Another update!

They changed our dates to visit Tampa, yay!! We're now going down April 21st to 23rd. I'm hoping all goes well, and he officially gets offered the job! They put the job back up on their website, dang! And took down another one.

I can't wait to get down there and look around! Neither of us have ever been to Tampa, though we've been to other places in Florida, and loved it. On top of just Florida, the job sounds great too :).

We've been discussing how to finagle (sp?) this moving thing. Since our lease is up April 30th, and Phil can't go down until the end of this job he's on (his boss told him to start thinking of when he's going to have everything wrapped up so he can tell Florida when he gets down there), we're thinking maybe I'll move down there and unpack and all, and he'll stay up here in a hotel for a week (maybe two) then come down. It would suck, but it might be the cheapest option. Hmmm.

Whole Foods/Going Organic

The last grocery trip I made, I bought about 75% of our food organic (a few things all natural). I was so proud of myself!! It did cost a little more, but its well worth it. This month I added another $100 to our grocery budget. So we're going from $300 to $400/month. I'm slowly working on replacing all of our "staples" with organic ones. So far, I've got the ketchup, soy sauce, and cooking spray replaced. I'm waiting for our oils to run out before I splurge on some more. I also bought some organic flour and brown sugar for our bread. We're even switching Charlotte's cereal (and formula... to mix cereal) over and its not that much more!! And since Char loves finger foods and I make whatever other "baby food" she eats, that doesn't cost us a lot either!

Unfortunately we don't have a Whole Foods store nearby (closest one is like 1/2 hour + away), but Kroger does pretty good. Their brand Private Selection is mostly organic, and they have a decent produce selection, considering. I also know that Publix has organic chicken, so I need to catch that on a sale and stock up. Plus, a lot of their store brand is organic, but they're a little more expensive.

It looks like the closest Whole Foods is 25 minutes from where we'd be if we moved to Tampa, and no Trader Joe's even in Florida!! But there is Publix and even a Publix GreenWise store :)

Tampa Update

Tampa booked plane tickets for all of us to go visit and for Phil to have his official interview when Katie is coming, so they're hopefully going to reschedule! Otherwise, Phil is just going. I wish they had asked before they bought the plane tickets!! And a few days ago, I noticed they posted the job Phil is applying for online, but since they have taken it off, yay!!

I've been doing some research online and have apartments narrowed down to 5 or 6 that we are going to look at while we are there. They all accept our pets and have rent that we can afford for a 2 bedroom, 1 or 2 bath. There's no way we could even afford a 3 bedroom right now, and unfortunately a lot of those 2 beds are under 1000 sq. feet. We'll just have to scale down! A lot of them do have a built in computer center which would definitely help too. But, we want quality over quantity right now, I think it'll be nicer in the long run. Looking at the floorplans, they have the same size bedrooms, and a slightly larger living room and either one or two bathrooms. Some just have a closet laundry room, others a real laundry room like we have here. Oh and they also have smaller dining rooms! I hope we can keep our table, otherwise we'll have to find a cheap circular one! But, I'm not going to get ahead of myself. We need to be guaranteed the position and find an apartment first. Then I can try to figure it all out.

A few minutes ago I talked to Phil and they shut down for the day, yay! It was about 2 p.m. but I'm still betting he wont' be home until 6. He has to wait around for some samples, drive back, stop by the office (there will be people there), and I bet they get distracted, then finally comes home. He doesn't think it'll be that late, but we'll see!!! I shoulda bet something good!!

We're probably moving!!

Last Friday (a week ago from today), Phil received an email saying that they were looking for a geotechnical staff professional in the Tampa office (for his company). So, he jumped on the opportunity and put his resume in. Turns out, he was the only one too, and they want him down there, asap!

