Things I Love About Texas

I discovered over the weekend that I really love it here in Texas. I wasn't sure if I would like it after having spent my entire life safely incased in mountains. Yes, where I live IS green, which is Hubs' FAVORITE thing EVER, but there are no mountains, which are MY favorite thing ever. While I still feel rather exposed here without the mountains, I have come to really love the area, despite today's rather exciting alert from weather.com (see below).

(Notice the text, "seek shelter immediately!" LOL!)

I also like it despite the fact that my pooch has to be incoluated against every single type of insect bite you could ever think of, which I NEVER had to worry about before. I never had to worry about fleas or ticks before, and really not even mosquitos for that matter. But after having been here for a couple of weeks, I have actually gone into panic mode trying to purchase anti-flee meds, and Heartguard to prevent heart worms. Maggie has always been on Hearguard, but I only had to give it to her Apr-Oct where we lived before; here, its 12 months out of the year. Its not a surprise to me that in the excitement of the move I didn't think to grab her Heartguard out of the kitchen before the mover's packed it up, and now it is sitting in storage with the rest of our stuff for the next two weeks. I found out the hard way that vets here won't give you a box until they have tested your dog for heart worms, so Hubs gets to take Mags to the vet tomorrow to have her tested. UGH!

The things I am really finding I like about Texas so far are:

1. AWESOME FOOD! (Steaks, Cajun, Tai, You Name It! *drooling*)


2. Lovely scenery


3. Tons of parks


4. Friendly people


5. The average speed limit is 45-55


6. There aren't very many people on the roads with the exception of rush hour


7. People get out of your way if you want to go faster than them (most of the time)


8. The number of stupid drivers is exponentially smaller than where we lived before


9. Did I mention awesome food yet?

Things I could do without:

1. BUGS! Spiders!


2. Melting makeup due to humidity


3. Tornado warnings (although I kind of find them commical)


4. No mountains


5. Temporary housing with walls made out of rice paper

I hate to admit it, and especially to my family, but I really do like it here. I can't believe how comfortable I am here and how much I already feel like I belong. I just wish I was better at making friends. I am actually a little shy, and it takes me a while to warm up to people enough to be comfortable around them. I know, weird. I'm working on it though. I miss having friends, and I am starting to feel lonely.

My favorite part about being here today (minus the tornado warning): my new pay check! :D I can get used to that number with a quickness. The thing that makes my pay check even better is days like today when I get to dig into my job and I honestly think, "Man, they are paying me to do this! This is awesome!" I actually get to walk out of work feeling like I earned that check. That was rare in my last job.

God Bless Texas!!!

We Have Reserved Our Pup!

We have always planned on either breading Maggie and keeping one of her puppies, or getting her her very own dog once we moved to Texas. Now that we're in Texas we decided that while she is old enough to breed, we don't want to breed her just yet, and have opted to see if we could find a reputable Border Collie breeder in the area. The last couple nights when Hubs got bored, he got online and looked up BC breeders and bookmarked a few pages for me. Last night when I got bored, I started looking at a few of the links he found.

It is important to me that I find a reputable breeder who will guarantee their dogs against common breed defects such as hip dysplasia, eye, and ear problems . I worked with a woman in one of my previous jobs who knowingly bred a Golden Retriever with hip dysplasia, simply because she was into breeding her many dogs for the $500 a puppy she got from doing it. She could care less that the pups from that dog had a predisposition for such a crippling problem. After knowing her, I have been very careful about whom I will and will not purchase a pup from. Just because the price is high doesn't mean the breeder is responsible.

I contacted the breeder I purchased Maggie from a couple days ago to see if they were still breeding their dogs, and if so, if they would have pups any time soon. They told me that they had decided to stop because there was just not much of a demand for the dogs in the area any more, and they couldn't handle the thought of having to give pups to the humane society because they were not legally allowed to exceed a certain number of dogs on their property. After speaking with them I contemplated how to find a reputable breeder in the area. I had found a few websites on my own before we moved, but the breeders stated they would only adopt their dogs out to sporting homes, meaning you HAD to have the dog in some kind of competitive sport, such as agility, or use the dog as a working animal. Not only that, but their price tag was a little high.

