Three months in... (out?)... and it's Florida outside. *insert humidity here*

It's been a minute since I rambled on about the happenings in my life. Not from a lack of want but rather a lack of opportunity. I might be on a computer like nine hours a day... but your girl be busy!

Life has been chaotic... in the best way possible. We're officially Florida residents now. That's right, you heard it... the Glissons are official.

And we were in our new hometown for a total of six days before we got a court date. That's right, six days in and we got pulled over for a license plate cover. You know, the same one that's been on every car I've had for the past eight/nine years and has traveled from the top of Michigan to the bottom of Florida umpteen times in that allotted amount of time? Yeah, that one. We tried to explain to the officer that we had no idea about that Florida law as we had just moved here six days before and let her know we would be removing it immediately... but she didn't care and threatened (subtly but still) to take my hubby to jail for it.

No worries... I added that little tidbit in there for the plot (even though it's true because seriously, y'all?!) but everything's taken care of... I contacted the State Attorney, provided proof of compliance and explained the situation and they essentially were like... well... you didn't know and immediately rectified it, so you don't have to come to court and everything's dismissed. HALLELUJAH. 

Sadly, my brother is going through something with his dad and I'm trying to be supportive... it's alot but I love my brother and while we don't always see eye to eye, I have always been here for him. I'll continue to be here for him. I just can't involve myself more than I am. My mental health and spiteful core won't allow it.

Other than that, everything's been pretty good.

It took a while to get our lender to send the title to get our plates but once we got that, it's been daisies.

We're staying with my FIL for the time being while we work on building up our house. It's been nice and we all get along beautifully. We've all gotten into some kind of random routine that works for us and keeps everybody happy. 

Our house is coming along nicely. I would love to say it's been no problem since we had the money to put into it from our Indy house... but it's been three months and we have yet to see a dime for that house. Originally, we did some research and fixed up everything in the house to make it able to be sold (under Indy restrictions). Was it perfect? No, absolutely not. But it was a good house that was well maintained and had solid bones. I let *redacted* know we wanted to sell and she was on board. A few weeks into living in FL she called me up and asked if she sent me $25k, if we could call it even (for now) so that my little cousin could move in and take it over... we would revisit the price when she was in a place to be able to afford a house on her own. I was fine with that and proceeded to give them all info to get everything turned over into *redacted*'s name like she needed/wanted. And then weeks went by... so I reached out and *redacted* informed me that she "had to do work on the house and didn't think that should come out of her pocket" and let me know that she would send me whatever was left over after she was done. Don't worry she included an entire list of (COSMETIC) problems that she would be having done. A few weeks later... nothing so I reached out. Another reason. A few weeks after that... I reached out... another reason. At this point it's been almost three months and while I'm not trying to be an unreasonable asshole... BRO, WTF?! Maybe I'm wrong... but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect to be compensated for the house I put the down payment on, paid the mortgage on for eight years, and maintained han solo. Hopefully, it works out here soon because like most normal people who sell their house... I would like to reinvest my money. And I would hope *redacted* wouldn't be comfortable living with the fact she screwed over legit the only person in our family that's she's helped that didn't screw her over to begin with. I'll tell you one thing though, I'll NEVER put myself into another situation where I take someone at their word. Been there, got screwed over for that. I don't mean to be bitter, but I've done everything right the entire time when it came to that house and at the end of the day, it didn't matter how much I tried to do right by someone. They still did what they wanted with only themselves in mind. 

Sad. Apart from that, life has been happy. 

We bought our house the day after we moved here and they delivered it within a few days. Since then, it's been nonstop trying to get it up and running. We got the insulation done... and let me just tell you, spray foam insulation is a learning curve that me and my hubby had to master real quick like. Ok, "master" is probably pushing it, but we got it done and it works good! Jerm and Cass came up and Dev/Jerm ran our electric (score one for having an electrician BIL). We officially have two ACs set up (one front of house-one back)... we have a window unit and a portable. The first portable we got we had to send back because of the compressor but once we got the new one and Dev changed the outlet... we were all good!

They delivered the materials for our walls today, so we'll be getting that done over the next few days and then it'll be time to get the materials for our ceiling and start setting up for bathroom/kitchen. 

We love staying with my FIL, but we both can't wait to have our own space again! Legit can't wait for decorating and crafts and all the goodness. Cuddles and late-night standup binge-watching and honestly? Just to have all our stuff unpacked again because while it might sound funny, I MISS MY STUFF!

Work has been crazy and I love it. The company I work for was bought by another company in January so we're in the process of transitioning everything over to their systems. It's a lot but your girl likes working remote and staying busy. Seriously... remote work might be my calling.

Do I wish I felt like I meant more to the people we left behind in the North? Sure... but it's not worth my mental health to dwell on it. If they don't want and love me for the person I am, then I guess I just meant how much they proved.

So yeah, that's where we're at. Living our best Florida lives (we had a beach day with his mom's side of the family a couple of weeks ago and had the best time... I haven't had a beach day since I was like twelve) and doing our best. There's so much to go over but I'm running out of writing time. Hopefully, in the next few weeks/month or so we'll have pretty much all our house done, the Indy house will be resolved and then we can get Dev's bike and go back to regularly scheduled programming. 

Because honestly? This life with my hubby and pups is the best thing I've ever had and I wanna keep running with it. Our lives are full of being together, pup loving, Dunkin coffee, boiled peanuts, Texas nachos, laughs, adventures and love. I couldn't ask for nor would I want more.

Until the next time I can get around these parts (hopefully regularly once life is calm again)... xoxoxoxo.

This house feels weird and this week is off and what the hell is that noise?!!?!

