We're Here!

We moved into our new house a week and a half ago. It seems like SO much has happened in the last month! Since this house is double the size of our old one, I am having a really hard time filling up all the extra space. We have 1 room that has absolutely nothing in it. The other rooms are coming along, slowly. I haven't hung up one picture though, so pictures will have to wait until then.

On that note, my camera will be here tomorrow! It is not the new one I am getting for Christmas, I am finally getting our point and shoot fixed. It broke 3 months ago, so there have been no new pictures of Jocie. You are going to flip when you see how big she has gotten since you last saw pics!

I am really sad that we couldn't take the tree painting from Jocelyn's nursery with us. I am debating whether or not to do another one. But then, that's just one more thing that I can't take when we move out of here. I will probably do it anyways. I have decided I am going to do her new room with owls. The wall are green and most of her stuff is pink and to tell you the truth I really didn't feel like repainting. So, I bought a couple of canvases and I am going to paint my own owl pictures. There was no way I was going to spend $65 on one from etsy. Hopefully they will be done soon!

Today, my sweet niece, Nola James is 1 year old!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOLA!

Running out of days

In a week and 2 days we are leaving for Tennessee! I can't believe how fast time is flying by. I am not stressed out about packing or actually moving, I am mostly stressed out about finding time to see each of my friends before I leave. Since I am still working until this Friday, there are only so many evening that we can get together. Luckily, it seems like it will all work out. We are having a few little get-togethers with family this weekend, and Jocelyn and I went to Tampa to visit with my sister last weekend.

Now, the other thing is getting paperwork and doctors appts and vet/grooming appts taken care of. I am now realizing how much more difficult an out of state move is.

Last week, we took a "scouting" trip up to Chattanooga to look for a house to rent. I already knew which one I wanted before we got there. I was just hoping that it was as nice in person as it was in the pictures. of course, it was!

The best thing about moving to that area (besides the seasons) is that we are paying less for this house than we pay for our Florida house. It is double the size too. Crazy.

All the houses in the neighborhood look like this one, and it is on a cul-de-sac. I couldn't have found a better house for us to live in.

                                         

                                  

I'll post more pictures after we move in and I can show the before/after with all of our stuff!

The other cool thing when we move is that I get to stay home with Jocie, and not work! I am really looking forward to being able to take her to play-dates and Moms clubs and not have to worry about leaving early to go to work a few days a week. We get to learn the town together. Of course, this will be re-evaluated after a few months of not having any of the extra money we were used to. 

Rocky Top!

Brian has been applying for jobs like crazy in the past oh 6 months or so. He didn't get a single one. Our hopes were running low. Each time he would come to me with a new place that he applied at, and I would google the area, look at rental houses and normally fall in love. Only to be disappointed time after time.

Well, a few weeks ago, he told me there was one available in Chattanooga Tennessee. I looked at the houses, made sure they had a good mall and a Target and I was hooked. Not to mention it is only 2 hours from nashville, Atalanta, Knoxville, and a few other places. There is a great Aquarium and Lookout Mountain!

Finally, after  a week and a half of living in suspense...HE GOT THE JOB!!!

Of course, I am going to be so sad to leave our families and take Jocelyn away from her grandparents. But, I am so excited to start something new and really on our own. Luckily, it is only a 9-ish hour drive back home. I already have big plans of returning for a wedding/Thanksgiving and Christmas! Do you really think I am going to spend Christmas with no family? No Way!

We have such a quick timeline, and all we have to do is finally hitting me. He is scheduled to start the new job on September 20th...Not even a month away. So we are flying up next week to look around and find somewhere to live.

I am trying to squeeze all my clients into 8 more days, pack,  go out to dinner with my friends, visit my family, chase Jocelyn around, sell our house... The list goes on and on. I will be excited to finally get there and have things calm down.

I was supposed to be taking the last class I need for my AA this semester too, but decided that it is going to be too much to focus on. I know how hard it is for me to study anyways and with all this I would never do it. Fortunately, I dropped it in time to get the tuition refunded!

