Blizzard 2015

Good Morning,

Well they claimed we were in for the apocalypse and let me tell you by the look of the grocery store yesterday you would have thought we were going to get the storm Nantucket is getting. Let me just take a minute and say I have to laugh at the way people in the North deal with storms, I expect it in the south but in the north they should be use to it! I know its a lot bigger of an issue in a city of this size but good lord!

Yesterday morning knowing a mess of some sort was coming I figured it wouldn't hurt to head over to the grocery store and get a few things just in case. Tanya and I went for a little walk although the wind was pretty horrific and then headed to the grocery store. I was SHOCKED when we went in, the place was PACKED, I kid you not when I say line ups of hundreds of people. There were no meats on the shelves, no chocolate bars or gum at the registers (because that is going to save you! HA!) it was absolute madness!!

It snowed on and off yesterday afternoon and Jason emailed me and said they had closed site down for the day and all day today as well, which was pretty shocking to me. As the night went on the winds were really bad but the snow still wasn't. We were watching the news and they were estimating we were going to get 18-24 inches which is quite a bit and in a city like this could potentially cause absolute chaos! They closed all public transit which is huge here and put out a driving ban starting at 11:00pm last night for city streets and 9pm for highways. If you were caught driving you faced a $300 fine.

People were FREAKING out, not because of the snow coming but because they were being told what to do. Calm down New Yorkers, you will get where you need to go. I don't know why no one thinks, better safe than sorry!! They obviously thought it was necessary because no one would listen to an advisory and people would be stupid and drive and kill themselves or someone else. Its one night, one day why not just be safe and listen? I'm sorry but listening to everyone bitch this morning on the news about how the mayor went overboard.. stop your damn whining!

The storm obviously took a turn because we woke up to no more than we had when we went to sleep. We maybe got a total of 8" which really isn't a lot, Jason is SO UPSET! It is really windy and cold today and spitting snow on and off but I think we are officially in the clear! They have lifted the travel bands and restored use of public transit.. probably so people will stop their ridiculous bitching! They are still asking people to stay off the roads because they are not all clear.

I don't get why people can enjoy the ONE day we have had this year with snow! Enjoy the day off, sleep in, drink coffee, take your kids out to play in the snow! God forbid you can't get a Starbucks and make your way to work.. FOR ONE DAY! I'm sorry I just have no patience for the stupidity.

So we avoided snowmageddon but New England is getting POUNDED! (Thankfully the Patriots made it to Arizona safe and sound!) Brianne has been sending me pictures all morning from coastal Maine and it is just an absolute MESS! They are going to get 3 feet for sure, if not more! I hope for everyone in New England that you keep power and stay warm, don't drive.. its just not worth it! Hopefully there is a good plan in order to dig y'all out!!

Not much planned here for the day! Jason is home so we are thinking about maybe getting out for dinner if we can find anything that will be open! Jason's at the gym right now and hopefully by the time he gets back there will be some hot water. I went to go for a shower this morning and nada!! I had to go for a bath and warm the water in the kettle.. I was beyond pissed! Oh the joys of living in an apartment.. in the north!

Alright I am off to do some reading, I am falling behind on my speed reading trend and get some stuff done around the apartment! I hope you are all enjoying the day!!

If you are looking to do some reading, Tanya completed the A-Z beauty challenge today as well and you can check it out HERE.

The Importance of Unplugging

Happy Thursday!!

This week is almost over.. HECK YA! I feel like that about most weeks I'm not going to lie.. I know.. blah blah stop wishing your life away. I cant, I want to go home! Having said Happy Thursday though it is raining.. but looking on the bright side of things Tanya and I visited Victoria's Secrets semi annual sale and a bra that would usually cost me $60+ cost me $19.00... I call that WINNING!

I am trying to be better about blogging so I figured I would stop in today and chat away about how important I think it is to put your phone down every once in awhile and unplug! I know you are all gasping at the thought of it but let me explain.

Jason often says that I am addicted to social media because he thinks I spend a lot of time on my phone, I however STRONGLY disagree! First of all I would say I am anything but addicted so social media considering I don't really have much of it. I have never had twitter and honestly never will.. its just not an interest of mine. I got rid of Facebook before New Years and I could not be happier with my decision, it was all drama and crap and in the end I hated it more then I wanted to go on and check things out.. gone! I don't have Keek, Snapchat, or any of those other social message, picture things. Honestly those are the only two I even know about. I have Pinterest, Instagram and this here blog. Social Media obsessed? I think not!

Truth is I am more addicted to my phone then anything else, my email is on there, all my contacts, being away from everyone all the time its my basic means of communication with anyone and everyone. I play games, check everything that relates to the house (a little obsessively) and can read books. A good portion of my life is on that pretty little piece of technology and that's why I may tend to have it in my hand, a lot.

I think we are all guilty of this to an extent, when you are bored you whip out your phone and check your social media accounts, play a game.. whatever. I blame the iPhone... its got everything we need, or I guess whatever other phone you might have.. and really you people should just give in and get an iPhone.

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I think its habit more than anything else, we rely on having something to amuse us, entertain us and the idea of not having that is scary! So why not challenge ourselves? 

Since Jason has started mentioning that he noticed I was on my phone all the time I decided to try and be aware of it. Jason works a lot and I would hate to think that I squander our time when I have it, more so I would hate to think that he feels like our time together is not important to me.. because it is, more than anything else. So I made myself aware, and I've made changes and I feel like I am all the better for it. 

When Jason and I go out on the weekends I wont look at my phone a million times, really what is so important? At night if we leave the apartment, to go to the grocery store, for a walk.. whatever.. I don't even take my phone, what could I possibly need it for? At night in bed it the hardest time for me to put it away, that's when I most enjoy pinning, or playing a game because there isn't much on TV or Jason is watching something I don't care for. But I limit my time.. I don't charge my phone all day therefore by the time I am ready for bed I have about 10% battery life left and that doesn't go far! When the battery is dead, its dead and although the charger is plugged in right there beside me.. times up! 

Sometimes its really refreshing to just unplug and see the world around you and not through the screen on your phone! When we vacation we tend to turn off our phones and let it be just us and I love nothing more. Once you break the routine it doesn't seem as necessary, as important as the things right here in front of you. 

