Happy Tuesday, Fancy Oatmealers! And as promised, here is the recommencement of the blog that is fancy. I feel as though my eyes may explode from the mass quantities of manufactured illumination; cracking open my laptop at 5:30 this morning, when I had been using my iPhone for over a week, was a little disturbing.
But it’s great to be back on this side of the Blog-o-Sphere! Normally, I follow around 25-30 blogs, and don’t always have the time to really sit down and read them. Also, I’ve been away from a reliable internet source for about 9 days, so I’ve kicked up my reading a few notches. Please keep in mind that even though I was in the passenger seat of a moving truck for two solid days, I get extremely carsick and wasn’t able to get much of anything productive accomplished, other than switch to a new podcast every hour and thirteen minutes-ish.
Podcasts that Rule My Ears:
- Jay Mohr’s Mohr Stories
- Doug Benson’s Doug Loves Movies
- the Sklar Brother’s Sklarbro Country
- Anything with Ryan Sickler*
*A note about Ryan Sickler – He does have his own podcast, the Crab Feast, but I don’t subscribe. He’s a bit of a potty mouth, but the reason why he made the list was because he has an AMAZING laugh! If you are a fan of the Ricky Gervais laugh, you’ll be down with the Sickler.
**Please also note that there’s not a single educational, topical, or “listen to this with your mother in the car” on my list. Please don’t judge my ability to be a sound citizen based upon my recreational listening choices.
The Destination or the Journey?
So let’s start at the beginning of the crazy journey that was the second cross-country move that Dear Hubby and I enlisted in, the first being to St. Paul Island, AK. When you have a (parental) garage full of tubs and assorted pieces of furniture, you need a reliable method of transporting said goods to your new home. We went with a 16′ moving truck from Penske.
It was only slightly intimidating to drive for about the first 245 miles, and I made Dear Hubby drive when we were going through the mountains. If this teaching gig should hit a dead end, I think he’s got a trucking profession on the back burner.
I would say I drove maybe 1/8th of the way, but damn I make driven’ truck look good!
Essentially it took us two days + 3 hours to get from Michigan to Jacksonville, and there really were no issues during our travels unless you count the mini strokes I had when Dear Hubby would hand me the nearly $100 receipt after filling up the gas tank. My parents graciously offered to follow us down in our car and help setup the apartment. Um, yes please! I cannot express to you how grateful both Dear Hubby and I were for their help; simply driving to FL and staying in mid-level hotels for two days to move furniture (twice) in 95+ degree weather should qualify them both for sainthood.
I was really proud of the fearsome foursome because it only took us about two hours to get all of the boxes and furniture into the apartment, and then four days to get everything sifted out and placed into their new homes.
I’ve included some highlights of our living room, our makeshift pantry, and guest room/office. No master bedrooms cuz some stuff needs to stay private, you know!
One thing I have to include, with some detail, is our solarium. It’s not because I think it’s some dazzling, luxuriously decorated room in our home, but because I have NO.IDEA. what a solarium is.
We, not knowing what is the appropriate use for a solarium, decided to turn it into a multi-purpose room. The Media Center/Welcome Home Catch-All/Sports Card Library sits across from my reading chair, where you might be able to catch me from time-to-time crocheting granny squares.
What I really love about having our own place, finally, is that we are dripping in wedding swag. You may not be able to tell because of my sub-par photography skills, but the quilt that is lounging across the back of my reading chair is the double-wedding ring quilt that my mother made for us. Also, the “Love is Patient/1 Corinthians” wall hanging is peeking over your shoulder to remind you that you better choose your battles when you notice your husband not immediately washing his popcorn bowl out in the sink.
So life is good in Jacksonville, and I’ll be back around later to let you know how my first Floridian Outdoor run went, as well as how I’m going to have to learn gym etiquette all over again. TEASER!!!!
We setup shop around mid morning because we knew that storms would be a’brewin’ this afternoon. Part of our anniversary gift to each other were beach chairs, towels, and umbrella, the official gift for the second year of marriage.
And brought along our new, iPhone Super Bass Bose stereo equipment:
No, but seriously, our friend Sonia introduced this sleek trick to amplify the sound of your cell phone.
When my skin had its fill of Vitamin D, we decided it was time to fill our tummies with Vitamin Delicious! On our way onto the beach, we spotted a little frozen yogurt shop and made our way over there after dropping off our chairs and umbrella.
You have got to love any establishment that encourages its patrons to sign the wall, and has digital monitors that display what flavor frozen yogurt is available for the day. There was 100% no guilt in choosing to get dessert before a meal, especially when going to HappyCup Frozen Yogurt.
And a happy cup is:
