July 2018: The Move & Another Wedding

Oh, July.

A month I was both anxiously anticipating and dreading all at the same time. I HATE MOVING. Have I ever mentioned that? You would think after living in West Virginia, Florida, California, Utah, and back to Florida in the last five years (plus two separate moves in Utah and two in Florida) that I would be an expert and it would be a piece of cake by now, but it’s not and I’m not.

We got home from our Utah trip, enjoyed the Fourth of July, and set the dreaded dates for moving. To touch briefly on the 4^th, Brian had the day off and we spent it at the beach at Honeymoon Island with a picnic lunch and lots of swimming, then headed home to get cleaned up, eat some Buffalo Wild W

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ings, and catch fireworks at downtown Clearwater overlooking the ocean. It was pretty much the perfect, all-American day.

The next weekend, we started packing and moving. We enticed my grandma with Wimbledon to come over and be at the house while Tatum napped so we could start taking some stuff over to the house. It felt good to start getting stuff packed up and out of there, especially a lot of boxes that we never unpacked before in our apartment because we just didn’t have the room. I was doing a happy dance for our third bedroom and garage at the house!

The next week, we spent most of our time packing and prepping for the big move on the 14^th. I got everything packed up, we rented a moving truck for the day, and we had so much help from our friends and family! We had everything packed into the moving truck, driven to our house, and unloaded inside the house in an hour and a half flat. SUCH GREAT FRIENDS. It took some time to get the house in order and I’m still adjusting to a smaller kitchen, but we got unpacked in record time and all set up before I left for Maryland/West Virginia the next weekend.

Onto that trip… I have the best husband ever. My parents will tell you that they’re witness to the fact that Tatum and I both are grumpier before Brian arrives. He always encourages me to visit family a few days before he flies up so that I’m not bound to his PTO schedule, so Tatum and I flew up on Saturday the 21^st and came home on the 29^th. We’ve been saving all Brian’s PTO for the holidays this year, so he flew up on a Friday evening (the 27^th) and flew home with us on Sunday evening. Talk about a trooper! He was literally there for less than 48 hours and spent time with all my parents plus attended the wedding (the main reason for the trip) with me.

The start of the trip was rough. I specifically booked a flight that left at 8 PM on Saturday so that Tatum and I could spend the whole day with Brian and then hopefully she would fall asleep on the plane. We were supposed to arrive at 10:10 PM. Our flight wound up taking off 45 minutes late, Tatum didn’t sleep the whole flight, and as we were about to land in Baltimore 1000 ft off the ground, we were suddenly shooting back up to the sky. They tried to land 3 times but the winds and storm were so bad that they rerouted us to Philadelphia. Oh, joy. We wound up landing back in Baltimore at 1 AM, got our bags and were in the car with my dad at 1:45, and Tatum finally fell asleep once she was in her car seat. Talk about a long day.

Sunday, we were up by 9 am despite the previous late night. We had a huge breakfast with my dad and stepmom and hung out and played before heading to West Virginia. We stopped in the middle to have a dinner and girl’s night with my best friends from college. I love trips home because it’s an excuse for everyone to get together and we don’t get to very often! My friend Sam has a little girl who’s a year younger than Tatum and the two of them sat together and laughed and shared food and it was the cutest thing. Three hours later (the waitress probably hated us) and we were on the road again headed to my mom and stepdad’s house.

Growing up, I probably took for granted how much their house is a child’s paradise. They live in the middle of nowhere, on top of a mountain surrounded by woods, with a creek at the bottom of the hill, and a personal petting zoo. When I was growing up we had chickens and horses, but my parents have expanded that to include goats, sheep, ducks, and a million other things. When we were there this time, they had baby kittens, ducks, and goats and they were the cutest things ever. Tatum adores my mom’s house cat and calls him “ee-shee” for kitty. She spent every minute inside the house looking for or petting him and he was surprisingly tolerant of her.

Monday was a pretty laid back day of hanging out at their house and visiting my stepdad’s mom, now warmly referred to as “GG” for great-grandma. Tuesday, Tatum and I headed to see my two Brittany(ney) friends and have a playdate with their littles! One has a little boy that’s two weeks older than Tatum, and the other has a little girl two years older and a little boy three months younger, so it’s always fun to see them “play” together and have some girl time to catch up!

Wednesday was the best because I drove to Cumberland to see my Alysha! It’s always funny to us how we became friends and the circumstances that led us to be so close. This girl is such a rock to me and no matter how long we have to go between seeing each other, we always fall right back into place. It was perfect timing because the day before she had taken her licensing boards to finally become a physical therapist and she passed! We grabbed lunch with a friend and spent the day catching up and laughing my guts out, like usual. Everybody needs an Alysha in their lives, and I’m so grateful for mine.

On Thursdays, my mama leads a bible study group at the local nursing home where my grandma stayed for a while after she couldn’t live with us any longer. As if I needed any more reason to love and admire my amazing mother, she gave me another. I wasn’t planning on dropping by originally, but we wound up getting all packed up and ready early so I took Tatum in and caught the end of her class and got to meet a few of her favorite residents. Everyone loved seeing Tatum and I’m happy that I decided to drop in after all. We grabbed some lunch with her after and then headed back to my dad’s house in Columbia.

