last minute visit.

...but before we could move into our exciting new residence, we had to get through those last two weeks in Gainesville.

We managed to get home and in bed before midnight that Monday. We were completely exhausted, physically, mentally, emotionally.... and now add on the stress of needing to be ready to MOVE. Neither one of us slept much, as we kept waking up to my brain figuring packing strategies and Tommy's planning moving vehicle options...

Honestly. The best part. Was. The two week notice!!! I could not wait. I have mentioned my job in the post "oh, may!" It became exhausting and frustrating. If you'd like to learn more, I'll be glad to share off the internet. I don't care to dampen the mood of this blog with frustrations that are behind me.... and if certain people somehow found my blog, I wouldn't want their feelings to be hurt....

So Tuesday through Friday was spent buying boxes and bubble wrap, packing, packing, reserving a moving truck, telling our friends we were leaving, packing, and cleaning!

Why "cleaning" during the packing? Because Tommy's entire family, minus one brother, was coming to visit that weekend! It was a long, long drive for them to come and spend their Memorial Day weekend in the hot Florida weather and with their two long lost family members, but they did it! Poor Tommy's mom- she helped us move in, and then was surrounded again by boxes when we were moving out.

Let's count. We had Tommy's two parents, his youngest brother, his sister and her husband, and their six month old, and us. That's seven adults and a baby. We had a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment. And a little loft where we ended up sleeping. Because of the tight quarters, we spent most of the time out and about!

We took them to the Gator stadium, because the girls were out numbered by the boys. I think they liked it though- most stadiums aren't open all the time so you can explore when there's no game. We then took them to one of our most favorite restaurants in the city- Dragonfly! It's like a modern/loud/busy sushi or "Asian fusion" place. We ordered lots of crazy sushi things and stuffed ourselves while we caught up on each other's recent lives. I got to sit next to Tommy's youngest brother, and tried to bug him by asking lots of questions about his new-ish girlfriend. After dinner, we went home and played Catch Phrase- girls vs boys- and I'd like to think that in spite of having one less person, the girls won.... but I honestly can't remember. So. Think what you will.

In case you were wondering how we all fit, we were magically prepared. Tommy and I slept in the little loft on the futon, Tommy's youngest brother slept on the couch, Tommy's sister and husband slept on the blowup mattress next to him, and the parents slept in our bedroom with the baby- so they could have grandparent time when she woke up and the rest of us would be able to sleep. Everyone wins, see??

The next day we took them to the pool- we thought about making the hike to the beach, but since it was an hour and a half drive one way, and they had already driven 10 hours the day before, that idea was canned. Besides, the pool is pretty nice! And wasn't too crowded! It was also the baby's first time in the water- so cute.

That day, the boys decided that they would find a batting cage and make the youngest brother practice in front of them..... can you tell I didn't understand the appeal?? Tommy's mom, sis, and I went around to different stores to get one of those small strollers... the big one wouldn't fit in the one vehicle they brought down! We finally found one and met them at the park, just as they were finishing, of course.

I'm assuming we ate lunch sometime.... this is the problem with being so far behind on a dumb blog!!

But, I DO remember that me and the girls + baby in new small stroller, we went to the butterfly exhibit at the university's museum! I had gone twice already (once with Tommy, another time with my parents) so I wasn't too too excited. But this time they had tons of different ones! I guess later in the season different types hatch or they get different shipments of cocooned butterflies...? So I thoroughly enjoyed showing my guests around. And when I was holding baby, one landed on her head and just chilled there for awhile! But of course this was right when the museum lady was talking and I couldn't get the attention of Tommy's mom who had the camera. Ahhh such a shot missed.

That night, we took the family to a local treasure- Satchel's Pizza. It's like..... a shack that got built on through the years with scraps of other houses and cars.... but still cute and fun. It and the shop attached to it are decorated with artsy nicknack's and also- junk! A giant water fountain, a garden path, and huge decorations were made out of everything old you can think of- paint cans, lighters, type writers, toy dinosaurs and Nintendos... They also serve really good pizza! We crowded into the "Elvis" table on the make-shift patio, and enjoyed the cooling fans and fresh food.

The next day was church, and then they helped us pack up kitchen and breakable stuff- yes, we put our guests to work. Then back to the pool for a cookout and chillin'- a picturesque way to end the weekend.

And we didn't have time to stress about moving details at all :)

flexi, flexi. -part 2-

(-flashback- A 'Flexi' Example: one year I did not get to attend any prep meetings before the trip to Mexico (I think we had moved to Alabama or I was at college or something). We usually have two or three different teams, like a Bible school team (goes to the same village everyday, does a VBS) and a ministry team (goes to two different villages a day, visits door to door), and I hadn't heard about being in anything. I figured I would be like a floater. I met the whole group in Mississippi and rode down with them for two days til we ended up in Texas on the border. The night before we go in, I found out that someone forgot to tell me that I was in charge of a skit team and that I was supposed to have prepared five skits for the week. Yeah....)