Try it sometime, put your phone away for the day.. don't sign onto Facebook, ignore twitter and whatever else you tend to do on your phone.. you might just find it refreshing! 

This post really isn't a judgement, if you spend all your time on your phone then do your thing! Be aware of it though, don't make the people around you feel like they are irrelevant or boring because although you are with them you are on your phone. When Jason told me that I was on my phone all the time and didn't pay attention to him (which I assure you is not the case) although I knew he was kidding around I actually felt really bad. Nothing on my phone is important enough to ignore someone in front of me, and being made aware of that was a great thing for me. 

I am now going to make dinner, fold the rest of my laundry and read this fabulous book I am into. Jason and I are going grocery shopping tonight because I absolutely REFUSE to step foot in any store around this freaking place on a weekend because the little patience I have go straight out the window! 

I have super high hopes that the weather here for the next few days wont change anymore because it is now officially looking up! I hope y'all are looking at some hot summer weather for the weekend as well. 

Happy Home Owners

That's a lie... being a home owner is a BITCH!

I truly thought being a homeowner of a brand new built home would be easy peasy! The reason we decided in the end not to buy an existing home was not just because we couldn't find what we were looking for but with our situation and traveling so much we didn't want to have projects to do when we would only have very short periods of time to actually enjoy the home in the first place! We knew in coming home this time per our agreement with our builder that they would address any issues that we had and have the appropriate people come in and take care of things.

Yesterday I met with the building superintendent and we went over a damage report we had issued to our builder after closing. I was under the impression that knowing our date of arrival and the things that needed to be taken care of everything would be scheduled as we gave them this week as a window because after that we have no idea how our time here will play out. Unfortunately yesterday it became quickly apparent that nothing was taken care of and that we were going to face scheduling issues. They had scheduled the HVAC people and never told me therefore I was lucky to be up and moving early yesterday because someone was banging on my door just after 8:00am, I didn't even know something needed to be done with the HVAC system.

This morning the painters were here banging on the door long before I expected them to be here, I received an email last night at 11:35pm from Tony telling me that he had scheduled them for today (with no time of arrival) and that he would have to take a personal day and would not be around to oversee things. Perfect. I was asked to go through with the main gentlemen and address all of the drywall and paint issues.. which are basically endless and I figured that not all of it would be taken care of, I was right. He addressed everything he could in the 10 minutes he was able to stay, told the guys where to go next and left. So I went through again with the other guys who although nice and killed a spider for me barely spoke English (I seriously don't think they hire professionals, they hire families) I taped things and addressed them and they worked away and said they were done, I followed up and it wasn't done, so I taped it again and addressed it again and then they said they were done... and left... they were NOT done! My house is again covered in dust from them sanding, paint everywhere although I followed them around when I noticed they were getting paint on my new hardwood floors, assholes. There were things they they didn't even address and by that time I had a cabinet guy in here ripping apart my wine rack so I couldn't exactly chase those goobers around yelling at them TO DO THE DAMN JOB! Most things in regards to the painters didn't even get done. The whole front porch needs to be fixed and painted and they didn't even look at it.

The gentlemen for the cabinets showed up, I was really worried about this because our wine rack needed to be replaced and I feared them ripping it out, putting a hole in the wall, ruining the back splash.. all completely rational fears with the experience we have had thus far! I told Tony that I would speak to the cabinet guy about how extensive the process would be because truthfully at that time I didn't realize how much of a big deal the problem with the wine rack was. All in all we decided to go ahead with it and minus the fact that the wall needs to be repainted and some grout for the tiles need to be redone it really wasn't a big deal. Besides the huge friggin' mess he made that he too didn't bother to clean up. He made a bigger mess of the drawers and didn't have all that he needed to replace what needed to be replaced. Stellar.

All through this I am emailing Jason who is furious about how things are going, furious that he is so far away and Tony isn't here like he said he would be. It is what it is at this point about him not being here but let me tell you this morning it was extremely overwhelming chasing people around, answering questions over the excessive drilling and hoping no one was doing anymore damage then they already had. When they left I just sat and stared.

I decided that I was going to do the touch ups in the living room, but honestly I don't have the right brushes I need and I cant go anywhere to get any because an electrician is coming to re-install the under cabinet lighting where the wine rack is because the cabinet guy wouldn't do it. So I thought I would go upstairs and start taping the loft space. I pretty much got all of it done and said SCREW IT and came downstairs called someone to come in tonight and give me a free estimate.. I am over all of this shit!

I'm sorry but this week has SUCKED! Jason left, painting is the devil, nothing is going right, I cant move the furniture that needs to be moved by myself because I cant drag it around on the brand new floors without scratching them and I have no one to help me. I haven't slept at all and every morning FIRST THING there is someone banging on my door to come in here and fuck things up worse then they were from the get go, I'm done. I am not a patient person to begin with but this is where I draw the line!

I found a stain on our BRAND NEW couch last night, it was scotch guarded so there is no reason there should be a stain, no one has sat on it and when I called the guy said, ya well I did it myself and there wasn't a stain, and by the way I didn't even charge you for the scotch guarding.. hmm why is that asshole? because you saw the stain? I didn't know that he didn't charge us for it, I never got a final invoice, just like I didn't get covers for the couch! You don't get something for nothing in this day and age therefore I have a feeling it was a problem before and that's why he didn't charge for the scotch guarding. Regardless don't tell me there is nothing you can do when I paid for it!

So my mission this afternoon is to write up another list of deficiencies that have still not be addressed so I can share those with Tony tomorrow if he is back to work and Jason has called Tony and told him he does not want anymore repair men, etc in here until he gets home, THANK GOD!

That is my scoop. I woke up this morning and it is a BEAUTIFUL FALL DAY! Finally we are at 59 degrees and windy, big sweaters and boots weather! I am absolutely it in love with it! I opened the windows just to smell the fresh air, I froze my ass off but it was TOTALLY worth it! I am hoping this electrician shows at soon to reinstall this light that is hanging so I can head to Target for some apple cider and melatonin.. this girl is getting some sleep tonight!

If anyone wants to come over and paint to save me the money feel free to let me know!

Blog Vacation!

