Let me start this post by saying it has NOT been easy for us since moving to Florida. In case anyone has been under the impression that our lives have been peachy keen since we packed up our entire lives and drove 2500 miles, I'll set you straight right now.
Before we moved, Brian began applying to jobs back in April. He had so many responses that we didn't anticipate he would have any difficulty finding a job once we got here, and since everyone needed him NOW, he decided to stop applying until we were 2 weeks away from moving. It took him from halfway into May until the day after Labor Day to land a normal, permanent, full-time job. Insane right!?! We thought so. Especially since we arrived in Florida with as much stuff as we could pack in two cars on June 1. He worked temporary jobs for awhile, always going to other interviews until finally, he had two amazing opportunities on the table and was able to negotiate a higher salary with the one he wanted. Flash forward to the day he started that job (September 5) and when he got home from work we decided we should leave that night to get away from Hurricane Irma. Awesome timing, Mother Nature.
Let me take a moment to stress a few other major blood pressure raisers in our lives. Finding an apartment in Florida SUCKS. The nice places are either wayyyy too expensive or they're government subsidized, which means our family of three has to make under $35k a year to live there. You can find a decent apartment in the ghetto for $1k if you want, as long as it's not a 55+ community. Oh, and buying a house here is a terrible idea because property taxes cost you both arms, legs, and your neck. It's a miracle anyone lives here at all. When we finally found an apartment in our price range, desirable location, and available, it was halfway through August. I mentioned in my last post we still haven't had our stuff delivered. That's still true. So basically it's been a month without our things. Which means my baby that was 3 months old when we left is now almost 7 months and she's outgrown all the clothes that fit in our cars and I'm constantly spending money to buy her clothes that fit, even though she has tons packed away. Are you getting stressed reading this yet?
After we wasted our entire Labor Day holiday staying within a 20 minute radius of our empty apartment and our stuff wasn't delivered, YET AGAIN, I looked at Brian and started crying. We both looked at each other and said, "Why did we move here? This was a mistake." The next day, we left because of Irma. We decided early on we would rather look stupid and leave even if we didn't need to than risk being without power and being in that disaster. I've never prayed for other people so fervently in my life. Speaking of prayer, I think it's the only reason I haven't had a total breakdown since this whole process of Florida began.
There are some things you learn as you get older... one of the biggest being that sometimes you need faraway friends that you can text/talk to all day every day that just get you (shoutout to a Sabra who I Marco Polo literally every day). Sometimes the people around you who are supposed to be good friends just aren't. And that's ok, everyone has different priorities and when yours don't align, it's okay to let them go. When times are tough, it's better to have real friends.
I've held back writing this post for awhile because I felt like maybe I was weak for all the ways this life changing experience went completely wrong and the way I've handled it. Then I realized I didn't want to be one of those people who only posted the good on social media and gave everyone a false representation of our "perfect" life.
I keep waiting for that one moment to come where I'll think coming out here was worth it, but so far it's nowhere in sight. Being close to my grandma has been wonderful though, and I can't thank my incredible aunt and uncle enough for letting us be total bums at their house for so long. Brian and I have determined that Florida is definitely not where we want to be post graduate school, so I guess that's one good thing.
For the time being, we're near my parents house in Maryland & West Virginia. We spent a few days with my mom and stepdad in West Virginia when we first arrived and are now in Maryland with my dad and stepmom for a few days. On the not so bright side, the hurricane has kept moving northwest (contrary to what all those know-it-alls told us) and it turns out we were super smart to leave when we did because the Tampa area could get positively slammed by this hurricane. So we're going to be here for a few more days and I can actually visit with more friends! Hit me up if you want to get together. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying my time in an alternate reality before we have to head back to the disaster zone (literally). Prayers for everyone affected are much appreciated.
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