First things first... did y'all know there was an elite Twinkie out there hanging out? It's banana and apparently, they were a limited time supply. I bought three boxes the last time I found them... and really should've bought the other two as well. Because they are DELICIOUS and now, I can't find them anywhere. I feel like Tallahassee... because nobody wants a f*cking Snowball! Where's the (banana) Twinkies?! I got beef with Hostess after this- BRING EM BACK!

Next on the list... y'all this house feels CRAZY. It hasn't felt like ours really since we painted everything but now it's really off. Everything's essentially packed up and the only rooms we're using are the living room and bathroom (and the corner of the kitchen where I have my computer set up) because come Friday, we're OUT. Like... BYE INDY kinda out.

With it being empty and basically all traces of us removed, it echoes something fierce. It's an old house with good bones... so with nothing in it? You can definitely hear everything. Perfect for if you don't want your little hoodlums causing a ruckus at the back half of the house. You'll be able to hear it and shut that shit down real quick.

We're living on a diet of essentially pizza (shout out for that spicy chicken bacon ranch!), potato chips, coffee, and soda. And I can tell. I've gained probably six to seven pounds recently and not in a good way. It's all bloat from grease and soda. Instead of a good "I gained some healthy weight" it feels very gross and blah. I can't wait until we're home free and down South because Mama is saving up for some barbeque and boiled peanuts! Protein and hearty food is where I need to be... get some damn energy or something. Because right now? EXHAUSTED.

We keep joking that this is no longer our house and we're basically just hanging out in the Airbnb. Might not be the full truth, but it definitely feels the most honest. We're just here to touch up paint and clean the fridge and tub and then we're out. Oh... and cut the grass one more time. Gotta, make sure we do that. 

So yeah... shit feels weird right now, but we also know it's another piece of the transition phase and we're here for it. But this week in this house? Weird.

Also... I would just like to put it out there that since becoming a remote employee... I've learned that it really is people themselves that cause all my anxiety issues. Being home, doing my job and calling it a day? That's where it's at. I'm hopeful to keep this job for a very long time but I'd be lying if I said I felt one hundred percent secure. I'm as secure as can be (again, another post for another time because I really do like this position!) but I don't know if I'll ever feel it one hundred percent again after my last company. 

So... me and my family are enjoying it while we got it and riding the wave. We're in a very "what will be, will be" stage in our lives. (There's so much to catch up on, but I only have so much attention span).

Shout out to the universe- the Glissons are gonna be South soon!

Through dark and dust (and bullshit) here we are. 😶

Remember when I said we had one more trip to FL before our final because I had a meeting in March? 

HA! HAHHHHHAHAAAHhahahaha..... hahahahahahhahaha...... HA!!

One more trip, my ass. We never made it to my meeting in March. Oh, we tried... of course we tried. But the universe wasn't having it and decided to throw us a curveball. And by curveball, I mean... shit got real awful real quick and bitches were about to have a nervous breakdown. 

It's me... and my husband... we were those bitches.

Let's back up a bit. We've been preparing and trying to get things situated so we could make our big move to FL. It's been a... process. While we had planned on being out no later than early February (again- HA!) things kept happening that set us back and it was like with every one step forward there were three back. EXHAUSTING isn't even a strong enough word for it. 

But we figured, go with the flow and do our best. And our best consisted of one more meeting trip before the move. Were we happy about making the trip and then having to turn around and do it again a few weeks later? No. But were we willing to do said task? Absolutely.

And that got us stuck on the side of the Louisville bridge in the middle of the night in rush hour traffic. Yeah, you read that right. There we were, the Friday before my meeting (with every intention of reporting bright and early Monday morning) broke down over two hours from home with our babies in the car. And that's where the nightmare started.

Our Bronco completely died... like we were in the fastlane and all the sudden my husband looked me deadass in the face and said, "our car just lost full power." Not what you want to hear at any point, let alone in that situation. He managed to get us across the three lanes of traffic and to the shoulder, but we were still at the top of the bridge. Was I helpful? NOPE. Why? Because your girl has a thing about bridges and every horrible thought, I could have possibly had happened. I blame all the Final Destination movies of my youth, but I digress. 

It should've just been inconvenient, not life altering. Afterall, we have full warranties and roadside assistance. Guess what? Didn't help AT ALL. Not only did Ford Roadside Assistance leave us high and dry in the middle of the night on the side of the highway but when my husband managed to get our car to a hotel and then to a willing dealership it still was horrible. 

I called multiple people to come pick us up (we were over two hours from home) and was met with variations of "sorry, busy, I have plans" or they didn't even bother to answer. Finally, I got ahold of my brother, and he agreed to come pick us up if we gave him gas money. Fair, it's a rough economy. But then, we had to leave our car at that Ford dealership in Sellersburg for a week for repairs and they did... nothing. Like, absolutely 100% nothing. They cleared the code on the car and then parked it for a week after assuring us Ford would handle it. They didn't. 

We had to go get the car the next weekend and drive it the two hours back dying and revolting the entire time (dangerous, much?) and take it to the dealership where we bought it. They got us in and got us a loaner vehicle (something no other dealership we talked to or the Ford "case manager" helped with) and they had it for a week to do all the repairs it required.

Apparently, it had a recall for the battery (that we never got notice of), needed an update (again, something we weren't notified about), and the fuel pump had to be replaced. Three incredibly important things that needed handled before a catastrophe that we were left in the dark about. Don't get me wrong... cars will be cars. I know that and accept that and understand that a car can have an issue after fifteen miles. I get it. HOWEVER, vehicles are NOT cheap and when you pay the fees to have the service and warranties and you are not only NOT made aware of issues but then you're left stranded on the side of the road with your entire family in the middle of the night in a $50k car that has 26k miles on it after doing EVERYTHING right, you tend to get a little pissy. At least, I f*cking did. 

