She new it was going to be a long day

Taking a break from packing

Auburn helped the movers pack

And then there was an air mattress

Auburn LOVED the air mattress. She would not get off of it. She would nap all day on it while we cleaned.

Auburn saying goodbye to Uncle Brandon

Auburn & Sadie enjoying raw hides

Passed out from a long day

New house, new job, and a hurricane

Sorry I have not been able to blog about everything that has been going on. I have either had no power, had no computer, or had no time. I am writing this at 10:30 pm. I have to get up in 7 hours... That is just not cool! I am exhausted and we have barely touched any boxes. So, I guess I will start at the beginning.

Friday we watched the weather all morning and decided it was best to go ahead and leave that evening. The hurricane was coming and they were predicting it to be strong with lots of flooding. So we made reservations in Mooresville, NC (just N of Charlotte). We ate dinner one last time at our favorite Mexican restaurant with our most favorite neighbors and some great friends. It was sad to leave them. They all came to the house afterwards to see us off. Jordan (the 5 yr old) cried the hardest. I cried when I said goodbye to her, her Mom, Kylee, and Ray.




Then we hit the road. We got in around 10:30 and got as settled as we could. Auburn was barking at everything. We had to pull her crate away from the door and next to us so she would stop and go to sleep. I think we got 5 hours of sleep that night. We got up Saturday morning, got ready, ate breakfast and hit the road. Auburn did her fare share of barking again every time Doug or I would leave the room. She was a mess!



On our last leg of the journey Auburn passed out in the back seat. Must have been nice to nap while we drove. I still have not caught up on the sleep I missed. The clouds where hanging low in the mountains of Virginia. I wish I could have got a picture. It was eery. It started raining on us about the last 1-2 hours of the trip. By the time we pulled into town, Irene did too. It was raining like crazy and the wind was howling. We were soaked unloading the car. That night we lost power around 7:30 pm. Auburn was very happy to see Doug's Mom & Dad and their dog. We got some sleep that night but it was not much. The wind and rain continued Sunday until about midday. Then the clouds disappeared and it was beautiful out. We hooked up the generator his dad bought to the TV, fan, and fridge and enjoyed the nice day. The power came on around 6-7 that night and we celebrated by taking showers.



Monday I started my new job. It is definitely different and something to get use to but I am enjoying it. Right now I am doing a 2 week orientation process which is information overload. I sit in class from 8-4:30 and listen to people tell me about all kinds of stuff. It is not too boring but by 3 I am getting the itch to go. They give us breaks but I think I need a stair-stepper kind of a break. Ha! Today I drove myself to and from work without any difficulty. Now, do not ask me how to get anywhere else. Ha! We are working on getting me a GPS but for now Doug is driving everywhere.

Today the movers brought our stuff. They were suppose to be here yesterday but Irene delayed them. Doug and his Mom had fun doing that while I worked. :) We have unpacked some stuff but not much. Everything fits, which is a good thing, but it is tight in a few places. I promise to put up pictures when I am done unpacking. The curtain rods and curtains I bought do not fit. The windows are huge and they start high up on the wall. So I will be going to Target to swap the ones I have and get more. I did not realize how many windows the place had. It took me 2 hours to go through boxes and find the lamps and a bag I need for work. We are still looking for the scissors. Thank goodness keys work well with opening boxes.

Well, I think that is about it. We have not been up to much but I am exhausted from what we have been doing. I told Doug we are sleeping all day Saturday. It's suppose to rain!! :) And Yay for Monday off!! I can not say we (Me, Doug, or Auburn) have adjusted yet because we have yet to have a normal day. I am so ready to come home, cook dinner, and spend time with my husband, puppy, and couch! And like I said, pictures will come of the new place as soon as it is ready. (Sara- I am not sure when I am painting. I am too tired to even think about it. So do not be judging my white walls!) Hopefully I will talk to ya again soon!!