Hey All,

I apologize for being MIA for so long, I have thought a lot about blogging over our trip and our time here but truthfully I don't know that I could have fit it in anywhere until last night rolled around and I just didn't feel like it. But tonight I am still not sleeping, go figure so I thought what better time to sit down and give you an update!

I last updated on the first leg of our trip and unfortunately after that there just wasn't a window to do so! The second day of driving was long.. too long! We road trip all the time, super long trips that include consecutive 12 hour days of driving and usually I don't hate it as much as most people would but this time although I was so looking forward to our destination I really just wasn't feeling the road trip!The day was long, we made it to Pickton, Ohio I believe.. somewhere right outside of Waverly. We were driving late and eventually hit a wall and just wanted to stop.. we found a hotel in the middle of no where, however extremely nice and new and didn't even bother to turn on the computer. We got up that morning and it was BEAUTIFUL, the weather was amazing and the sunrise was INCREDIBLE!

Overkill on pictures? Probably! Really though it was just sooo beautiful! We ended up taking a drive through Gallapolis, Ohio which was not really planned, the GPS decided to take us her own LONG way through this small town which just happened to be EXTREMELY beautiful! It was along the Ohio River, so peaceful first thing in the morning... definitely a place you would want to wake up to! We just drove through, slowly...but I would go back for a weekend trip to check out the town and walk along the river! 

Here are a few kind of crappy pictures of the Ohio River. 

I was excited to get back to Raleigh and our house, which made the drive seem longer! West Virginia was also part of our drive that day and it was fabulous! Charleston is beautiful and the leaves were changing a little in higher elevations, that drive it just beautiful! We made it back to Raleigh around 3:00pm and the house was still standing.. good sign! We got everything turned back on and started unpacking the truck! Really things didn't take long at all but I hated to see this beautiful new house be filled with shit! Our shit none the less but the clutter and stuff gets to me. We did a bunch of running around and planned for a late dinner so we could watch the Patriots game! We headed to Chili's for dinner and the game and got home just after 10:00pm. It was when we got home that all hell broke loose....

I came upstairs to get ready for bed and I was in the master bedroom and something caught my eye in the master bath.. a HUGE fucking cockroach.. I'm sorry but there is no nice way to put that! I flipped my shit, screamed and RAN FOR MY LIFE! Jason came flying up the stairs probably thinking someone was in here chasing me with a knife.. which honestly might have been better! Jason naturally went in and killed in and I SOBBED! I cant live somewhere that bugs the size of my shoe exist... not only that I was tired and the fact that Jason's impending departure was on my mind, well.. things came crashing down. I pretty much sobbed all night... great first night back. I know you probably think I'm ridiculous but at least I will admit to being a total bawl ass! Besides I don't deal well with changes to my plans and abrupt changes at that, and although it seems to happen often with Jason's job, it doesn't get easier. 

Truthfully I was PISSED OFF! We made a plan, we planned our whole drive, home, we planned our first week at home, we planned our time off and a week before we were suppose to come back they tell Jason they need him to come back because the job isn't finished.. NO FUCKING KIDDING!!! Jason knew that, I knew that, the guys Jason works with knew that, so why did management just figure it out? Well I will keep my opinions to myself on that. I was angry that I feel like sometimes they don't take into consideration that we have a life outside of Jason's job and truthfully I know they don't care, I get this is how it goes and I cant truthfully say it has ever really been different but that doesn't make it easy, its frustrating as hell... ask Tanya... her husband Josh works for the same company as Jason... check out what happened to them here.

Anyways Jason said he would see if maybe he could change his flight to a few days later so we wouldn't feel so overwhelmed. Thankfully that worked out and instead of leaving on Wednesday he was able to get a Friday afternoon flight. I honestly don't know how Jason could have left on Wednesday, as per usual nothing went right and everything took forever and literally the ENTIRE time he was home we didn't stop! Everyday flew by and we never went to bed before midnight, it was in no way restful and now unfortunately Jason is back to work!

The bar stools I showed you before came, one of them didn't have all the right pieces so it wouldn't go together regardless of the fact that Jason tried forever, he then moved onto the other one, got it together and it was too big! Ugh! We returned them and eventually found new ones that I don't have a picture of yet, but I am working on it. Remember the plate set we ordered? We picked it online, saw it in Bed, Bath an Beyond and HATED IT.. had to get news one.. guess what, they are all white! :| We bought light fixtures for the spare bedroom, Jason had a TERRIBLE time getting them up and when the last one was up and ready to go I handed him the light bulb and when he was putting it in it somehow broke in his hand, cut him pretty good and he bled EVERYWHERE! We got a mattress and box spring for the spare room, CRAZY comfortable, we get home and the box spring is ripped on the bottom (not a huge deal) we call, they wont do anything because we bought it on sale... assholes. Then we put the awesome bed frame together that we got at IKEA which was a cluster screw in itself, put the mattress on.. when I stand next to the bed it goes up to my chest.. I'm not even kidding. The dresser didn't come with the proper plug to cover the screws and the closest IKEA is over 2 hours away. The night table screws were the wrong size. FML. Poor Jason was so frustrated and because he is so cheap and wouldn't buy a drill because we have one in Maine he was doing everything with a screw driver, he was a trooper! 

The security system is set up and working, I know this because last night I set it off and scared the shit out of myself! Seriously this place is like Fort Knox now, you cant move inside or out with all the high tech security shit we've got going on.. I love it! We finally got cable and internet and although I hate Time Warner and their technicians its in good working order and that's all that matters. 

Jason got ready Friday morning while I avoided him and sat with the laptop catching up on the shows I had missed. I'm not a total bitch but if I walked around watching him pack I would have cried and therefore I just avoided the situation. I know you all probably think I am ridiculous and its not that I cant be away from him, but I miss him.. I wanted to do stuff around the house together, he's my best friend.. things just aren't the same if I cant share them with him. We are managing though. He was pretty excited for his layover in Toronto and dinner with my dad and brother. I'm not going to lie I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if he skipped his connecting flight to Estevan and headed up north with them for the weekend, and really he should have because his flight ended up being delayed and he didn't get to his hotel until almost 4:00am.

After Jason left I got my ass in gear to paint! We had done all the taping so I just had to start, painting really isn't hard its just a huge pain in the ass and it turns out I am terrified on standing on the ladder so it took me quite awhile. We went with Tiki Hut for the living room and truthfully looking at the finished product I couldn't be happier with it! Its super rich and really makes the room feel cozy, when I touch up tomorrow and take the tape down I will post pictures (maybe, because I don't want Jason to see before he gets home and although he doesn't generally read my blog I am afraid he might be sneaky!). In the meantime this is a swatch of the color...

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I finished painting late last night and came and got in bed, I knew I wouldn't sleep. Part of my issue with Jason being away is that this really doesn't feel like home yet. Right now its a big empty shell for the most part, the couches (which I don't have a picture of yet either) are sitting in the office space because I am painting and the goobers that brought it for some reason didn't have covers on it, we don't have a table, there is paint stuff everywhere and its big and empty and I'm all by myself.. I know it sounds stupid but I am not comfortable here yet, it doesn't feel like home. So I was up until almost 6:00am, woke up around 6:35am and then made sure my alarm was set for 9:00am and went to sleep until the alarm went off. I got up and felt like crap so I set it for 9:45am and closed my eyes again. When the alarm went off at 9:45am I had to get up. 

Brianne, Josie and Amelia came for a visit, which I was so excited for! I was really looking forward to the company and having Brianne see the progress on the house! We went to lunch, toured around the mall, went to Target and came home and made dinner. It was a great visit and I was super sad to see them leave, I mean lets be honest.. how could you not miss this face?

After the crew left I face timed with my mom to go through totes of books I have at my parents to purge and so she could bring me the ones that I wanted. I actually did really well, after many many totes I only ended up keeping two full which if I am being honest is better than I could have ever imagined.... I absolutely HATE getting rid of my things, I think I might be a hoarder! I did really well though and feel good about my choices. 

I talked to Jason for awhile when we got settled in the hotel and now here I sit. Sadly I am not anticipating much sleep tonight either so once I wrap things up here I am thinking about looking for a movie on demand. Tomorrow I plan to touch up the spots I need to in the living room and then get rid of all the tape and what not down there, put the electrical covers back on and then think about moving the couches in, it will be nice for one room to look put together. I am going to start taping the loft space to paint their next and naturally watch football. 

Monday morning I am meeting with our contractor to go over some deficiencies in the home... I have nerves about this because I know he is going to try and brush stuff off and I'm not good at being a stern bitch about things.. hard to believe isn't it? Tuesday morning the cabinet guy is coming to do some repairs and Wednesday our bedroom set and coffee table and end table is being delivered. I am still waiting to find out when my mom and Fiona will be here! 

Things are coming together, its taking time which is hard for me to take because of my hate for chaos and clutter but its all working out. I am counting down the days until my mom and Fiona get here and until Jason comes home. I can't wait to go to the mountains at the end of the month! 

So there is my update, I apologize it took me so long to get around here it wasn't my intention but it just worked out that way. Tomorrow I will try and go around the house and take some pictures of things so you can see the progress that is being made and give your opinions! 

On the Road...Yet Again!

We are back on the road again today!

My afternoon of packing went well, mostly..  As I was packing and getting things ready I opened the tote that we usually use for bedding, assuming it was empty and I could start putting the linens in it.. negative! I opened it up and found this...

Ya it was full, honestly at first I didn't even know what to do.. so I laughed. It was actually full of a bunch of my winter clothes, sweaters in particular. Four Lulu's, a couple Bench sweaters, some Abercrombie.. totally forgot I even had it.... Jason thinks this is a problem! I mean I made room for it all and everything fit in the truck and that it what is most important right? I don't need to 'purge' (Cringes) until things don't fit in the truck?

Jason got home last night with pizza for dinner and then we headed over to the post office and to return the cable stuff. That turned out to be an experience in itself.. you know I feel bad when someone is new at something and trying their best and just not accomplishing what they set out to do, but when I am in a rush and their superior is sitting in the back room doing dick all and not helping that pisses me off. This poor guy was struggling and he kept going back and asking questions which was getting him no where, and the place was full of people wanting to pay their bills and stuff including these young kids acting like morons, falling all over each other, making out, being stupid.. I hate that! So in the end we paid the bill and cancelled our service but he had no idea how to enter a U.S address and therefore I have to call the 1800 number to get shit done! On our way out I took a final picture of a beautiful SK sunset.. its the only thing I am going to miss about that place.

We got the truck pretty much completely packed last night which was great, this was probably out easiest move! Minus the fact that it was freezing out I thought things went really well. This morning we got up early and got on the move. God love Jason he went straight to Tim Hortons for coffee... PRIORITIES... while I started getting the last of things put together. We cleaned and waited.. go figure Trunchbull was late! She knew we had to be on the road so I swear she was screwing with us, Jason called her and she said she would be 5 minutes. The walk thru was seamless, it lasted all of 5 minutes and we were out of there. 

We got on the road and crossed the border into North Dakota - First and only time change of the day, 1 hour ahead of SK time, 1 hour behind east coast time. From North Portal to Minot (2 hours) we encountered an unusual amount of wide loads.. literally.. houses, silos, etc.. weird otherwise things were OK... there was a pretty big upset, for me at least. I saw a dead horse... ugh.. it hurts me to even type that.. its true though.. and there was 3 other horses standing around it, almost guarding it.. looking so horrifically sad! I could have sobbed.. I begged Jason to go back as he INSISTED it was probably sleeping.. I wish I could have believed that.. kind of ruined my day!

We made it through North Dakota and into Minnesota, In Minnesota we encountered rain and an accident that put off our time just a little but then the sun came out and it was 80 degrees and amazing!!

We considered stopping in St. Cloud, Minnesota but we felt like we could drive further so we did. We ended up in Hudson, Wisconsin and just grabbed pizza to bring back to the hotel. As I have joked before (but am very serious at the same time) Jason is a bit of a tight wad and so we decided on Little Cesar's for a hot and ready.. well he was out the door in less than two minutes and with free bread sticks.. he was a happy camper... until! 

