Guest post... sort of.

I have a friends and family who have served or are serving in the military. All different branches, all different wars. It's hard for someone to wrap their head around what really happens to those in war. We're shown things on the news.. well some of you may, I don't watch the news. But even that is filtered, we're shown what they want us to see.
This post is almost a year old, but still holds great relevance as to what's going on and what is happening. This post is graphic in nature and language, but it's truthfulness is dumbfounding.
I don't know that 'dumbfounding' is the right word to use but it's all I've got.
Read if you want.. or don't.. it's your choice, but please say a prayer for the guys serving our country. 


http://deadspin.com/5882921/twenty-citizens-worth-of-blood-flowed-through-him-a-medic-confronts-the-open-wounds-of-afghanistan?tag=dr-watts

Things I have learned

 Finding doctors/pediatricians in a new town is hard!

Exploring beyond your comfort zone is great fun.

I make wrong turns, even when TomTom is yelling at me to turn the other way.

Finding a church to call home is crucial, getting involved is even more important.

Going to the movies alone because you haven't found a sitter yet isn't as weird as expected. It is a little weird not having someone to keep an eye on my purse when I have to pee an hour and a half in but that's about it.

Shopping for a kitchen table sucks! I'm a cheapskate but I want a well made table.. is that too much to ask?

Never underestimate the power of new fingernail polish :)

Email and Facebook are great, but a handwritten note is better. I've discovered this from moving. I keep pretty note cards and stamps handy and I've written more in the past 6 months than I think I have in my whole life.

Living someplace where domino's delivers to your door is dangerous to your waistline.

 The local grocer carrying gelato is equally as dangerous.

Don't buy dark furniture unless you like to dust.. yes it looks chic and fashionable but it's a pain to keep wiping it down with pledge.

Along those same lines.. white carpet was NOT made for people with kids.

 Write in a journal every day.. morning and night, believe me.. you always have thoughts that are worth writing down.

The jokes on Popsicle sticks are terrible.

Living someplace where they have a festival for every little thing is grand! I'm currently waiting on the South Carolina Cornbread Festival, The Elgin Podunk Festival, and the Sparkelberry Fair (and yes Sparkelberry is all one word for this!)

That's all I have... till next time :) 

Just Call Me Elmer.. as in the glue

We had a great visit with my In laws over the weekend. It was nice to have some family here for a little while.We stayed busy shopping, visiting, and what my husbands family does best, EATING! My Mother in law is a great cook and I was happy to hand over my kitchen to her for a few meals. I'm still greedily eating leftovers.
I had a bit of a sad yesterday after they left. Having them here made me realize how much I miss my own family. I did get to facetime with my parents yesterday, skype with my sister last week. It's just not the same.
I knew it wouldn't be but I was hoping it would hold me over till I can get home this coming summer. I try not to think about all of the things I'm missing but sometimes it catches up with me. I even miss my parents dog LOL, that may sound silly but Ruth is a pretty awesome dog ^_^

Don't get me wrong, I'm in love with South Carolina! I don't think I would move back to Arkansas if we won the lottery and could go back! LOL I would just hop on a plane more often!

I'm holding it together pretty well out here. I'm proud of myself :)
I'm looking forward to the holidays, I know you would think that it's going to be really hard, and it may be, but I'm going to focus on my little family and make it the best holiday season we've ever had. I'm excited ^_^

Ok that's all I've got.. I just had to, not really vent, just put my feelings out there.

Love to all who read :)

Content With Life

Have I mentioned how much I love living here? My husband is home more... he's not as stressed. Our oldest is loving school, the youngest is just loving life. It's been grand.

We had some friends visit us last week, it was so much fun seeing them and catching up.

 We sill have a few boxes scattered around, nothing major, we're almost 100% unpacked.  I've found doctors and dentists for the kids, the settling in process is going well.

The fair is a few weeks away and I'm really looking forward to going!
We missed our fair back home last year, everyone was sick. The one here is huge! I can't wait to eat all sorts of fried things on sticks.
The Carolina Renaissance Faire starts in October too, we're planning on going but not dressing up. Kind of a bummer but it's easier with the kids if I don't have a costume wrestle with.

So many things to do out here! There's a local farmer's market every Tuesday afternoon. The kids and I went a few weeks ago and had a great time. Lots of great produce, snacks, and horrible entertainment.
  It really was hysterical. This poor guy had a keyboard and a karaoke machine. It was terrible and awesome all at the same time.

We've found a gaming group and I found a knitting guild. I plan to visit the library this week and see what programs they offer.
It's just so much fun living out here.

I do miss my family and friends back home. I really wish I could go home for just a weekend, watch my nephews play football and march in the band. I think that's what's getting to me most right now.
My oldest misses a few of his friends and teachers from home too.
   It was funny, when he told me that he missed his teacher from last year he assured me that he LOVES his new big boy school, he'd just like to see her. Such a sweetie.


Thanks to everyone for your emails, texts, and prayers. We love you  guys!
It's pretty awesome to know how many people care about us ^_^

It's time for me to go find some breakfast and get my day started , Thanks for reading!


