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Sweet "Home Louis"

3/31/2015

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It's officially time to start the moving process. My last day as a Florida resident will be May 2nd and the clock is ticking.  E(my husband) is in St. Louis visiting as many places as possible until we find one we can call home.  I'm thanking God for technology right now. I can't imagine trying to organize my life without all of the apps and websites I've been using. Flipping through the yellow pages and mailing documents back and forth would make this process a nightmare.

I have received numerous questions about how this whole process is working for us and I have so many tips to share. Once this process is complete I will create a relocation/moving guide  and provide resources that I am sure you will find helpful in many ways. Things are much easier the second time around!!! Our first relocation was from Delaware to Florida and I'm not as worried as I was three years ago. I would have had a cow back then. We don't know where we are living in May and I'm not stressed about it. Just anxious. During my last trip we visited several homes but the timing was too far out. Boss lady (daughter)  had a blast though. She thought it was hilarious going from one house to another and wanted to know where her grandparents, aunts and uncles were going to sleep if they came to visit "Home Louis". I don't know where she got it from but now we are all calling St. Louis...."Home Louis". So cute! I adore how family oriented she is already! The neighborhoods and homes we visited were all beautiful. Most had built in book shelves in the living room or bedroom which I absolutely LOVED. Each place had so much character. The biggest challenge in most areas was parking. Coming from Florida all I could think of was the cold winters. I refuse to spend late nights or cold days looking for parking. A drive way, guaranteed parking spot or garage is an absolute MUST.
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The flexibility of my job is definitely a huge benefit right now.  I'm using a few of my vacation days so I can have four day weekends for the remainder of my employment which will be through the month of April. The transfer opportunity is looking slim and I'm prepared for that outcome. My supervisor has been extremely supportive through this process and I know if an opportunity ever presents itself I'll be able to jump right back in. If the transfer is unsuccessful I plan to own the moment of not having to report to work every day and spend the next 2-3 months focusing on my family, the household, networking, getting to know my new town and finding an employer that will challenge me in new ways.

April hasn't even begun and the month already seems gone. The month started to fill up in December. I keep appointments, activities and events organized on a hanging calendar in my bedroom as well as my phone. At the beginning of each month I copy it all to my planner. I hate to see scratch marks and edits on paper so I find it best to wait until everything is finalized. Currently my focus is on notifying contacts who need to be informed (daughter's school, doctors, utilities and so on) of my departure in April and making any last minute doctor appointments. I started to purge items in January but there is more to go. So every chance I get I'm organizing and making trips to the goodwill, consignment shops or the dumpster. The less we have to pack the better. 

In between our moving plans we've managed to make time to have some fun and celebrate the success and accomplishments of some good friends!!!! There are two formal events to attend. We are meeting in DC to witness our college friend exchange vows with his beautiful wife to be and my daughter and I are flying to St. Louis one last time before we move to attend an inaugural ball and of course finalize our housing plans. Thanks to Style Seat I have make up and hair appointments ready and prepared. It's amazing what you can accomplish in five minutes when you have the right tools! There are also a few birthdays to celebrate and I'm making a list (smh yea I know) of things I want to do one last time or for the first time before I leave Florida! Some activities are simple and some are extreme! I'll keep you posted!

Let the countdown begin and CHEERS to new beginnings!!!!! 
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We are Moving from Florida to St. Louis

3/8/2015

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I wish you could see the look on my face. I am not thrilled about leaving my ocean breeze, palm trees and perfect weather. However, I can smell a fresh pot of POSSIBILITIES brewing with our move to St. Louis. My husband received a rewarding career opportunity in the "Show Me State" and I am extremely proud and excited for him and even more excited for us. When I first found out that he was seriously interested in leaving Florida my reaction was not very positive. I absolutely LOVE it here! I thought it was a huge inconvenience because of what I had going on in my career. I was only 5 months into my new position which invested 100% into their employees, the salary offer was 20% higher than my previous job,  allowed me to work my own hours, provided me a vehicle for professional/personal use and many other perks. How could I possibly leave??? 

It was very easy to start thinking about how this move was going to effect me. I immediately began to overwhelm myself with worries. Just the thought of having to find a new place to live, a new school for our daughter, put in for a transfer or find a new job, building a new network of friends and whatever else gave me anxiety.  Mind you with this transition we would have to live apart temporarily! Creating these worries made me feel tired, stressed and angry. I slowly began to realize that one small negative thought would turn into a domino effect of negativity. Being a Debbie Downer was just way too exhausting considering it is usually not my style. I have always been Team "Good Vibes Only" but hey even positive people deserve to have a bad day.  I had to change my perspective and see the potential in our move. I really needed to just trust the flow of my life and understand this opportunity was presented for a reason. I believe that God's plan is much bigger than I ever could have imagined. At the same time my husband and I had to sit down and have a serious conversation about the vision of our future. Finding the right balance can be challenging at times but it is achievable. I give some and he gives some. Balance has always been a strength of ours and we find it important to not loose sight of that.  He understands and respects that it is important for me to pursue and accomplish my personal goals and have independence. I have to remind myself that I am capable of accomplishing all of my goals even when there are curve balls. I started to see the benefits pour in as soon as I opened my eyes. This was a huge decision for us to make and I can remember how nervous he was telling me the news. I'm so proud of him as my husband, as a father, as a professional and as a man. Watching him mature over the years has been so rewarding. He reminds me every day that we are capable of doing whatever we put our minds to. I am extremely thankful to have him as my partner and I must say he has made this transition as easy as possible. Every day he is there and I am here  I miss him and the distance always reminds me how much I love him and enjoy being married to him. 

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So its been six months now and the first two months were very challenging. Our four year old daughter really had a hard time adjusting to him not being here and would throw random temper tantrums. Often she would blame me for him being gone. It was a little overwhelming for me as well so I could only imagine how hard it was for her. Her daily routine was completely different, so was mine and so was  his. Six months later things are now a breeze after we committed to creating new routines for our temporary non traditional way of living. I put in my request for a transfer and we see each other for 4-5 days every two weeks. We established a morning and evening routine for him to speak or Facetime our daughter, when we are together we have date day/night and they have daddy daughter dates. When we talk at night, we talk for hours like teenagers and fall asleep on the phone. It's been smooth sailing and sometimes it doesn't even feel like we are living in two separate states. We will all be together in St. Louis in May. Currently we are in the process of searching for a place to live and making moving arrangements. Wish us luck! 
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