Here I digress, so last night I found a breeder whose home page said everything I wanted to hear. Their dogs were known for being calm and quiet, they adopted out to homes who appreciate the breed as pets and not just working animals, they guarantee their pups against defects, all of their pups are ABCA (American Border Collie Association [the BC version of AKC only better) registered (Maggie is ABCA registered), and the best part was they even deliver the dog to your door. I didn't really care about the latter so much, I am perfectly fine with driving a little bit to get my pooch.

After taking Mags to the dog bath today, I called the breeder and put down a deposit for a red female pup. The gentleman told me that their dogs always sell even before they are born, so my name was put onto the waiting list (I'm #5). Once a litter becomes available and my number is called, I get to pick my pooch fresh out of the package, wait 8 weeks for it to grow up, and then go snag it. I am thoroughly excited! In a few months, we will have a new addition to our little household. My only problem now is trying to refrain from buying puppy supplies until a few weeks before we bring the pup home. :)

P.S. Please take a minute to choose your favorite puppy name in the poll on the top right corner of the page.

The Infertility Scare Phenomenon

Since embarking on infertility treatments almost two years ago, I have come to notice what I like to call the infertility scare phenomenon. This is when you tell any other woman in the world that you are undergoing infertility treatments, and the woman you have told instantly begins to freak out internally and wonder if they can get pregnant, even if they already have childen. They go into a panic mode, and even if they didn't want children (or more children than they already have), they start trying to get pregnant ASAP, just to prove to themselves they can get pregnant. I am sure that all of you who have experienced infertility treatments know exactly what I'm talking about.

I can't count the number of times when I told a woman I was undergoing infertility treatments that I could see the panic set in within them that they might be in my shoes and should start baby dancing right away. I have known women who after talking to me seriously considered having their IUDs removed in an attempt to have one more baby (they usually already had a brood, and didn't want any more until they talked to me [no joke]). Its not so much that they really want a baby as much as it is they want to prove they aren't infertile. I have also known women who after talking to me tried to get pregnant for two or three months afterward and when they didn't get instantly pregnant actually scheduled appointments with infertility clinics, only to get pregnant shortly before the appointment time came (of course, I got phone calls when the appointment was scheduled, and again when it was cancelled due to pregnancy).

It is always amazing to me how telling my infertility story sets off alarms in other women's heads that makes them all of a sudden want to get pregnant. Women who didn't really want children before they talked to me suddenly realize they want babies and are scared that they could be the next one to have to sit in a waiting room full of pregnant women while they are there to get their next prescription for chlomid. You can just hear the thoughts going through their heads, "Oh please God, don't let that be me! I don't want to be in the same shoes as her!"

Have any of you other ladies experienced this? Do any of you have any stories like this?

I'm not bitter at all about the fact that I am in my shoes. I always choose to take experiences like this and use them to find the positive. Our infertility road has been rocky, and it has yet to be easy; however, I have learned a LOT about myself and my body, it has strengthened my marriage and showed me just how much my sweetie loves me. It has shown me where not only my priorities lie, but my husband's as well. It has taught me to be happy with the things I have in my life and to not waste time thinking about the things I don't have but want. I have come to terms with the fact that we might never have children, and have developed a life plan for if we can't. I have made a mental list of the pros and cons of having children, and I have to say I am okay with either way. That being said, I felt like I had to at least try to have children outside of the conventional means, since I knew we probably wouldn't stand a chance if we didn't seek treatment. If I could go back two years and change anything, I wouldn't. I have learned too much from this experience to want things any other way. When I get to moments in my life like the one I'm in right now with the move and new job, I am glad I'm not pregnant, or this opportunity would not be mine. I always feel that everything happens for a reason, and that it all happens in its own time. Its up to me to learn from my experiences and to be patient when the outcome isn't what I want in that exact moment. Sometimes not getting what I want right away is a blessing in disguise.

