Two Months in Gainesville.

Two months of being homeowners (SO ADULT) and it still feels like a dream. Sure, in this dream we are also exhausted and overworked (Chris, not me) and have a teething baby, but STILL. We have a house. LIVING THE DREAM. 
I still get all teary-eyed when I think back to the weeks leading up to Match Day, how I wanted to match in Gainesville so badly, but was afraid to let myself even consider the possibility. Because we all know if you really want something, there's no way you're getting it, right? No idea why I think like this. 
Fast forward to now, waking up in a perfect little house in our perfect little city. I still feel like I'm on vacation in a new place, but I know it will just continue to feel more and more like home. 
Waking up and going to this beautiful yellow corner to get a cup of coffee and then having my choice of rooms to drink it in is a far cry from waking up in our studio and walking to the kitchen (which was actually just part of the den which was actually just part of the bedroom) and having the choice of either drinking it in bed or in the one chair we had. 

I'm just overflowing with thankfulness over here. I thought I'd share some of my favorite things about my new life in my new city. 

Skies like this. It's not a big city, so there aren't tons of building and lights. Meaning that the sunsets are stunning and the stars are clear and it's just beautiful. 

Having an outside area that's all ours. That hammock is my happy place.

This little munchkin having his own room. Jack having his own room to nap in has been a GAMECHANGER. 

Having room to workout in my living room. And by workout, I mean roll my yoga mat out and quickly have it swiped by Gatsby, who's napping needs are more important.

An excuse for DIYs. Mourn with me for a second...I bought an unfinished dresser so I could paint and stain it the colors I had in mind. It. Took. So. Long. And it was like, a thousand degrees outside while I was doing it. It was waaaay more work than I had in mind. But I did it! And I loved how it looked in Jack's room....for a whole two weeks before Ikea recalled it because it was literally killing kids. Now all my hard work is hidden away in a closet. 

Being able to get all of Jack's books out of storage! My baby shower was a "bring a book instead of a card" one. It's been so fun to get to read these to him!

Like I said, overflowing with thankfulness. 

There are phases in life where you just stop and say thank you, and this is one of them for me. I'm so thankful we're here, I'm so thankful for this house, I'm so thankful for my family. Life is busy and sometimes a little hard, but it is so, so good. 

What's making you thankful lately?

Goodbye, Orlando. Love You Forever.

I remember the first time I "came home" to Orlando. We got back from our honeymoon the first week of January and it was freezing. I had only packed tropical clothes, naturally, and shivered in my neon orange shorts the whole way to out apartment. When we walked in-my first time coming home to this new place-it was just so warm and cozy and immediately felt like home. 
Orlando was my home for three and a half years. It's where I had my first lease and my first legal drink. It's where med school and match day and graduation happened. It's where we got Gatsby. It's where Jack was born. It's where I made friends and lost friends and made some great decisions and made some poor choices and ultimately became someone I was really proud of. It will always hold a giant piece of my heart. A giant piece of me. 
So goodbye for now, Orlando. Goodbye to the apartment that warmed my heart three and a half years ago and goodbye to the tiny apartment in the sky with the view that took my breath away the first time I saw it. Goodbye to the best tacos I've ever had and to my favorite sushi happy hour. Goodbye to Lake Eola and the farmer's market, to the best rooftop pool, to the traffic that makes me crazy. 
I'll miss you. 
I told Chris the other day that I thought we did our time in Orlando just right. We didn't outgrow it so soon that we didn't enjoy our last bit of time in Orlando, but we outgrew it soon enough that I'm not sad to be leaving. How can I be when a perfect home and the next chapter of my life is waiting for me in Gainesville? It's never easy to say goodbye, but having a hello waiting right around the corner makes it a little bit sweeter. 
Thanks for all the good, Orlando. I'll love you forever. 

We Bought a House!

I have the most exciting news (to me, anyway)...we bought a house!
I know I've alluded to it here and there, but I didn't want to talk about it until everything was for sure all set. With so many big life-events happening lately, I was kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop. With every form we filled out, I half-expected a phone call saying "Oh hello yes, it has come to our attention that you are not a real-life adult and you may not have this house." But somehow we actually are grownups, and we're set to close on Friday!
To say I'm excited about this is an incredibly large understatement. We took a packing break on Saturday to get some things from Target, where I picked out a rug and shower curtain for Jack, and later cried tears of actual joy over it. It may seem silly, but the thought of filling our own house with our own stuff...literally brings me to tears. 
I'm excited about everything, especially: 

• Getting to hang up my clothes. We have the tiniest little closet right now, which means most of my clothes are in my dresser. I'm so excited to be able to hang my clothes where I can see them without having to unfold them! It's the little things. 