Ya there is a catch.. there is an art show going on is Hudson and therefore EVERY hotel is booked SOLID! FUCK! Honestly at this point I was really tired, I didn't want to drive another hour or more until we found something else and truth be told driving after dark makes me nervous in regards to hitting wildlife. So we started going to every hotel and finally, THANKFULLY we found a room at the Holiday Inn Express!! 

So that is where we are now Hudson, Wisconsin! Tomorrow we are thinking we will make it to Dayton, Ohio it is looking to be a 12 hour day which I am not looking forward to, however today really didn't feel to bad! I am off to bed, the morning is going to come quickly... I just know it!

Happy Friday all!!

Places I Would Much Rather Be....

Someday's things just come together and because those days really don't happen often I choose to take in every single minute of enjoyment! I felt overwhelmed this morning getting up with a huge list of things to do and knowing that most likely one of my tasks was going to be extremely frustrating. Mind you nothing has gone easy, mostly on account that we are in a different country and trying to plan things for our arrival and Jason's short time there with me.

So first thing I had to order trash and recycling carts... this was something that I didn't really give much thought to but then realized that we would have to put trash out and I had no idea when that would need to be done and more importantly I had absolutely nothing to put the trash in. I called the city of Raleigh and ordered them as our home is a new construction, I waited on the phone for about 15 minutes and the guy was a douche bag but I got it ordered and they will be delivered in 5 business days, so hopefully Monday!

Next I had to order our plates and bar stools from Target. Jason really wanted them to get there while he was still home as we are not going to have a table and he knows how I am not very handy so he was hoping to get them put together before he leaves. That would be nice.

As I mentioned we were struggling to get the table we really want and I was in contact with a woman over the weekend but the manufacturers are closed on the weekend so she said she would get back to me today. I didn't hear from her this morning when I was done with a bunch of other calls so I thought I would call her before getting to the huge list of other places that I had high hopes may be able to get it if she couldn't. I gave her a call and she said that she hadn't heard back but she would put me on hold and give them a call right then, perfect! She came back and told me that because they are a registered Liberty Furniture dealer they will get first dibs and as it looks they will be able to have it at our house for the last week of October.... SCORE!!! Honestly I was so excited, it was a lot cheaper then we had originally priced it which is always a bonus when you are furnishing a whole house! I feel so much better that is taken care of, I was extremely worried we wouldn't be able to get it until January if at all.. which would have put us back as square one and that would have been extremely frustrating.

I got all the laundry done so hopefully I will just have one quick load to do on Thursday night when Jason gets home so we can finish packing. Really we have a lot of packing done already. Yesterday we had people in and out looking at the couches and tonight when Jason gets home more people are due to come over. They were also showing the apartment today which is annoying but whatever.

Now on a SUPER GOOD NOTE!!! My Mom wrote me today and her and Fiona are coming to visit the week of the 13th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!! I have been so down about Jason coming back here and being alone. This job has been extremely lonely for me and I had looked so forward to us going home that I was disappointed to know I was going to be alone again! Now that is not so the case as they are going to be there for a full week and I couldn't be more excited!!! They are going to be there for my birthday, they get to see the house and I cant wait to show them around Raleigh! YAY!

So today has really turned out to be a great day, but it is absolutely FREEZING in our apartment today and super damp because its raining out which makes my body hurt and I heard Trunchbull tell the people she was showing the apartment to that they don't turn the heat on until October 2nd.. really? Its been in the 30s... THAT'S COLD!!! So with that and the fact that Jason and I have been talking about a vacation with all the points on his credit card it made me think of all the places I would rather be...

1. At home in Raleigh, curled up on the couch in front of the fire watching a movie!

2. Back in Hawaii, Maui was amazing and I would go back in a heart beat but Kaua'i is an island we have never been too and I have heard nothing but good things.

3. Key West, Jason just mentioned maybe flying into Miami and driving through there and down into Key West and exploring for a week.

4. Peru with Tanya today because she is getting a new tattoo and I want one REALLY REALLY BAD! (I just saw a picture of it and now I know I definitely need one!)

5. In New York City.. because really at any point in time that is where I would love to be, I miss NYC and our life there.

6. Anywhere that is warmer than here really.

See I am not hard to please, haha!

So we are definitely hoping to get rid of the couches tonight and then as far as I am concerned we can pack up that TV and clean out that whole room and be done with it. If not I am going to look into Goodwill coming or something and picking them up just to get rid of them!

Football this week was a total bust, I don't even know what the hell happened there. The Panthers wiped the floor with the Giants, 38 to zip.. who saw that coming??? The Raven's smoked the Texans... I suppose that was super shocking but what happened to last years Texans who were ON FIRE! The Browns beat Minnesota.. Come on? I don't understand! I was actually really confident in my picks this week and turns out I suck. End of Story.

Alright I am off to kill more flies (that was another fabulous aspect of my day, as Jason ripped the screen door off the other night and couldn't get it back on and then opened the door yesterday and filled this place with flies.. rrrgh!) and make dinner. We are basically using up what we have here which makes for somewhat crappy dinners but whatever.

Happy Monday ALL!!!! T MINUS 4 DAYS AND WE WILL BE ON THE ROAD!!! WOOHOO!!

Plans Changed... Such is Our Life!

You know... no matter how many times it happens it never gets easier. You would think having traveled with Jason for so long and knowing exactly how things work I would have almost expected this, sadly I did. This morning we planned our stops for the trip home, how far we were going to drive each day and all the things we were planning for each day when we got home. It seemed overwhelming but so exciting as I have been counting down the days and really really miss home. Then this afternoon I got the dreaded email... Jason has to stay. Needless to say I cried. It should be final tomorrow so I suppose there is still hope but I knew there was no way Jason could leave at this point in the job we were just waiting for management to figure it out.

So instead of leaving on Monday the 30th we are going to leave here the morning of Friday the 27th and get home on Sunday. We will have a few days situated and Jason will have to be back on a plane Wednesday morning. I'm not going to lie I know it probably doesn't seem like a big deal to the rest of you but I am heart broken. I have been so looking forward to getting the fuck hell out of here and going home to really get started on the house and making it ours. Jason isn't going to be there to help, he is going to miss Canadian Thanksgiving and my birthday... it really sucks! What pisses me off more than anything though is they knew, its scary to think they really are THAT STUPID thinking they could manage when he left... and trust me although I think Jason is amazing at what he does I am not boasting, its simply that his job is not complete. I hate to the say the jobs for the Canadian division seem to be a circle jerk at best.

I'm really upset, all night Jason has been trying to convince me its not all bad and that we can still get a lot of things done and he will still be back for our Smokey Mountain getaway with the Seavey's but I have my doubts... as he was going on and on I sat there listening piping in with rants when I was sure I wouldn't sob. I know its not his fault, I know this is how the job goes but it doesn't make it suck any less.

Just the other day Tanya and I were having the same conversation as she is in the same position, waiting to know whether they are going or stay in Miraflores, Peru.. they are suppose to be heading back to the home office and she is really hoping for less then a weeks notice as you know.. we have real lives and all outside the company. She said she had a meltdown about the whole thing and although I tried to comfort her I could have recounted my numerous upsets and freak outs over the fact that WE HAVE A LIFE TOO! I digress.

I may have taken things a little better (but likely not) if I would have gotten any sleep last night. It was just really hot in the apartment last night and the thunder and lightening started around midnight and really didn't let up all night. You know how I feel about a good thunderstorm but when it prevents me from sleeping its not my favorite thing. Jason's alarm went off at 6:00am this morning and that was it.. I was up! I'm really not a morning person and I laid there forever trying to go back to sleep but it just wasn't happening. I read Bloglovin' and tried to go to sleep again.. nothing.. so I made coffee.

The whole work thing has been something we have thought a lot about lately. As you know when one job ends it is always our hope that another job will begin. We were hoping to have a little bit of time off after this job as we went straight from 14 months in Alaska to a month of traveling and then here. With the new house we wanted to get things in order and then we were prepared for where we would head next. I'm not sure we were really prepared for what we were going to find out was next... Tunisia, Africa.

If you're not sure where that is... take a look...

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At first I really felt like it could be an amazing experience, but after a lot of research, talking to others Jason works with who are from there or have been there we decided that there is a lot of civil unrest in that part of the world and the safety there specifically is extremely questionable for me specifically and no amount of money is worth that. Jason prefers jobs in North America and I have no fear that something will come together. 

Anyways I had a productive morning, I will say when I have to get up at the crack of dawn I somehow manage to get shit done! I made my football picks for the week and entered everyone else's! I found a dining room table I think and now I need to get the chairs ordered to go with it and hopefully they can be delivered now that Jason wont be around and lets be honest I shouldn't be trust to to tie stuff in the back of the truck and drive across the city! So we will see how that goes.

I managed to do the new software upgrade to my phone.. I am really not sure how I feel about the new setup just yet, I feel like it is a whole new phone! I'm not going to lie it took me long enough to figure out the first one out! Steve assures me that they have worked out all the kinks and I will see that the more I use it.. I'm going to choose to believe him.

Our oven also broke this afternoon and therefore I roasted a chicken for over 2 hours (I was on the phone and forgot it was in the oven), I took it out and left it on the counter for Jason to pick apart tonight (I cant pick meat off a bone, it seems so barbaric) and it was still RAW in places!! WTF! I blame it on the oven, a chicken that size cooked at 350 degrees for over 2 hours should have been CHARRED! Oh well.

Anyways we went and picked up a few last things at the grocery store tonight, and a few things that I wanted to take home with us that we cant get in the States! We are hanging out watching Duck Dynasty and then I am headed to bed hoping to sleep soundly! I'll keel ya'll posted if something by chance changes tomorrow and Jason gets to stay home with me but its not looking good! We didn't get the tornadoes they were calling for here today but it is lightening something fierce out there right now!

Revenge

Well I didn't win both pools last night, the Bengals screwed me! Therefore this week, I shit talk like its my job!! Truthfully this early in the season I know its a total crap shoot and contrary to what Bubba and Jason think I don't check injury reports, stats or predictions I just pick! I know enough about the game and watch religiously that I feel like I don't need all the other stuff and so far it hasn't steered me wrong! If only you could have heard Bubba and Jason face timing tonight saying how I cheat because they suck... ya I said it.. I told ya.. let the shit talking begin!

Anyways I didn't make it around here today, I told you before that I wasn't going to force it if I didn't have anything to say because I feel like it really just takes away from to content so I didn't force it. The day actually got away from me which never happens around here. I had a bunch of stuff to get done today, and after dinner we didn't make it to the gym until 7:30pm which I hate.. I would much prefer to go in the morning or at the very least right after dinner but whatever... When we got there it was packed so we ended up not staying forever but got in a good work out. It was a beautiful summer night to walk home and enjoy before the rain hits tonight and to stick around all day tomorrow I hear!

The gym actually leads into why I stopped around these parts in the first place this late at night. I know I have complained about TV here before and all the crap reality TV that exists these days. I say "crap" but to each their own, I have one or two that I watch just like everyone else, but as the days go on they just seem to get worse and worse.

Have I ever talked about my love of fat shows? If not, I'm addicted! I absolutely love fat shows, I use to have one favorite in particular and for the life of me I cannot remember the name of it but it was all kids losing weight the summer before college! They were given this amazing opportunity to work with a personal trainer who pushed them like no one else and regimented their diet! I think having my own personal weight struggles and working hard at it I really admired the strength I knew it took for these people to accomplish their goals as they were larger then I have ever been and had to work ten times harder.

I would anxiously await the show every week, curl up where ever there was a free TV and get completely sucked in beyond my control. At the end of the show when they revealed their new weight I would cry with pride, and if they screwed up the whole thing and wasted the opportunity I despised their attitude and wished I never watched. Haha talk about getting too involved! I just LOVE shows where people have the opportunity to change their lives, be who they have always wanted to be, for so many reasons.

I am a huge believer in personal growth at all ages, I think having the desire to better yourself is amazing.. you are ever changing as you grow older, have new goals and advance to different places in your life. The gift of encouragement or other supportive means you need to achieve your goals is incredible! So this new show irritates me greatly...

I never got into the biggest loser, I don't know why I just never watched. I think maybe I prefer to the more personal stories, one on one kind of thing and the show was just so commercialized and more about the teams from what I could tell then one person and their goals and aspirations for losing the weight and the person they wanted to be after. In the personal stories you really get to know these peoples struggles, how they got where they are and what brought about the need for change.