I love my car... but at this point I'd damn near get rid of it just so I never have to deal with Ford customer service EVER again. The Ford "Case Manager" I had was assigned to me and called on Wednesday (remind you, this happened on the previous Friday) to tell me she was off Thursday, didn't return my call on Friday and couldn't help me come Saturday. She did absolutely nothing helpful or offered good advice and we were not helped until we got it to our dealership and they handled it all. Needless to say, case mangers? A F*cking joke.

Thankfully, we got Trudy back. And she seems to be in good spirits (thanks you mechanic Nick!).

But... that whole situation definitely broke us in spirit. It was disheartening to find out where I stand to everyone close around me. My SIL/BIL were already figuring out what to do with the kids and loading up because they were not about to leave us on the side of the road. They were going to make the nine-hour trip... but some people I called couldn't even be bothered to make the one-and-a-half-hour trip. Really lets you know where you stand with who... that's all I'm saying.  

At that point, we were broken and sad and just f*cking over it. So... I decided to liquidate some shit, we got rid of a bunch more shit (my brother and the scrappers in our alley have made out like bandits), and we scheduled to have movers take our shit.

Why? Because we want out and there's literally NOTHING keeping us here anymore. It's hard to sell a house when I work remote (ie: always home) and you have two pups, so we're clearing out and it's going on the market next Monday. They dropped off our containers last Friday, we packed them up this last weekend, and they'll be picked up this Thursday. We'll be sticking around so I can work on Friday (I took off Monday) and then we're heading out to our new life come that evening.

And we CANNOT f*cking wait. Since I get to stay a remote employee, it opened up some possibilities and we're going to the little town we originally wanted. We'll be staying with Dev's dad until our house is built/ready and then life will be lifing. We're all so damn excited we can't wait. 

We're ready for this life change and are ready to leave all the negative behind. This experience/transition has been eye opening and devastating and exciting and all the things... and it's time. It's time for Katie, Dev and their pups to be South. 

Keep your fingers crossed for us... we're hoping for the best and forcing our way through. This time next week... hopefully I'll be knee-deep in house plans surrounded by peace and quiet... and hopefully some barbeque. And for the love of all that's holy, pray this house sells quickly so we can just be DONE with Indiana altogether.

There so much more I want to talk about... I'm hoping the next update has all sunshine and roses to share. (Work is going really good- but that's for another time). But like I said, this is where we are now. Still playing the waiting game... but with a deadline in our sights. And it can't come soon enough.

You just gotta keep on keeping on... know what I mean?!

Life has been all over the place lately. Between training for my new job and trying to get our house ready to sell... it's been... exhausting.

INTERESTING. I mean, interesting. 

I'm kidding. Life has been good and things are great. We just both really want to be done with this "transition" period and be settled into our new life. But, like all good things... there's bumps along the way. 

Working from home though? I could definitely get into this. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do once I have to go back into an office a few days a week, because getting up, getting my coffee and then just hopping on my computer and doing what I need to do is where it's at. It's a good time and this hub situation I have going on is AMAZING.

The job is going good too. I was a little leery the first couple of weeks... thought I was way in over my head and had made a disastrous mistake. But, everything has evened out and I've fallen into a nice rhythm. Is it alot? Yes. Do I like it? Also yes.

We're coming along on the house (Dev has been working his tail off when given the opportunity) and it's mostly getting rid of trash and finishing up the odds and ends of painting/electric/curb appeal moving forward. We had to wait until the weather broke before we could even start outside though.

Neither of us are going to miss Indy winters.

The pups are living it up and can't wait to go back South for a never-ending supply of biscuits that seem to always be in their grandpa's pocket (like they don't get ALL the biscuits here!).

We're all just ready to be on with it. And we're tired of the back/forth commute. We'll be going down again next month for another meeting I have and while we're hoping to be "ready ready" by then... we're also realistic that this might not be the last time. (Hopefully soon though!)

So yeah, that's where we're at. Still trying to get this new life we want and working our way towards it. A million things to do but checking them off the list as we go.

Wish us luck... we need this to be done! And we want to be settled.

BOOM Bitch. But also, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!🎄🎄

Ok... this is... a lot. Like... A LOT. So... your girl did a thing... got a thing... something a thing. THE POINT IS our gameplan to move South might be getting a little bit more fast-tracked because your girl got herself a new job. I KNOW.

I never thought I would be here. I literally thought I would be at my current company until I either retired (ha! the dream that none of us ever get) or killed over or they fired me. Something... nothing like getting a whole different job. But now... here we are.

And it is A LOT for me to feel. Overwhelmed... grateful... about to blow the tippy top right off my head. AHHH!! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited, but I'm also extremely nervous and anxious. Nervous that I may be in over my head... anxious that I'm going to screw this up and ruin our lives... but extremely grateful for the opportunity and overwhelmed by the magnitude of which this changes our lives. 

Besides... we wanted a whole new life and nothing says whole new life more than changing absolutely everything about it. Aside from us and our pups, we want to change EVERYTHING else. So... we are. 

I am having so many feelings about everything and just trying to push through them all. They're so overwhelming that it'll be more of an on-the-go layout.

I got the confirmation for my new job on Tuesday and immediately let my boss know. Now... we got two weeks (not including the rest of this weird holiday week) to do what they want me to do and then I'm South bound for on-location training. After that I'll be working remote... until we move to Florida and then we'll (they'll) decide on my hybrid in office/remote roll. 

I didn't expect this to happen. It quite literally came out of nowhere... but who am I to kick a gift horse in the mouth when amazing opportunities fall from the sky?

