Moving Day!!!

Well, we are off on our new adventure! Goodbye Florida! Hello Kansas City!!!

The loading of the truck....

I thought this was hilarious! We are renting from budget so I hope our truck has a funny saying on it too!

Today is the day we are loading everything up, we are leaving early tomorrow morning and then the adventure will really begin. Kyle gets back from his trip to Los Angeles this morning and he will have no time to rest as we load up the truck! Kyle is fretting about my back and how it will hold up with this many hours in the car...but, I think it will be fine! I have my lil' back pillow and some meds if need be! Let's get this show on the road! Kansas here we come!

It's 5 o'clock somewhere.

On my first day of vacation unemployment I am just sitting here in my delicious hammock sipping on a pina colada...

Oh wait! I am moving - not on vacation! Out of the hammock! Alright now - last minute doctor's visits, oil change, medical records and such and such errands, packing, packing and more packing..oh yeah, dinner plans, more packing, phone calls, checking things off the list (oh yeah baby! you bet there is quite a list going...you know about me and lists!)

So my blissful hammock picture really looks a lot more like this:

Well, I came about my unemployment voluntarily because my hubby and I are relocating for his job - but it still makes me cringe a bit (okay a bunch) to not know when I will be bringing in any income. So I am now on the hunt for work. I mean I need a JOB...like yesterday!

Momentous Days

Today is my last day at my job. Hopefully it won't be too long before I find a new place to work that feels safe and relaxed. I will miss this place and while not having to come to work tommorrow feels like I am going on vacation...I know that when I leave today I will be sad. I will miss the sweet and funny people and the caring and considerate bosses I have been blessed with. I will always cherish the education I received while working here and will always appreciate what they taught me...whether or not it all benefits me in the future. I hope that I won't work somewhere that requires me to draw roof details, or site and plumbing plans - but, if they do you can be sure that I will be prepared!

Maybe I won't find another place with Trapper Keeper 70's wall graphics and crazy Blue and Yellow accent walls. Perhaps I will choose finishes under one type of fluorescent lighting instead of a cool and warm combo. Maybe I will have to pay for my root beer instead of having a stocked fridge and all the peanut butter and crackers you can snack on available to me. I will miss the astronomical amount of diet coke that is drank here daily and I will miss The Biggest Loser rehash sessions with on Wednesdays. I will miss the singing and drumming that happens in the afternoons and no one at my new work will put the Christmas Hippo song over the intercom during the holidays...and somtime's not during the holidays...

Will my new work lower my drafting height desk to my exact measurements and buy me a special chair for my 89 year old back? Will they worry excessively about my chocolate allergy?

I don't know where I will be working or what I will be doing. All I know is that I am leaving a wonderful job and I will miss the people. I am on to new and exciting things and hope to find out exactly what my niche will be in this industry.

So, farewell Florida you have been good to me...aside from the health problems, car accidents and chaos. I fell in love here, got married here, grew up here in more ways than one and you know what? I even became an interior designer here. Thanks Florida and thanks SCMH I will always have you in my heart and in my mind when I am trying to remember the correct way to draw something.

Thanks.

The Moving. The Junk. Whose stuff is this?

Well, we went into the major moving and sorting phase last night after some delish free grilled chicken ala' Oprah. We are starting in the back of the house and working forward - although our complete plan of finishing both rooms was not realized last night, we did make some serious headway and our garage sale pile continues to grow by leaps and bounds! We really have A. LOT. OF. JUNK.

We sorted through papers and boxes just full of STUFF that we hadn't seen in a year (or needed for a year for that matter), and went through pile after pile of clothes. I have a feeling that one garage sale alone won't make a big enough dent in the stack - the rest will go to goodwill or something as we don't have the time to allow for garage sale number 2 and that junk definitely is not coming back inside once it hits the garage!

Tonight we are hoping to finish those rooms up and maybe start to creep our progress through the rest of the house - at least sorting-wise. Tomorrow we will be setting up the garage for the big sale and continuing our packing as it is our last weekend to pack as Kyle will be busy next weekend. Thankfully we have next week to throw it together - hopefully "throwing" it in an organized and easy to unpack fashion.