I honestly feel that one day we will be parents. I also feel that it will happen in its own time, and that I just need to be patient right now and live the life I'm living.

When Can We Move In?!

Today we finished working out the financing on our new place and are almost all set for closing in a couple of weeks. Our house inspection was on Friday, and it only found minor problems and fixes, most of which we had already intended to change once we got into the house anyway, such as leaky faucets or drain stops. There was one concern brought up by the inspection about some cracking on a corner wall, so we had a structural engineer check out the place on Monday. His report came back not only good, but awesome. He said the house was so structurally sound even he was astounded. He said he only saw about one house a year that was in as good a shape as the one we're buying. We did, however, adjust our offer a little bit to cover some of the costs the inspector brought up that need to be addressed sooner than later, such as calking around the windows and other minor things.

We're hoping right now that we can get our down payment loan check quick enough that we can move up our closing date so we can get the deuce out of this apartment. While the apartment looks really nice and upscale, the walls, floors, and ceilings are paper thin. The neighbor on the other side of our headboard likes to turn on his stereo every night around midnight and hold loud conversations until the wee hours of the morning (yes, you can hear EVERY word). The neighbors upstairs have decided they like to bang their cabinet doors and drawers, not to mention you can hear every single footstep they make like they are in the same room as you. I have probably said that I am really glad we're not stuck in a 12-month lease in this place about 100 times since we moved in just over a week ago. The inability to sleep due to noise gets old really fast. I'm getting kind of tired of having to find my ear plugs in the dark every morning around 5:30 a.m. because the next door neighbor's alarm clock is going off and he's either sleeping through it, or just not in the room. It goes off for a couple of hours. I wish I was joking.

On a lighter note, I am really liking the area and really loving my job. Due to slow response in the HR department, I have been able to forego training the last week and a half and have been able to dig into my job prematurely. I've spent the last couple days working on product installation manuals and am absolutely loving it. Every day I'm in this job I feel even more blessed that they picked me to fill their needs. The thing that cracks me up the most is that the company doesn't have a supply closet, so if you need anything, you just have to order it from Staples and create your own private stash. Need a pen? Order a dozen all for yourself. Need some Post-its? Order a 10 pack and keep them all in your own supply closet (i.e., desk). I also discovered the Butter Nut brand hot chocolate yesterday in an attempt to warm myself up in an office that is kept on the cold side. Silly me listened to my husband when he told me how warm it would be here, so I allowed the movers to pack ALL of my long-sleeved shirts, sweaters, and jackets. I have wished so many times I had thought to bring at least a few.

We spent Easter Sunday at one of my aunt's houses. She is the only relative I have in the state, and luckily lives only 20 minutes away. When my mom told her we were moving to the area a few weeks ago, she called me up and invited us to dinner. I, of course, happily accepted. We joined their family for an evening of yummy food, good conversation, and a movie. It really helps keep me from being too homesick having some family close by.

It finally feels to me like we have moved. I'm not sure at what point it hit home, but the moment came and went unnoticed. I searched for our townhome listing on the internet yesterday, and my eyes welled up a bit when it showed up, and I remembered the home we left behind. I also found myself missing home a bit. I think another thing keeping me from feeling blue is all of the excitement and stress involved with our new house. Thinking about that hasn't left much time for anything else... at all. I just can't wait to get into that house and start making it our own.

I am really glad we have made this move, and I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to make this new life.

Our Offer Was Accepted!

We put in our offer on the house today, and the current owners have accepted it!!! We even wrote into our offer that we wanted them to leave their new $3,000 washer and dryer set and $2,000 fridge, and they agreed! We're pretty stoked. The best part is that we are buying this house for the same price we are selling our town home for. It has almost twice as much square footage as our town home did and a massive back yard.


Per a special request, below are a few more pictures of the house.

We've Found Our House!

After spending all day Sunday looking at 16 houses, all day Monday evening looking at 5 more houses, and revisiting our three favorites to make a final decision yesterday, we have finally decided to put in an offer on a house. Please see below for most exciting picture.