I thought we had more time... after my job let me know that transitioning to a remote position wouldn't be feasible for me and they wanted me to start training another girl, Dev and I talked about moving up our timeline. Literally the only thing holding us in Indy was my job, so why wouldn't we after knowing it wasn't an option anymore? But... we still thought it would be somewhere between six-eight months. We definitely wanted to be out before next Winter set in... but then this happened and jumpstarted even more.

I will say though, ever since we just became firm in our decision to move back South, it feels like the universe has been pushing us in that direction expediently. Things are falling into place and while it's all still crazy, it very much feels like the right decision.

The progress we've made on our house is insane. We've been needing to go through and get rid of things FOREVER and there's no time like the present, right? And through it we have been. We decided to get rid of all the negativity and bullshit that we've been carrying around for other people all these years and literally start NEW when we restart. No more living a life based on the worry of other people's opinions. If it makes us happy, it's ours. If not? Bye bye. People, places, things. All of it.

Needless to say... we've thrown out A LOT of shit. I was a little sad to see some of it go... but only because I'm a hoarder and so much is changing so quickly that my anxiety is trying to keep up. After it's out of sight though? I'm loving it. The house is well underway to being painted (Eggshell-Gypsum for the clean finished looking win) and then there's just a few more things to do inside and we can switch to out. 

There's still so damn much to get accomplished. We need to talk to AM about selling our house probably this weekend (when it's ready) and get all this trash bullshit hauled off (no idea how we're going to achieve that) and finish painting and fix the fence and do some curb appeal.

Plus... I need to train a little for this new job (I was sent a link with some videos so hopefully that will give me a little insight) and buy some new clothes for it because your girl doesn't dress business... but I will be in this office with the bigwigs. I'll also need to take out my lip ring, hide my green hair, and cover these tattoos. You know... make me look boring instead of the exotic creature I am. All good though... it's all temporary to get where we need to be. 

There's so much to do and so little time to do it... but is that gonna stop us from having a nice dinner and watching Stranger Things on this here Christmas day/evening? Nope. We literally accomplished so much yesterday and earlier today that we're gonna break and eat and watch these little motherf*ckers in Hawkins.

What? We got SO much done in the last two days... time for Dev to take a little nap (before he gets up and makes me that delicious steak) and me to make some mashed taters... and for us to curl up with our babies and cuddle and just be together. 

Life is changing... fast. It's here and we're trying to keep up. At the end of the day, we're gonna be ok. But if y'all could keep some good vibes and put some good juju out there for us... we'd appreciate it. Thanks to all our family and friends that reached out this year for Christmas (even though the Glisson's were super lame this year and got absolutely nothing holly jolly accomplished... there's too much to do!). 

It's been so crazy the last couple of months... let's see where the next few take us. 

From our family to yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Moving: a tale of the girl who's LAN cable & curling iron got thrown away.

I've been talking about this whole moving process for around two (two and a half?) months now. Well, Saturday was the big day. Uncle D woke me up at what felt like the unGodliest hour imaginable, but what was really 7:45 am. We all got up, got ready (against our will.... I guess that's what Aunt Poot and I get for drinking two bottles of wine while watching MacGyver and Hawaii Five-0 the night before?), and headed out.

Momma and Poot stayed at the new house (that has wood floors and I never knew how much wood floors made everything echo, but I still love them.... I might actually get to hear in my own house now, because everything is amplified!) to wait for the cable (really internet, but whatever) guy and hang curtains and such and Uncle D, Greg and I headed over to our big storage unit to start moving our stuff.

Oh, and we have a couch now.

My cousin, J, was helping us and said that he would meet us over at the storage unit (we had two, one big one and one small and now we only have one condensed one which I'm good with, because we don't have a lot of storage space at the new house.... yet!), so we waited for him outside the gate. We figured that with Uncle D's truck and trailer and my cousins truck that it would take us about three trips/loads to get everything.... and that's when he pulled up in a 24 foot box truck.

Where did he get it? Well.... he got it from our work. (Did I mention we work at the same place? If not, we do.) My other uncle that runs the place said that we could use it to make the move easier and to say that it made me extremely happy wouldn't even be the half of it! We got it all in one load.... except for about four big pieces of furniture that we wanted moved to our other unit, because we don't have a place for it right now. You have never seen anyone be as happy as I was that even though no matter what moving sucks, but it was easier this time around. And hopefully, I'll never have to move again.

Now we have a million things to unpack and organize, we have to figure out what we want to keep and what we want to get rid of (we got rid of Grammy's chair.... we didn't want to, but it's kind of old and it's been in and out of storage for years and we would never have gotten that smell out of it), and you wouldn't believe the amounts of laundry that we have. We may or may not take it to the laundromat so we can whack it out in one fell swoop.... or I may just start laundry this evening and not stop until it's done. It really just all depends. It would be easier to go to the laundromat, but I kind of just don't want to leave our house since we're in it now. *insert laughter but also seriousness here*

The house is very nice and it's great having our own place again.... so just wish us luck for all of our future endeavors. And a little luck on this whole finding effort to actually unpack and organize everything wouldn't hurt either.

It's a process.... it's always a process. A throw myself off a cliff process.

I've been talking about this whole us moving thing for awhile now. I've talked about why we were moving out of the house we had been living for two years, and all of the problems there.

I've mentioned how much I hate moving and at one point Momma and I even considered moving back to Tennessee (it was a short little conversation during one of the "f*ck this" moments and we both realized it was a horrible idea and brushed it off).

I try to get through process like this with sarcasm, but the fact that it can all be frustrating is a real thing.

