drove all the way to Plano, TX. It was an interesting day... we were both pretty spent by that time and I desperately just wanted to be out of the car even if that meant I had to jump from it while driving it! I had to pace myself.. I would look at the clock and say, "Okay, in 30 minutes it will be X time... then I will re-evaluate and give myself another time to look for..." it sounds lame, but I was desperate. The other lame thing was that all the different talk radio shows were repeats and after 3 days I had heard them all atleast twice!
We are happy to be here... C and I feel really good about this move and I have to say it really does feel like home. It feels really normal and familiar (even though I still get lost pretty easily).
Anyways, email me if you want our address and stuff. I still have my usual cell number from California. I won't be changing it.
Love everyone!
Our apartment is great! We are surrounded by boxes and boxes of stuff. We hope to be all unpacked and moved in by this weekend. Wish us luck!!!!!
The drive was pretty uneventful... there was a whole bunch of nothing between here and there. We drove 12-13 hours each day. That first day was really tough-- it was raining like crazy. We made it to the Arizona border and then crashed at a super 8 motel. The second day we made it to El Paso, TX! We stayed at La Quinta for the night in a smelly smoking room! Thank God for our air purifier that night. The third day we drove all the way to Plano, TX. It was an interesting day... we were both pretty spent by that time and I desperately just wanted to be out of the car even if that meant I had to jump from it while driving it! I had to pace myself.. I would look at the clock and say, "Okay, in 30 minutes it will be X time... then I will re-evaluate and give myself another time to look for..." it sounds lame, but I was desperate. The other lame thing was that all the different talk radio shows were repeats and after 3 days I had heard them all atleast twice!
We are happy to be here... C and I feel really good about this move and I have to say it really does feel like home. It feels really normal and familiar (even though I still get lost pretty easily).
Anyways, email me if you want our address and stuff. I still have my usual cell number from California. I won't be changing it.
Love everyone!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Second day of travel...
We left yesterday.
We had quite a journey. The grapevine and route 58 (the alternate route for the grapevine) were both closed due to snow! So we ended up driving 101 all the way around (our last goodbye to the ocean!) got the 134, 210, and now we're on the 10. We drove for approx. 13 hours. We stopped right over the border of Arizona.. I desperately needed to get the heck out of the car.
We only got stuck in one gas station which was a bit frustrating but we got out of it!
We are staying in a super 8 motel and let's just say it's not terrible but it's definitely not super.
Anyways, we're going to pack back up and see how far we make it today!
We're hoping to make it to El Paso, but we'll see.
We had quite a journey. The grapevine and route 58 (the alternate route for the grapevine) were both closed due to snow! So we ended up driving 101 all the way around (our last goodbye to the ocean!) got the 134, 210, and now we're on the 10. We drove for approx. 13 hours. We stopped right over the border of Arizona.. I desperately needed to get the heck out of the car.
We only got stuck in one gas station which was a bit frustrating but we got out of it!
We are staying in a super 8 motel and let's just say it's not terrible but it's definitely not super.
Anyways, we're going to pack back up and see how far we make it today!
We're hoping to make it to El Paso, but we'll see.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
We're Leaving!!
We're leaving at 4:30am tomorrow morning. Yikes. It's late, we're tired and we have just begun!
We'll update as we can.
We have Uhaul towing C's car, and I will be following behind in my car. My two youngest brothers are going with us...
please pray for safe travels and a peaceful and joyful trip.
And of course prayers for us as we start our life in Texas...
We'll update as we can.
We have Uhaul towing C's car, and I will be following behind in my car. My two youngest brothers are going with us...
please pray for safe travels and a peaceful and joyful trip.
And of course prayers for us as we start our life in Texas...
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like and then just stay together? I guess that wouldn't work. Someone would leave. Someone always leaves. Then we would have to say good-bye. I hate good-byes. I know what I need. I need more hellos. ~Charles M. Schulz
How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.
~Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan, Annie
Saying goodbye is one of my most unfavorite things to do. It's a strange place for me to be. I've had to say goodbye many times before but this time is different. This time I am sad to be leaving the people that I am saying goobye to, this time I am sad to be leaving my tasks, this time is different because I'm happy where I am and I am not leaving to change an unsatisfactory situation.
I am saying goodbye to a pleasant, successful part of my life and saying hello to an exciting start to the next phase of my life. I think I am able to leave with the peace and knowledge that I am leaving this place to go to a place that is going to be my home.
See, I've been homeless for many years. When I moved away from my parents' home at age 18, I was without a home. At that time I didn't feel that even their home was my home any longer. I have always been sure to find dwellings that resembled a close-to-home feeling, but nothing ever was truly my home. It wasn't until I met Chris that almost instantly I was able to refer to my parents' home as my home again. I haven't looked into the psychobabble explanation of my reasonings but I can't deny the correlation of re-defining home with meeting Chris.
Chris and I have created our little family, and even created a mini-home in our Lafayette apartment but it hasn't felt complete. We have used this time to grow, learn, and strengthen us, our marriage, our individual selves, and I have to admit that I am pretty darn proud of us. We have weathered several storms but we are stronger and more in love because of it. We are where we both want to be and not simply because it turned out that way, but because we committed and worked through some of the most difficult times of our lives to be where we are today.
We are only able to make this big change because of where we are today.
We are ready to be home.
How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.
~Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan, Annie
Saying goodbye is one of my most unfavorite things to do. It's a strange place for me to be. I've had to say goodbye many times before but this time is different. This time I am sad to be leaving the people that I am saying goobye to, this time I am sad to be leaving my tasks, this time is different because I'm happy where I am and I am not leaving to change an unsatisfactory situation.
I am saying goodbye to a pleasant, successful part of my life and saying hello to an exciting start to the next phase of my life. I think I am able to leave with the peace and knowledge that I am leaving this place to go to a place that is going to be my home.
See, I've been homeless for many years. When I moved away from my parents' home at age 18, I was without a home. At that time I didn't feel that even their home was my home any longer. I have always been sure to find dwellings that resembled a close-to-home feeling, but nothing ever was truly my home. It wasn't until I met Chris that almost instantly I was able to refer to my parents' home as my home again. I haven't looked into the psychobabble explanation of my reasonings but I can't deny the correlation of re-defining home with meeting Chris.
Chris and I have created our little family, and even created a mini-home in our Lafayette apartment but it hasn't felt complete. We have used this time to grow, learn, and strengthen us, our marriage, our individual selves, and I have to admit that I am pretty darn proud of us. We have weathered several storms but we are stronger and more in love because of it. We are where we both want to be and not simply because it turned out that way, but because we committed and worked through some of the most difficult times of our lives to be where we are today.
We are only able to make this big change because of where we are today.
We are ready to be home.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Moving is hard work...
Well, my mom and I had a fantastic week in Texas.
First, we survived the flight-- the plane didn't crash (thanks to my mom because right at take off, she grasped my hand and prayed desperately for us to be spared), we enjoyed our ginger ale in-flight, and landed in one piece.
Bob and Donna picked us up and we stayed with them for the night. Donna had a birthday party for my mom, plus we went to some delicious restaurants (creamed corn! yum!), and spent 4 hours in the best grocery store ever (HEB).
We borrowed Donna's car for the week and drove to Plano the next day. We also stopped in Italy, Texas along the way and had a great experience (email my mom for details)!
We got a bunch accomplished in Plano. I really wanted my mom to like it and she loved the area! We had such a great time together. We stayed with my mom's dear friend Peta who lives 13 minutes away from us! It was great to see her and her family.
Things we did:
saw our new apartment, signed our lease, paid rent
got a P.O. Box
looked at storage units, and will finalize that when we officially arrive
had an interview which turned into a 2 1/2 hr orientation which turned into me accepting the job!