The current owners of this house are most anxious to sell, and have priced this house at a steal. It wasn't my first pick, but after thinking about the pros and cons of the three houses we liked best, we decided this house could be made to look the way we want it to after some minimal work, and that the price absolutely cannot be beat. To top it all off, it came with the biggest back yard we had seen on any house we looked at. It was more than three times the size of any other yard we'd seen, which is perfect for pooches. Just when you think it can't get any better, the house is located in a culdesac with a massive empty lot located next store that has been saved for "green space," which means we will never have next door neighbors. The house does back up to a street, but we decided that was a bonus simply because no neighbors would be looking in our windows and vice versa.

I had actually decided I wanted a different house yesterday that had less square footage, a way smaller backyard, and a way overpriced price tag. We had told our realtor we wanted to put in an offer on that house, but then I realized all day today I kept thinking we were going to be moving into the house in the picture above. To me that was my indication that we needed to be putting in an offer on this house instead of the other.

Hubs and I are totally excited and can't wait to get into our first house where we do not share any walls with anyone. Not to mention we can't wait to landscape the barren back yard and put in a brand new fish pond that will never freeze over. Once we get all moved in and settled, the great puppy hunt will begin.

As for work, things are going fantastic. I am still extremely interested in everything and can't learn enough. To me that is an awesome sign that I really am a perfect fit for this job. I actually got sent home from work today because of my cold though. My new supervisor really feels bad for me and has asked every day if I wanted to go home. I let him talk me into it today because I discovered last night the walls in this apartment complex are paper thin. My next door neighbor decided to throw a party and blare his stereo until 1:00 a.m. last night, then he set his alarm clock for 5:00 a.m. this morning and apparently either wasn't there to turn it off, or slept through it. Either way, I could hear it going off and had to get ear plugs just so I could go back to sleep. Yeah, I can't wait to get the deuce out of here. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much last night, and my supervisor told me to go home at lunch and get some much needed rest. I couldn't believe how quickly I fell asleep and how deeply I slept. Let's just hope that this stupid cold decides to move on soon.

The First Day

My least favorite day of a new job is the first day. It was the same way when I was in school, only it was worse then because there were always two first days every new semester. I always hate the information overload, meeting 50 new people and trying to remember all of their names, and trying to figure out where I fit in. I always hate being the new person, the greenie who doesn't know anything. For some reason the second day is always the best of the beginning to me. Perhaps it is because by the end of the first day, I have a better idea about what is expected of me, how to get around in my new situation, and whom I think will make good friends. The second day means first impressions are over, and I no longer feel like I have to sit up completely straight, like I can relax a little and be more myself, rather than the person with the plastic smile plastered on my face as I walk around the new office meeting all of the new people who will remember my name quicker than I will remember theirs.

My first day in my new job was everything I expected and more. It was a typical first day in that all I could think about was I couldn't wait to define my role and get started doing what I do best. It also came complete with the expected information overload. The exception to my first day in this job was that I was actually 100% interested in everything I was told today. I was given a tour of the facility to help me gain a better understanding of my role within the company, and the more I saw, the more excited I became about my career at this company. Usually my first day in any job bores me to the point that I become sleepy and seriously desire a nap; not today! Today absolutely flew by, and I didn't get tired until I had left the office for the day.

I did feel bad for all of my new coworkers though, because I showed up with a cold that sounded much worse today than I've felt all weekend. The cold is starting to clear out, but has moved to my throat in an attempt to escape my body, as a result, I sound HORRIBLE. My new supervisor told me he had taken Zicam three times during the day. Of course, I laughed, and told him I was really sorry. I can't count the number of times he asked me today if I was feeling well enough to stay and if I wanted to go home. I always told him that I sounded worse than I felt, but that if HE wanted me to go home, I would. I also assured him I was doing everything I could to prevent the spread of my virus. I had come prepared with Zicam, tissues, and Vicks Cold Prevention Hand Foam that is guaranteed to kill 99.9% of the germs on my hands for up to three hours. By the time I left work at 5:00, I sounded even worse than when I got there this morning, which did not make our realtor happy when he picked us up to go check out a few more houses tonight.
I am so glad my first day of work is behind me, and now I can look forward to really getting my feet wet and digging into my new role (which includes playing with every single piece of medical equipment I can get my hands on!). I promise all of my blog friends that as soon as I get a little more settled and we have put an offer on a house, I will catch up on everyone's blogs and start posting some pictures of our temporary digs.