We were only going to be staying with my aunt for about two weeks.... and that turned into two months (and switched aunts houses).

Everytime we seemed to have found something either things didn't pan out or a offer was put in before we could even schedule to look at it.

It just honestly seemed impossible and I kind of wanted to throw myself off of a cliff.... not to be dramatic or anything.

And then we thought we had maybe found a great contender.... but then again, we had thought that before and it had been snatched, so we didn't want to get our hopes up too high. Once the house had been seen, an offer was put in and the inspection had to be done. We knew that whatever we found was going to need some kind of work. And if it was something like paint or flooring, something like that, we were good with it. But if it was a "major" problem, it would be a no-go for us.

We got the inspection back and there were just a few things that we had asked the current owners to fix and then we had to wait on their response.... and wait. And then.... wait some more. It was basically like being in Limbo and it was stressful.

But then again, this entire process/situation has been stressful, so we were pretty used to it at that point.

The current owner's counter-offered and agreed to fix three of the four things that were submitted and the last thing (unattached garage roof needs some work) would be up to us. They've been fixing things for a couple of weeks and now it's time for closing.

We weren't sure how far off the closing would be, since the paperwork takes FOREVER (all paperwork for everything on the planet takes forever.... I do a shit ton of paperwork at my current job, so I know this), so we've just been waiting.

And then the call came in and told us the closing date and time. Y'all, the house will be ours.... tomorrow at 5:00pm. And I for one am pretty damn happy about it. We'll be moving the majority of our stuff this weekend, but will probably have to get the rest of it over a little bit of time, because it's such short notice and some of our family has offered to help us move stuff, but they have lives too and can't just spend all of their time on us. And we're good with that.

So, wish us luck y'all. Hopefully, this house will be the "last" house.... because f*ck moving.

Just chilling here in Limbo totally not about to have a nervous breakdown.

We're still waiting to hear back about the house. While we're hopeful that this is "the one" and that it just might cure all of our current problems (fat chance, but please don't take this little ray of hope away), the fact that you have to wait on things like this is for lack of a better word.... AGONY.

Ok, maybe it's not that dramatic, but I think we can all agree that it still sucks.

When we decided on this moving thing we were hoping that it would take no more than a month to find something and not a whole lot longer to get in.... and that was about two months ago. Which granted isn't an extreme amount of time, but when you're living with someone else, feeling like you're a huge convenience, it feels alot longer.

Not to mention, I think we all have our little habits when we live by ourselves, or with certain people, and you have to be aware and change those things, because you're not in your own home anymore.

And Aunt Poot/Uncle D have made us feel nothing but welcome, but I'm assuming that they would like to have their house back to a two man team, since that's what they're used to. (Although when we move, Poot is gonna have to come down and visit a bunch).

Moving is such a pain in the ass. Once you decide to make a "big move" everything seems insane and if you don't have a great game plan, it all seems a little more stressful than it has to be. Then again, you can also think you've found something that's going to work out great and it turns out to be a shit show.

But then again, most things you do are, so you just know to roll with it at this point.

When we had our inspection last Tuesday, there were just a couple of things that he was concerned about. We knew that the garage roof needed work, and while we put that on the list to find out if the current owners will fix any part of that when we followed up with them, we kind of put it on there as a Hail Mary. With it not being directly attached to the house, it's important, but I think we can get it through the winter and maybe deal with it when things settle a little bit in the summer.

The other two things that he recommended was to have someone come in and take the furnace apart to have it checked thoroughly and to have the drainage checked (apparently the tub and sinks drain slower than he likes and it may just need to be cleaned out by pros?). When they responded to us they were getting quotes from people about the drains and furnace, and now we're just waiting to hear back on all of that.

BUT IT'S STILL STRESSFUL DAMMIT.

When you're looking for "the one."

So.... I've been fairly vocal about this whole having to find a new house, because the one we were living in really should be condemned (and sadly, the landowners have already tricked someone else into moving in).

In the process of me being very vocal about this, I have also made several jokes to try and make life lighter, because let's be real, it's a very stressful and strenuous thing to deal with.

This whole year has been quite anxiety-ridden, (some not bad, just stressful), and some very life altering things have happened, and it just never seems to lighten up. But, we push through and just keep going, because that's what we do. And at the end of the day, at least we have each other and you just can't put a price tag on that kind of thing. It's indescribable.

It's been quite a process.

The next house that we move into will probably be the house that Momma and I spend the rest of our lives in. Bubba tends to bounce around wherever he wants to and always has, but this will legitimately probably be the last one. Mostly because we're both so damn tired of moving.

We've moved so many damn times in my life, and she moved a million times before that, so we're just damned ole done. It's exhausting and having some stability and something to call "our own" doesn't sound like such a horrible idea.

That's why when the conversation came up about this move, it was decided that we should buy instead of rent. And there were a whole lot of factors in that, and a whole lot of back and forth, but in the end, a mortgage and house insurance made more sense than rent to us. And yes, there are alot of factors that go into home ownership, but there are also a large number of reasons that this makes the most sense.

Furthermore, let's be honest, bitches are raising rent to ridiculous prices and you can't even really afford to make ends meet. Not saying that owning a house will make that easier, because it won't, but when you break it down (or at least, when we broke it down), it seems like this is the most sensible thing to do at this time.

It was brought to my attention that someday I may want to move back to Tennessee, because in my head and heart that's my home, but honestly, I have no desire to move back. Sure, I miss some of my friends and I miss the quiet peacefulness of it, and the country roads, and small towns, but it's not the place that I grew up anymore. And we're all different.

So, for now, we are planning our lives right here. Hopefully it will get smoother from here on out.