So Surreal

So today is it. We are leaving in just a couple of hours to eat with friends and then we are heading out. The hurricane has really messed our plans up. We are leaving tonight and staying just north of Charlotte, NC. Then we are driving the rest of the way Saturday morning. From the looks of it, we will be driving right along with the hurricane. I think it wanted to make the trip with us. So, the ride should be wet and interesting. Hopefully we will be able to get gas if we need it and we are crossing our fingers that we will have power at the hotel tonight and when we get to our place Saturday. Knowing my luck, probably not. When I called to reserve the hotel room, it was one of the last TWO available! Full house tonight! I hope I get to start work Monday. If I do, I will probably get soaked and look marvelous on my first day!
As I am typing this I am standing at my kitchen counter because the house is EMPTY! I am exhausted but everything is packed and clean. When the movers got here Wednesday we were ready. It felt weird sitting back and watching everyone else work. It was nice, don't get me wrong but it was weird. The movers packed my "moving" clothes and my work clothes. That was interesting. They had to take everything off the truck to get to the box it was in. Other than that, everything has gone smooth. We donated the desk to a friend who was having a fundraiser yard sale for her mission trip and we sold the washer and dryer on crigslist. We keep looking for stuff and realizing, "The movers packed it!" But so far it has been nothing major.
Sleeping on the air mattress in an empty house was just not right. We preferred a hotel but how many hotels do you know that let you stay for free? Auburn LOVED the air mattress. It was just tall enough for her to jump up on and once she jumped up you had to drag her off. While we packed and cleaned, she slept on the bed. Lazy butt! Today when we were packing the car she started whining and barking like crazy. I think she thinks we are leaving her. It is hard to tell her we are not and that she is coming with. I hope she does not freak when we go to dinner tonight. She keeps going and laying in her crate because, from what I can guess, it's the only thing left in the house that is hers. Plus, if we have loaded the car with everything else that is big and the crate is big, she may think getting in it will make sure she is brought along.
I am sure I have left some stuff out from the last few days but I will remember and blog when things slow down. I have a couple of pictures from dinners with friends to share. I will try to remember to put some up of lazy butt Auburn on her air mattress. Until then, wish us luck on our drive. Talk to you from Odenton, MD!

My last day at my job in Augusta

So Tuesday was my last day at my job in Augusta. I was 4 months shy of 5 years. That is a long time! I have seen a lot of people come and go and now I am one of those that are going. It is going to be so odd not coming back here. I mean, we are completely leaving the state or Georgia not just moving to a new house.
The thing I will miss the most about the job is the people I have met working there. I have made some great friends. I will miss hanging out with them all. Of course some of us had our moments where we wanted to say not nice things to them... BUT we are like family so we have our disagreements and we get over it.
From my Main Office crew to my Saturday crew, from my Bookkeeping peeps to my accounting buddies, and especially my Girls Night Out ladies. There are just too many of yall to name one by one! I will miss you so much! Thanks for making coming to work everyday bearable! Ha! And thanks for putting up with me, laughing with me and at me, answering all my questions so I could do my job the right way, for not yelling too loud at me when I didn't do it the right way, and for literally getting me through "one of those days" days. Thanks to all those who came out one last time to Chili's with me. I really appreciate. I hate that some could not make it. We missed ya! I can not believe I forgot my camera. Yall were lucky this time! I will keep in touch and you know I will keep on blogging as long as there is something worth blogging for. What do you know, Sara! The blog you made me start ended up coming in handy. And maybe I will have more than a hand full or readers now! Ha!

Friends worth missing

Since we have lived in Augusta we have made some awesome friends. It's hard to believe we've known each other for 4 years now! They have made Augusta a place we will miss. Even though we are leaving, I know we will stay close friends. I know we will call and visit when we can. It will hurt to leave them but I would not have changed our paths for a second. I have enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know them. They are our "August Family". I know we made friends worth missing!
Last night we all met up at Wild Wings for dinner. Not everyone was able to come and those who were not there were greatly missed. It literally felt like old times again. Even though we had grown up and our lives had changed so much, it felt like we were the same group of friends that we were 4 years ago.