We Have Arrived

Moving out day has come and gone. All of the tears have been shed. The goodbyes have been said. As one chapter of our lives closes, the next begins.

Wednesday saw us packing up the items we would need to last us until we could find a house and that we didn't want the movers to pack up. Thursday morning the movers showed up and began methodically packing our house. Mags and I holed up in my bedroom while the movers packed up every other room. Thirteen hours after they arrived, and with 90% of our house in boxes, the movers left for the night. It still hadn't really hit me at that point that this move was for real. For some reason it felt like we were just playing. It didn't even hit me the next morning when the 53-foot moving truck showed up at 8:00 a.m. While I did break down and cry for a good ten minutes at the sight of the truck, I still didn't think it was real. Again, Mags and I holed up in my bedroom while all of our belongings were packed onto the moving truck. My dad showed up for lunch around noon and hung out with us until the movers had closed up the truck and left around 4:00 that evening. We said a very tearful goodbye (on my part), and I watched my dad drive away.

You would think that seeing my house completely empty would really bring the move home, but it didn't. I still felt like we would be back, and that somehow my belongings would just magically reappear and end right back up in their respective places.

Even though our house never really felt like home to me, but more of a temporary storage container for us, I still cried as we pulled away for the last time. I cried more once we got on the freeway to begin a 19-hour drive to Texas and took a long, last look at the valley we had come to call home.

A few minutes into the drive, both Hubs and I began to get a little congested. We both just thought that it was from all of the dust stirred up by the move, and didn't think much else about it. I don't get colds very often, and can actually remember the last time I had one because it is so rare for me (it was almost one full year ago). The next morning, however, it was very clear I had caught a cold. It became even more evident as we dropped in elevation and my ears refused to pop. Fabulous, I get to show up to my new job on Monday sporting a germ-packed cold and some seriously plugged ears. I think I've spend about $50 on cold meds at this point. lol

After a long, long, long drive, we finally got into Texas at 9:00 last night. I was amazed at how well Maggie handled the long drive. We folded her crate in half in the back seat and put her dog bed in it for the trip, and she just curled up and slept most of the way here. We've sort of settled into our corporate housing situation, and Maggie seems to be adjusting really well. We actually lived in an apartment when we first got her, and so I think she thinks we've just moved back into that apartment. The only thing we have noticed about her behavior is that her obsessive compulsive need to play fetch has gone into extreme overdrive, so we took her to a park nearby (because there are about a million parks around here) and played fetch with her until she was completely pooped.

Hubs has been deliriously happy to be back in his home state. We ate lunch at one of his most favorite restaurants, which made him giddy as a school girl. He drove me around this afternoon while we were running errands and showed me some of the places he used to frequent when he lived here over four years ago. I am just glad that at least he knows how to get around this place, and that I shelled out for my Garmin, because I would get completely lost in this city.

It still hasn't really sunk in that I have not only moved, but that this is where I am going to live from now on. I feel like we're only on vacation. I'm not sure at what point it will hit me. Maybe it will after we've been here for a few weeks, or maybe it won't it won't until we buy a new house and move in. (Speaking of buying a house, the day after we moved out, our realtor took someone through our house who is interested in buying already! We sure wouldn't mind if it sold quickly.)

So this is where the new chapter of our lives begins. It can only get easier from here. Tomorrow we will begin the great house hunt, then will begin the great puppy hunt. :) From a cold-infected Texan transplant, I hope you are all doing well, and can't wait to catch up on your blogs.

