Big News!

Alright I think I have kept you all in suspense long enough that I thought I would finally stop in and tell you the secret I've been keeping.

Truth be told there are a lot of reasons why I haven't mentioned anything until now and I would say the biggest one is basically just adjusting to the idea myself. Sometimes its hard to explain something when you still haven't come to terms with it yourself and I didn't want to come here and word vomit what the hell has been going on and make absolutely no sense what so ever. I am generally a talker.. I mean about anything but when something is bothering me I usually need to talk about it to feel better and this I have pretty much kept to myself besides a handful of people.

Anyways.. I'm rambling. Do you remember when I said that on Friday of our trip to Georgia something happened that kind of threw off our trip? Well to be expected it was Jason's work! I was in line at Starbucks to get a coffee and Jason was checking his voice mail and came and told me he had a message from his boss that he needed to be in Peru ASAP! I'm not going to lie it was one of those..' pardon me, is this real' moments. I thought Peru was off the table, I thought we had avoided that and were going to New Jersey.. I want to say I was heart broken but I was just in shock.. where the hell did this come from?

If you don't know me I am a wicked creature of habit, and that may sound funny to you because of the life we live but in a way I think it is directly because of the life we live. I like routine, I like to know whats coming, I like to be able to prepare because change can be really hard for me. Leaving the house is a heart wrenching thought, I couldn't love it here anymore and I have been so extremely happy here and not taking one moment of it for granted because I knew it would come to an end.. but not like this. I have been preparing myself for a long time to go to New Jersey.. I can't say I am happy about it but I think once we get there and establish a routine and stuff I will be OK, I hope so at least.

So Peru.. it was just a voice mail and because Jason's boss was in Peru they played phone tag for some of the morning while I silently panicked. What if Jason had to go, what did ASAP mean? How long would he be out there, would I go to? Then I cried. I cried mostly because I was overwhelmed and scared and really pissed off!! Sometimes the reality that someone else controls your life, tells you when to come and go is a real pisser! Its not that I have never cared before but really what did I have to leave behind? As long as I was with Jason we made a home where ever we were, and yes that is still the case.. but this is a pretty big jump.

So naturally the rest of our day was shit because I couldn't let go of the upcoming unknown and Jason is very go with the flow and at the time that really pissed me off.. I wanted him to be mad, upset, disappointed that our time at home would be over.. but that's just not Jason.

He finally got in touch with his boss and the everything became real very quickly.. we needed to go home and when we got there Jason would have the information he needed from HR for all the paperwork he needed to get his business visa for Peru. He would have to fly to San Francisco to the consulate and then head to Lima. Ugh. He was told he would be out there a couple of weeks and then maybe get a week at home before heading to New Jersey. So that was it, our time was gone. Not only was he leaving but needing to process the whole situation I thought about coming back and how we wouldn't have time to look for an apartment in New Jersey and financially it made no sense for us to both go, so he will go and look for an apartment himself and when he finds one come back and get me and all our stuff. It just didn't seem real that in a minute.. literally.. one phone call changed the course of how I had planned everything to go.

I know there is only so much certainty in the business but I will say that generally that only effects the tail end of a job.. you are constantly in limbo as to when you will be leaving.. not generally when and where you will be going, or at least that hasn't happened in awhile.

So we got home late Saturday night and Sunday Jason spent the day filling out paperwork, getting passport pictures, all of the stuff he needed to fly to San Francisco. Jason got the call on Friday and left Wednesday morning. I drove him to the airport at 5:00am and sobbed the whole way there and the whole way back. I didn't know how long he would be in San Francisco and what it would take for him to get his visa, I had absolutely no idea how long he would be in Peru and the little bit of time we had at the house I was going to spend by myself. Honestly I can't tell you that I cried out of sadness but anger.. I felt totally over this traveling bullshit, totally over someone dictating our lives, totally over having the rug pulled out from under me!!! I know you must think I am extremely ungrateful because we have had the luxury of being at home for so long, but that't the thing.. like I said I haven't taken a moment of that for granted, but I couldn't help but get attached either. This is our home, something I haven't had in a long long time. I love that this is something Jason and I worked for, something that is ours and we can make our own! I think of all the memories we have made and all that we make in this house and looking around I couldn't be happier with where we are. But its not our reality to stay here forever.

Jason arrived in San Francisco Wednesday afternoon, there is a 3 hour time difference from the east coast so he headed to the consulate and submitted all his paperwork, hoping to receive his visa the next day as he was booked on a very early flight to Lima Friday morning. He did a bit of touring around, although Jason isn't a city person and San Fran is definitely that he really enjoyed the water and the wharf area.

Friday morning he was up and our of the hotel just after 3:00am, he flew from San Fran to Atlanta and then onto Lima where he arrived Friday night. The job there has been going on there for quite sometime and all of Jason's coworkers and their families are staying in Miraflores, which is where Jason is right now. The job is quite a way from there but the company has arranged transportation for the to and from.