The best thing about this move is that my Mom will be meeting us in K.C. to unload and move us into our new casa. This is great because my Mom is the best mover ever. EVER. She is best at the unloading because she starts whipping things out of boxes and putting them away immediately - while I just stare at the boxes and decide how to live around them until I need something from them. K and I are the worst movers - it takes us FOREVER to get resettled, we just get overwhelmed by all the stuff (pretty much how we are right now as we are packing said stuff). To put it in perspective - we moved into our current house in July and didn't have company over until Halloween - it is that serious. She will have our kitchen organized and done before she leaves - I just know it! She will probably have pictures on the walls. If we can get things unpacked or at least organized - I will feel less overwhelmed and be ready to start the design and fluffy part where I get everything decorated and organized just how I want it.

I already have some great ideas for the new place (I can imagine my husbands frustrated sigh as he reads that line). I don't have a lot to do today at work so I have been sketching out some layout ideas and leafing through the new Ballard Designs catalog I received this morning (it is already chock full of cyan post-its!). I don't plan to purchase things necessarily from the catalog as I don't have the mullah that is needed - but they are a great source for inspiration especially for things that i might be able to do myself with a little scrappyness and a great yard sale find. Thanks to all the lovely design blogging gals that I know - I will get my ideas ironed out easily. Plus the bonus is that I will get to share my new decorating adventures with all my devoted readers (wink!)

Here are some of the MUST HAVES/ must figure out how to re-create stuff that I found.

These are not the colors of the fabric I would choose - but I love the little banquette seating for a casual kitchen corner.In the new house there is a little kitchen island with an overhang - I think a couple of these stools would look super cute (p.s. they match my kitchen chairs!)I adore this office - I might actually want to go in there if it was this cute (minus the rug)!

So excited to figure this out - maybe I will even post a sketch tomorrow if I come up with something I like. Happy Thursday!

Moving...on.

I used to joke that in every semester of college I was someone different. I was still me of course but, every different semester posed so many new discoveries, challenges, environments, friends and dramas that looking back I feel that in almost every situation I was reinvented.

As a freshman I was a theatre major. I wore yoga pants to class because we had kineseology exercises (not to mention it was at 8am), I lived with my best friend, I was immersed in theatre and discovering all the newness that college brings. I also had a great crush... The next semester I switched to design, lived alone, and dressed up for class everyday (I also didnt have a class before 11 am). The next two were not insanely different but were definitely a departure from the first year as I lived with 3 other girls and the main focus of life was passing the entrance exams to the professional level for design and well of course...blowing off class to go to The City. I had a major family dsyfunction, 4 potent crushes and maybe even a bit-o-love. The next year I was recovering from my bit-o-love and was completely reinvented almost to being unrecognizable, worked insanely at both my job and school, barely slept, had a enormous year long falling out with my best friend and then almost with my other best friend and really ended the year not knowing what my future would look like upon my return. The next two are a little blurry..or slurry but they are by far the most important. There was a lot more love and the rekindling of friendships, a lot of leadership responsibilities and the biggest life change of all - Kyle.

All of this to say that with all those things that were going on in my life I was often almost a different person in each moment as I was learning so many different things about myself through each adventure. By the time I moved to Florida I thought I knew myself inside and out. And I did - as a single girl; but what I have learned in my time since college is who I am in a relationship and who I am in love. It was shocking at times, fulfilling, sometimes scary, and amazingly wonderful and is a time that will always be stored in a sacred chamber of my heart. I will cherish these years here because they are when I fell in love, became an adult, got married and began to learn what it means to share a life with someone.

I am so anxious to see what this next chapter holds for me, in what ways will I grow and reinvent in this new place? What new memories are there to make there and how far away will these years in Florida soon seem to me?

As we pack up our home, cancel cable, forward mail, and plan for this ever nearing life change what can we do to preserve this time in our hearts forever?

We have pictures, friendships and most importantly our memories but, as all things fade with time I hope that we take something with us deeply internal that will stick with us and hold these first years together unmoved and unfading so that we might take them out from time to time and just lounge around with them in our pj's.

And so it begins!

Last night we started packing. It always starts out easy and lighthearted and then...as you open the next closet full to the brim with junk you start to slowly lose your mind - I personally start throwing stuff away and muttering about how we don't need this junk and how I wish we could just move somewhere and buy all new stuff so we wouldn't have to pack.