So I'm sitting at Panera, listening to iTunes and seeing what's going on in the Facebook world. Sixteen minutes into my alone time, when I get a Tommy text, "Start date is June 6." Did I mention that it was May 23rd? That means, two weeks from that day, we needed to be in VB and settled enough so that Tommy could go to work that day.

Slight moment of panic. I actually let out a small hysterical giggle.... poor people having lunch near me....

So, I immediately start checking out apartments. "What happened to getting out of apartment life?" you may ask.

We had learned earlier that day from the realtor that most of the rental sites required not only the approval of the owners, but of the Home Owners' Association. This sometimes takes 20 days or a month- time we previously thought we had. So, I figured we could just live in a decent apartment for the shortest contract available, and then have plenty of time to find a more exciting and grown-up-y place (flexi, flexi!).

I found several apartment complexes and kept a list of their addresses. I picked Tommy up, and since we didn't want to waste time thinking about food (that never happens!?!) we drove straight back to Panera. I showed Tommy some of the apartments I had found, and let me tell ya, it's always the same. They give you a picture on their website of their clubhouse and like, a pool chair. You really do not know if the actual apartments are any good.

First complex we came to, we asked immediately if they had any availability, and they did.... in July. We hopped back in the car and drove a decent distance to the next complex. Although it was slightly farther away than we wanted it to be, it was in a quiet, less developed area and seemed rather peaceful. The clubhouse was beautiful, new and clean, and even offered movies to check out (...which I guess is important when choosing a place to live?). Just before seeing the only two bedroom layout that was available, she let us know "we have the biggest floor plans in the city." And, boy. Was it small. And old. And gross. Also, Tommy and I are not tall nor very rotund. So, when WE feel that the ceilings are way too low and the doorways rather tight, we know many of our would-be-visitors would be hunched over throughout their visit... and we would not be able to befriend any fat people.

We kept the smiles plastered on our faces and told the lady that we would let her know.

The next apartment complex on the list? Literally next door. The clubhouse seemed strangely familiar. And the man in it liked to talk. And talk. And talk. And the whole time we were thinking "HURRY UP". We FINALLY were taken up to the model apartment and realized that the same builder built both entire complexes all at the same time. With the same clubhouse. With different paint. And different names on the gates.

Crying a little bit inside, we escaped Chatty McChatterson and regrouped in the car. We had the "that was the largest floor plan in the city??" conversation and unhappily decided to drive to the next apartment, staying illogically hopeful. After seeing what was behind that final gate, Tommy decided we weren't even going to get out of the car...

Sitting in the car in the parking lot of last dumpy apartment complex, we called the realtor from that morning and bite-ed the bullet....and told her we were interested in the retirement community. YUP- flexin' like crazy. We decided we could live there and just... deal. The realtor had us believing it would be a "long shot" to get in within the two week time frame, and she didn't have anything else to show us.

By now, it was about 4pm. We were finished. The only place we thought would be 'ok' was only a 'maybe'. So, Tommy wanted to find a Starbucks and get on the laptop and re-look at everything we could think of. We found a 'Bucks on his phone and started the drive, which was taking us out of the city. Then, thank the Lord, HE reminded me of a realtor for an adorable townhouse I had seen during my search, and I had written her number down. We thought she'd kindly refuse to show us anything so late in the day, but I had to try (flexi, flexi!).

At a gas station, I called her and left a short message about how we only have that evening, were in a jam and if she had any interest, to please call me. Completely trusting that she would call us back, we headed back towards Vero.

And She Called Back!! She met us at her office at 4:45 and she showed us places until 7pm, telling us about the town and encouraging us every step of the way. We were so, so, so, very thankful for her help- we would've been thankful for her even if we had found nothing! (SHE was being flexi!)

But, walking into the last rental house, we knew we had found the place!

The next day, we emailed and faxed back and forth with the realtor. Tommy and I put in our less-than-two weeks notice at work....waited.... And a day later were informed that we got the house!

It's a seasonal rental, for beach-go-ers, so it was fully furnished. So, we are getting to use their big kitchen table, twin beds, and a few other things that we didn't have. We have a yard that the home association provides care for! We have a garage! We have room for our wonderful friends and family to come visit us! We feel like real grown- ups!! We've been shown such kindness from our Provider. May we be humble and truly thankful!

...also, sorry for the longest story ever... yay flexi.