Settling

I know you all are just dying to know how our move went. ;)

If you've ever moved before, you know that just the process in general is a bit stressful.  Ours seemed to be off to a rocky start, and I was beginning to get down about it.  As you know, the actual move had a bump in the road with the flat tire, which set us a little behind schedule.  We had to rush to make it to the apartment's office before closing to get the key to be able to unload our stuff and move in, then Wes and I were racing the clock to make it to the warehouse on time to pick up our mattress so we would have a place to sleep!  Thankfully we made both deadlines, but since we had had to rush my whole scheme of labeling and organizing our boxes was out the window, so everything was everywhere, and it took a little while to get our belongings in the right places. The morning after moving in, we woke up to a very sick Maggie (our Jack Russell terrier).  I won't go into the gruesome details here, but it was serious enough for us to rush to the nearest vet for treatment where it was determined that she had pancreatitis.  She spent a couple of days at the vet until she was re-hydrated and could keep down food.  When we came back to the apartment after the first vet visit, Gene had determined that our "new-to-us" washing machine was missing parts, so no laundry for several days.  Then, to top things off, I picked up a screw in one of my tires on my car, which couldn't be patched.  Since replacements for all my tires were in my near future anyway, we decided to go ahead and replace them all since we found out Toyota was offering a buy 3 get the 4th free deal.  Then at the end of the day, the service man called us back to inform me that the deal was only for Toyota vehicles, so we would have to purchase all 4 tires.  Also, neither of our phones can pick up cell phone service at our apartment for some reason.  We figured in Birmingham of all places, service would be prevalent, but apparently we live in the one spot where it's not.  We were missing phone calls from our parents, the vet, various delivery people,.... not good.

Boo, hoo, hoo, right?  In hindsight, these things are not such a big deal, but when they were piled on top of current stress, it seemed like nothing was working out for us.  BUT, things turned around and started looking up!  Maggie got to come home and her symptoms ceased; she started acting more like herself, so we knew she was feeling better.

We had parts ordered for our washing machine, and they arrived quickly.  I've never been so happy for my day to look like this:

(after already washing two loads)

And Saturday morning I woke up to two messages on my phone:  1) Toyota service man telling me that he was misinformed and that he could honor the tire deal on my Hyundai. 2) My car was ready for pickup with 4 new tires!

And, thanks to Jesse's extremely tech-savvy brother, Matt, we can now connect our phones to our WiFi while at our apartment and talk all day long if we choose! 

I think God just wanted to remind me that I am not the one in control, but He is.  And I'm so glad, because obviously I can't keep it all together by myself! :)

And while all of this was wrapping up, we had our first visitors!

Matt, Heidi, and her sister Kayla

Kayla also lives in Birmingham, so they have two good reasons to visit!  We had a great time with them!  I got away from the moving madness and had some good girl time shopping, while Matt helped Jesse pick up and move in our new living room furniture! (More photos of our place are coming soon!)

All visitors are welcome, especially through the summer.  (I won't make any promises of being a good hostess once school starts!)  So, come and see us; we would love to have you!

Moving Day

It's here! The day has arrived for us to pack up and move to Birmingham! We spent most of the weekend boxing things up then loading them this morning. Thankfully we have wonderful parents who are willing to help! We've loaded all of our vehicles to their gills and started our journey. Unfortunately I'm posting this from the side of I-65. I'm the leader car and one of the trucks in our entourage had a blow out, and I left them a bit behind. Thankfully all are unharmed but now I'm waiting for a call to head onward. Hopefully all goes smoothly from here! We'll keep you all posted!

My Last Day

This morning I did not get up to go to work, which feels a little odd.  This past Friday was my last day of work at Whatley Eye Care!  It was bittersweet leaving, even though we've known it was coming since the beginning. We had some great times together, most of which probably can't be repeated due to patient confidentiality.  Thankfully it was filled with lots of laughter, because if you don't laugh at the public (and yourself sometimes), insanity could set in.

