so long, farewell ...

aufidersen, goodnight! So it's so long to the place I've called home for the past 9 years. There are an aweful lot of memories in this town. So here's an ode to my past 9 years. 

Crazy undergrad times spent with friends at house parties.

I may not be a drinker but I totally went out of my comfort zone (yes it took me a full year in college to get there, whatever) and went to wild and crazy parties and let loose and was silly as only an 18 year old can be. 

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Crane made from the paper tablecloth at my 21st birthday dinner

I surrounded myself with funny, fun, and amazing friends. Who for example saw the paper tablecloth at the restaurant and decided it clearly was meant for a giant origami piece.

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Hubby as a baby (seriously he looks so young!) taking part in a donut eating contest

Again, crazy antics only a stupid college kid would come up with. But oh the fun we had! 

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Hubby's present to me for our first anniversary, my first Christmas tree.

I literally spent more time at Hubby's apartment than I did my own. (Partly due to loving him, becoming best friends with his roommate, and also because my roommates were hideous human beings I wanted to be far, far away from whenever possible.)

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Zoe when she was just a few months old, when all of her toys were bigger than she was

Moving in with my boyfriend, getting a dog, and pretending like I had everything all together when really I knew nothing.

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Two graduation and two walks across the stage for a diploma from FSU

I earned my bachelor's degree in three years and went straight into graduate school. In 5 years total I'd earned both a bachelors and masters degrees.

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Becoming a full time social worker

Source: FSU CSW

I sort of stumbled onto social work but once I found it I fell in love, and in this town I became a full fledged social worker. (All thanks to this program, partly from my education and also because they told me about the job opening that I later wound up getting.) 

In my nine years I moved seven times to six different homes (dorm rooms, apartments, townhouses), three of which I lived with Hubby in. I went from being a scared 18 year old very far away from home, to becoming more comfortable with myself and making new friends, meeting Hubby and falling in love, and now being a more mature and more comfortable with myself adult twentysomething that's a social worker and wife (and dog Mom). For as much as I grew up in Miami as a child I grew up in this town. I learned more than I could have imagined, been through more than I could have guessed, but also grown and loved more than I could have hoped. 

So long Tallahassee, it's been fun! 

Now on to Miami, again....

Honoring and Remembering

Happy Memorial Day interwebz!

Source: via pinterest via Howtoforless

Thank you to all that have and currently serve, who sacrifice so much to protect us. Also to the families of those that serve, you sacrifice as well and that deserves recognition as well!

walking off the edge

I am not a leap first and look second kind of girl. I'm the girl that stands 100 feet from the edge, looks around, looks to see all the paths I could take (even if I think I want to leap off, not like I actually would), considers all my options, and then carefully makes a decision. 

So this whole Miami move, it's killing me. As much as it was a "no brainer" decision it's a big leap and it's a larger leap than I've taken in a while, actually maybe ever. My plans for this whole move and re-start are vague at best. That's mostly because we can't plan. We don't know what it'll be like and we won't know until we're living it. 

Source: pinterest via unknown

So here I am, about to leap walk over the edge of this cliff, hoping for the best and willing to just jump.

Source: pinterest via unknown

The next few days (and weeks) are going to be ... crazy. I'll share the highlights once it's all said and done. Until then, be safe and happy and seriously send good thoughts my way! 

high five for friday

Source: pinterest via unknown

one. My very last full week of work at my office. So bizarre, surreal but also wonderful! (Soon, I'll be with Hubby)
two. I packed a little. Some how spurts of inspiration motivation hit and I packed a little. We're talking just a handful of boxes but something, anything still counts!
three. My last dental clinic. I run one every other month and it worked perfectly that there was one last clinic just before I leave. I get to say goodbye in person to so many people I've worked with these past four years!
four. baking, that's my way of saying "thanks for everything. I love you and I'll miss you" I've got all of these recipes I plan on making before going, not exactly with a plan of when and why I should be diving out the baked good love. 
five. There's only five days left before Hubby arrives. That's worth celebration all on it's own!

And just because I can't help myself, I saw this today and laughed, because it's true. And it's what I'm about to be in the middle of! Gotta laugh, that's much better than crying!

Source: someecards

 

linked up to Lauren/frommygreydeskblog's High Five For Friday

mixed bag

These last few weeks, I've swung from low to high and back again. Nothing actually diagnosable, just the mostly normal swing between emotions in an emotional period for our family. This weekend was no exception. So being a bit behind, a bit latter than I should be seems to be a trend for me. Usually it's for something small and easy to laugh off. Ocho de mayo, I'm a comedian. Five minutes late to meet friends, no biggie Vix is always a bit late. Missing a phone interview, not funny at all. Except that's exactly what I did on Friday. 

I'd been sick for about 24 hours and was totally not in a normal mind set. I also didn't sleep much and had no concept of time. So when I couldn't stay awake and started to doze off my sick brain thought taking my nap to my bed was a good idea. Real me should have recognized that I was supposed to be calling in for a phone interview. Sick me slept through several phones calls from my family asking how it went. 

The really good news is that my phone and email apologizes worked and I was able to reschedule the call for Sunday. Turned out to not be an interview per say, but the highly influential person my call was with has now sent out my resume to a bunch of other influential people in the non-profit/social work area in Miami. Fingers crossed something pans out. Someone knows someone that knows someone that gets my resume to the right person and I get considered for something. 