Well, we aren't to that stage yet but we have officially started the packing adventure. Last night we started going through clothes and organizing stuff for our garage sale this weekend. We are trying to really go through things well and to really stay organized with the move as we have to fit it all in one big Uhaul.

The two worst things for me to pack are the kitchen and all my home accents. The kitchen because I am wrapping everything carefully and worried about things being broken when we arrive at the new house and home accents because I always want to take them down very last. As soon as you take down pictures and curtains and knick knacks everything starts to feel so empty so I like to take those things down as late as possible so that things feel as normal as possible before we are ready to leave the house.

Things are getting ironed out though and we are making our lists of everything we need to do before the big departure - Can you believe it is two weeks from today?!?! Even typing that makes me really really nervous.

This weekend is our yard sale and then the next weekend Kyle's Dad will be here to help us load up and drive to Kansas. Time is just flying by! And next Tuesday is my last day at my job - now that is a whole other blog all together...

Happy Tuesday!

A place to call home...

We headed off into the great unknown last Thursday (the great unknown being Kansas) to spend the weekend searching for a rental home for our move in a few weeks.

We had about 10 places lined up to see over Thursday and Friday and we ended up looking at about 10 extra besides those! We had a pretty rough time overall as we kept hoping that we would walk into the perfect place and just KNOW that it was the right one for us.

By Friday night we were mixed on our top places and had yet to find one that we both totally agreed on and that really met our needs - by Saturday morning we got desperate and started heading back through the lists online to see if we missed any and also driving through a few more neighborhoods and calling the numbers on rental signs (we found quite a few to look at that way and the owners almost always met us within the hour). We were leaving at about 6 am on Sunday so Saturday was really our deadline.

We managed to go see one more place and when we walked in the door we finally felt the first shining moments of victory. The place was amazing and had everything we wanted and was in a great neighborhood to top it off! We called immediately only to find out that there was another lease pending on the home. AHH! terror! We knew we had to have it so the agent told us to go back to the hotel and fill out the online applications and then come to their office and sign a lease and put down a deposit and we could go into a little leasing war for the place. We were exhausted from our search and we designated a fall back place just in case and then we set off to try to get our application in!

So, we actually had to leave on Sunday without knowing if we got the place we wanted or if we were going to take our second choice whose location was not ideal. And then this morning we got a call and WE GOT IT!!! We are so excited and totally shocked that we got picked! I can't believe we will be there in just three weeks!

While we were there we also got to have lunch with all of Kyle's new co-workers and I got a tour of his amazing new office! And that same night (Friday) his boss and boss's wife took us out to Bonefish for dinner. It was great to get to know them and I am really excited for Kyle getting to work at such a great firm. Now, I just have to find something....

I actually got a few cards for design firms while we were there as well as meeting the designer who did Kyle's employers home. It was great to make a contact while I was there.
Yesterday we flew home and picked up our little furry guy from his puppy-sitters and were so relieved to be home. Home for now I guess.....I told Kyle that home for me is where he is so soon our home will be in Kansas. It is so nice to know that we have a place picked out to call home.

Happy Monday!

Time to SPILL THE BEANS!

Hey there friends! Sorry about the weeks of silence here at Reflections of Moi - things have been a little topsy turvy in our world the past few weeks...or months!
After much much prayer and decision making and well, pacing the floor in our living room..the change I have been chatting about is on it's way (and no I am not pregnant).

A few weeks ago Kyle had a job interview in Kansas City and after he returned home they promptly called and offered him a position. We weighed the pros and cons and the other possible job opportunities he had come across and then we ACCEPTED! We are officially moving back to the midwest. We are both originally from there so in many ways we are going to be much closer to our friends and family. But we are excited too that we are starting fresh in a new city. It is really fun to discover a new place and we remember how much fun we had in our first year in Florida! We are both thrilled and we want to thank you all for your prayers and thoughts through the rough times the past few months.

I have turned in my notice at work and we are searching for living arrangements and before long we will be driving out of Florida and off to our new adventure.
With that said...if I am once again silent then it is because the chaos of moving your whole life across the country has overcome my ability and desire to blog- but I will be back with stories to tell and fun new adventures to share when things calm down! And don't worry! I will take pics of the trek to share with you all.

