Another week down

I must confess that this post might be equal parts pity party and pulling my big girl pants on. Sorry, I wish it was different but it isn't, as my mom used to say (and still does): lift is hard.

I finished week 2 of the new job, I don't know that I got many many things accomplished but I did sit in a million meetings. This may seem like a common statement but I loathe sitting in a meeting where at the end of it I feel bad about myself. I sat in several of those, it was disheartening to say the very least. But at the end of one of those I stopped by someone in the department's office and they were like... yup normal let it go. Outside I was relived but on the inside I was panicking how on earth will I achieve perfection?!? Seriously. So I stuck with it. By the end of the week things in orientation class were still crap but I was making progress in my office.

It was a long week with so many meetings but here are a few things I got done:
-The first syllabus is almost finished
- In the process of ordering my first major piece of equipment (yay)
-Ran one day after work
-Met a few new friends, several other new assistant professors (we are working on an acronym for our group: current idea SiPs (I think)).
-Read some of the lab manual
-figured out the first day of lecture.

Here are a few things I would like to get done this week:
-Class websites (all 3)
-chapter 1: notes, lectures, HW
-Chapter 2: notes, lecture, HW
-Chapter 3: notes, lecture HW
-decide on pop quiz dates and topics
-maybe start writing the first exam
-figure out the lab class
-apply for 2 grants.

Wow this is going to be a long week. I still have a few meetings here and there throughout the week but my main hope is to sit in my office and just work things through. No idea if this will work well or just be another week where I am still figuring it out. My main goal for the semester is to not sink. So many things that I don't know what I am doing but I am trying to just take one step at a time. My dad has called this the swiss cheese method: just start nibbling little parts away and eventually the pile will get smaller but all of the bites were about the same size.

I'll try and keep you updated on the adventure but sometimes when I get home I just cannot any more.  My goal for posts are still 2-3 per week, but we shall have to wait and see how that goes with time.  How's life with you these days? Are you ready for the fall? I am ready for the leaves to change color, wait do they do that here?

First week of work...

I have officially finished my first week as a professor, and here I am about to start my second. I will admit that this was one of the shortest weeks ever as well as one that felt like it would never ever end. I don't really know what I expected the week to be like but it was an experience. I got home most nights and it would be a struggle to find food, thank goodness I had some leftovers to shovel in my mouth most nights. I thought I would share with you some of my thoughts for the week...

-hello professor life!!! I am so glad to be here.

Professor Malcolm!

-wait that was it, also what am I supposed to do all day. You gave me keys and an office. Oh wait here is the textbook. Cool. 

-It's syllabus time. Huh, I have to choose exam dates. Strange, can't be hard right. WTF how is this exam at 430 on the Wednesday before thanksgiving. What do I do now?!? Wait I can cancel class if I want to? Cool. 

-What's next... I have no idea. 

-is this for real, I am never going to get those 90 minutes back. I could have read the text or something. Woof I hate meetings. 

-for real it is 630, what happened to my whole day? Also nothing is done on my todo list?!?! Why am I so angry? Oh right I haven't eaten in hours. 

Practically waiting for students to come

-hello Friday, I thought you would never ever get here. I just want to sleep all weekend, what do you mean I have to do chores? Ugh grownup life is hard. 

So all in all it was an ok week. I have no idea what I am doing but as far as I can tell as long as I show up every class this semester and teach what I should. It should work out. Who knew that everything would be hard? Oh well, at least the first week finished and I got things done... Now onto week two!

Two weeks off more like two busy weeks

I am not going to lie having my folk drive down with me and then help me unpack was amazing, it was so nice to be able to rest for two weeks. I wasn't sure about having so much time here and not having as much in Dallas but at the end of the day, it was nice to have time here to get adjusted to the time zone and find out where Target is! 

All the things that need doing

I made this huge list of things to get done so that I would know what I needed to get done everyday, some of these tasks were easy and some were time consuming. (I decided to repaint most of the furniture in my bedroom, more on that later). As for the list, I feel like I did pretty well. I finished 2/3 or maybe even 3/4 of the list.