A Weekend Full of "See Ya Later"

This past weekend was the one I have dreaded since I knew I would eventually be moving to Texas when I married my sweetie. The weekend full of tears and saying, "see you later." It all started Friday when I packed up the last of my office at work and went to lunch with my coworkers for the last time. I was touched at how many of my coworkers came to see me off, complete with cards and small gifts from a few of them. I had told them all that I was going to peel out of the parking lot on my last day, but my eyes were welled up with tears, and I didn't have the heart to give my car the extra bit of gas necessary. As I left the office, however, I knew this was only the begging of the hard farewells.

Saturday morning I drove up to my parent's to spend the day and that night with my family and my oldest friends. I spent the morning with my dad doing what we like best on a Saturday morning together: going to the chiropractor, buying chocolate covered grapes from our favorite confectioner, and going to lunch. It has been a tradition with us for years.

That afternoon I went to get my last wax and hair cut from the hair dresser I have really come to appreciate the past three years. Her shoes will not be easily filled in Texas.

That evening I went to dinner with my family and my best friend of the last seven years and his wife. After dinner we sat around at my parent's house and reminisced with another old friend who dropped in. We talked about all of the funniest things the three of us ever did together and laughed so hard my sides hurt. I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard. Then came a tough goodbye, when I told my best friend and his wife farewell. I was lucky that I was not only able to hold back the tears, but the emotion as well. My remaining friend joined my little brother and me for a late movie. After the movie, we parted ways, and my brother and I went home. He went to bed, and I stayed up going through the last of my boxes in an attempt to minimize the things I took with me.

Sunday morning saw the first of the hardest farewells, my mom. Its funny how sometimes we don't realize how much we actually need someone until we know that that person will not be able to be there for us on a moment's notice. My mom has been there for me so much the past year and a half as I underwent infertility treatments. I held my mother tight and we both cried softly, while trying to tell our breaking hearts that I would be back in a month for a weekend visit.

Last night brought yet another hard farewell, my brother. My little brother and I have always been really close. We always say that we were supposed to be twins, but were born 4 years apart for some reason. He came down for a final visit at this address as soon as he was done playing military. He stayed for a few hours and we ate dinner, watched a movie, and I helped him with his homework. When he got up to start getting ready to leave, my heart started to break, and the tears streamed unmercifully down my face. All I could do was shake my head to indicate I didn't want him to go. We took our time saying our farewells, shedding tears, echoing promises of visits, and then he got in his car and drove away, leaving me crying and freezing on the front porch with my dog. All I could think was, "This just plain sucks!"

The last of the hardest farewells is being reserved for Thursday, when my dad will come down to see us off. All I can say is that I'm glad I won't be the one who is driving, because that farewell is going to be TOUGH. I am a daddy's girl through and through. I will just have to remind myself that we can still go get chocolate covered grapes every time I come to town.

Sometimes I find myself getting upset about the fact that I am leaving, and have to remind myself that this was my choice. It is in those moments I think to myself, "I really hope this is what you want." My heart breaks and tears stream down my face. I've told myself a dozen times since Friday that I reserve the right to be sad for now, and that it is okay. Even though this is my choice, I don't always have to be okay with every minute of it. This is a major life-changing event, and I need to accept the way it makes me feel without trying to fight it. The future is bright, and I have so many exciting things ahead of me. My opportunities will become opportunities for the ones I love as well. All I can do now is look forward, with hope, to the future.

My Own Nostalgia

Last night I was on the brink of going insane if I didn't find some kind of task to keep myself busy. Even though the moving company is going to take care of everything, my brain keeps telling me I still have things I need to do. To ease my mind I began by cleaning up my kitchen, which turned into a game of "find the aerosols," since the moving company will not transport them for us. This eventually lead to my favorite part of the evening: the boxes I brought back from my parent's house. What a trip down memory lane! I found all kinds of memorabilia from my high school years, including writing assignments from my senior English class and field charts from when I was in the marching band. Yes, I was a band geek. I played trumpet to keep a family tradition going. Laugh all you want, it paid for college. My husband loves to tease me. I even found my ACT scores. My favorite piece was a notebook of writing assignments. It was almost like a journal of my life in high school. It went from complaints about crowded hallways (I blocked out the fact that they were THAT crowded) to talking about how I met the first and only other guy I have ever loved besides my husband. It had notes between one of my good friends and me, as well as some seriously funny writing assignments I took to the extreme. I got a really good laugh. One of the absolute funniest pieces was a write-up I did on some stupid 80s video we watched one day when we had a subsitute. I wrote that the only think I learned from the video was that people in the 80s had really ugly hair and how to use words like, "gnarly and bitchin'," and that my mother slapped my face for using my new found words. ROFL! (She didn't really.) The thing that amazed me the most was that I got A's on all of my assignments. Some of them were really out there! It was just fun to see that I had a sense of humor even back then.