Gentlemen..Start your engines!

This week is going to be an interesting one. My mind and body were exhausted this weekend in anticipation of what was happening this week. My Father is coming to visit on Thursday and will be with us until the following Tuesday. We sign our lease on Friday and will be moving into the rental house on Saturday.
It was very fortunate that my Dad's visit was scheduled when it was as far as us moving as I have been told to take it extremely easy for the next several weeks by my doctors. So Kyle will have a second pair of hands to help - although we have hired movers to do the brunt of the work. Work is lining up to present a hectic week as well - with the possibility of a day trip to Atlanta (my fingers are crossed that it waits but who knows!). I already have to travel today to a church we are building an hour or so away from my office. And basically we have today and tomorrow to pack our apartment (we have accomplished almost nothing thus far) up as Wednesday we have lifegroup and Thursday my Dad will be here and I would like to have a comfy place for him to stay amidst the boxes. This kills me because being a good hostess is so important to me. The type A part of me goes into overdrive when I have a guest coming to stay or dinner guests coming over. I'm not sure why - but the whole hostess thing is a huge deal to me and I struggle with knowing my Dad will be visiting us in chaos. I have calmed myself with the fact that he is a guy and I know that he does not see the world as many of us women do. If my Mom were here I would be a wreck about the mess!!

Along with all of that there is the unavoidable errands, emails and calls to make to transfer electric and cable services and renters insurance to get squared away. We are also planning to paint the master bedroom and bathroom on Saturday (this will be my job as I cant lift anything for the move and am hopeful that painting will not be too strenuous) and on Friday after we sign the lease I believe we will be giving the house a quick scrub down to be ready for our things and relocating our 50 gallon fish tank and fish so they will be out of the way of the movers (this should be interesting as we have to save a fair amount of the water to transfer with the fish so we dont put them out of equilibrium with too much new water).

We are also on a craiglist hunt for a washer and dryer set. We have found that somes great deals are out there and we are searching for the right price. We have found though that things sell so fast that you have to constantly monitor the list if you are searching for specific things. Twice we have called on items and been told that they have just sold and they were only on the website for an hour. Crazy....

We thought we had found the perfect puppy this weekend as well on an add from someone in Tampa. Surprisingly enough it turned out to be some sort of internet scam with someone pretending to have this dog in order to get personal information. It was crazy but they got nothing from us as we realized it sounded fishy on the second email from the supposed puppy owner. Wow..it is a scary world out there!

I had a great time on Saturday with my girlfriends - we met up for lunch at Crispers and then went back to the Pottery Patch for another fun experience. We decided that painting is theraputic and we all enjoy it so much as we sit there and talk and take our time painting our chosen pieces of art. I am hoping to get picture of everyones work so I can post more than just my own. This week I made a cookie jar canister. I painted zebra stripes on it with red details and it says "animal crackers" on the front. I can't wait to see the end result after it is glazed and fired. After Pottery, Amanda and I continued on to get pedicures (Pottery and Pedi's!) and had a good time discussing Harry Potter (we had both just finished the 7 book series and didnt want to bore/ annoy the others with our animated discussions of it) much to the amusement of our pedicurists and another lady in the shop. We also were pretty funny as we had stopped by Sweetbay and grabbed some iced teas and Chex Mix as we were starving after our pottery fun and munched on our snacks while sitting in the pedicure chairs. There is nothing as relaxing and rejuvenating as a pedicure (except maybe a massage..). If you are a Harry Potter fan - watch my Overflow page for an upcoming post - if you aren't a fan it will probably make no sense at all.

Back to moving..

I cannot wait to get into this house - there are so many upcoming projects and fun things to do. Along with the puppy, I have some fun refinishing projects to start on (with actual space to do it now!) and Kyle is excited to get a grill and start cooking...I see a lot of meat in my future..lets hope for my sake that that includes a lot of grilled chicken as opposed to red meat as I fear I am constantly fighting the battle of the buldge as of late.

I hope to blog more this week - but if you don't hear from me you can probably figure out the reason!



Have a happy Monday!