Pool time

I found lots of time to spend out by the pool too. I found it so relaxing to sit out there and just be present in those moments. I would sit and read or get in the water and enjoy the moment. This was so helpful toward feeling like I really belong here in Florida. I am looking forward to being able to swim year round again. I loved feeling productive most days, it was nice to feel as if I was being helpful for the long term.

July Recap and August Goals

I both cannot believe that July is over and I am so thankful that August is here. I start my new job and I am excited and terrified about it. I have so many things to say about that but that is a whole different post. I feel like July was a good month for me, I am in Florida! I am ready to start my job and almost every single box is unpacked. Now that you have a rough idea of what is going on, lets get down to business how did last month go.

July Recap:
1- Move to Florida: 
Done
2- Be ready for work on day one: I want to have the car done, anything set up like cable and all of that. I want to be able to get to work and go on the first day. 
I did some of this but not all, annoying
3- Run more. I don't know how much more but I would love to get 10-12 runs in this month
I ran 7 times, but with the move this was enough.
4- The Review.... I still have to finish writing my part... oops
hahah... still didn't happen
5- Order the planner (it comes out in July, yes I am buying a fancy one)
Done and I cannot wait to share it with you
6- Enjoy the two weeks in Florida with no work, I am afraid that I will feel bad about not doing anything. I scheduled this in this way so that I would be able to really rest before school starts. I want to read and bake and just spend time with Lily. 
These weeks have been amazing, so done.

August Goals:
1- Prep for class: Plan the whole semester, have lecture outlines for the classes to the first exam, figure out the online thing.

2- Run more: My goal is 30 miles, I would also like to check out the cycling room at the apartment gym at least once a week

3- Try 2 restaurants in Jacksonville, I am going to try and check out many of the pet friendly ones until I make friends.

4- Finish the Gallery Wall in my home office

5- Become a Florida Resident: The ids needed to become a citizen are a real struggle here in Florida but hopefully all of the paperwork will be here this week so I can make that happen.

6- Get a haircut before the first day of class

7- Spend time at the beach with Lily, the beach is pet friendly in the early morning and the late evening.

I feel like August is going to be a whirlwind of a month, I am going to be crazy busy starting the new job and still trying to figure out where everything is here in Jacksonville. One of the less concrete goals is to make sure that I am taking good care of myself and Lily. I hope to be able to spend time with her exploring the city.

Squad Brunch

One of my huge goals in Dallas was to really make life-long girlfriends, this was before Taylor Swift started calling her girls the Girl Squad. I am so thankful for all of the girls that I met in Dallas and I made a point to spend time with many of them before I headed East. I am so blessed by my friends.

The Invite

I will admit that I didn't really want to have a going away party, it makes everything so final. I have also found that planning a huge shindig and then no one attending doesn't make me feel all that great. So after much deliberation I decided to invite my gals to brunch. So in the true digital age spirit I sent out a group text! We opted to hit up Nick and Sam's in Uptown (one of my favorite places). I decided to wear one of my favorite dresses to brunch and my new fancy lipstick. 

We got a table upstairs and it was so fancy. It was also pretty quiet, so we were able to hear each other. I loved the chance to share my friends with one another. Many of my friends are from different parts of my life: work, college, church, junior league, and a few cases of friend stealing (you know that one girl that you are friends with through someone else and then the two of you are better friends). This was a great chance for all of them to really say hello to someone they had heard of but maybe never met. I am getting a little emotional just thinking about this.

I think that we as women often underestimate the impact that our girlfriends have on our life until you look back at a period of time. I had friends that I had known only 2 years at the table with girls I met when I was 19, so we have been friends for 12 years. I love that each of these girls brings little something special to my life: they are my fashion icons, a great representation of parenting, a constant companion, basically people with whom I want to share my life with. I love that we celebrate one another and spend time just being together. Friendships formed later in life and so different than the ones when we are in school, we have chosen these women from the vast circle around us and make the point to just hangout together. Many of these girls are people whom I have been to the store with or to the dog park, they are people with whom I do life. My life is richer for the time we spent together and since we are friends by choice I know that we will be there for one another regardless of time. The formation of a girl squad is something that as I have gotten older has become more and more important to me. I am so thankful to these women for the things they have taught me and their celebration of my new adventure even if it means I am leaving the great Texas. I am excited to see what the next few years bring as we all move on to new adventures.