For some silly reason, I saved all of my marching band charts. I guess its because I remember standing outside in the hot August sun for 12 hours a day for one week to learn our new Fall Show while I carried those charts around and took notes. I would circle where I was on the chart, make an arrow to where I was going next and how many counts I was supposed to take to get there. "Pause for 12 counts, move 8 counts to next chart." I absolutely loved those band days. The kids in band were a different breed of people and we knew how to have fun. We were like a great big family because we spent so much of our lives together. The friends I remember liking most were from band. Its hard to believe that I will only get older and move farther and farther away from those days when I was not quite an adult and felt like I would always be 17. Its funny to look at the pictures of myself and see how much my appearance has changed in 10 years. I didn't think I would ever look a day older than I did back then.

All of my high school memories have been relocated to their own special box to await the day I need a bit of nostalgia again. Somehow three year's worth of memories (including year books and dance pictures) fit into one Staples paper box. I affentionately placed the lid on the box with a slight smile on my face and a warmth in my heart, and then made my way upstairs to shred and organize papers while I remissed over my high school years some more for the rest of the night.

Hello Stress, My Old Friend

Yep, the stress has finally set in. My little brother came down over the weekend for the last time in this house and helped me clean out unwanted clothing and DVDs. We spent the whole day Saturday running around; we made three trips to second-hand donation center, sold back DVDs to F.Y.E. ($42!), picked up boxes from our storage unit, bought new bathroom fixtures from Target and Home Depot, ate dinner, and went to the grocery store. After all of my running around on Saturday, I was glad to have a 2-hour massage already scheduled for Sunday. I'm still a little sore from that, but I sure did love having my feet and hands rubbed. Ahhhhh!

Yesterday evening we went to my parent's house for some Sunday dinner and I grabbed most of what was left of mine at their house. This was when everything really sunk in. I am leaving my family behind. I'm leaving the only place I have ever really lived (outside of college). Needless to say, countless tears were shed. I even ended up with one of my most prized possessions that I was not allowed to take from my dad's house before yesterday: my grandpa's trumpet. (My grandpa played trumpet for over 40 years and had his own band in the Big Band Era. He played at a lot of dances in his time.) I took with me a lot of my childhood memories including a box of notes written from my old best friend to me during our junior and senior years of high school. I can't wait to read through those and remiss in the daily stress of a teenager. I came across boxes of goodies from my college days that have been stored and forgotten in my parent's basement until last night. When I left my parent's last night my mother and I said tearfull goodbyes, even though I will be back up at their house all day this coming Saturday. It just really hit us that I am moving far away from my family. I cried the whole way home in the car as I looked over the valley where I spent most of my life and realized what I was leaving behind. The thought, "I hope I know what I'm doing; I hope I like Texas," kept going through my head. I guess I cried more than I thought last night because I woke up with puffy eyes this morning. lol

Now I have mixed emotions about the move. I was so excited the first few days after I received the news. Excitement changed to stress as I realized what needed to be done before we leave. Stress changed to sadness as I realized I am leaving behind my family and the only place I have ever known. Today I am a mixed bag of emotions ranging from sadness to stress to downright pissiness (I think that's the PMS talking [I have never prayed so hard I wasn't pg]). Right now I just need to learn how to stop stressing. My new employer has done everything in their power to make this move as easy on us as they could. What I need to do more than that is stop taking my stress out on my sweetie who is, as ever, a calm, stress-free rock.