Squee!

As I write this, J & his dad are moving everything out of storage and into the house. When I went to pick up the keys, I was pleasantly surprised to see how much bigger the place is than I remember. All of the rooms seem bigger, including the kitchen. The owner did a lot of work getting the place ready for us, and I'm so excited to spend the next week (with the help of G-ma and Papa) cleaning and unpacking. The goal is to be ready to start sleeping in our own house by March 2nd (Friday, for those of you without calendars).

As a bonus, Papa is refinishing our table, so we'll be eating in style once again!

This week is going to be so exciting, and I'll do my best to keep you updated through my phone, which reminds me that by next Friday I will be blogging on my computer again!!

Hooray!

2.23.12

Day 2 of this new gig taking care of the littles while J is at work. I'm not really accomplishing a lot, and was glad that I was able to get everyone dressed and out for a stroll around the neighborhood yesterday. We stopped at the home we'll be renting (the driveway only, much to Mikey's displeasure... He really wanted to go inside, and didn't seem to understand the concept of "we don't get the keys til March 1st) and I can't wait to move in!

In other news, it appears my time as a SAHM will be shortlived. J learned all about his new health benefits at work, and they are insanely expensive for a family! Like, 1/4 of his income expensive. We'll have to stick with GE's coverage through the end of June, and I will need to secure employment by that time. I thought I might be devastated at that reality, but I'm doing ok with it. Honestly, I struggled growing up, and I've told J that I'm just not "down for the struggle." I like being able to walk in to Costco and drop $200.00 on apples in bulk. I like being able to have a ridiculous amount of channels on cable. We weren't exactly living like the Kardashians in AZ, but I hate the idea of worrying if we can afford groceries and health insurance premiums. So - I'm back to applying for positions, and am thankful that I have time to find something that will be a good fit. Of course, if I find something soon we will be able to use the severance from GE to buy J the pickup truck he has always wanted, which would also be pretty awesome!

In the meantime, if that means 2 days or 2 months, I'm going to enjoy my time at home with the boys, and immerse myself in this temporary role. Hopefully I will get the chance to decorate the house before I have to go back to work, too! I'm going to have to find a way to divide my evenings between pinterest and Monster.com, and my days between slow cooking pot roast, hanging up pictures and playing trains with the wee ones!

Uncharted Territory

Up until this point, being a mom was something fun I got to do after work and on the weekends. Honestly, most of my time at home with my boys involved play time, and otherwise keeping them entertained while I attempted to assist Josh with some other task around the house (usually making dinner).

Now I find myself in a place where I finally have the opportunity to do the "mom" gig full time, and I'm not exactly sure what to do with myself, my house, or my children. I know that I'm certainly not the first woman to go from working outside the home to being a full time homemaker, but I'm suddenly feeling quite unsure of myself. I guess you could say that I just don't want to screw this up. Who knows - I might have to go back to work and entrust my children in the care of someone else a few months from now if we can't swing it on one income, but in the meantime, I'd like to at least know that I tried my best.

So, I suppose that this blog will become focused on that particular aspect of my life right now - We should spend our first night in the new place on March 1st - after that expect a whole bunch of blogging about this crazy new adventure. And - if you know of any resources for the completely hopeless but very willing new SAHM, I would love to know about it!

On a side note, and I hope I'm not offending anyone here, but I can't WAIT to get into our own place from a time management stand point alone. I know that I will be spending the majority of my day interacting with my children, but I feel like I am completely unable to step away from them for even a small amount of time unless someone else can watch them. More specifically, my youngest. My in-laws have a wonderful home, but it isn't suited to very small children that have no concept of gravity, and the perils of playing on brick faced fireplaces.

I rest my case.

Yessss!!!

J got the job! The pay is better than we hoped, and will allow me to stay home with the boys while I find something that will be a good fit for me (in the happiness and pay dept).

In other happy news, we are meeting with our landlord tonight to hammer out the details of our lease and we should be able to move in by March 1st. MIL is sad that the boys won't be in their home every morning, or night, as they have grown accustomed to, but I reminded her that it will be vastly improved in comparison to the last 2 years. I imagine we'll work out a way to have dinners together a few times a week, and probably weekend breakfast, plus while I'm home with the boys we will be home ALL the TIME!

I'm through the roof with excitement, and can't wait to settle in to our new normal :)

Finale, finally...

Right now, J is at his 3rd and final interview for the job he hopefully will be offered. Considering what he was willing to go back to in order to put food on the table, this job was more than we dared to ask for. I feel like I've been holding my breath since last Wednesday, and I'm sure J feels the same way.