My squad! I love these girls (I flat out refused to sit in the chair, thanks for taking that seat Holls)

I cannot imagine not having a chance to hang with these girls, it was so great to be able to spend time together and celebrate my new job. These gals were supportive when I botched a few interviews, when I got the job offer, and when I packed my bags to move to Florida. There really aren't enough words to say how much they mean to me.

Hello New Apartment

So I have been in Florida almost two weeks, I cannot believe it has been that long and it feels like just yesterday I was hanging out with my friends in Dallas. Lily and I are adjusting to the beach life pretty well, I will admit we haven't been to the beach yet (hopefully soon... maybe). I know you are anxious to see my new space and hear all about Florida. So here is the first installment, the before photos. These are from before the movers brought all of the stuff in and it was just me and Lily. My folks stayed at the hotel until after I signed all of the paperwork.

From the front door

The kitchen

Master Bedroom

Master Bath

Part of the Living Room

Study/Library/office 

Guest Bath (and yours truly)

Lily wants to know what is this place and where are my things!

It was like coming home when I walked in the front door, I am so excited to be here and to get to work. I cannot wait to show you what it looks like with my stuff everywhere, it was hard to know exactly how things were going to work before my stuff got in here, but it looks good! I am going to give you a little heads up that it will be at least a week until the pics of the apartment with my stuff in it are up, I am in the middle of repainting my bedroom furniture so yeah it looks like a mess in all of my rooms. But I hope to have it up in a few weeks... Life is hard.

The move that never ended

I will admit that this move about did me in, it was as if the drive would never ever end. Now, I did a few things really right on this move but OMG it was a very long week. Here is a little insight into my final days in Dallas and then an eternal drive:


Sunday: I managed to get every last thing in boxes. I was truly amazed that everything was done, I think my parents were when they got there on Monday. My BFF Elysa came over to help, which was amazing.

Nothing left here

To Arlington! Lily is super confused at this point

Monday: I picked up the truck and ran errands before the movers got there. They were late, which made me crazy. However, they were relatively efficient and it was nice to not have to carry any boxes. From my apartment I headed to Arlington to spend one last night with my Grandparents.

My girl watched me most of the drive

Tuesday: We left Dallas pretty early and drove down to Lafayette, it was great to be able to hang out with my niece and nephews. My folks had a few things to do around the house and I worked on getting a few other things together. Also my dog got a bath.

My view for some of the drive

Hello Florida!

Wednesday (the day with no end): We left early again, like 8AM, and headed east. Google Maps suggested that the drive should take about 10 hours, and they were wrong. There was traffic in Baton Rouge, Mobile, and I kid you not the state of Florida is eternal. We made a few mistakes along the way: we took way to long for lunch, we often got separated which lead to someone having to wait (dad) for the rest to catch up (me and mom), and poor communication about bathroom breaks. We stopped at one of our favorite places for lunch and it was an epic disaster (I don't know what I have ever really considered leaving a table after ordering but we almost did). It seemed like my dad would leave a few minutes early and breeze through places with no trouble and by the time mom and I got there it would be stopped (this happened twice). And Florida, I think it is just a long state. I will say that the frequency of the rest areas was awesome! It took us 15 hours to get here and I think if we hadn't made hotel reservations, that we couldn't change we might not have driven all the way in. Oh well, live and learn.

A new home!

Thursday: We woke up in the hotel and it looked like zombies were in our bodies. But a little caffeine in us and we got after it. I got to the apartment complex around 10 and was in the apartment shortly there after. Mom ran to the store to grab a few groceries so that we wouldn't have to go out for food. The movers took about 2 hours to get everything in the apartment. Then we unpacked.