Through the few years that I worked there, many changes took place.  The office grew- literally expanding to twice it's size with the addition of a new doctor.  New equipment was added (hallelujah!). Families grew as new babies were born.  (I think one of the things I'll miss the most is hearing about the kids' accomplishments... from potty training to graduating pre-school to highschool girlfriend drama! Even though I'm not yet a mother, it's fun to hear of them learning and watching them grow up!)  

I learned so much along the way while working there.  I started in the frame room helping patients select a pair of glasses and wound up learning a little of everything.  And getting to know the workings of an office and what great people you need to have on staff to keep things running smoothly is priceless knowledge for my future!

I will miss my little work family so much!  Our goodbye on Friday didn't feel very final,.. more so like a 'see ya later'.  And since I plan to keep in touch, it really is like a 'see ya later', just later than a usual 'see ya later' later. :)

Thanks to Dr. Whatley, Dr. Rhyne, Heather, Dana, Joy, and Lance for giving me such a great work experience (and some life lessons along the way)!

Weekend Round Up - Drugs, Furniture, and a Home

This weekend we headed back to Birmingham for Jesse to do his "in-processing" before he starts his job - aka a drug test and a crazy test.  

I window-shopped while he took care of business. Then we headed over to our future apartment complex to pick out the specific apartment we will be living in!  It just happens to be different than any of the other units in the complex; it was a trial run for updating.  So we will have brand new kitchen appliances, faux granite countertops, and freshly painted kitchen cabinets!  It looks so much better than the others!

Since we are bringing very few furniture pieces with us, we need to get new pieces to fill our new place, so we did a bit of furniture shopping as well.  We purchased a mattress and have decided on a bedroom suite, but those details will remain under wraps until I have photos to show you all!

Weekend Round-Up: School, Home, Matrimony

This weekend has been a long, eventful one to say the least.

On Friday, I went to UAB School of Optometry for Spring Visit (pre-orientation).  I had a great time getting to know my classmates and learning more about what's ahead.  We also were able to mingle with current first year students (we are matched to a "sponsor") and got great advice about starting school, Birmingham, and where to live.

Jesse was wonderful enough to drive around Birmingham for the full five hours I was in orientation trying to find us a home to rent.  Unfortunately not much success was found, but we had also planned to check out a couple of apartment complexes.  We did find an apartment we like, and think it's "the one,"  but I'm not going to share any details yet until it's final!

Saturday the most awesome thing happened.... my sister got married!!!! I am SO excited for her and Jeff, and their happiness just radiates from their smiles!  Tara and I had a little sister bonding that morning as I took her to get her hair and makeup done. 

Soon after, she was walking down the aisle:

Jeff was very excited to see his bride:

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Jeffery Moseley!

They had a little something up their sleeves for the rest of us. Click the photo below to see their first dance:

Congrats Jeff and Tara!

I love you, Sissy!

Sold

That's right, folks.  The ole trailer is off the market!  I know what your thinking - you didn't even know it was for sale!?  That's because it has only been on the market for less than a week! We were surprised to get a call within a day or two of it listing and even more surprised today when it sold to the first people to show interest.  When we were discussing when to put it up for sale, I'll admit, I was a bit concerned on how quickly it would go.  It is an older model home, but it's had it's dose of repairs and upgrades in the past 6 years, and it's in one of the best trailer parks in Auburn.  It's all about location, location, location, right?  And we have a wonderful view from our lot.  For those (few) of you that have visited, our park is nice and open with large fields and ponds throughout - perfect for pet owners.  Apparently this sweet family that visited us this morning agreed, because within an hour after checking out our place they called with an offer!  What a blessing (especially for Gene and Marilyn!) to have the deal already done before we've even started packing!  Here's a glimpse into one of our home improvements done a little over a year ago:

Before = horrible, faded blue/yellow exterior (back view)