You know you live in a small town if...

1.  You run into people you know everywhere you go.

2.  All the radio stations come in fuzzy because you're so far away from the big city.
3.  You've stopped going to movies because the only movie theater worth going to is 1.5 hours away.
4.  The entire commercial sector is built off of two roads.
5.  It takes an hour to get to the mall...several towns over.

6.  There are only 5 or 6 decent apartment complexes and when you say which one you live in, everyone instantly knows where it is. 

7.  Cell reception is bad everywhere and in certain parts of town it is nonexistent.

8.  Every new restaurant that opens is impossible to get into without waiting an hour.


Ok so I realize that some of you may be laughing at me because you have lived in REALLY small towns and this is nothing...but having lived my whole life in one of the biggest cities in the country, this feels like small-town America to me.  The lack of convenience can be annoying but it certainly has charm that Houston does not have.  Now if only we could get a decent Tex Mex restaurant...

Sightseeing in MD

Last week I didn't post because my mom was here!  I had a great time showing her around town in the beautiful fall weather. 

Wednesday it was overcast and drizzly but that didn't stop us from going to see the historic Dr. Mudd's house.  I forgot my camera so please excuse the bad quality of my iPod photos.  This house is where John Wilkes Booth stopped to get his broken leg set after he jumped off the balcony after shooting Lincoln.  He rode on horse from Washington D.C., so he traveled a good 25 miles before he stopped.  Dr. Mudd didn't know that the president had been shot yet when he helped Booth, but he still received prison time for harboring and aiding a fugitive. 

No pictures were allowed on the inside of the house, but they had many original pieces as well as reconstructed period pieces in the house.  The grounds were just beautiful.  Rolling hills and fields as far as you could see.  The pictures don't do it justice.

On Thursday, we took Casper jogging on a beautiful trail in the beautiful sunshine.

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon making my balcony beautiful!  Thanks mom for the beautiful flowers and chairs!

Mums just feel so festive to me, so I'm hoping they last for a little while even though my balcony is shaded and they are supposed to get full sun.

We had a wonderful visit and I was sad to drop her off at the airport on Friday.  Thanks for coming Mom!

Then Friday evening we officially adopted Casper, so he's ours for good now, yay!  We love him, except for the times when he goes crazy and jumps off the couch and lands on your face and scratches it.  We don't like that.  This week I will be signing him up for obedience classes so we can learn to work on some of the behaviors that we don't like.  Such as jumping on faces.  That will be number 1.  To be fair, James got him riled up while playing with him.  We may be working on that too.  ;-)

Moving is a pain

An hour at the DMV and about $360 later, I am officially a Maryland driver. (I blocked out all the information on my driver's license in case someone stumbles on this blog and decides to steal my identity.)

I don't know if this is just the standard for moving to a different state, but getting our cars legal here has been incredibly frustrating and complicated. First, everything is more expensive here. Second, Maryland state inspections are totally different from Texas state inspections. Mine passed, but James had a lot of problems. He had to get several things fixed and the tinting completely removed from his windows before they would pass his car. Third, the MVA (the equivalent of the DMV) requires that you bring just about every important piece of documentation that you have. They needed my social security, my birth certificate, my marriage license, two forms of proof of residence, my inspection statement, and my firstborn child. Just kidding.

Anyway, I am very glad to have this annoying, complicated process completed! Now to figure out what to do about tires before it starts snowing...

I am SO not a city girl

One of my favorite things about this apartment is that the windows face trees instead of buildings.  Every morning I sit on the couch with the blinds open and watch the pine needles flutter in the breeze, golden green in the morning sun.  And the calm beauty of it sooths my soul. 

I need this. 

For the 3 years I was in League City, I had few chances to see God's beautiful nature.  I was surrounded by brick buildings and cement.  I worked in a room with no windows and ugly butter-colored walls.  I was busy every day, with no time to sit and reflect.  It may sound silly, but I felt like I was being slowly smothered, like I was gasping for a glimpse of beauty.  I was desperate for a getaway, planning vacations to beautiful places in my head to get away from all the ugly.

I have discovered that I can never be a true city girl.  True, I love having shopping and restaurants nearby and I hate bugs, but I need a piece of nature like I need to learn and create.  It's a part of who I am.

 
So this, this is like a soothing balm on my nature-starved soul, and it is wonderful.

Friday musings

As of yesterday, we have lived here in Maryland for one month.  I feel like I should have some observations but I can't come up with anything right now, so here's what my brain has been occupied with this morning.

- It's a gray, off and on rainy day today and it makes me want to make cookies.  So I think I will try a new chocolate chip recipe this afternoon.

- We really want to get a puppy, so I've been looking at adoptable pets in the area this morning.  They are so cute!