6 Six Month Goals

I'm not going to lie, life is about to get crazy. I am moving to a whole new world where I don't know that many people and I am going to be a professor (crazy). So I thought that I would give you an insight into some of my general six month goals.

1- Plan ahead
This is going to be a crazy semester and I know that, but that doesn't mean that no one else will have an event in those months. I am trying to write a list at the beginning of the month of the  upcoming birthday's, events, or just random things so that I can send cards or gifts to arrive before the date comes.

2- Pay off the debt
This move is going to be very expensive, which is ok I am going to live my dream. But I would like to pay this off and be all good by the end of the year. I also would like to have started getting things together to start a Roth IRA in January.

3- Make the phone calls and let the rest go
I go through phases where I don't really know how to keep in touch with people, so I am going to try and call my friends (and keep calling when I can't get a hold of them). I want to be a good friend but at the same time I am also going to allow myself to not feel guilty about a lack of contact when they never call back. This includes making my friends Skype or FaceTime, sometimes you just need to see her face.

4- Find time for myself
Many of the blogs and articles about how to be really good at your job or how to feel fulfilled in your life mention taking time for yourself in whatever manner that is. I would like to make it a priority to see as many of the Texas A&m football games this fall, I love this and find it refreshing. I also want to make a point to allow myself to just do the one thing, just watch the game not watch the game, plan a lesson, cook for the week, and who knows what else.

5- Be active in the Jacksonville Junior League
Spending time not on myself is important and helps me gain perspective.

6- Don't be afraid to say No
I am terrible at saying no to anything, it is pretty terrible. I am going to work on saying no and meaning it and not feeling as if I need to explain my reasons. In order to be successful in the next few months I am going to work at protecting the time I need to do my job well. It is hard to be new at anything and I want to be able to give it my best.

What are your goals, do you have anything big coming up? I look forward to sharing with you how this went in a few months.

Hello Florida!

This has been a long week, but we are here in our new apartment. Lily and I are so glad to be here, we are trying to get used to the humidity. I had much more to say but my phone ate the first version of this post... So here are a few pics. I hope to write more soon, hopefully Internet tomorrow. 

It was moving day and she was so scared. 

First night in the bed. 

George W. Bush Presidential Library: Checking it off the Texas Bucket List

One of the last items on my Texas Bucket List was the George W Bush Presidential Library. A few days ago one of my college friends and I decided to sneak away from work and check it out. The library is on the SMU campus and getting there reminded me of Texas A&M. Bush Sr's library is at A&M and I know that I went several different times with different people and every time it was a great story. So I was excited to check out Ws library.

We started with the special exhibit, Presidents and Baseball. I was pretty underwhelmed by this, however I do not love baseball. I would go as far as to say that it is one of my least favorite sports. But it was well put together and worth the visit if you happen to go in Dallas before the exhibit closes in October (I think).

From there we headed into the main portion, it starts with the declaration of running for president and then the whole hanging chad debacle (oh 2000, you were so long ago it seems). I found this part very interesting and it was interesting to read about his plans for his presidency and how his family shaped his life. There is a ton of influence by Laura Bush, I think she is amazing.

Eventually, we get to September 11, 2001. Even now days later I don't know what I can write about this part, it was breathtaking and a perspective that I was not prepared for. This is not for the faint of heart but I could have spent the whole time in this portion. For this alone you should hit up the library.

After this portion, there isn't much left or what was left was slightly underwhelming. I did take a chance to sit in the Oval Office, this could be the future? I like it, it looks good on me.

Future President? I hope so

I will say that regardless of your opinion of W as a president you should check this out, it reminds you that the office of president is not always for everyone. It is also a reminder that sometimes the best laid plans fall apart for reasons out of your control, no president plans for a terrorist attack. I loved the reminder that his main plan before that was education (my personal favorite cause) and he was able to lead us through a very dark time.

