Sunday, January 24, 2010

Catching you UP!!

Well - where should I start? I guess I will first explain that this blog serves two main purposes. The first is to keep our family and friends informed on what is going on with us (hopefully I will be pretty good at updating this). The second is for documentation purposes on our end! With that being said, there will probably be stuff on here that doesn't interest most of you...so don't feel obligated!

I also feel like I should put a disclaimer in here that writing is NOT my strong suit!! I was not an English major and I am pretty horrible with grammar...so please bear with me!

Now I will start!

Just to catch you up - we are now living in Starkville, Mississippi! We moved right after Christmas for Bo's job. He was coaching at his Alma Mater in Rocky Mount, NC - and now is an assistant strength and conditioning coach/GA at Mississippi State. So, we have been here almost a month! Wow!

Moving was quite an adventure! We hired a moving company and on the day of the move it felt like everything was going wrong. We were supposed to leave on Sunday, drive to Atlanta and spend the night, and drive the rest of the way on Monday. . . did not happen that way. I will spare you all of the details of what went wrong; but we did not leave until Monday morning, Bo was driving my dad's suburban pulling a trailer with part of our stuff, and I was following behind. I was quite emotional (if you can imagine that) - leaving family and friends and everything you know, nervous about Bo having to pull the trailer 750 miles, Chloe was freaking out, driving all day by myself...you get the point. But, we drove all the way here in one day. Now, I should probably mention that I had never been to Mississippi before and when Bo came for his interview he was barely here 24 hours. ALSO, we had not seen ONE picture of the apartment that we are living in (talk about a LEAP of faith)!!

When we started driving into Mississippi there was NOTHING on the highway - when i say nothing - I mean, no lights, very few buildings, and no cars... Anyways, we found our way to our 'neighborhood' - which is very hilly, very dark, and very much in the country. Our landlord told me that he would just leave the apartment UNLOCKED, the keys on the kitchen counter, and would be by later in the week to meet us and collect the rent and the pet deposit! After pulling up to the wrong set of apartments and Bo having to back the trailer up in the dark and on a steep hill - we found our way to a different building that housed our little apartment... I got out of the car, with Chloe in tow and walked into our new home. I quickly looked around, decided I absolutely HATED it, and went back out the front door and held in all of my tears until Bo finished parking the truck and trailer. AS SOON as he got out of the truck, I started crying hysterically and told him that there was NO WAY I was staying in this apartment...

So, the three of us walk back into the apartment when I decide that my mom is the only one that can possibly make me feel any better about this situation. At this point, I think that I became as dramatic as I possibly could. Chloe started scratching - which made me cry harder because I was convinced there were fleas in the apartment. I decided that Bo also hated the apartment - which he agreed that he did - but what man is going to argue with his hysterically crying wife?? I told my mom that Chloe could not walk around the apartment because there were so many rats (obviously this is part of the super drama queen part). So, we then left the apartment to find a hotel - and I am not kidding about that part. We spent our first two nights in Starkville at the Hampton Inn.

When we woke up the next morning, Bo convinced me that we had to come back over here. I cried the whole way here. **Sidenote - our apartment has natural gas that heats the apartment, water heater, stove, oven, etc.** When we got here, my head was pounding (from crying so much, I'm sure). But, here comes the drama queen - right back out. I just KNEW my head was hurting because I was getting carbon monoxide poisoning from this apartment. Also, Chloe kept wanting to be held - and my reason for that was that she was getting it too and needed to be up higher so that she could breathe. So, I start crying again. Poor Bo.

As we set out on our way to Lowe's to buy carbon monoxide detectors, we pass the appliance repairman that was coming to fix our stove. We had to turn around and go back into the carbon monoxide infested apartment while he let all kinds of gas leak out of the stove. This of course forced me and Chloe (the ones that were suffering) out of the apartment and left Bo in here with the repairman. Finally, Chloe and I decided that we had gotten enough fresh air and that we could go back into the apartment for a little while. The repairman was finishing up so I took this opportunity to ask him about the carbon monoxide and how to get to Wal-Mart/Lowe's so that we could get the detectors (that I was sure were going to go CRAZY when we got them back home). This conversation that took place with this exceptionally nice man, cannot possibly be replicated through a blog. You will need to make a note to ask us about this so that we can tell you in person/on the phone. Anyways, he did inform us that {insert super-thick country accent} "if you caaaaan't get it at THE Wal-Mart, you aaaiiiin't gettin it in Starkvull."

After he left we set out again in search of our life-saving carbon monoxide detectors. We went to Lowe's, Bo went in (while Chloe and I sat in the car and I talked to my mom) and he bought two 4-star rated carbon monoxide detectors (which he was SURE to mention - so that I would be satisfied, I'm sure). We got something to eat and headed back to the apartment. By the time we got back, I felt much better. So, I wasn't all that surprised that our new little life-saving devices did not go off. Drama queen had receded and I had accepted that we would be living in this apartment for 6 months. I could either continue to hate it or I could try to make it feel like home. I decided to try to make it feel like home.

With all that being said, we have had a pretty good month here - and if nothing else, we have a lot of stories that will be really funny "one day" (still not that funny - to us/ME). Here is a "quick" recap of the past month!!

Our furniture/stuff arrived much quicker than expected, unharmed.

My parents (and Cameron) came down on New Year's day to switch cars with us (Bo had driven my dad's suburban - so they brought us the Explorer and drove the truck and trailer back).

We had a great time with them - seeing some of downtown Starkville and just hanging out!

Bo started work and school and he loves his new job. He works A LOT of hours but he is learning a lot and enjoys what he is doing. He's not as crazy about the school part! But, he is doing great in school so far and seems to have no problem balancing everything.

I am working from home for Rocky Mount Recyclers. I'm still adjusting but I think its going to work on both ends. I am very busy with work, for which I am thankful - since Bo works so much - it gives me something to do.

Slowly, but surely, our apartment seems to be coming together. It feels more and more like home - even though I am pretty (almost positive) sure we will be moving at the end of our lease.

Our second weekend here our pipes froze and we had no water. We then learned that our heat works (somehow??) from water and so therefore we had no heat. So once again, we spent two more nights in the good ole' Hampton Inn. I think they know us by name now. Also, out of the five apartments in our building, we were the only apartment that had the frozen pipes.
A. W. E. S. O. M. E.

I went to San Antonio, Texas last weekend to surprise my mom for her 50th birthday! Mom, Dad, Lil' Garry, and Cameron were in south Texas hunting for the weekend. Lauren and I met in San Anton (we can say that now that we have been) and surprised Mom. You would have thought that she had no idea who we were. It was great, she was surprised and absolutely had no idea that we were coming!! We had a great time there (although we all missed Bo and Chloe). We did the riverwalk, walked around San Anton, and just had a great time visiting and hanging out!! Its amazing how quickly time passes when you live 12 hours away from your family.

So, here we are...hopefully all caught up!! I head to NC tomorrow for work and I'm not quite sure how long I will be there. But, I will hopefully update you guys again soon (and MAYBE I will get some pics posted tonight - but I should probably be packing...)

If you have made it this far, thank you for reading! Hope you all are doing well and we hope to hear from you all soon!!!!

Brittany

3 comments:

  1. I think I would have cried just as much! I'm glad there is no carbon monoxide in the apartment and it's starting to feel like home. We'll keep praying for you both as you make the transition!

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  2. I'm glad you're starting to like your apt. but I can't say I blame you for wanting to move after your lease is up. Anyway, I love you both very much!!! :)

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  3. Sounds like you guys are doing well. I love your story!! You are so funny. Miss you!

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