It was the first place we met Jessica Young at. I remember that night like it was yesterday. We had so much fun that night! We were so happy Nick decided to date her so we could hang out with her more. "We love ya girl! We have loved getting to know you and I truly feel like we have watched you grow from a young college student to a beautiful woman (with a great job! ha!). We are so glad you were there when we got married and we will be there when you get married. We will always be there for you and will support you no matter what. Even though we are miles apart we will always be only a phone call away."
Doug met Robby & Ray while working at Batteries Plus. Ray has become one of our closest friends. He is such a wonderful person who has a big heart and the world at his finger tips. "Stop thinking and just live, Ray! You are too young to worry so much! It will all work out. Just trust life and yourself. We are always there if you ever need us. You are a great friend and if we would have know you were going to be our friend we would have moved here sooner. Thanks for being the only member of the wedding party that cried at our wedding. Ha! We will miss you and we can't wait until we get to see you again!"
Now, Robby. What can I say about Robby! Ha! He is a mess and a half. Such a great guy with his head on straight and a smile always on his face. Doug will miss their re-writes of Christmas songs. I will miss the crazy catch phrases they would come up with. "We are gonna miss ya, man! Can't wait to see that ring you put on Mandy's finger!! Seriously, we are happy for you two. It meant so much to us that yall drove all the way to Valley, Alabama for our wedding. We can not wait to come to yours! Don't worry about what you are going to do in life. Just keep loving Mandy and keep that smile on your face! You have more figured out in life than you think."
We had a great time last night catching up and reminiscing. I hope we get to do it again soon! It meant a lot to us that you were there last night. We are holding you all to Spring Break! We will miss yall!

Maryland Pictures

Here are some pictures from when Doug and I drove to Maryland.

Doug and I met our neighbors at Copelands for dinner. They are from Maryland and were in town visiting their family.



Hanging out at the Inner Harbor. It was SOO hot that day. We spent more time inside shopping than by the water.







We ate at one of Doug's favorite seafood places, G&M's.

Doug's crab cakes were huge!

My Mahi-Mahi

Phone Update

When we got home on Sunday, Doug took one look at the phone they sent me and said, "They sent you the wrong one!" About an hour and two customer service reps later, they had the correct phone on its way to me. Oh, forgot to mention, they never sent me the battery and back of the phone to the incorrect one. So I would have never been able activate it anyways. Nice!
So we got the new phone up and running last night and I have no clue on how to use it. There are a lot of differences. I will get use to it eventually but right now it is an adventure. I am driving Doug mad b/c since it looks just like his I have been asking him questions all day. Where is this? How do you do that?
I really need an HTC Incredible II for Dummies!

Moving on up

So, I know it has been awhile since I have had anything to really blog about. I have had small stuff here and there but nothing major... yet. See, I have been up to something major but I just could not talk about it yet. Well now that it is official I can tell you... We are moving on up...

This is a long blog but just hang in there with me. It definitely makes up for all the blogs I did not write.

It all started back in February of this year. A someone knew I was looking for a job and they suggested that I apply with the place they work at. After giving it a great deal of thought, Doug and I decided I should apply so I submitted my resume. I knew it was a long shot but they called me back and asked me to come in for an interview. Now 6 months later, I was offered the job and I accepted.

Are you ready for the shocker? The job is in Baltimore, Maryland. Now do you get the "Moving on up" part?

Since March I have been flying up to Maryland to interview and do all sorts of stuff for the job. It has been a very long process and I reached my breaking point a few times through the journey.

The first time I flew up was the first time I had ever flown by myself. Nervous was an understatement for me. I, being my planner of a self, called ahead and had every detail planned and every question answered. I had to leave work at 4 to catch my plane at 5:30 pm. Of course, the flight was delayed. I had to run to catch my connecting flight in Charlotte, NC. I got into Baltimore around 10 pm. Everything was closed when I got there so I was not able to eat anything. I got my first bite of food (pretzels from the hotels' vending machine) since lunch at around 11 pm. Yay! I got up at 5 the next morning to be at my interview at 7:30. I was done and at the airport for my 5 o'clock flight at noon. Yay! So I went and found a burger place that sold beer and ordered my first round. I got home that night around 10 pm. It was a long 24 hours.

The second time I flew up was a little better. I had to be there on a Monday so I had all day to fly up on Sunday. This time I actually got to eat! It was great... until my first meeting on Monday. My meeting did not go as smoothly as I would have liked it to have and they told me I may need to come back up there. This was not an option because I was out of vacation time. If I went back up there I was going to have to take time off not paid and I did not know if my work would allow me to do that since we are short staffed. Enter breakdown #1. And yes, I did it in front of everyone. The person I was meeting with, the receptionist, the shuttle bus driver, and Doug (when I called him after I got back to the hotel). I was done. I was not going to my other meeting the next morning. I was coming home. The next morning I got up and went to my meeting.