We've looked at so many houses in a two month span that honestly they're all starting to look alike and run together and I can't keep most of them straight. But hopefully, God willing and the creeks don't rise, we may have found one. It's even a little bit below the price range we were looking into and if everything checks out and is on the up and up, it'll be the house we close on and move into. Our inspection is today (11/7).

Fingers crossed.

I'm currently homeless with no couch.

As most people know, we are staying with my aunt (Momma's sister) and uncle for a few weeks until we can find/approve/sign paperwork/move into a different house, since the one we were living in was a mess.

(Also, we were originally staying with a different aunt, but now we're staying with Poot and Doodle.)

I can't emphasize enough how stressful of a process this has been. It truly has been insane and there have been days that I would just like to stay in bed and not move to join the working world around me. You ever do that? I've never been one to reset an alarm and have always gotten straight up out of bed when I needed to.... that is not the case anymore, as I reset my alarm at least twice a morning.

*oomph*

But through everything we have just reminded ourselves that this is all temporary (it would go alot quicker if bitches didn't try to sell you a shack with a list of problems and a giant price tag), and our family has made the transition quite a bit easier. They've done nothing but try to help and make us feel welcome, and for that, I am forever thankful.

However, that doesn't mean that all stress has dissipated (quite the opposite, actually) and through it all, at least we've kept our sense of humors. And yes, that is what people say to make themselves feel better about their lives being in shambles and they're contemplating running away to Argentina. (And no, I don't know why I picked Argentina). 

We're going to be moving.... again.

Almost five years ago I made a dramatic move (dramatic physically and emotionally, because hello I'm a girl and that's what we do) and left my childhood hometown (in the boondocks) to move Momma back to her home state. Things we're crazy and hectic and life seemed all over the place.

We lived with two of my uncles for about a year and a half and then she and I got ourselves our apartment.... and only lived there for about a year. We were about six months into living in our apartment when my brother decided to flip his life upside down and move back in with us, so that in turn flipped our lives upside down (and yes, I sang that in the Fresh Prince's voice).

After finishing the lease out in our two-bedroom apartment we moved into a three-bedroom house. And we've been there for almost two years (our lease is up the beginning of October). But, now here we are, fixing to move.... again?

Why are we moving?

Well, when we moved into this house I made the comment that I wasn't moving again until I died, because I'm tired of it, it's hard, and I'm getting too old to be lugging boxes everywhere (no, I'm not old, but I'm dramatic). But.... I didn't realize that the house was going to start falling in on us and that our landlords would do NOTHING about it. Seriously, that's what happening. We call and report the things that are wrong with the house and they NEVER get back to us about any of it. And we've called MULTIPLE times.

Not long after we moved in (three to four months, maybe?) our furnace went out and I had to call and cuss and pretty much threaten to call the authorities, because they didn't want to fix it. They just wanted us to live with no heat.... and it was -6 degrees outside (29 degrees in the house). Do you know how pissed off it made me to have to threaten to call the authorities? I ain't ever called cops in my entire life and these bitches almost made me start.

Some of the other things going on with the house? Well, where would you like me to start?

Underneath the kitchen sink is going to have to be completely replaced, because every single pipe leaks and the sink itself is coming loose. The baseboards in our kitchen leak and when it rains/snows/etc we end up with standing water across the kitchen (I got up early the other morning and went into the kitchen and had to pull out my Risky Business moves, because I went sliding). The ceiling in our kitchen is coming, down, because of a major roof leak.... and so is the ceiling in the laundry room.... and the one in our bathroom. Speaking of the jacked up roof, shingles fly off with even the slightest whisper of wind. The steps on the front porch are not attached (at all). The bathroom sink is detaching from the wall. The caulk/molding in the shower is mostly gone. The toilet won't flush (and it's not a being clogged up problem) and the septic backs up into the front yard. Is that everything? No. Is that more than enough? It's too much.

So now, here we are. Playing the waiting game.

Unfortunately, there have been a lot of hiccups surrounding this entire thing, and we thought that we were just going to have to stay in the house we were in until we could find something better (and pay the ridiculous amount of money they wanted for a "month to month" lease instead of a "year long" lease).... but then one day, my Aunt Mary came to the house and insisted that we stay with her and my uncle for a couple of weeks, so we wouldn't have to live in the cruddy house and pay gobs and gobs of money to them. I was leary of it, because I hate asking people for help, (and I swore I'd never live with more family again) but she pretty much insisted and informed me that I didn't ask, it was her idea (because every woman in my family answers things the exact same way.... with sarcasm!) and now we're out of that house and staying with them (for just a few weeks) while we look at available houses.

And the moving process? Let's just say it was a long weekend.

I'm all over the place right now.

(And tired as hell- As you can probably tell by my face).

For starters, I totally held a baby (my friend- Shelley's) and she liked me. (She'll be two months old in a couple of days). Like, not the usual complacent kind of liked, but for real likability. Clearly, I am the Baby Whisperer. And since this will probably never happen again (kids and I tend to not see eye to eye- because I think they're demons), I wanted proof. So, there it is.

October seems to just be a busy month all the way around. Seriously, it's like a never ending battle with events, change, and all the other "going ons".

I don't even know where to begin. I have so many posts that I want to write, so many things that I want to share and a mess of pictures that I want to post, and yet, I can't seem to get to all of it. I thought maybe I would start out small and just do a little catch up day by day, but even that seems to be a daunting task. It's like I just can't get ahead for love nor money.

There are things that have happened and tasks that have been completed (the moving/unpacking is the majority of the way done- Hallelujah!!) and we've been going non-stop with all of it. Seriously, I don't know if we've had a weekend or a full evening off without some sort of task awaiting to be done. It's a never ending battle (not unlike the Battle of Helm's Deep).