The new show is called "My Big Fat Revenge" and basically what it is, is one person loses all kinds of weight sets up someone who made them feel like shit while they were fat and embarrasses them the same way they were embarrassed by this person in the past. I cant help but be annoyed by this, does this really make you feel better? Is this why you worked your ass off to lose the weight, to throw it in someone else face? I feel like its really taking away from their journey, this amazing thing that they have accomplished.

Don't lose weight because you want to fit into societies view of beauty, lose weight because you want to feel good and be healthy. Eat right and exercise regularly because you want to live a long and healthy life with your friends and family. Healthy and fit is a lifestyle its not just one choice everyday, its THE decision that affects your choices everyday.

I catch a lot of shit for the emphasis I place on my weight and truthfully I don't care what my BMI says and although I know better I do care too much what the number on the scale says.. so we don't own a scale and I don't get one the one at the gym. When I waver from my healthy eating, water drinking, regular exercise routine I don't like the way my body feels, I don't like the way my clothes fit, I don't like it and it effects my day from the start. It takes me forever to get dressed, I end up settling with the best of the worst and I walk around self conscious all day wishing I hadn't had that one extra beer (OK, its rare I regret a beer.. but the brownie.. I regret the brownie!)

As I've said before you can absolutely treat yourself and you should!! Like everything else in life its all about moderation. But want to be healthy, want to fit, want to be comfortable in your own skin, for no one else but for you. Maybe you don't think I need to lose weight but I need to be comfortable in my own skin, just like anyone else. So for all you people who work your ass off the shed the pounds to get you to a healthy weight, do it for you, do it because you deserve to be the best you that you can be.. not to shame someone who obviously wasn't a good enough person when you were larger, and certainly doesn't deserve a relationship with you now that you aren't. Don't diminish your journey, don't demean your hard work by making it seem as though it was all to throw it in someone else face... you are so much better than that!

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And then I cried...

You know I could probably title a million blogs with this same title, because as you know I am a self proclaimed bawl ass! In the last few years I have said over and over again if I could change one thing about myself it would be my extreme worry, something that I truly feel I have absolutely no control over what so ever. I worry about everything, big or small which I'm sure I've said before.. I make little things big, I make things unknown even bigger, I take circumstances that are so far fetched and make them my reality and I truthfully can't tell you why.

I remember being little and going to bed at night and not following asleep for hours because I would worry about the events of the day, worry about tomorrow, wonder if I did something on my homework right or wrong and god forbid I didn't do part of my homework because I had questions.. I wouldn't sleep all night. I wish I could explain it, I don't know why I do it but as I get older I find it getting worse. When we travel I check my zippered pocket inside my purse a million times for our passports. I put them there, zip up the pocket and never put my purse down, where are they going to go? I fear losing my boarding pass, the airline losing our luggage, basically you name it I worry about it. Although I will be honest I don't really ever fear the plane crashing.

Last night Jason got home from work and we went to dinner with some people that he works with, its nice to get out and they are all very nice people but there is a part of me that feels a little twinge of... nostalgia I suppose for our friends, the people we always travel with, the normalcy, camaraderie.. you know. We go out now and truthfully no one here cares about American football (weird), they only talk about work and although I know what they do, Jason hates this job so much that its not like usual where he comes home and tells me whose up to what and where they are in the project, so I kind of sit back and take it all in. Then as soon as dinner is over everyone leaves, its weird, its different, I miss our norm.

As I mentioned I am starting to feel restless here and just in general, needing a change. I'm not going to lie I am longing to go home and as I continue to count down the days they inevitably seem longer. I am trying to wrap my head around the next two weeks and get excited about the road trip home. Jason and I have talked about going up and around through Kentucky and  Tennessee which I am very excited about, I really love our road trips and all that we see. I feel like if I should be worrying about anything it should be packing (I never worry about packing, I'm a pro at this point), our move out inspection with Trunchbull who is inevitably going to try and take as much money as she can from us, but truthfully at this point I really don't care she can take it as long as it means we are getting the hell out of here). I do find myself worrying about the house and wondering if everything is OK there and what we are going to go home to, yet somehow I can push it out of my mind thinking that it is what it is and I'm sure it is fine and we will find out when we get there. Funny how that is, something so big and yet I can brush it off, why can't I do that with everything?

But instead of worrying about the near future I am worried about where the next job will be (This always happens at the end of a job, I always worry if we don't know and sometimes when we do. I have an idea about the next job which I am thinking of sharing in the near future). I worry about going to Maine during our time off as it is not my favorite place to visit and I can't say I ever really feel comfortable there. I worry about leaving the house again (funny how we aren't there now and I can push that aside), I worry about not having a job to go to after this and what that would mean for us financially. I worry.

So tonight when we went out I had my phone charging on the counter and I completely forgot it, it rarely happens but Jason and I were talking about the Patriots game as we were going out the door and I just didn't grab it. Not really a big deal as I have to turn my data package off in Canada so its useless to me anyways, but when I came home there was an email from Unemployment asking for me to call into the office. I don't know why I got so upset, the email said they had a question about my travel. I have always been 100% honest about our travel as I think honesty is always the best policy, how bad can it be if I was honest but yet my night was ruined then and there. I went to bed, I laid there and tried to read, pin, watch TV and I just couldn't do it. I tried to talk to Jason about it (who is the worst person in the world to go to if you are looking for comfort) and I cried more! I finally just got out of bed and sat on the couch.

Why do I do that? I use to do the same thing about my green card. As much of a hassle it was dealing with immigration in the end I cant say that we ever really had any problems. It was a long process and of course totally worth it but every time a letter would come in the mail from homeland security, even if our lawyer told us what it was and to expect it I would cry the whole way from the mailbox back to the apartment, barely get it open because I was shaking so bad and it was nothing bad at all. All for nothing.

I can honestly say that a lot of my worry generally turns out to be for nothing, I will cry and stress and worry and lose countless nights sleep and in the end it was all fine... so why? I honestly don't know how to fix it, I wish I did. I try and tell myself things will work themselves out how they will and most often it is completely out of my control, which is true but it doesn't change how I feel at the time. I attribute my insomnia to my worry 110%! When I lay awake at night (most nights) it is often for a reason, I may not feel like I am necessarily worried about something but I am always thinking about something.