• Having a separate laundry room. No more piling dirty clothes in front of the washer that happens to be at the foot of our bed!

• Having a backyard! GUYS, I cannot wait to share pictures of the backyard. Serious perfection. Gatsby is not going to know what to do with himself. I cannot wait.

• Jack having his own room. See also: Not having to avoid making noise while Jack naps.

• Having somewhere to eat dinner that is not my lap. 

• Having a desk again! Somewhere to write, and blog, and create. 

• Paying a mortgage instead of rent. AKA, paying towards something each month for A WHOLE HOUSE instead of just giving the office downstairs most of my paycheck for a single room.

aaaand about a million other things. I can't wait to fill a house with things we love, to make a house into a home that reflects our life, and to cover it in bright colors and flowers and all things happy.

Life is good, you guys. It's pretty dang good.

Tell me something good that's going on in your life!

First Things First: How to Make a New City Feel Like Home.

I'm not someone who does great with mass amounts of change. I'm working on it, because I want to be this free, adventurous soul who just goes with the flow. But we live in reality, and here I still find lots of change hard.

Before we found out where we'd be moving, I starting thinking about what I love about Orlando and how I'm so comfortable here. I wondered how I would be able to feel like that in a new town. So, being the easy-going, go with the flow, whatever-happens-happens girl that I am (ha), I made a list. A list of things to do first, no matter where we move, to make a new city feel a bit more like home.

Find your Library. I love the romantic notion of filling my home to the brim with books. I love the idea of just buying any book I come across that I may one day like to read. But, I also really like the thought of having enough money to buy groceries. Because of this, the library is my best friend. As soon as I have lived at my new house long enough to have two pieces of mail addressed to me at my new address, I am getting a library card.

Find your Take-Out Haven. We all have days that were just too busy, too stressful to even think about cooking dinner. We also all have days that are hard and result in the need for a hug in the form of food cooked by someone else. When these days happen, there is a safe little haven known as the take-out place. This haven is different for everyone, but for me, it's Chinese food. There's rarely a problem that can't be solved with some good Chinese food. Moving week can be brutal, so it's probably best to start testing out take-out havens as soon as you get to your new city.

Find your Church. If you're like me, finding a good church just feels like home. It's a comforting and refreshing addition to the week, and finding one you like can make a new town quickly feel like home. Plus, trying out different churches automatically gives you something to do and a way to meet new people. If church isn't your thing, fill in the blank with whatever is. Find your art museum or your book club or your fitness center.

Find your Grocery Store. For when you run out of money for take-out. Listen, I don't particularly like grocery shopping. It's draining and a commitment and then, after you have foraged through the store in search of all the items on your list, you have to drive home and actually unload all the food. It's just not my idea of fun. However, finding a good (and clean, please) grocery store where things are in relatively easy-to-find places (I'm looking at you, Target who puts the baby formula with the cat litter) can make a not-so-fun task enjoyable enough to not dread it.

Make your house homey. I absolutely cannot wait for this one. I want to decorate our new house slowly, only filling it with things we absolutely love. I don't want to buy a bunch of so-so things just because I'm in a rush to get it done. That being said, there are things that make your house feel like your house. Things like your favorite blanket and your chipped coffee mug that you just can't bring yourself to throw away. Put those things where you can see them, because this is your house now, and they belong. And so do you.



How do you make a new town feel like home?

The Envelope Has Spoken: Where We Matched!

After what felt like an eternity, Friday, March 18th, 2016 arrived. With it came a tiny black box with Christopher's name on it, and a gold envelope inside. On the inside of that envelope was the name of our new city.

After a long morning of nerves and laughs and both happy and anxious tears and hugs and jitters, we counted down from 10 and finally opened that ominous, fancy envelope to reveal where our next adventure would be taking place. . .

I could not be more thrilled with this news. Seriously, I am overjoyed. I was hoping and hoping and hoping for Gainesville, but-and I realize this sounds incredibly cynical-I felt like since I wanted it so badly, there was no way it was going to happen. 

But it did. 

And I am over the freaking moon excited about it. 

I am so happy that Chris is going to get to follow his dream of becoming a surgeon, and that he's going to get to do that in a state that I love. I am so happy we'll be near family. I am so happy that Jack will get to grow up a little Florida baby.

What a journey. What a reward. 

I finally feel like I can relax a little bit-no more holding my breath waiting on answers. I feel like I can just be for a little while. 

But not for too long, of course...because there are houses to look for and restaurants and parks and churches and stores to look up. Because a new adventure is starting, and it's going to be a good one. 

Gainesville, I'm coming for you!