I was done early Tuesday morning so when I checked in at the airport I changed my flight to an earlier one. Instead of getting in at 10 I was suppose to get in at 8! So I went and found some lunch and relaxed. Everything was going smoothly until they announced (after we boarded the plane) that the flight was delayed due to the bad storm between Maryland and North Carolina. They gave us the option to get off the plane but they predicted we should get to take off in less than an hour. Well, it was a little more than an hour but not much. They had to route our trip around the storm. There were tons of planes having to do this and still in the air so we had to wait since we were still on the ground. Because we were delayed and our flight was longer due to the "new" route, I missed my connecting flight at 7 in Charlotte. Doug called and got me on the next flight out so I RAN (OMG I am so out of shape!)to catch it. Guess what! By the time I got to the gate the flight got delayed. Yay! I was in tears by this point. Enter breakdown #2. All I wanted to do was go home. After a few more delays I landed in Augusta at 11:00 pm. Yep. An hour after my original flight was suppose to be there. I vowed to not fly again for awhile.

Two weeks later, in June, I got a call saying they wanted me to come back up there the next week. I was very surprised they wanted me back up there so soon and with so little notice. So insert break down #3. Now grant it, there was a lot of other stuff going on that added to this breakdown but they key factor was I had to cancel my Florida trip with my parents. I was SO looking forward to it and I was only a week away. I started questioning whether this job was worth all the sacrifices I had been making for it. The hardest part was calling Mom to tell her. I could barely get the sentence out from fighting back all the tears.

So since Doug and I were already off on vacation Wed-Fri and my appointment was on Thursday, we decided to drive up on Wednesday and stay through Saturday. I was out of vacation time and we did not know if we would get another chance to look at places to live so we figured this was the perfect opportunity to get some house hunting time in. I was dreading the LONG drive up but was very happy that I had Doug with me this time.

The drive was very long but not horrible. We thought we would never get out of Virginia. And of course traffic was lovely in DC and around Baltimore where our hotel was. Of course, when we got to the hotel I realized I had forgot to pack something (so much for my OCD packing list!)so we climbed back in the car in search of a store. By the time we got back and ate I was dead asleep.

My meeting, once again, did not go the way I wanted it to and they told me I would have to come back the next week and try again. Insert breakdown #4. This one was smaller than the others but a breakdown none-the-less. And once again I did it in front of the person I was meeting with, the receptionist, and the shuttle bus driver. I waited until I calmed down to call my boss and let him know I was going to have to be off again the next week. I think he was really happy to hear that, again... We spent the rest of our trip riding around looking for a place to live. It was hard since we still did not have a moving date but we found some nice places. I am still in sticker shock. I do not think I will ever get use to paying that (double!)for a place smaller than what we have now. We ate at some great places and we went down to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. (See next blog for pictures.) If you know me, you know I love Excel documents. I have one for everything! So of course I did a comparison document of the places we looked at to help us decide which one was the best for us. It really helped since we we had two tied for 1st place.

So here we are, 4th trip to Baltimore. This time I flew up by myself again. We were having a yard sale on Saturday so Doug had to stay and get everything ready for that. Boy was that a stressful week! Flying up went ok. We were delayed in Charlotte (like always) but nothing too bad. My meeting Thursday morning went really well! At this point, I truly believe this was my last trip up here! I expected to get an official offer very soon! After the meeting I headed to the airport (at 2 for a 8 pm flight). Around 6 I saw the flight to Charlotte was delayed. Delayed so much that I would miss the last and final flight to Augusta. Yay! So I called and rescheduled my flight to 7 am the next morning. Then I caught a shuttle bus back to the hotel... No insert of breakdown #5 here. I was upset and mad but it had become normal for me now. And once again I vowed to NEVER fly again (at least through Charlotte or Baltimore using US Airways)!!!!

So here we are, 8 weeks after my last trip. Those were some rough weeks, waiting and waiting with nothing but silence. No phone calls. No e-mails. Then finally! The phone call I had been waiting on came.

Now that I have told you about my experience, let me tell you about the job. It is with the Department of Defense and I will be in the accounting department. I do not know exactly what I will be doing yet but that is why I am going to Maryland. I will "train" up there and they are sending me to get my Masters degree. I am hoping that once I am done I will be able to move back to Augusta. But who knows. I may get up there and LOVE it. The process has been long because that is the way the government works but I hope it will all pay off in the end.

It's been a long journey so far and it has only just began. I hope to take you along with me through my blog. We are already planning tons of trips to places in the Northeast we may have never been able to go to before. I already miss my family and friends here in Augusta but I promise I will keep in touch and visit as often as I can. Love you all and thank you to those who have been with me since I started this journey. Your support (and your ability to keep secrets) means the world to me!

