Oh hey it’s been forever, and I’m out of platitudes about how busy I’ve been and why I haven’t been blogging because I used them all the last time I returned from a long hiatus.  So I won’t try to insult you and make up more, I’m just gonna jump right into it!

About two weeks ago Nick and I went to the Hank Williams Jr concert here in Greenville and fulfilled a life long dream of mine.  A few years ago I had an opportunity to see him in concert and didn’t, and have relentlessly complained about it since. Not this time!

I would include a photo of the actual concert here but we tailgated pretty hard and all I have are blurry shaky videos that no one enjoys watching.

The concert was awesome but also a shitshow, the likes of which I haven’t seen since FallFest my senior year at WVU. There was the normal puking/stumbling but also a pretty epic 20 person fight that broke out near us.

Reading:

I did a lot of reading on a recent trip to the Caymans (oh yeah, since we last talked we spontaneously booked and went on another trip to the Cayman Islands).

I went to Barnes and Noble for the first time in forever and I forgot how much I like real books! I find them to be so much easier for traveling (don’t need to charge them) and for the beach (don’t have to care about getting them wet).  I tried to get two fun books and a classic. I went with these three:

Good Girl – random story but I actually realized about 10 pages in that I already had this book digitally and had already read it, so I gave it to my sister in law. Then this week I was reading a description on iBooks and almost bought it AGAIN. Apparently the synopsis of this book really calls to me and I just want to throw more money at it.  Needless to say I really really like it and would recommend it.

The Light Between Oceans – this book was ok. I didn’t love it and it wasn’t as “twisty” as I usually like.

Wuthering Heights – these two are the worst communicators ever right?  And two of the whiniest whiners who ever whines. I’m forcing myself and rolling my eyes through this one.

Watching:

Nick has been working late this week so I’m having to wait on our usual shows until we can watch them together.

So instead I’m rewatching shows I’ve seen again, which Nick hates doing. I’m in the later seasons of The Office and realizing just how unlikeable Andy is.

Eating:

I have no photos to share of food I’ve eaten this week but I’m trying really hard to get back on the healthy train. A combination of traveling and crazy work hours has taken a toll on my routine and my pants do not like me right now.

I made a Chicken/Sweet Potato/Cauliflower Curry and a Zucchini Lasagna. Both super delicious and healthy, I’d make them again.

Travel:

Since the last time we talked we had our Germany/Austria/Hungary trip and our jaunt to the Cayman Islands. I also went to Shreveport, Louisiana to visit my brother and enjoyed some crawfish and Southern food.

Cornbread with Crawfish Etouffe on top

And right now I have no big upcoming trips on the schedule and it’s making me really sad.
Help me plan a new trip. Where in the world would you go right now if you could go anywhere?

It’s been a while hasn’t it?  I am the worst blogger in the world and left all of my three readers hanging with nary a hint that I would be taking a hiatus.  Super rude.

Rather than blather on with excuses about why I’ve been gone and how stressed I’ve been, I’ll just hit you with a quick update, bullet style.  And then we can get back to the important stuff, like humorous gifs, bad photography, and uber-wordy travel recaps (you are welcome).

• Feb 2nd – Nick and I learned that the project we work on was cancelled.  This means we were likely going to lose our jobs.  This also means we would likely have to move, since Wilmington’s job market is pretty sparse.  The real kicker in all of this is that we had JUST finished painting the last room of our house (like, two days before).  That was the salt being rubbed into my bitter, bitter wound.

• Feb 2nd – March 6th – Nick and I spent a lot of time talking about all of the decisions we had ahead of us.  Stay in Wilmington and hope to be kept or (miraculously) find another job?  Move to a new area?  If so, which area?  Would we stay with our current company or open up the search to anywhere in the world?  We also spent all of our free time updating resumes, writing cover letters and applying to jobs.  I think applying to jobs is one of the seven circles of hell.  We eventually come up with a game plan and …..

• March 7th – I started a new job in Greenville, SC!  We actually lived in Greenville for a few summers while doing our internships, so we knew we loved the area.  Plus it was still the South (I refuse to go back to snow.  REFUSE.) and it means we could remain with our company.  I really like my new job, it’s different and challenging and I like my coworkers and all of that good stuff.

• March 7th – April 14th – I drive back and forth to Greenville and stay in a hotel during the week, which got really old, really fast.  In the meantime, we work on getting Nick a job and getting our house ready to sell.  All the driving, plus the unknown of Nick’s job, plus doing all of the house work was Stress City (and to think, I was going to attempt to spare you guys from bitching about my stress, hahaha).  All of my spare time was spent wallowing in my own anxiety and I had no extra brain space to devote to blogging, despite how much I missed it.

• April 14th – Nick gets a job!  He will be joining me in Greenville in May and now we get to find temporary housing, permanent housing, organize a move, sell our house, etc.  It sounds like a lot, but this part is less stressful to me, because at least we have a plan.  The UNKNOWN was really taxing.  I feel like a weight has been lifted off of our shoulders and now we can start definitively start planning a new life in Greenville, SC!

 

So yeah, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind but I’m super excited about the path ahead and can’t wait to get back to posting more regularly!  There is a lot I want to share about the moving process and the Greenville area.  I also have a few travel things to catch up with, like our awesome Asheville trip, and oh yeah, our Vienna/Budapest/Munich trip coming up in less than a month.  That I have done zero planning for….