Yes, that's right. I have a job in Texas! Crazy! I had a few concerns at first but those have been resolved and I will be moving forward with accepting the position. I will be a traveling therapist for aging and disabled adults.
Chris was home sick with allergies all week and was feeling left out from our Texas adventure.. he's anxious to get out there, as am I!
My aunt Candy came up this week and helped us pack! My friend Tammy came over and helped one night as well... things are coming together, but man.. it is hard work!
We are having a yard sale tomorrow morning at my aunt and uncle's house... plus just continuing to pack and organize everything else.
I wish we had the uhaul already.. I'd love to start packing it now!!!
:-) that's all ...
have a good day now, ya hear?
First, we survived the flight-- the plane didn't crash (thanks to my mom because right at take off, she grasped my hand and prayed desperately for us to be spared), we enjoyed our ginger ale in-flight, and landed in one piece.
Bob and Donna picked us up and we stayed with them for the night. Donna had a birthday party for my mom, plus we went to some delicious restaurants (creamed corn! yum!), and spent 4 hours in the best grocery store ever (HEB).
We borrowed Donna's car for the week and drove to Plano the next day. We also stopped in Italy, Texas along the way and had a great experience (email my mom for details)!
We got a bunch accomplished in Plano. I really wanted my mom to like it and she loved the area! We had such a great time together. We stayed with my mom's dear friend Peta who lives 13 minutes away from us! It was great to see her and her family.
Things we did:
saw our new apartment, signed our lease, paid rent
got a P.O. Box
looked at storage units, and will finalize that when we officially arrive
had an interview which turned into a 2 1/2 hr orientation which turned into me accepting the job!
Yes, that's right. I have a job in Texas! Crazy! I had a few concerns at first but those have been resolved and I will be moving forward with accepting the position. I will be a traveling therapist for aging and disabled adults.
Chris was home sick with allergies all week and was feeling left out from our Texas adventure.. he's anxious to get out there, as am I!
My aunt Candy came up this week and helped us pack! My friend Tammy came over and helped one night as well... things are coming together, but man.. it is hard work!
We are having a yard sale tomorrow morning at my aunt and uncle's house... plus just continuing to pack and organize everything else.
I wish we had the uhaul already.. I'd love to start packing it now!!!
:-) that's all ...
have a good day now, ya hear?
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Sitting on the couch in California...
It's January 13th.
One month from today we will have picked up our Uhaul and car trailer and be 2 days away from driving to our new state. Professional movers will have come and gone, loading the awkward and heavy furniture and as many boxes labeled "STORAGE" as possible in the minimum 3 hr time (which was later explained to be 2 1/2 hrs because 1/2 hr is for driving time... niiiice, thanks for ripping us off).
We thought it would be good to have a place to keep our family and friends updated with all the happenings in our life.
So here it is.
Here's what's happening:
One month from today we will have picked up our Uhaul and car trailer and be 2 days away from driving to our new state. Professional movers will have come and gone, loading the awkward and heavy furniture and as many boxes labeled "STORAGE" as possible in the minimum 3 hr time (which was later explained to be 2 1/2 hrs because 1/2 hr is for driving time... niiiice, thanks for ripping us off).
We thought it would be good to have a place to keep our family and friends updated with all the happenings in our life.
So here it is.
Here's what's happening:
- Chris is currently unemployed but looking daily for job leads in and around Plano, TX.
- I am finishing up work at Hospice. My last day at work is February 6th. I've applied to a few places in TX and have an interview scheduled for next week. It's for a for-profit mental health counseling agency for aging and disabled adults. I would basically be a traveling therapist. It sounds interesting and promising. We'll see.
- My mom and I are going to TX next week. We're going to explore the area, set a few things up, and maybe even find a bar with a bull to ride.....
- Various people have come up and helped us pack, organize, etc etc. (THANK YOU!) Still lots of work to do, but it's all coming together. Slowly but Surely.
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