I usually plan my weeks out better since it’s a two-hour drive in between my mom’s and dad’s houses but with Brian flying in on Friday and the airport only being 20 minutes from my dad’s, it made more sense to stay there Thursday and Friday night. On Friday, my dad was able to work from home so Tatum got to spend more time with her Poppy and we took walks and played at all the playgrounds I used to go to when I was little. After I got her in bed, I picked Brian up from the airport. His plane was delayed an hour also so you know, that was great… -___-

Saturday was the day of one of my best friends since middle school, Ardath’s, wedding. We drove back up to West Virginia, hung out with my mom and stepdad for a bit then headed to the wedding. The ceremony was in Ardath’s dad’s church where he has been the pastor since we were little. My other three best friends from high school were there and it was kind of my favorite day of the entire month getting to watch our best friend marry the love of her life and celebrate all night. Her reception was held where we used to have prom together and it gave me all kinds of nostalgia. I think Brian caught a small glimpse of my life growing up as we sent Ardath and Kenneth off after a huge circle swaying to Country Roads, singing at the top of our lungs, with tears in people’s eyes. I’m so grateful for these incredible women that made me who I am today and the bonds we still share.

Sunday, we had to head back to Maryland and fly out that evening. We did breakfast with my mom and stepdad, said bye to GG, lunch with my dad and stepmom, and headed out. Thankfully, our flight home wasn’t delayed and we were home by 8 PM, got Tatum in bed, and we resumed life as usual. 

Trip 3 of 7 for 2018 done, with wedding 3 of 4 in the books.

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We Bought Another House! In Florida... (June 2018)

Most of our friends and family know we still own our Utah house and rent it out, and after much debating back and forth and a few weeks of looking with a realtor, we decided to put an offer in on a house here in Clearwater, FL. It was killing Brian and I that we were paying more for our crappy two bedroom apartment with no yard here than we pay on our mortgage for our 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house in Utah with a garage and fenced in backyard at the back of a quiet neighborhood. When we found this house, I was certain it was what we were looking for and I made Brian go look at it with the realtor that same afternoon after I saw it. In the end, it was a bidding war but ultimately we got it and didn't go any higher than what we said we would bid overall.

I've probably ranted about it before but housing in Florida is the worst. The really nice places are $2100/mo. for a 2 bedroom place, or it's government subsidized and we make too much money to have a decent place for a decent price. We wound up renting in a crappy apartment complex that would shut our water off randomly because of "water main breaks" because it was the only place available for a decent price when we needed to move. People ask me all the time what it's like living in Florida and I tell them it's a great place to vacation, we're not in love with living here. But with Brian starting his MBA in August, that will keep us here at least until December 2019, so we decided to buy a small house, put some work into it, and hopefully get a return on our investment, instead of just throwing the money down the drain on rent.

We had a very small window on the map of where we wanted to buy. We wanted to be in the boundaries to go to the same church we go to now, we didn't want Brian to have a long commute to work in Tampa (it's currently 15 mins or less), we didn't want a HOA (ours in Utah is a TRAIN WRECK), Brian had to have a garage and decent backyard, and we didn't want to be off a main road. Between sink holes and flood zones, it was not easy but we started looking at the perfect time, put an offer in, and were able to close on the house between vacations at the beginning of June. We have our apartment lease until the middle of August so we've been able to do all the painting and cleaning we wanted to get done before moving our stuff (which we've already done now, I'm just behind on posting this).

We were looking for something specifically that we could renovate and update some and this was the perfect house. It's 3 bedrooms, one bathroom, with a huge fenced in backyard. It's pretty small but there's no wasted space. Each bedroom has a big closet and the rooms don't feel too tiny. It's also nice because we have wood or tile in all the rooms. After our Utah house and all the renovations we had to make with that, I'm very skeptical about houses with carpet now!! We're working on the permits and plans to expand the third bedroom, add a master bathroom and walk-in closet, and transform it into a real master suite. The outside is a gross yellow color and I can't wait to paint the exterior in September. I'm not a fan of "Florida house colors." Before we moved in we painted the living room, dining room, hallway, two bedrooms (excluding the one we're going to renovate), and the bathroom.

My awesome stepdad is a contractor at home in West Virginia so he's going to do most of the work for us when they come visit in September. We're going to extend the front porch, rework the landscaping out front (waiting for my talented mama to come down to help me with this), add a screened in back deck, and update some other things along with the renovation (new tile floor in kitchen, backsplash, reworking the garage a bit, etc.). Brian has already planted two trees: one grafted lemon and orange tree, and one grapefruit tree! We also have garden boxes that we'll be planting soon, and our backyard is up against a park so we don't have any neighbors behind us which is great!