Since neither of us has ever been down there, they're going to fly us (and Charlotte) down there so he can meet everyone (make sure they all get along, because there was no interview etc.), and so that we can look around and make sure that we like it, before we move there. I'm not too concerned, I know we'll like it, we have each liked all the places in Florida we have been. Today they were thinking next Monday (6th) till Wednesday we would go down there.

So, we don't know exactly when we'll move because Phil is on this crazy job, but when he first spoke to them, they were hoping he could be there by April 1!! So, it won't be that soon, as Phil's office wants him up here to finish this project, but we're hoping it will be sooner rather than later. Plus, our lease is up April 30, and we COULD probably extend it (and pay more), but we'd rather just leave!!

I'm super excited (and so is Phil). Our goal has always been to live on the coast in Florida, and well, we won't have a place on the coast, but we'll be in Florida, and be a quick drive away from the beach, yay!!

Life's been crazy!

Ok, so I know its been a long time, but I've been busy, really I have!!!

Oh and there's so much to say. I went to visit the in-laws from Thursday to Tuesday, it was good, but I didn't realize how much I missed Phil even though I don't get to see him. So, I was glad to be back home, and of course that helped Charlotte sleep better too. She doesn't sleep well other places. We did some work on the reception and just hung out. It was nice to have other people to watch Charlotte too, but I never felt like I could let go... like when Phil gets home, I know I can go do something and not have to worry about her.

Charlotte learned how to get from laying to sitting!! I knew she had done it before, but she didn't want us to know that she could or something. Because, if she knew I was there, she wouldn't do it, but if she didn't know I could see her (like I was in the kitchen), she had no problems. Go figure. But, now she does it all the time, so yay! One more thing that she can do and now won't be so frustrated. She's also spending a lot of time in the real crawling position, but not going anywhere, though she's getting much faster at the army crawl thing.

Phil got off work Wed afternoon and has off until Monday morning, yay!! I'm so ready for him to finish this job!! Its getting crappier and crappier, he worked 94 hours last week!!! But, only about 45-50 this week, so at least that's good!!

So, we've been busy. Storytime was Thursday morning at the library and Phil came to that. Then, I went to the zoo with a mom's group and Phil went by work for a couple hours. And we went grocery shopping together that day. Oh and MIZZOU played, GO TIGERS!!! They won, it was a fun game to watch :). Can't wait to watch the next one. I think its tomorrow??? Oh and we made some yummy dessert! And today we cleaned up the apartment some and then had a friend over for dinner. I made homemade pizza and a salad! Unfortunately, the past few days I've been sick. I took some Nyquil last night, after not being able to sleep the night before that, and I'm planning on taking some again tonight. I've also been on dayquil on and off. I hate colds!

Oh and some more exciting news, but I'll write a different post it here.

Library annoyances

I don't think the Nashville Public Library has enough books. Sure, I walk in and there are tons of books on the shelves, but apparently not the ones people want to read. So far, I have only checked out two books, that I haven't had to request... and they were COOKBOOKS. I have had to request or place a hold on every novel I want to take out, books on babies, etc. Maybe part of it is that our branch doesn't have a lot, or maybe I'm just reading popular books? I just thought you were supposed to be able to go to the library and find a book, and check it out then... not have to plan ahead and "request" it so that it will arrive in a week.

So, now I'm sitting at home, searching for books I want to read and am placing holds on them, so I can get an email and go to the library and pick it up off the hold shelf. It seems to take away from the fun of wandering around a library. I go, head straight to the hold shelf, check out and leave. Hmmm....

Bread Machine!

I forgot one of the most important of all, I got a breadmaker!! My hubby's mom had one that she had never used and wasn't going to and just gave it to me :) :) :). So far, I made one white loaf, and it came out perfectly. I'm trying my first whole wheat loaf, I hope it turns out well! It is going to take like 4 hours to cook!! My friend Katie tried one and it didn't work, but I'm hoping this will because it was in the recipe book that came with the breadmaker!!