When it rains...

... it pours money out of my wallet and into my car.

It all started a few weeks ago when my car started making this funny noise. The only way to describe the noise would be to say I kept thinking it was another car that had seen it's better days. Not quite a junker but not quite a hoopty. It was like a metal on metal scrapping noise and it only did it sporadically. When Doug took it into the Honda maintenance dept. they knew exactly what it was... rear brakes. See, Honda had a lawsuit against them for 08-09 Accords having cheap rear brakes. Mine, like the others, were failing. So we had them replace them with the good kind. It cost us $150 but thanks to the law suit we will be refunded.

Then last week my tire pressure light came on telling me my tire pressure was too low. I took it to Tires Plus and they saw I was low in three tires but the fourth had a nail in it. They were too busy to fit me in that night so I got up early to be there at 7 am to have them fix it before I went to work. I had to get it fixed b/c it was Thursday and Friday I was leaving to go to Valley. There went another $25.

Then today Doug went to take my car in for an oil change. Thanks to the trip to valley it was time for another one. Luckily we had a coupon so we saved $10 and it only cost us $25. However, while changing my oil they noticed my front axle was leaking fluid. Great! So Doug is now at Honda having them look at that. Funny how they did not notice that a couple of weeks ago. Doug asked me if I ever heard a popping noise coming from the car and I told him, "Yep. Everyday when I leave work it makes that sound when I pull out of the parking lot." Oops! I just thought it was a sound my car made b/c it had been doing it for so long. This should be covered under the warranty so hopefully it will cost us nothing to fix.

Poor car. Poor Doug. Poor wallet!

The weekend

So my weekend started off with me in a bad mood! I got off early Friday so I could go home, pack the car, and hit the road early. Sometimes I do not know why I even try... When I got home it was MONSOONING outside! I have a carport but when it is raining sideways it does not make much of a difference. I loaded the stuff in the car and was soaked by the time I was done. Auburn has a thing about being wet when she potties so she refused to go. I kept trying to drag her out of the house and even held an umbrella over her but since it was still raining sideways the umbrella did little good. So now I was even more soaked and Auburn was too. Since she did not go potty I did not want to feed her or give her more water that would make her have to go while we were going down the road. I decided to wait until we got to Valley and she would have a late dinner. I was irritated and frustrated and ready to be there so we hit the road without stopping to get me any dinner either. Not only did I hit every red light on the way to the interstate (which it is not a short drive from our house to the interstate) but when I got on the "on ramp" I could see traffic was bumper to bumper. Just my luck! About 4 miles and half an hour later I see that there was a wreck on the OTHER SIDE OF THE INTERSTATE and people on my side were slowing down TO LOOK AT!!!! I seriously contemplated finding the nearest liquor store...
I stopped and let her potty right before we got into Altanta. I did not feed her since I did not bring any food (we were almost out and Doug was bring some to Valley with him). I still was not hungry so we headed to my parents. When Doug got there he told me he did not buy dog food so Auburn had milkbones and rawhides for dinner. Yumm! I had a bowl of cereal.
That night we put Auburn's crate in the kitchen, covered it with a blanket, turned on the radio, and plugged in a night light... all exactly the way it is at home. (Now remember. This is her second time staying at my parents house!) We go to get in bed and she starts barking. So Doug and I moved everything into the laundry room where she stayed last time. The barking continued. I did not want to keep the entire house up all night so I brought her and her crate into the living room, turned the tv on, and sat in the recliner. She would fall asleep, I would get up to go to bed, and she would start barking. We did this until about 2:30 am! I was ready to skin her! She finally let me sneak into the den and I fell asleep on the love seat. I got about 5 hours of sleep. I had my first coke in forever that morning. It was good and did the trick. I did not get tired all day.
We shopped in Auburn for most of the afternoon then we headed home. Some family and friends came over for dinner and then we went to bed. I won a thousand dollars off a bet Doug and I made! When is he ever going to realize I AM right! HA!
Auburn slept just fine Saturday night and we headed home Sunday. She was worn out from playing with my Mom & Dad. She loves their back yard... and the plant water! She slept all day Monday recovering from her excitement filled weekend.
I posted a few pictures on Facebook of me at Auburn and Dad with Auburn.

Countdown begins!!