I'm resisting posting more pictures until we have more before and after photos, but I'll put a few up of the changes we've already made! The people who lived here were renting it from an older couple and they were able to make changes to the home--- which was not a good thing. The people who lived here had a weird obsession with "distressing" things-- doors, cabinets, walls-- which to them was just brushing some paint places that it shouldn't have been. The bathroom cabinet and all the doors to the bedrooms, garage, and closets were all "distressed" and I'm so glad that's been fixed LOL. 

It feels good to be back in a place that's all ours, with no neighbors on the other side of a wall, people to tell us how to keep our grass 1/18 inch tall, or steal our parking spots. I also enjoy not having to carry groceries up a flight of stairs or drive our trash down to the trash compactor. You take for granted walking down your driveway to the mailbox when you don't have to drive to the post office to mail a letter. 

I was overwhelmed with all that we have to do with this house but now that we're settled in, we both feel good about it and Tatum is obsessed with the house. We painted her room purple and bought her a pool that's big enough for the three of us to all play in comfortably. I feel like I have so much freedom now! I can lay out and soak up some sunshine while she's outside, getting some sunshine, corralled and playing happily in the water. As much as I love the beach, it's really nice to be outside without leaving home and not be dying of heat stroke! Our neighborhood is pretty quiet and I love the location. I feel like we've learned so much from buying our first house and now we're that much wiser! There's definitely adjustments to buying in Florida, like prepping for the current hurricane season, buying window clamps and hurricane shutters just in case, etc. But we're excited for a new challenge and more renovations!

Bathroom BEFORE

Dining room/Living room BEFORE

 Hallway BEFORE (more ugly yellow)

Bedrooms BEFORE (all three bedrooms and the bathroom were this neon blue)

Living room AFTER 

We painted the living room, dining room, hallway, and one bedroom this neutral gray

Here's an example of the hideous "distressing" that I mentioned before. These doors are all white now!

Hallway AFTER

Tatum's lilac purple room. It actually looks kind of like the gray but you can see more of a difference with her toys and furniture in there (see photo #2). 

Bathroom AFTER

We painted the walls a dark greenish blue and decided to turn the "distressed" cabinet black. The other walls are covered in white tile so to accent all the white we needed some darker colors. Also, bonus points for the double sink! Getting ready for church has never been so easy haha. 

Being an adult for me is getting way too excited over a brand new washer and dryer! But I LOVE doing laundry now, so that's enough for Brian LOL. 

Our backyard needs to be reseeded heavily and it's on our to do list for the weekend, but here's part of our backyard with a very happy baby in her pool. 

I'll do more renovation posts as we get things done! 

Xo- Jess

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March & April 2018

The weeks following a big occasion always seem so laid back and insignificant. Following Tatum's birthday and our parents heading home, things were pretty quiet for us. Tatum had her one year checkup and was growing right on track. My birthday night consisted of Brian and I going out to Koizi Sushi which is an endless sushi and hibachi restaurant with the most amazing food!

New premium outlets opened on the far side of Tampa so we headed out there on St. Patrick's Day to spend some of my birthday money, mostly on Tatum as usual. I also had some giftcards leftover from Christmas for her for Carter's too, so we were able to start stocking up on some bigger sizes for her. So far we've relied mostly on hand-me-down's from Brian's brother and sister-in-law because their little girl Ella has the cutest clothes, but now I'm actually starting to buy more. Anytime I see a sale, I grab some clothes for her in larger sizes!

That weekend, we had some friends from Utah come into town so we met them at the beach for a bit. At the end of the month, we took Tatum to a Rays MLB game, her third since we've been in Florida. It was opening weekend and so much fun!

April is typically more eventful for us than it was this year. Usually we try to get tickets to General Conference for at least one session, but since we weren't in Utah this year, no GC. Lindy's birthday is also at the beginning of the month but instead of a family get together, we had to mail her present. We had some family in town visiting for a bit and went to the beach some with them.

The second weekend in April we used our third Disney day and went back to Magic Kingdom. Even though its hands down the busiest park, Magic Kingdom will always be my favorite park. There are SO many fun rides for Tatum that Brian and I don't have to split up as much to ride the big rides solo. Her favorites are Little Mermaid, the Carousel, Dumbo, It's A Small World, and Aladdin's Magic Carpets. She also gets really animated and dances to the music in the Pirates ride, one of my personal favorites! We did get fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, and Little Mermaid for Tatum, but rode all the big rides. I felt like we planned so well for this and I used the heck out of the WDW app but we hit all the rides with minimal wait times and did it right! Disney is way more fun with kids of your own! I'm grateful for this time in our lives where we get to be close to fun things like this and have fun with Tatum!

For Easter, we attended church and then went to my grandma's house for dinner and to do a little Easter Egg hunt for Tatum. It was so funny to watch her run around and try to grab all the eggs, but she didn't want to put them in the basket. She was determined to hold them all most of the time, or at least as many as she could hold at once! I love getting to spend so much time with my grandma and let Tatum really get to know her. Gramma Rita is definitely one of her favorite people!!

Tatum likes to bring as much as she can into the bathroom and place it on the floor while I shower. I think she thinks its a race to see how much she can bring in until I'm done...

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