But I have made it a mission of mine to update and try to catch back up. Which, if we're being perfectly honest, is quite a bit to take on considering I have a month worth of craziness to write about. It's all good though, Momma's good (just got a check-up today with her neurologist and things are looking good- HALLELUJAH!! I could not be happier with that news), Greg is doing good, he's still pimping his room out like there's not tomorrow. Tayder is a little sore, but I'm going to go ahead and contribute that to everything that's been going on (i.e. craziness) and his harness. And me?! Well, let's just say that I'm still chugging along and going to try to catch up with my sanity (however, I think that ship has long sailed into the horizon).

Also, remind me to talk about me being sick. Let's just say, red fettuccine noodles came out of my nose, and leave that story for another day.

I disappeared for a couple of weeks.

(Only from the internet though).

I haven't written a blog post in almost two weeks. Actually, it would be over two weeks since I technically wrote my last post and scheduled it, but let's not get all technical today. I'm too tired for it. I do have a reason for being so absent though. A good reason? I don't know, but it is a reason.

We moved.

Well, we're still moving stuff, so I guess "we're moving" is a more accurate description, but there it is. That's the reason. We (and by we I mean they decided and I was like- whatevs) decided to move from our two bedroom apartment into a three bedroom house. This decision came from the fact that a few months ago Greg decided he needed to come live with us for awhile and we came to the realization that if that was going to happen, we needed more space.

Besides, the people we were renting our apartment from weren't taking care of the landscaping/cleaning, they wouldn't fix anything when you called the office for maintenance, people trash everything and they started having sticky fingers. We've had things stolen, it's loud even at night from where people yell and let their children run around until one o'clock in the morning and someone attempted to write on the fender of our car. Luckily for me, I can't bring myself to be offended by someone when they can't even properly spell what it is they're trying to call me. Sorry, not sorry.

So, with our lease coming to an end, we started looking at bigger apartments and houses. It took awhile, but we finally found the one that would suit us just fine. It's a three bedroom, one bath house. It's got living room, kitchen, laundry room and additional room (whatever that means- I assume people can use it as a dining room, office, or playroom). It's got a two car garage and a decent size yard. It comes complete with some real friendly neighbors and right around the corner from Aunt Poot and Uncle Darrell. Not too shabby.

[[Side note: Our neighbors were talking to Greg the other day and informed him there's a guy that lives on the side street connected to ours that is a on-again/off-again crack addict. Apparently he'll be clean for a month or two and then he'll go on a bender for a month or so. And the only reason they told us this is, because apparently when he's on a bender he's been known to break into houses to steal things to support his habit. They said that he's never broken into their house and they've never had any trouble out of him, nor has anybody directly around us, but he is known for it. I informed them that they might want to make it known that he might be a crackhead only 65% of the time, but I'm crazy 100% of the time, so if he goes breaking into our house, I have no qualms about beating him with a bat, shooting him in the foot, or stabbing him in the leg with a screwdriver. I don't deal well with crackheads or thieves. Believe it or not, they were on my side about this.]]

Like I was saying, moved(or ing). After Momma and I moved into our apartment last October, we both said that we weren't moving again for a really long time. Honestly, we're just over it and moving is incredibly hard. It's just an unpleasant part of life. But, when Greg talked to us about coming back home, we knew realistically that we would have to so we could accommodate the extra person and all of his belongings. I tried to ignore it and was hoping everybody else would to, just so I wouldn't have to do all of this, but guess what? To no avail, and I knew that, but you can't blame a girl for trying.

[[Another side note: Momma and I counted how many times we've moved and just since we've had Tayder the total was eight. That's not counting all the times before that (a lot).]]

And in all actuality, I'm real happy that we moved (again, or ing) and that Momma and Greg are much happier now. It doesn't really phase me, like I said, I've never been real picky when it comes to house, apartment, trailer, etc. As long as Momma is good and I have a place to live, shower, watch tv, I'm good.

We've been moving things this whole week (we signed the lease on Monday). Aunt Poot and Uncle Darrell have been our biggest helps (like always, they're awesome) and Ashley came over after work today and helped us get the rest of our "big stuff" (i.e. beds, hutch, curio cabinet, recliner). Have I ever mentioned that she's awesome? Because if not, let me just tell you- she is.

And let me tell you, we are all worn out. Momma's little foot is swollen and sore, poor Aunt Poot is sick, Greg is himself (we've worked all week and moved things after work) and I'm tired and sore. You should see me wash my hair at this point, it's hilarious. My arms are so sore that I can barely lift them long enough to wash my hair. (Also, I hurt my back. Again. And can barely move without being in pain. Again. Go figure.) I kind of just want to take a shower (actually I want someone to give me one, because- sore) and lay down in the fetal position on the mattress (it's on the living room floor at this moment), let the fan hit me in the face and sleep for like three or four days.

It's been crazy. I've been up until midnight or after every night this week (I get up at five in the morning for work) trying to get everything moved, cleaned and taken care of. You know, the usual. We only have (probably) one trip of boxes/totes left and then we're done and will be permanently done with the apartment. Well, after we get the rest of the boxes/totes out I have to vacuum and patch any holes that I missed, but other than that, we're done. Momma and Greg are going with Uncle Darrell early Saturday morning to get our stove/refrigerator and Aunt Poot said she found us a washer, so all we'll need is a dryer and we'll be good to go. We're almost there.

Moving is exhausting and I need a drink!!

I think you are incorrect about that, Sir.

As most people know, we're looking for a new place to live. While our apartment is alright for the most part, we've had some problems there the last few months (people stealing, throwing their trash everywhere and management being tools) and with Greg deciding to live with us on a more regular basis, we just need a different place.