If anyone has any recipes, pass them my way! I can't wait to get going and try out all kinds of things.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This week has been so busy, and I’m just now getting a chance to write! By the way, Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

So, Friday morning, Phil headed to Clarksville, and SURPRISE, they decided to cancel for the weekend. So, we decided to take a last minute trip to St. Louis/Rolla.

Natalie and Brandyn came over for dinner on Friday night. We had some BBQ pork sandwiches we had in the crockpot all day. It was good, but not as good as when we had made it before. Exact same recipe though, kinda strange.

Once they left, we cleaned up the house real quick and got on the road to St. Louis. Charlotte slept for the first 3 hours, and screamed for the last 2. Of course, I was driving the first 3 and Phil was sleeping, then when we switched, and I was supposed to sleep, but she was awake. We got there close to 2 a.m. Saturday morning Phil left for Rolla for St. Pats and alumni stuff at Beta Sig. I decided to stay in St. Louis with the baby. I did not want a cranky, tired baby, plus I don’t think she would have been too happy with the car ride.

So, we had a good visit with Phil's family and I think Phil had a good time in Rolla.

We came home Sunday afternoon and my parents came Sunday night. It was so so so good to see them! They got in late, so we went to bed pretty soon after they came home, but the next day we spent time playing with Charlotte, Mom and I went shopping (lots of new clothes, yay!) while Dad babysat. We made Veal Parmesan for dinner and it was tasty. Charlotte just loved it, and made a huge mess. Phil even got to come home early (about 6:30, should again today too) and we played POP 5. Natalie came over after her Opera practice to play the game with us.

This morning, we got around, played with the baby, and went to lunch at Panera, it was tasty! Charlotte even ate a whole sandwich and some yogurt! But now the parents have left and the baby is sleeping. Its time to get the house all cleaned up and get on with our regular lives, for a few days anyways. Next weekend I'm probably going to go to St. Louis and spend some time up there.

Here's a picture of Charlotte and Phil playing when he got home early yesterday. She was very happy to see him and they love playing together!!

I finished the Recycling Center!!

Yesterday, Charlotte and I had a play date at a friends house. Charlotte swung for the first time and absolutely loved it! I wish I had taken a video or picture. At the beginning, every time she would swing towards me, she would laugh!

I got our recycling center up and running this past weekend! Its unfortunate that we don't have a lot of space, I think I'll have to run to the recycling center once a week or something. As you can see in the picture, the cardboard section is already overflowing! Now I just have to train myself to put everything in the recycling. The hardest part is the paper... since we can recycle all kinds of paper (not just newspaper and cardboard). I'm so used to cleaning up and putting it in the trashcan! I caught myself doing it multiple times yesterday :(.


I'm starting to have reservations about moving. I'm just now feeling at home in this apartment, after being here for almost a year, and to move everything again, it seems crazy! I still feel that we'd be happier in the other place, but its going to be a lot of work. Once I sat down to think about it, we have A LOT of stuff! And that's A LOT of trips next door and up the stairs. I'm thinking maybe we could get a few days to move our stuff in there, and then we wouldn't have to do it in one day. Because right now, that seems like it'd be impossible!

We had a busy weekend!

Phil didn't get his review on Thursday, because his boss had an emergency parent-teacher conference. So, it was this Monday instead. And it went great, but they're still not giving any raises! Oh and they're cutting salaries of anyone making over 60k... and giving them stocks instead. I have a feeling the company isn't doing great.

Friday, we spent most of the day relaxing, and Charlotte had a lot of time playing. She got better at crawling. She will now lift her tummy off the ground with just about every stride, she looks like she's doing the worm across the floor, its pretty funny!


Friday night was the much anticipated alumni event at Blackstone Brewery. We had a lot of fun!! We were the youngest people there by about 5 years, but it was still a good time. A lot of people didn't think that I had gone to school there too, which was kind of disappointing. In all, there were about 30 people there. They said the last alumni get-together, which was a St. Pats party, there were 6 people and it was in 2001. We got home about 10 and passed out, we were tired!