At this point you probably think I am totally loonie... don't worry, so do I. I really have tried to work on it, reading before bed so I'm tired enough to fall asleep and I go to sleep thinking about the book instead of whatever else.. it works sometimes but generally no. Tea, yoga, exercise in general, talking about it, not talking about it.. nothing works. Any words of wisdom? Suggestions?

Truthfully I feel bad about my worry too, because I know I have so much to be thankful for and I could have some real things to worry about, health issues, real money problems, etc and I don't.

I really just needed to vent here today.. get it out there, hoping it would make me feel better. I'm not going to lie though as much as I love using my blog as a sounding board sometimes it didn't help.

Tomorrow is a new day though right? and one day closer to getting out of here. Plus side, right?

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The Young & The Occasionally Restless...

Do you ever feel restless, in need of a change and looking to get it where ever you can? I get like this sometimes, and it is generally closer to the end of a job or when we've been on a job for awhile and I'm bored and ready for whatever may come next. As you know we are soon to depart the wild west and I think that is part of my need for a change, mostly because it just isn't happening quick enough.

This morning I was so rudely awakened just after 7:00am by the lovely neighbor who was out there with his saw, hammer and whatever other power tools make loud obnoxious noises. I tell ya, this guy kills me... he has been doing this all summer! He built a HUGE shop for his backyard, then he built a huge fence around the perimeter of his property and now I suppose he is working on a underground shelter in case of the zombie apocalypse because he doesn't have anymore room in his yard. Who starts power tools before 9:00am? Aren't there laws against that or something??? I got up and closed the window, even though I was greatly enjoying the crisp air in here this morning (it was 45 degrees - straight fall weather!).

I was just getting back to sleep when around 7:30am when the cleaning girl started the vacuum again.. WHY!?!?! They don't care about the actual units why do they care about the hallways?!?! STOP THE MADNESS! I just got up. Clearly I was not meant to sleep in today! I made a coffee, which truth be told is the absolute highlight of any morning of mine. I go to bed looking forward to my morning coffee, and this is how I drink it!

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One teaspoon of Nescafe French Vanilla instant coffee. 

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On package of Sugar in the Raw

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A few table spoons of Silk Vanilla Pure Almond Milk.

SO GOOD! If you do not generally use raw sugar, its like making a switch to anything different it definitely takes some getting use to. I use to use Splenda and after reading so many bad reviews about artificial sweeteners I made the change and couldn't be happier. How do you drink your coffee?

Anyways after making my coffee this morning I grabbed the laptop to start reading Bloglovin' and I came across a new post from one of my favorite blogs.. have you all heard of Kate from The Small Things Blog? Her blog is fabulous, she has her own Youtube Channel full of hair and makeup tutorials that make the beauty possibilities seem endless! I started watching and it got me thinking... maybe I should cut my hair (no.), maybe I should dye my hair, maybe I should let my tan go (happening as we speak) and embrace my pale complexion, maybe I should try some new products, lighter eye shadow, different liners, brighter lips! As you can see there are a lot of maybe's floating around. 

I'm not going to lie these are all just minor changes that are more possible at the moment as Jason is pitching a fit about me getting a new tattoo.. ya I said it, TATTOO! I have tattoos that I absolutely love, I know a lot of people who get tattoos young often regret them the older they get and truthfully that doesn't apply to me at all. Jason however regrets his tattoos and therefore is convinced everyone eventually will. I'm not going to lie I am not a huge fan of one of Jason's tattoos, but I don't by any means hate it.. now the one of the back of his left calf I absolutely LOVE! People always compliment him on it, the colors and everything and truthfully I don't think he hates that one as much. 

I have always loved tattoo's, I art.. a form of self expression! You can really tell a lot about someone by their tattoos because lets be honest no one gets a tattoo that doesn't have some meaning to them in some way (unless you were young, stupid and drunk I suppose- but I assume that is a rare few). People take time and do research to pick an artist, at which time picking one I would say is a huge compliment because tattoos really are life long commitments. I really wanted to get on while we were in Hawaii with the traditional Polynesian tattoo tools. I think it would be an amazing experience and if you have never seen the Hawaiian tribal tattoos they are absolutely AMAZING! 

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Yes it would probably, most definitely hurt more than the more modern tools used in today's tattoos, but so what! ADVENTURE!

If you follow me on Pinterest you know that I have quite an extensive board dedicated to INK. I would absolutely TASTEFULLY cover myself if Jason didn't have such a HUGE problem with it. I can understand where he is coming from, and I definitely do respect his opinion which is why I'm not making appointments for when we get home, but I cant help but long for a new tattoo. Truthfully I probably scared him when I said that I was thinking about a half sleeve, haha! But I really am!!! I see so many women with beautiful tattoos, half sleeves and full body pieces and I think they are amazing! I would be super happy if Jason would cover himself too, that's how much I love tattoos.. but it will never happen. 

So while I work on Jason check out my Tattoo love on Pinterest and tell me your thoughts on tattoos! Do you have them? If so what are they! Do you want them? If so what are you thinking about getting and where?! Maybe for now I will just live vicarious! 

I'm off to get my ass in gear, I have a few things to do and Jason and I are going out for dinner tonight with some people from work. Naturally we are going somewhere that is playing the Patriots game, but just in case I am taping it at home as well! I'm not going to lie, in making my picks this week I had a really hard time picking the Patriots (shhh... I know, I know!). It's just that they were already starting off with a mostly rookie team, they didn't do stellar in the preseason and last weeks game was by no means a steel! I will credit their win to Brady, Amendola and Vreen.. two of which are not playing this week do to injuries! Hell Vreen who was amazing last week isn't looking to be back in the game until week 11 do to surgery on his wrist, that he broke a bone in at the beginning of last weeks game and yet he finished the game! So I picked them out of respect for my husband but its a crap shoot this week! 

I hope everyone is having a great week, football is on tonight so that has to brighten your day! Plus we are that much closer to Sunday.. Hello upside!