To be, or not to be...a Southern Bell

My girlfriend Katey and I went shopping around Marshall's the other day in pursuit of the perfect Easter hat. Both of us know how important it is to dress to the nines on Easter Sunday, but more importantly, to dress your head with the perfect hat. We wanted our hats to really express themselves. We're pretty sure we found them, but need a little convincing from you. Southern Bell, or just plain weird...

By the way, the hat Katey is modeling had a mighty price tag of $199.99...yowzah!!

Relaxing trip to FL

NOT nude

Siesta Key Beach


Handsome boy

Well, we're back to the real world again, but our vacation was nice while it lasted! We were able to see family and friends, and get some much needed 'sun therapy' time in! I am living in VA with friends until the closing date on our house, and tutoring on the side. I'll start tutoring any day now! John is still working in WV, and moved here permanently March 17th, and starts work at his new job on March 23rd. Life has been so hectic, but I know that soon it will all settle down. Here are some pics from FL!

Closure

I always thrive in situations when I have closure, and when I don't have closure, I don't do too well. Our vacation in Florida ends in just a few days, and then we are headed back to WV. John will be staying in WV until March 17, but I will be leaving immediately for VA the next day. Although I am really excited to be moving from WV to VA, I don't think I've had closure on the four months that I lived in the Wild and Wonderful state. When I was living in WV, my life seemed painfully slow, and mind numbing. My daily routine consisted of watching DVDs, running occasional errands, occasionally going to the gym, and making dinner. Although it may seem a lot to keep someone busy, it's not enough to keep me busy! There were numerous nights when I would be laying in bed at the end of the day thinking to myself, 'What the heck did I do with myself, or my life today?' I made one friend, who I dearly love, and will terribly miss! But my daily interactions were mostly with just John, and I was dying to be in big groups of people, laughing and playing, and everyday I found myself on the couch thinking about my family and friends. With all of that said, in some ways, the last four months of doing nothing were exactly what I needed to prepare for the next few months of being crazy busy with buying a house, renovating it, starting work again, and blah, blah, blah. I guess what I am trying to say is that although West Virginia was not the best place for loud, NY, opinionated, out-spoken Leah...you served me well.

Kind of a blur...

The last few weeks have been a total blur!! John and I have SO busy with a million different things! My best friend had her baby, so I was in for about a week and a half with her. Then we found out about three weeks ago that he got the job at Sentara in Hampton, and have been house hunting for a few weeks on and off. As soon as we found out about the job, we started packing our house in WV, and I started looking for jobs in Hampton Roads. Every weekend for the past 5 weeks we have been in VA, and driving back and forth, which gets old pretty quick! Although we LOVE our time in VA with our friends, the drive is horrible and we are glad that it'll be over soon! In some ways, being back and forth between states has helped because we've been able to use each trip as a way of transporting our packed boxes. Tomorrow, John will be arriving with a moving van full of our furniture, and the left over boxes that didn't fit in our car. We have both been busy little packing beavers!

It's difficult to be 'halfs-e-ing' it. We are in between places right now, and living out of suitcases. While we know that we'll be living in the area again, we don't have a house that we're moving into. Our gracious friends Stu and Claire are allowing us to stay with them for a few weeks during the 'transition' time. They have been great about the whole thing, and have opened their house to us! We put an offer on a house in Yorktown, and should be hearing back shortly. John starts work March 23, and for the remainder of the school year, I'll be substitute teaching, and tutoring after school. I'm in the process of looking for a full-time teaching position for next year, so if you know of any openings in any elementary schools...please let me know!

We leave for FL on Sunday, and we are SO excited!! We are going to be there for a wonderful 10 day vacation, visiting his grandparents, and doing little day beach trips.

Good times were had...

John and I went to VA this past weekend to look for a house. Oh, did I mention that we're moving back to Hampton Roads??!! YAH! We are so excited! John interviewed for a job at the Hampton Sentara Healthplex two weeks ago, and got the job! His first day is March 16th. We are so excited to move back 'home', and be with our friends again! So, now we are back to square one with looking for a house and all that jazz. I forgot how stressful it is looking for a house with a pretty limited time. We are thinking that we'll stay with friends for a few weeks, and then move into whatever house we get sometime in April. We checked out a lot of houses on Saturday and Sunday, probably too many to be honest, because our heads were spinning. Did I mention how freakin' excited I am to be moving back?

After a long day of looking at houses on Saturday, we had drinks that night with some friends. We both really needed to just relax and have fun...and we did! It felt so good to be with our friends again, laughing and having fun. We looked at more houses on Sunday, and found two that were are really interested in. There are still a lot of numbers to be crunched, but we're on the right path!

Awkward, and great at the same time

I watched a movie yesterday that was really interesting. Now, I’m going to start off by saying I like weird movies, I like oddball humor, and I like having to work during movies. If I don’t think at all, or ponder anything during a movie…it’s pointless. (With the exception of silly comedies like Anchorman and such) I really like to feel as though I've learned the characters, and felt what they're dealing with. So, with all that said, I just watched Lars and the Real Girl. It may be in my top 10! From the back of the DVD case, it will sound like a movie about a guy who falls in love with a sex doll, but it is SO much more! You have to walk into the movie knowing that it’s different, a little awkward at parts, but rewarding in the end. There's a really heavy question that the movie poses, 'How would you handle someone with a mental illness?' Don't get me wrong, there are most likely going to be times during the movie when you wonder why you rented it, or ever listened to Leah Dorr, but just stick with it. If you’ve already seen it and hated it, well then maybe this is where our friendship ends :)

Chill music

I love music! I think growing up being involved in music has really played a part in how music affects me. Music can be a source of therapy for me. I'm currently going through a 'chill music' phase. It calms me down, and helps change my mood, which definitely needs changing sometimes! I can turn on any of these artists and smile.

Here are some artists who are fueling my chill mode...

* Colbie Caillat
* Jack Johnson
* Van Morrison
* Ben Harper
* Norah Jones
* Jason Mraz