Saturday was a busy day! We all slept in and then went to Cracker Barrel at 11! It turned out to only be us and one other family, but it turned out pretty well. We met M and her husband, and their son who is 11 months old. The babies had a lot of fun sitting across from each other at the table. M's husband is also a Nashville police officer, so it was fun to talk to him. He patrols downtown on a bike (car in the winter). I need to get in contact with them so that I can set up a ride-along. M said that he would be able to tell me about some fun people to ride along with.


Following lunch, we returned home so that Charlotte could take a nap. Then we went bowling (for a mystery shop)!! It was a lot of fun. We bowled a couple of games and got some food (we had to), then it was time for a CiCi's mystery shop... we were stuffed by the end of the night!

Sunday, we were going to visit a church, then ran into Phil's coworkers and their son at the gas station. They invited us to go to the Zoo with them, so we did that instead. The guy we went with is the other engineer that is out on the job with Phil in Clarksville. Instead of paying for us to join, we decided on a membership, which gives us coupons, and entrance for a year. It was only $55 and would have cost us $28 to go just today. Now, I can go to the two meetups that will be at the zoo! And we can go for a year! It will definitely pay for itself very quickly. It was so cheap because Charlotte is free until she is 2!!


Then we met them for dinner at Famous Dave's and it was so so so good! Charlotte loves the smoked meat there too, so she was having a grand time. Unfortunately, after we were stuffed, I had to do a Sonic MS, and we did not want to see the food. Oh and while there, a creepy homeless guy started to approach our car (it was freaky), but an employee yelled at him and asked him if he was planning on eating and to leave, phew!

Charlotte wouldn't sleep Sunday night very well either. Once she finally got to bed around 11:30pm-ish we passed out too. She ended up half fussing herself to sleep. But, she woke up this morning on her own, so that was ok. Now she's down for a late, and hopefully long nap.

Phil's back on the job Monday, as expected. Another 8 weeks, they're 1/3 done... if they had kept it at the original 8 weeks, he would have been 1/2 way there!! Oh well, a job is a job right now, right? Only 10 more days and I get a long weekend with him. Next weekend Laura (her hubby is the other engineer doing the Clarksville job) and I are going to get together while they're stuck working up there. Then, my parents come and then I get Phil, and then I'm going to St. Louis, and I then Phil again, and I haven't looked any further. I think it will be close to when Katie comes!!! I really hope these next 8 weeks fly by!

Who's the driver?

I thought that this was really cute. I went into a store, and the dog was just chilling, but when I came back out, I think he was ready to go. He was just sitting in the drivers seat all dignified and ready to take off. It was really cute, so I thought I'd share.

Its almost the weekend!!

We get the whole weekend with Phil! I am so happy :). He's thinking they'll quit around two, then he has to finish up on the site for a few minutes, go back to the office, have his review, then he's home for the weekend, yay! So, I probably won't be posting for a while. Please pray that his review goes well!

Charlotte and I had "Baby and Me" at the library this morning. I signed up for the next session too. Its 6 weeks on and 2 weeks off with up to 10 babies. There's often a wait list, so I'm lucky I got into this next one :). I don't think that Charlotte was old enough to appreciate all of it, but that's ok. She will, and I think its really important to have her at the library this young. Plus, I get to meet other mommies!

Tomorrow night we have our alumni meeting thing at a local brewery! I'm super excited about it!! I know I've talked about it before, but its so weird being an alumnus, and they're finally doing something! I hope that lots of people show up :)

Here's a picture of Charlotte from a few days ago, amidst all her toys. She's crawling more and more now. I think it helps her to see other babies doing it.

Recycling

I have a new goal, I'm going to get our recycling center set up by the time Katie gets here. Even though we're just going to be moving shortly after, I'll have all the boxes labeled, put in there places and us used to recycling then. Now if only I could find some more paper boxes, so that I could get it all set up right now. You know, milk crates might work too. I wonder how many of those we have sitting around, I know at least one.