Right now, the thing I am looking forward to the most is actually seeing a change of seasons! I am about to die in this heat ( and I know it is still hot up there, but Autumn will actually be there shortly) I am sure that I will change my tune afterwards, but I can't wait until Winter! I got Jocelyn some cute baby ugg-like boots from Target and I can't wait for her to wear them.

That's another fun thing, Since it will actually be cold, I can go get a bunch of winter clothes for Jocie and myself. I never buy cold weather stuff, it is going to be so much fun :)

It's been a while since you have seen some new pics of Jocelyn, Here she is! I am amazed by how long her hair looks and how much she has grown. I guess I don't realize it until I see her in pictures.

It's been a while

I have been so bad at posting lately.

I don't do it as often as some people, 

but the 2 I did last month was just pathetic.

Hopefully, I can make up for it this month,

but our camera broke, so there won't be any new pictures for a while :(

Brian finally finished his boat!

He built it from scratch, and when I say that, I really mean it.

This boat started at a couple pieces of plywood.

It only took him 1.5 years, but hey we had a baby in there too!

I will admit, I was questionable at first.

But, it has turned out to be so extremely pretty (and functional!)

He designed, built, and whittled almost everything in or on that thing.

He even picked out the colors himself:

I wasn't home on the day of the first launch, so he took my baby and they tried it out together!

He took me out on it's second launch.

All was going well until his old 1974 motor decided to break.

Luckily we had plenty of water and ice for Jocelyn to play with 

and we were only out there for about an hour before someone came and towed us back!

Needless to say, Brian got a new motor.

We couldn't let 1.5 years of hard work go to waste after 2 short rides!

Needless to say,

I am getting a new camera out of the deal!!!

WOOOHOOOO!

I have been begging and pleading for a Canon Rebel or something for the longest time.

I do have to wait until Christmas though, which I am pretty sure I can handle

as long as we are able to get out point and shoot fixed ASAP.

Anyways,

Good Job Hun!

Seats Taken...

Why is it so hard to make friends once you are out of school? I thought that when I had kids, I would be drawn to the other moms and vice versa. It doesn't happen like that. 

Of course I have a few girlfriends with kids, but most of my friends are from high school and don't have any kids yet, not to mention that they don't live very close to me.

Is it because I tend to get extremely shy when I run into other girls at the gym and mumble a "hi" as I walk to my car? 

Hopefully I am not the only one who feels like this. 

There is this one girl that I see all over town and at the YMCA every time I'm there, but for some reason I can't get the courage up to go introduce myself. Now, she meets with another girl to work out and I am doubly intimidated.

 Gosh, I sound like such a dork!

You would think that since I do hair, I see women all the time. Most of them are my age, we have a lot in common, but for some reason instead of saying "Hey, Let's get together one weekend with the kids and have a BBQ, or something" I think "Oh, why would they want to hang out with me, I'm sure they have plenty of their own friends..." Then the moment passes and they go on their way until I do their hair again.

One word: Confidence. and I seem to be lacking in that department.

When did that happen to me?

I will say that since our house is for sale, and not really knowing exactly where we will be moving, makes me hesitant to even try very hard to meet new people. I am worried that I will find some people I really like and then move away. But really, that shouldn't stop me.

It seems like with most of the people i know, we talk about doing something, but it rarely actually happens. That is another major problem. I genuinely want to get together, but something always comes up, then we never plan for anything else.

I need to follow that mantra of "A lot less talk and a little more action"  :)

Thanks for listening to my pathetic ramblings.

One question: 

How do you step out of your comfort zone and make new friends?

Naked on the beach

We had another wonderful session with Jenny Denson a few weeks ago. This is probably the last one until we take Christmas pictures. As fun as it is to get them taken and have them to look at, I don't think I will be needing pictures every 3 months! I'm sure when we have another kid, that one will be lucky to get any done at all!

Here are a few of my favorites:

Party Time!

The pictures speak for themselves, we had a great time!

I can tell you one thing though, throwing a first birthday party will wear you out.

everything turned out exactly as I wanted it to though, so I didn't mind too much ;)

My friend Kristen made the cake, with only 3 days notice! I am in love with it. It turned out better than I could have even imagined!