- To usher in fall this week I put together an autumn table centerpiece, and it makes me smile every time I look at it!  Next up, a fall wreath.

- Tomorrow we are going to the county fair!  Isn't that cool?  I feel like county fairs only exist in movies because we never had one in Houston, so I think it's going to be fun.  And interesting.  For example, they apparently race pigs there.  And do something called a horse pull.  And the food is supposedly to die for.  On a side note, I said something about this area being rural, and someone asked me where I'm from that I would think this is rural.  But come on, they have a county fair!  I think that makes it rural.

- I am much more comfortable being by myself all day than I thought I would.  I feel more laid back and peaceful.  And also a little bit guilty because while James is working all day, I am running and blogging and reading and crafting.  But he says it doesn't bother him, especially since he has had to do WAY less chores these days.  I have to say, I feel happier here, and James said he can tell.  I think it has a LOT to do with me not having to work 40 hours a week at a job that I hate.  That really drains a person, so I am soaking up my freedom while I have it.

Now I'm off to go make those cookies and start on that wreath!  Maybe I'll put on a little Buble to keep me company.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Finally an update

Good morning!

Things are finally starting to get back to normal around here and it is high time for an update.  We made it into Maryland a week ago and had our stuff delivered to our new apartment the next day.  Then we spent Friday and Saturday preparing for and weathering hurricane Irene.  We were very fortunate that we didn't even lose power for more than a few seconds at a time, but I found out yesterday that the other side of the apartment complex was without power for three days!  Overall though our area was spared the worst.

James started work on Monday and so far he hasn't done much - just orientation and badging and things like that.  I've started a little routine for myself because I don't do spontaneous very well.  After James leaves for work, I read blogs/facebook/etc.  I am a hopeless night owl so doing anything productive first thing in the morning isn't going to work for me.  Then quiet time and exercise.  I am excited to have this time to actually take care of myself since I have been neglecting my body for the last three years and feel very unfit.  I'm planning to do the Couch to 5K program and pilates and I'm really hoping to get in a good routine before I get a job so that perhaps exercise won't go by the wayside again.  Then shower, lunch, and unpacking, errands, and organizing in the afternoon.  Anyone who has moved knows how much there is to do at first.

I like our apartment and will have pictures when the boxes go away.  We have a real laundry room which is amazing and we have two bedrooms and two bathrooms.  The balcony and our bedroom windows look out onto a lot of trees which I love.  James will tell you that I have a weird love for trees, and Maryland has lots of them.  It is refreshing to drive down the street and see grass and trees rather than cement and buildings, and I love it.  My one complaint is that we get zero cell phone service in our apartment!  We have to walk out the building and down the street a ways before we can call, which is making things difficult.  AT&T said that our apartment complex is known for being a dead zone and that we'll have to get a micro cell tower, which is a little box that looks like a router that provides cell service through the Internet.  We're going to drive up to Waldorf on Friday to get one as well as go to the bank and Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Waldorf is 45 minutes away but is the closest location for all of those things - the fun of living in a small town!

Maryland is different, but so far I like it.  We're right next to Pax River Naval Base which means that during the day LOUD fighter jets fly overhead, but fortunately they usually wait until after 8 to start flying.  The weather is beautiful!  It gets down to about 65 at night and up to about 85 during the day.  Right now it's 70 degrees and sunny.  The grocery stores here are kind of rinky dink.  There is one Giant store that feels like a smallish Kroger, and that's where I've been shopping.  However they have practically no selection of organic food, so if I want that I'll have to find a farmer's market.  They also have a lot less brand selection than Houston - there's only about 2 choices for foods instead of 5 or 6.  Again, the fun of living in a small town!

So far, it still feels like I'm visiting here.  I wake up in the middle of the night and think I'm back in my old apartment.  I kind of feel a little bit like an impostor!  I often wonder if the people can tell I'm not from around here...which, judging by the amount of A&M T-shirts I've been wearing and the amount of  times I've said "y'all," they probably spot it right away!  I'm sure once we've been here a while and met some people, it will start to feel more like home. 

Ok, I think it's time for me to go soak up that beautiful sunshine!  I'll post pictures from our trip soon.  Have a lovely Wednesday!

I'm back baby!

We flew, we toured, we leased.  And now we're back with a new address and a lot of stuff to do.  I was nervous that I wouldn't like Maryland, but I have to say, it is beautiful.  Trees everywhere with these cute little farmhouses and rustic red barns off the highway.  And yet enough civilization that our new apartment building looks like this:

It's a two bedroom/two bathroom and a lot more square feet than I have here, which I am excited about.  It definitely hit me that this is real though once we settled on a place.  I'm trying not to focus on how far away from home I'll be and how much I'll miss the family, but I got a little emotional on the way over to secure the apartment.