This job will mean so much for us. Besides the obvious perks of having our own place and getting back to the hobbies and other things we had grown accustomed to, it will also mean settling into this new state, and making it our new permanent home, not just an extended vacation.

So, keep on crossing those fingers and toes, and I will keep holding my breath!

Good luck, don't fail us now...

Ever since that fateful day in October, the day J and I found out we would both be losing our jobs, this magical force has been taking care of us, removing obstacles, and pointing us in this direction. To say that we "just knew" would be an understatement, at least for me. Every fiber of my being was screaming that we needed to get our butts to SC, stat. Along the way we encountered events that might have made other folks run for the hills, assuming this was some mistake, but we kept on keeping on, and things just kept clicking together and somehow working.

Then, we got here... And it seemed like the wind that had been at our sails this entire time had run out. I took a crappy job for 3 days before that finally fizzled out, and then, all has been waiting, stillness. Applying. Waiting. Waiting.

We started worrying about what would happen after the money ran out. We were bummed that we might miss out on the house up the street that we were so fond of. I started to feel... desperate sadness that there was nothing we could do to get back to what we had in Phoenix (2 jobs & a home of our own).

Just when I started to feel like we were going to end up taking permanent residence in my in-laws guest room, Josh got a phone call. A request to complete an assessment, and then a request for an informal interview, followed shortly by a phone call requesting a formal interview. Which he is at. Now.

I've got my fingers crossed. While I will happily get sucked back into the banking vortex with a smile on my face, J needs more. This seems like a great job with a great (smaller) company. Those aren't easy to come by. So, I'm sitting here, hoping my hardest that all goes well, and that everyone agrees this will be a fantastic relationship and they offer J the job.

Hope hope hope hope hope.

After we've got this job thing squared away for J, I can focus on myself, and then we can resume life as we knew it. 2 jobs. 1 home. Abundant quantities of happiness and joy.

***fingers crossed***

2.14.12

Today feels like Christmas. It is Valentines Day, but ever since Mikey really started understanding the whole celebrating holidays thing, we can't help but go a little bit over the top. Besides, life can throw some lame crap at you, so I firmly believe in celebrating every opportunity given.

So, on this Christmas minus the tree V-day, the boys were showered with toys, chocolates, and "just because I love you" hugs and kisses from J & I, and of course G-Ma and Papa. It was magnificent. Oh, and then J showered me with my favorite Chocolate and a can of Rockstar. /swoon. Love that man! J's folks surprised us with a Pizza Making kit, which is awesome since we've recently discovered our love of homemade pizza. I will have to document our first attempt.

Even though my heart is full of delight this morning, it is also heavy with worry. We are still both trying to find work, and haven't had much success. J was contacted yesterday to do an assessment in order to get an interview, but after finishing the assessment we have yet to hear about a followup interview. We'll keep trying! We still have our heart set on renting the house down the road, and hope we don't lose out on a silly technicality like employment :/.

I hope everyone's V-days have been as awesome as ours!

So Far...

It occurred to me that I hadn't spent much time writing my experiences in the south so far. Maybe no one else cares, but I think I might like to remember what caught me by surprise, and things that have brought a smile.

1) People wave here. I mean, strangers, driving by while your standing in your front yard, will smile and wave. Amazing, and I love it! Our friends list (IRL, locally) isn't long - in fact, we haven't met any pals in our age category, but the waving at strangers makes it feel a little less lonely.

2) Politeness isn't always prevalent. We've been cut off in line at the grocery store a few times, and treated less than awesome at a few other places. Me expecting absolute politeness in all situations has made this my own fault, and I shouldn't act as offended as I do when someone isn't as kind as I think they should be. I'll get over it soon enough. Maybe.

3) Neighbors. They exist everywhere, but they all interact and know one another here. A simple short walk is typically extended significantly by stopping to chat with Miss Ann about her lovely flowers, or Betty and Cloris about the boys blue eyes and knitting. Everyone is so friendly and wonderful in this neck of the woods. extended

4) There are some regional things here that I had not yet encountered, but thoroughly enjoyed. Among them are Palmetto cheese, Krystals, Hardees, Bojangles, and Dickeys. So bad for me, yet so delicious!

5) J and I have found a Thai place here that we love called Thaijing. I love that the restaurants here are all so awesome, and will be excited to find some authentic and yummy Mexican food.

Anyway, I'm sure there are a million other things I could write, but this is a good start!

What We've Been Doing...

I recently uploaded 600 pictures (not even exaggerating) from my DSLR's memory card to my google account. Almost all of the images were taken shortly after our arrival in South Carolina, through Christmas and Mikey's Birthday. These are just a few of the many - enjoy!