The hunt has been on for about a month and a half; last Friday we had an appointment to look at a 3BR/1BA in our price range. Aunt Poot and Solae rode with Momma and I, because we were all already hanging out and Greg and his gf came, because they have separation issues that make me want to throw up in my mouth. But I digress.

Uncle Darrell gave me this so I could "handle myself". He said it's appropriate for me, because it's called the "Tennessee Thumper". And yes, that's its real name. Too bad I didn't have it a day sooner.

First, the guy (Landlord-LL) called to push back our appointment by 45 minutes and none of us really thought anything about it, because with it being a Friday evening, people tend to run behind or be all over the place. Then we got there. And oh boy.

Before I tell you about this house let me explain something.

I don't care about cosmetics. Anyone that has seen my car will tell you this. As long as it serves its purpose, it's alright with me. I think that as long as a house is structurally sound, cosmetic work can be easily done as you go. So, this isn't me just "being a dick".

When you walk up to the house the first thing that you notice is that it needs painted. Cosmetic. And then you look to the left side of the house and realize that it has significant water damage. Not so cosmetic. We went into the house, that you have to jump up into, because the step is gone and the smell that hits you is something else. You can literally smell the dry rot. The carpet is gross and if you look to the right, you can notice that the living room window is leaking.

If you're brave enough to go further into the house you can venture into the kitchen that has a hole that runs across the baseboard and is about 7 inches wide, 1 foot long and 6 inches deep. There is no refrigerator or cabinets. The stove? I don't want to talk about the stove. I was trying to be nice, so I looked at the LL, giving him the benefit of the doubt and say- "It looks like you've been doing some work in here" to which he replies- "Yeah, I'm almost done" and before I could stop myself I asked- "Are you sure?"

The LL informed me that there was no A/C, we would have to use window A/C units and it was heated with baseboard heaters. Yay, what I always wanted, baseboard heaters in a house that has water backing into it, because that's not a fire hazard or anything. Then I went to check out the bathroom and it's not just a dirty tub I saw, but the remnants from where the plumbing is clearly backing up into the tub and shows no signs of stopping, unless dealt with. I walked out to check the washer/dryer hook-ups that are in their own little section and sank into the floor. The house sets on a slab. How the hell do you sink into a floor when the house sits on a slab?!!

The bedrooms are questionable and there's something living in the closet of the one that would be deemed "my room". That's great, I always wanted my childhood nightmares to become a reality for me. And there was something on the wall, I'm not sure what it was, but it reminded me of this movie I saw once. It had similar things on the wall and those were entities that ended up eating Ashley Green after it drove her crazy. No thank you.

When all was said and done I asked the LL basic Renter questions. If you could have seen Aunt Poot's face. Wait until you hear his answers.

Me: So, around what do the utilities run? LL: Oh. I don't know.

Me: I see that there are no cabinets in the kitchen, is this something that you're doing on your own? LL: You don't need cabinets.

Me: I know you usually have to provide your own washer/dryer, but will you be supplying a refrigerator, or do I need to buy that as well? LL: Well, you can buy a refrigerator, but when you move you have to leave it in the house.

Me: Are you going to fix the hole in the kitchen wall? LL: No, that will be up to you guys. Me: Oh. So it'll just be taken off of our rent? LL: No. That's just your responsibility.

LL: Also, I'm going to need you to give me $90 for a credit and background check. Me: What if I'm not interested in the house? LL: Well, I still showed it to you.

Me: This carpet? LL: It's brand new! Me: Really?! What in the hell did the old carpet look like?

Me: You know this house has extensive water damage, right? Like, I'm pretty sure if the board of health was called they would quarantine this house and condemn it. LL: And as long as you pay your rent on time, we'll never have to worry about you getting in trouble for that.

Needless to say, he got some strong, opinionated words from me, complete with repeats of- I DON'T THINK THAT MEANS WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS, SIR!!!!! And we're still looking for a new house to move into. Wish us luck.

#Movingishard

Don't you just love that you can literally hashtag anything these days? No? Just me? Whatevs, I love it. So, as most of you know, Momma and I recently moved into our own apartment after living with my two uncles and little cousin for going on two years. And while that was fun {to begin with, but then one uncle became increasingly grumpy, and the kid turned into a teenager aka- jerk}, it's very nice to have our own place again. But I have made a discovery.

We've moved a million {figuratively} times in my life, and we always kind of liked to say that we considered ourselves nomads. It always made us sound cool, you know, to us. But now we have discovered that we detest moving, because it's hard, and if I'm being perfectly honest, neither one of us is getting any younger. Thank goodness that we had family that helped out with the whole process, but there are certain things that you kind of just have to do. We like to refer to it as- Lone Rangering it. Basically because, I love the new Lone Ranger movie. Yeah, I said it, WHAT ABOUT IT?!! That was a great movie and you know it. Sorry, back to the actual point.

I put in to have off yesterday like a month ago {before we knew we were moving- it all happened so fast}, but it just all kind of worked out, so I've just come off of a three day weekend. Don't worry, it wasn't as glamorous as it sounds. It was a whole lot of unpacking, putting up, arranging, then re-arranging, putting together furniture, and on and on and on. It's been really hard, but it's also been amazing to have our own space again. Tayder is loving it to.

Also, we finally have cable, and not only did I get to catch up on my Sons of Anarchy and Chicago PD watching {Thank you, Demand}, but we got to watch Dog the Bounty Hunter and like five episodes of Wahlburgers, which makes me happy, because Donnie Wahlberg is AMAZING. And I finally learned who sings the song- Classic, and I can't quit singing it, because it's awesome. Just listen to it you're welcome.