Our new home is in Lexington Park, MD. 

This was taken from the car driving down the highway.

Unfortunately it is almost just as hot there as it is here!  We managed to go to D.C. on Saturday since we found our apartment earlier than planned, and I think we both got heat stroke (exaggerating but not by much).  But it was still worth it!  To me this is one of the biggest perks of moving: so much to see so close by!

The reflecting pool is a pile of dirt now; I hope they are planning on putting it back eventually! 

We learned how to use the Metro system!  Pretty fun until the afternoon when the trains were so packed we could hardly move.

Good Ole Abe.  We'll definitely have to go back and see more when it's cooler.

So now that we're back it's been a whirlwind of work, coordinating the move, purging the house, running errands...it's going to be a tiring few weeks, but I'll try to keep you updated!

The one where James got a job

I have not been very good about blogging lately, and you may have picked up on the reason from an earlier blog post - James interviewed for a position in Maryland.  My normally structured and organized brain has been on overdrive trying to think of what all that means and how I would feel if he got the job. Scatterbrained thoughts are really hard to turn into words on paper (or screen).  Not to mention I have a full time job, and we've been focusing on our refugee family lately.

Ever since he told me he applied for this job, I've had a feeling that this was it.  I don't put much stock in gut feelings like that because they are often wrong, but in this case, it turned out to be right!  James got a job offer and after some salary negotiations, he accepted.  We will soon call that weirdly shaped state our home.  The job is a wonderful opportunity for him and something he is very excited about doing. 

A couple of months ago as I was stressing and worrying over what would happen, the thought of moving somewhere far away made me really nervous and anxious.  But we have been praying all along that God would guide our steps and make it clear where He wanted us, and He has done that.  Not only did it fall into our laps and work out seamlessly, but I actually feel good about it!  Now that has to be God because this girl is not naturally adventurous.  I'm a homebody and while I love to travel, the thought of leaving everything I know would normally make me scared stiff. But would you believe it, I'm actually excited!

We'll be in a fairly rural, small town area about two hours south of Baltimore, and there are lots of hills and trees.  It's also within driving distance of a lot of neat places (the East coast is so squished!) so we'll have lots of fun adventures.  And the best part is that I get to quit my job!  I've been dreaming of that for three years.  The worst part of course is that we can't take our families with us and it will be hard to not be able to just drop in for a last-minute get together.

I am excited to finally be out of the transition stage and be able to make plans again!  I feel like we can finally get on with our lives and stop putting everything on hold, and that is a good feeling.  God has been faithful to us and I am so thankful.

5-4-3-2-1

I apologize for the blog silence, I have been sadly lacking in the creative department recently and haven't had anything worth saying.  Today I dropped James off at the airport.  He is flying to Maryland for an interview tomorrow and for the past three weeks since he applied for this job, my brain has been flooded with thoughts about the possibility of moving to Maryland.  It's all I can think about and it's driving me crazy.  First of all because it might not even happen - people interview all the time without taking/getting the job.  But second of all because it seems like they really think he's a good candidate for the job, so it might happen.  And I'm impatient.  So when I am feeling uncreative, I turn to little quizzes and questionnaires to blog so that my brain doesn't have to think too hard.  Enjoy.

Five Things I'm Grateful For:

1.  My sweet, hardworking, considerate, understanding hubby.

2.  All the traveling I've been able to do in my life.

3.  The financial advice that we received in premarital counseling as well as a dad who modeled smart financial decisions throughout my life.

4.  That I am not colorblind or tone deaf.  Music and colors bring me such joy!

5.  It's Thursday afternoon which means it's almost Friday which means it's almost the weekend!

Four Things I Can't Stop Thinking About:

1.  James' interview in Maryland.

2.  How far away Maryland is.

3.  How cold it gets in Maryland.

4.  If we move to Maryland, I get to quit my job.  One of the upsides.  I've been daydreaming about how it would all go down.

Three Things I Want To Accomplish This Week:

1.  I need to get my car washed.

2.  I'm really going blank on goals for the week...maybe I need to work on that.

3.  I need to file the growing stack of papers to be filed.

Two Things I Am Working To Be Positive About:

1.  The possibility that we may not get to stay in Texas forever.

2.  My job.  Three years is a long time to do something every day that you do not enjoy, but it is also a great opportunity to save money, so I try to look at it that way.

One Random Thing:

1. When I was a kid, I started a newspaper.  I was the editor in chief, the layout designer, and one of the journalists.  My neighborhood friends each got their own beat; weather, sports, neighborhood news.  Then we made 10 handwritten copies of each story, glued them to construction paper, and went around selling them door to door for 10 cents each.  It only lasted one issue before we got bored.