And Nashville is great, they recycle all plastics, glass (green/brown/clear), paper, newspaper, and cans/tin. Unfortunately, we have to separate each one (plastics can all go together, doesn't matter the number). So, it takes up a bit of space. And we have to go to the recycling center to drop them off, but there's one super close. I guess that's what happens when we live in an apartment not a house.

The foodstamp experiment.

I know that a lot of you have already been reading this guys blog, but I bookmarked it a month ago, and never checked it again until tonight. Long story short, a reporter was going an experiment and living off of what one person would get in food stamps for a month. After talking to the authorities, the most someone could get was $176. He blogged about his experience, which is great, but I think that $176/person for a month is A LOT of food. Oh and Obama is attempting to, or has, upped the amount that people are expected to receive.

I went to a website that he provided, which said that the most someone could get is $323 for a family of two or $463 for a family of 3. Wow, I wish I had $463 to spend on food each month. We budget $300 and often have about $25 or so left over each month. Granted I'm trying really hard and preparing before going to the store and such, I wouldn't say that we're eating badly. In fact, I think that we eat pretty well. No, we don't treat ourselves to steak, or a lot of seafood, or even go out to eat, but I'm ok with it. We do go out, which is from money in our budget, but I know that we let some food to go waste too and we could easily still make it with the $300/month. Oh and on top of food for us, I also buy about a can of formula a month, and baby food (well not the jars, becuase I make it), but rice cereal, toddler puffs, fruit and veggies to make into baby food, etc.

I guess all I'm trying to say is that I WISH that we were fortunate enough to spend $463/month on food and not think twice about it. I wouldn't make so much baby food, we'd eat a real steak every now and then and definitly buy a lot more natural and organic foods.

Its Another Tooth!

And I forgot to mention this earlier, but Charlotte has her third tooth! I felt it yesterday and a lot more has poked through. So all of this teething is starting to pay off!! I hope that she gets the other three quickly so we'll be through teething for a while. Boy will her smile change :-D

I just finished 30 Rock: Season 2!! Now I have to wait for Season 3 to come up so that I can catch up and be ready for Season 4 next year. This is going to be a busy summer. Catching up on 30 Rock and The Office. Now I need to find something else to watch that they have "instantly" on Netflix... I wish the selection wasn't so limited.Phil has his first performance review on Thursday, yay! He doesn't think that the company is giving raises right now, but we can always hope. At least its a job, raises can always come later. I'm nervous for him, but I don't think that he is, which is good. Oh and they told him and his coworker that they needed to have less hours, that they were spending too much time on the site (last week Phil clocked 90 hours). They wanted them to leave earlier and catch up the next day. Unfortunately, Phil has to commute and the other guy isn't great about getting out early. Phil has been getting home between 7:30 and 8 everyday now :(.

We have decided that we're going to move out of our apartment for sure. We're going to get one of the "brand new" ones that they're working on right now in our complex. The rent should stay the same, a little less square feet, and 2 bed 1 bath. I filled out a "vacate" form yesterday (need Phil to sign it), and will turn it in. So, if something goes wrong with that place, I guess we'll be looking for another complex to move into. Not at all bad though. We are looking for someplace to stay for 3-4 more years until we are ready to buy a house and we want to LOVE the floorplan, etc. This apartment should be all new, with new appliances and such. Since its from insurance, they aren't buying "used" appliances, like dishwashers and such. I'm excited about it!

The Bachelor

I have to admit, but I've stooped to the level of watching The Bachelor. Not that its a horrible program or anything, but I never used to get into those things. But this season, I haven't missed an episode.