In the past 48 hours I went from (being sick) extreme dread over making such a big mistake, panic over the thought that I'll never find work when I move down to Miami, and then all the way back to hopeful that things will work out. 

A funny anecdote: A friend (haha not at all) My current boss told me that me not finding anything yet must be a sign, that what's out there isn't meant to be and my real meant to be job will come. 

Maybe she's right. But Mama needs some money coming in, so a little bit of "transition" time where I'm looking for work is to be expected. It's the long term "oh crap with this economy I haven't found a job and may not for a while" that's getting me freaked out. I'm not sure how long we can swing living off of one income and living with my parents. (You know the shame not necessarily just the financials, I do not want to be the unemployed deadbeat living with my parents forever.) 

happy ocho de mayo!

Yeah so it's a few days after Cinco de Mayo. I totally didn't celebrate, as much as being a fun drunk seems to be for everyone else, I'm just not that girl. It was kind of a chores day. I did laundry. I bathed Zoe. I did 80% of a hair cut on Zoe (see previous posts about hair cuts for Zoe, it's a frustrating and long drawn out process). Then I worked a party a friend threw for her Mom, so it would go well and she wouldn't have to worry. (But I worked my butt off.) Then I came home, exhausted, and tried to relax. But I remembered I had to try to get in Cinco de Mayo shots of Zoe wearing her hat. Dear lord, when we packed things up with Hubby's move I made him let me keep it. I knew exactly where it was, despite the rest of my house being a mess mid packing/move right now. 

It didn't work out well, she was already "traumatized" from the bath and hair cut earlier in the day. She flipped out whenever I put the hat on her. And this is the girl that never liked it before but just sat there and dealt with it every other year, knowing it'd be over soon. Anyway, this was the disastrous photshoot. Enjoy (even if it's a few days late)!

Really, we're really going this?!?

Is it over yet?

Happy freaking cinco de mayo. The END, I'm done. Put the phone down!

you can do it carl

Life can feel like a rat race, that you're a mouse stuck on the wheel going forward but not going anywhere. This, this is what I'm going to have to look at any time I ever feel that way again. Adorable and funny and totally motivational all at the same time!

Source: email from a co-worker via facebook

high five for friday

Well another week down. T-minus three weeks (less technically) from my last day at work/when Hubby flies in/when the move officially happens. I'm excited beyond words but also freaking out like no one's business. I mean like, seriously freaking out.

I'm an intelligent woman and I like to think I have many talents or at least things I'm good at. But I know enough to say there's a lot I'm not good at. Probably at the very top of that list is packing. Seriously, I wish I was joking but that's the truth. So the fact that I have to pack up my ENTIRE HOUSE ALL BY MYSELF is something that'd be my worst fear if I let myself think that far. 

 

Source: google images via weird nut daily

 Except it is. Wah wah....

My friends have been great and have given me boxes and saying sweet things like "I wanted to get these to you right away since I'm sure you're packing and oh you've already started and will need these". 

 

Source: google images via tumblr

How I want to feel, but never actually do..

Um yeah, that was last week and I still haven't packed a single box. I've posted a ton of ads on Craiglist and checked my email frantically hoping to have a new email with someone wanting to buy my stuff. I've sat in my living room freaking out about all that needs to be done. A little while later (after not packing and instead distractedly doing something else) I panic about how much time I've spent freaking out and how I now have even less time to get so much done! Those three weeks turn into a bad thing in those moments. 

I really wish I could grab my on-staff magician and make him magically poof my household belongings away, neatly packed into boxes. 

Sources: google images via everydayshouldbesaturday and thedatingpages

Well, as I tell my patients, today is a new day and we can move forward. So here's hoping I sell more furniture (that I'm decent at) but also get my packing on!

TGIF people!

linking up to Lauren/frommygreydeskblog's High Five For Friday

art schmart

I'm crafty, I am NOT artistic. There's a big difference. I can come up with crafty ideas but when it comes to artistic talent that's required to make said craft/art nice that's where I can't follow through to the end. 

Some times I forget that and try my hand at something and when it fails then I remember, 'oh yeah I don't have any artistic abilities.' Last weekend I went to a local art event, every year I love going and build it up so much that I always get let down. The arts and crafts tend to fall into two categories, either "They want how much for this!?!" or "Who'd ever buy this!?!" I seem to forget about that until I go and then remember. I'm always looking for the elusive item that I like and that seems to be not incredibly expensive. I think I've only ever bought three things from this festival over the years: bacon salt, a wooden birdhouse bird feeder, and homemade soy candles. The bacon salt was good but highly processed I don't know what it really was and the bird feeder got eaten (yes the wood too, not just the bird seeds) by the squirrels in just a few weeks. The candles I bought this year and so far so great. 

Anyway, typically I'll find something that's really pretty (and handmade) but of course crazy expensive. This year I saw a really pretty painting of a coneflower, one of my favorites, it was so my style but so out of my price range  I took a picture on the sly and thought about it. I said "what the hell" and decided I'd eventually try to recreate it myself. I had a blank canvas lying around the house and went to HobbyLobby and bought myself some paint and some brushes. I took my cell phone, zoomed into the photo of the painting and tried my best Neil Caffery forgery to make art. Here's the comparison, which isn't very good because even my incognito photo came out way better than my multiple attempts of my own painting.