Minus the fact that I think Jason is still trying to catch up on sleep because he basically got none last Thursday night, spent the day traveling on Friday and had to be up for work on Saturday morning at 4:30am he doesn't seem to crazy about his new surroundings. His work hours don't really allow for a lot of time to really explore as he gets up at 4:30am and doesn't get home until 7:30pm. It is his assumption that he will work these hours everyday for the entire month that he is there. Yes as of right now he will be there a month!

So as if that's not enough information to take in, here's another twist... I am leaving tomorrow morning to join him. Part of the reason I didn't say anything about this is because obviously I would have to say that Jason is away and again as I mentioned before for safety reasons I don't think it is wise to advertise I am here alone all the time. But anyways I am leaving tomorrow morning and will arrive in Lima later tomorrow night. Tanya will pick me up at the airport and take me to Dave's apartment where Jason and I will be staying.

This is all still a really new idea obviously as its really been a week today since Jason left, really its a total whirlwind! We will be there until April 20th as of right now, at this point I do think regardless of whether or not Jason is extended I will probably come home. I am already having separation anxiety with the house and I think I will be able to cover a lot of ground in 3 weeks with Tanya as my tour guide! She has been over there for a whole year ans obviously know the ins and outs. Having said that Jason has only seen the worst areas and has already banished me to the apartment haha.

I am really looking forward to the hot weather, the fact that we will be right on the coast, the history and basically just the overall experience. Jason doesn't generally care to travel outside of North America... especially not to South America so I figure this is a really good time to go over there and get the experience we may not have otherwise had or will ever get.

I am not taking the laptop because its just a hassle and Jason will have his work laptop over there. I will have the tablet but let me tell you internet over there is not the greatest by any means. Jason and I have tried to Skype the last two nights and I swear its almost impossible.. last night I couldn't hear a word he was saying the connection was so terrible so we cut it short.

I don't know what communication will be like over there, I know we wont be using out cell phones so I am thinking email is going to be the best way. Its really not for that long so I think everyone will survive. I am hoping to post at least once in awhile so I don't feel too overwhelmed with details and pictures when I get home and things will be hectic then too I assume.

Like I said I promise to make the effort to be around here and at least drop a few lines, but I don't know what I will have to work with over there. So this is potentially farewell for awhile.. but please check back because I promise not to be gone forever!

I hope you are all well and by the time I get home you northerners are finally getting some spring weather!

Cheers!

Daily Smiles

Good Evening,

Although I suppose its really night and I really did think I would get here earlier but the day kind of got away from me, so then I thought I wouldn't get here at all but I decided to make a point to.

You know some times you just need something to make you smile, kind words, encouragement, a joke.. and so I thought maybe today if you were looking for something like that you might find it here.

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As you get older I think you realize this more, its not about how many friends you have but about the quality of friends that you have. I have learned the hard way that you can try and try with some people and sometimes no matter what you do it will never be good enough, it is then you need to address the situation and decide whether it is best to part ways. A friendship should be anything but stressful and hard, they should bring happiness and joy to your life. 

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Ha! Adult worries.. you just don't know them until you have to experience them! I remember my parents telling my that I wouldn't know how good I had it until my feet were out from under their table and boy is that the truth. Sometimes life can be hard, and being an adult means being responsible and dealing with things the best you know how. As you get older the worries get bigger and more serious, enjoy being a kid.. I know when you're young you just want to be older, but when you're older you just want to be young again! 

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I can forgive but I never ever forget. I guess I take things more personally then most but odds are if you've said something mean to me or something that hurt my feelings I may not remember where or when it happened but odds are I could repeat what was said word for word. Sometimes we say things out of anger that we later regret, next time you get angry, stop and think.. once words are out there you just can't take them back. 

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Enough said. 

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I think this could represent so many things! You get one body treat it well, you get one life make the most of every day, be fearless!

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Isn't this one true, I swear I was just thinking this the other day! I went into Target and I did the usual 5 foot test run with my cart and it seemed fine which I was impressed with because naturally I strategically picked it and I got about 20 feet away and it started to go all wonky.. what the hell??? Do merchants ever check their carts? repair them? I mean honestly, sometime you just don't want to fight with you cart and people to hear you coming! (I still love you Target).

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This one is kind of repetitive but I liked the picture in the background. 

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I mean I probably wouldn't call someone a bitch about it, but if I have to be up and out somewhere at 10am on a weekend (because I generally don't drink that early on a weekday) then I would like it to be worth it, and that means mimosa's or a bloody mary bar.. take your pick!

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I am difficult most days, at least about something.. its part of my charm. :)

Well I suppose it looks like they might actually play my show now, I'm not sure what is going on with this wonky TV schedule but The Good Wife was suppose to be on at 9:00pm and instead they have decided to play it at 9:45pm.. nice right? Either way I want to watch it! 

I hope everyone had a good weekend and has a great Monday! Big news coming on the blog this week!

Charleston At Its Finest!

Hello All,

Well as I said I was going to be back around these parts today to finish up our trip with a post about Charleston! I planned to get here earlier but its been such a gorgeous day here, it just turned overcast as it is suppose to rain all day tomorrow so I figured it would be a good time to post!

Anyways we got up Saturday morning early to head to Charleston, South Carolina. It didn't start off all that well as we went to get on the Interstate and you couldn't, the on ramp was completely backed up.. so much so that people were turning around on the on ramp and trying to go another way. I don't know if there was an accident or if it was just all the traffic from St. Patrick's Day but we obviously decided to take the long way. It actually worked out to be better because there was a lot of beautiful scenery but it was also quite overcast that morning and I felt soo exhausted!

We arrived in Charleston and toured around the water before finding parking and getting out to walk. Believe it or not we managed to cover pretty much the entire city!

Charleston is quite different from Savannah in that it holds its historic aspects and uniqueness but it also has a lot of high end shopping. No that is not the only reason that I enjoyed Charleston a little more.. however I did manage to get in a little shopping! We also took a historic tour on horse and carriage, and really just wandered the streets up and down until we felt like we covered it all.. kind of.

Driving along the water before getting into Charleston was just gorgeous.. 

This was more of the high went shopping, this street went on for a really long time and they had wonderful shops, big names, regular stores and then boutiques. I was in heaven.. Jason.. not so much!

We went to Jim N' Nicks BBQ on King Street, the food was awesome! I had the street tacos and they were incredible! After lunch we just started touring around planning to see as much as we could!

This was the first church we encountered and that sweet old man standing outside really wanted to show us the inside of the church, so we went in and took a tour. 

This church was beautiful, I don't believe it was old enough to be historic but that gentlemen was so proud of it that the tour was really nice. 

This gorgeous window was in the prayer room, it was really unbelievable. 

We called ahead to take a historic carriage tour, we had a great time. The gentlemen tour guide was an older gentlemen who had been a geology professor at the University of South Carolina Charleston I believe for over 30 years. He retired and realized he didn't want to sit at home all the time so he became a tour guide and you could tell he loved it! 

This home in particular was on the water and it has significance to the Civil War. It's actually kind of funny if the homes in the historic district didn't have a significance in the civil war there were stories about the socialites of the South and it was fantastic!

The homes really were absolutely gorgeous!

Most of these homes do not have air conditioning either, I can't imagine in the summer what that must be life. I also cant imagine how much it would cost to heat these homes.

As you can see the homes are extremely close together!! 

The mad hatter!

I kept trying to get a picture without the tour guides horse whip (no he did not use it on the horses) but he just wouldn't move it.. so I said screw it I would just include it. 

Do you see the line that goes through the cobble stone street in brick? That use to be a wall during the civil war to block cannons during the civil war. It was also interesting that the street names had significance, like Water Street use to actually be a river. 

We really enjoyed Charleston, we spent so much time walking around and just seeing things. Sadly towards the later part of the afternoon we got a call that our house alarm was going off.. go figure. Obviously we were far away and they told us that the police had been dispatched and they would let us know what they found. Worst.Feeling.Ever! So we waited and basically decided just to get in the car and go home. I'm not sure how much more time we would have spent there, we really covered pretty much everything but having to rush out like that really sucked. 

We eventually got a call back that said the police came out and all the doors and windows were still secure and they felt it was a false alarm. I mean if all the windows were still locked and secure than we had to assume that it was a false alarm and we would make sure when we got home. The alarm that went off was set off by a motion detector within the house and I couldn't help but think if someone had broke in obviously a window or door alarm would have gone off first. 

It was quite a long drive home so we decided that we were just going to stop and have dinner, we were planning to just get something off the interstate like we usually would but when I did a little looking to see what our options were I saw the Mellow Mushroom and we just had to go! We figured it would be a quick stop but it ended up taking a really long time to get our food, however let me tell you it was COMPLETELY worth the wait.. they have the best pizza I have ever had. 

The beer wasn't too shabby either, I really wanted to take the glass.. haha I didn't obviously. 

The rest of the drive home wasn't so bad and thankfully we arrived home to no issues! Thankfully! Its scary to think false alarms like that can happen but I suppose it was better to have no issue than a catastrophe when we arrived!!

Well we have finally wrapped up our trip.. sorry it took so long! I promise I have some big stuff coming! With this overcast weather and rain coming I am definitely thinking tonight may be a movie night! Maybe a glass of wine night too. 

I hope you are all having a fantastic weekend!!