SPOILER ALERT BELOW:

So, tonight was the final episode, which went on for 3 hours... and there's a second tomorrow (which I'll be sure to watch)... but anyhow. He decided to propose to Melissa, my favorite from day one. Then of course after the whole proposal, they have an "After the Final Rose" or something like that, where they get on with the happy couple, 6 weeks later, and talk to them about their relationship, plan for marriage, and such. Well tonight he DUMPED Melissa and asked Molly for a second chance. I mean, WHO does that? I just was so mad at him. And poor Melissa, if anyone saw how she reacted, that is EXACTLY how I would have reacted. It was like I was looking at myself, after a breakup etc. That brought back some memories!! Of course some people are saying that ABC fixed it way back, but I'm not so sure. I just want to SMACK him and tell him that relationships take WORK. They're not all honky-dorry and even during an engagement, or three months after beginning to date do they work out perfectly.

Then I got to thinking, who would sign up for such a show. I always thought that if I was single and pretty enough, why not give it a try? But why? You're end goal is to be proposed to, but would I really want the stress of being one of the last two? And then you're stuck with a guy who was in love with you AND another woman, so he's not just happy to have you, but sad to have lost the other girl, and is going through a pretty big break-up at the same time you are trying to celebrate an engagement. I don't think that is how its supposed to work. I understand the premise of the show, and I think its great, but they need to change it somehow. I'm just not sure how yet.

Ahh, why do I torture myself so?

Its going to be a busy week!

This week is going to be busy, but good!!!

Today: MS (mystery shop)
Tuesday: Nothing :(
Wed: 2 MS's, Story time at the library
Thurs: Baby and Me at the library
Fri: Alumni St. Pats party at a brewery
Sat: Cracker Barrel with meetup.com group and MS
Sun: MS

Of course that doesn't include the bank run, grocery store (x2), and whatever else we normally do in the day.

I'm also *hoping* to get a new lease signed for the apartment. We're going to move into a 2 bed 1 bath (instead of 3 bed 2 bath) with only 100 less sq. feet. It'll save us a few bucks too, oh and the rooms are a lot larger. But, if they can't get us the one we want, I'm going to put in our 60 days and we'll be feverishly apartment hunting the next 60 days. There are others that we've seen. Unfortunately, we'll have to *waste* money with more deposits and such, but we're planning on sticking there for 3-4 more years. (Fingers crossed the job situation doesn't stink).

I am super excited about this alumni get-together. Phil talked to the guy in charge of it and they hadn't done anything for about 10 years. I'm glad that they finally are. Maybe it'll become somewhat regular... every few months or so. I can't wait to meet some fellow alumni! Its so weird, I'm an alumni, you would think I'm 70 or something... I guess that's how I always looked at it as a kid. Some old man, long beard, grey, and wrinkly, about 70... thats someone who is an alumnus of a University. I'll let you know how it goes!

Church Shopping

Charlotte and I went to church this morning, it was the first time in a while. We went to Hermitage Church of the Nazarene. Its the same place that we go to MOPS. Their contemporary service was at 10:15 and we went to that. It was a lot like Dad's church (the contemporary one anyways). They also have a traditional service at 9 (and Sunday School at the same time) too.

I really like that they have so many things that you can be involved in. MOPS, Mothers Day Out, Bible Studies, Prayer Groups, and I'm sure there's a lot more. Its a decent sized church too. They also seem to be a lot like the Methodist Church which is nice because that's how I was raised. Oh and everyone that I've met is nice! My only complaint is that people didn't really seem to get into the service. The music and band was great, but it was just quiet... you couldn't hear people singing, or saying the Lord's Prayer. Maybe it was just the day. I think I'm going to go back again.

I really want to find a church home, but we don't seem to be having much luck. I loved The Oasis, but it was over 1/2 hour away and they didn't have a lot of activities during the week. I also need to check out Victory Fellowship (I think that's what its called). We were going to go last weekend when Phil was home, but he set the alarm for PM, not AM. Maybe I'll go next week (I think Phil will have off). I know that they have bible studies and such too, though I think that its a little further away. Boy do I hope we find something soon!