 

Settling In

We passed this sign at about 1am when we FINALLY made it here

I fall a little more in love with our house each day.
It's still a sea of boxes, even though we have unpacked almost every room. We ordered an entertainment center and are at kind of a stand still till it's delivered.

So far, my first experience of living in a neighborhood is ok. I love being close to everything, school, grocery shopping, restaurants. My youngest is THRILLED that we live so close to a Michael's craft store, so funny!
Being close to the beach is my new favorite thing!   ^_^
I'm a very private person when it comes to being at home, I'm having to get used to having people so close. It's a bit socially awkward to me to be out in the back yard playing with the boys and see the neighbors out. I wave but in my head I'm thinking, should I go say hi? strike up a conversation? We've introduced ourselves, is that it?  Yea.. it weirds me out a little.

I think we are all adjusting well. I'm ready for things to come together and be rid of these boxes.
It's a holiday weekend this week so maybe we can sort out a bit more.
I plan to start visiting churches next Sunday. I made a list, there's one here in town, the rest are a little further toward Columbia. It will be nice to meet people and find a church home we all like.

I can't wait to have family come visit! That's the only thing that would make this place absolute heaven.
The people are amazingly nice and helpful. You can't call someone to ask about trash or phone service without getting their life story.. and that is no exaggeration. We now know all about the family of a lady who works at the local garbage service. It's pretty funny!

I think we're all going to like it  here.... it can be home :)

I'm Washing Plasticware...

This is just for you my dear Aunt ;)

Ahh hotel living... SUCKS! I love my family but I am so ready to have my own space. Everyone have a room, cook my own food, not pay $2 a load to do laundry (that's $2 to wash $2 to dry!) Ugh! I'm also looking forward to not fighting old ladies for the ONLY washer and dryer this 6 floor hotel has. It was rather comical when Hubby went down stairs for something and saw the washer was free. He busted into the room Washer's free! GO! GO!

I did go to walmart today and buy some lunch meat and good things to eat rather than going out for lunch and dinner today. Sooo tired of eating out..

As far as we know we are still closing on Wednesday. Our mortgage guy isn't telling us much other than " We're on time for closing!!" and a swift hang up. Not a friendly fellow but oh well, we won't have to deal with him again after we close.

The cats and kids seem to like hotel life pretty well. the oldest kiddo is tired of eating out all of the time, as am I. Baby boy is happy as a lark and LOVES the decorative bowls that have fruit in them sitting everywhere. He has to grab an apple or banana every time he passes one.

The kids and I did venture out on our own last night. Hubby reported to work last night and that left us to go after our own dinner. I was in the wrong lane and ended up on the freeway, I got off at the next exit where we found a cracker barrel. I had planned to eat at the mall but cracker barrel was there and the boys were thrilled. I did manage to find my way back to the street the hotel is on without getting back on the freeway! Go me! We also went to Books a Million before we headed back. I love how we are in the middle of everything.

Our final walk through was yesterday too. It was the first time the boys had been in the house. They LOVED it. They were running up and down the hall and in and out of each other's rooms. Gavin had to check out the bathroom. Shane had to use it but the water isn't on, SO he christened the back yard!

We drove my soon to be kindergartener by his new school while we were out there. He was pretty impressed. Open house and Meet the Teacher are next week!

Over all things are going well, We may need to go visit the Zoo or something in the next day or so to keep us from going stir crazy! Well... that and I just want to go to the zoo ;)

Love to all and I'll update again soon!

Greetings From South Carolina

I'm so glad that drive is over! I will never NEVER drive all of that in one day ever again. Everyone did great, we couldn't have asked for a better trip.
It was also the hardest trip I've ever had to make. I knew saying goodbye to my family and friends was going to be hard but I never dreamed it would have been as hard as it was. I don't know how many times between Texarkana and Shreveport that I wanted to turn around and go back to the only home I've ever known. I cried, I prayed, this is honestly the hardest thing I have ever done.
Once I made it out of Shreveport, and out of anything familiar to me, it got better. It was really need watching the landscape change from state to state. The kids thought the Mississippi river, and the bridge we crossed it on, was AMAZING! We passed farms in Alabama and my youngest told me how he is going to be a farmer when he's a grown up, he made sure to stress the fact that he didn't have time to be a farmer right now. Being 4 takes up so much time you know! I was pretty awesome driving past Olympic Village in Atlanta, GA. Driving in Atlanta isn't a pleasant experience, I feel almost invincible now! Driving in 6 lanes of traffic while it's raining off and on, lightening EVERYWHERE, yea like I said, INVINCIBLE!
By the time we crossed over into South Carolina we were running on fumes. I've never been so exhausted. The kids were fighting with each other, the cats were waking up, it was terrible!!
Everyone was happy to be in our hotel room. The cats were THRILLED to be out of their crates and have a space to terrorize. The kids wanted a soft bed about as much as we did.
So thankful to everyone for the prayers for safe travels, we couldn't have asked for a smoother trip. Now the count down begins till move in day!