I am so glad that I took the time to check this out before I move out of the area. I am pretty sure that hitting up presidential libraries is now part of my travel bucket list, they may not all be this cool but so far I am enjoying them. I hope you get a chance to check this out, it is one of my Dallas must sees!

June Recap and July goals

June was so fast, I cannot believe that it is already over. I also can't believe that I move next week. 

June Recap
1- Manuscripts: 
Meh, this was Ok. It got rejected twice in June (I think), but it is back out. 


2- Hire movers and truck:
Done!
3-Fitness: 
hahaha, this was a struggle to find the time. 
4- Schedule: 
I didn't travel at all but I have made a point to see people here.
5-Lily: 
We did get lots of long walks in, but not as much dog park time as I wanted.
6- Packing: 
this went well, I got lots of things in boxes. (Shout out to my friend E who makes me put things in boxes)
7- Say no to things that I don't want to attend. 
I did pretty well with this. 
8- Read the textbook: 
I read a few chapters, only 3, but it is a good start.

9- Look into finding a new planner for the school year.
I found it... I can't wait to share it with you.

June went slightly better than I originally thought it might have, but it still feels like there should be a few days left in the month...

July Goals

1- Move to Florida: 

2- Be ready for work on day one: I want to have the car done, anything set up like cable and all of that. I want to be able to get to work and go on the first day. 

3- Run more. I don't know how much more but I would love to get 10-12 runs in this month

4- The Review.... I still have to finish writing my part... oops

5- Order the planner (it comes out in July, yes I am buying a fancy one)

6- Enjoy the two weeks in Florida with no work, I am afraid that I will feel bad about not doing anything. I scheduled this in this way so that I would be able to really rest before school starts. I want to read and bake and just spend time with Lily. 

This seems like an easy month but moving over 1000 miles away is going to take it out of me. I am so excited to be in Florida. I cannot wait to be Professor Malcolm... crazy!

I would totally have written more but I am tired from the packing and shark week and work and everything. Hopefully long posts are returning soon!

The most amazing lipstick

So I a few weeks ago I saw this blog post and realized that I needed this LipStick. I went to Target a few days later and snagged it up, it was about $5. In the last few months I realized that I love make up, I remember playing with it when I was younger and not really knowing what to do but now I know what looks good and what looks bad. I am also experimenting with things that are on-trend and fuchsia lip color is so on-trend.

Revlon's Super Lustrous Fuchsia Fusion 

I have been wearing this everyday and this lip stays on all day. For instance, today I put it on before I left for work and it was there and looked fab all day long and it was even there after I went for a run. It does loose some of its vibrance by the end of the day but it still looks good.

I am calling this the princess chemist look, I am learning that I love fashion and science and that while those two things don't always go together they don't have to be two different parts of my life. I am a chemist and I love to look nice and wear makeup. I am finding that this lipstick reminds me of that when I see it in the mirror.

Smart and pretty

I cannot wait to start my new job wearing this, it might be a little different but you know what this is me! Hello fancy!

Kaboom Town: Checking it off the Texas Bucket List

I will admit that I don't really love July 4th, it wasn't a huge deal growing up and when I was small the loud noises scared me. So I haven't really done anything for July 4th in years (probably many many, but seriously who is counting). This weekend was dedicated to packing and trying to make sure that I am able to get things done at the house and the like. So I wasn't super sad when nothing was planned but when a chance to watch one of the top 10 firework shows nationwide arose, I took it. My friend Elysa and I packed all day and then headed over to her house to hang out and watch the show.

Kaboom Town, is in Addison Texas, and I hear that parking is a nightmare. So I haven't really been interested in waiting to park and then sweating to death to see a few fireworks. However, after seeing these from her house a few miles away I should have made that a priority. 

It was amazing. I was so impressed, I tried to take a few photos but really who needs to see blurry photos that are lame. I mostly just sat there and enjoyed the show. It is about 30 minutes long, put to some pretty good music. I can't usually focus that long on things I'm not obsessed with, that wasn't happening. If you get a chance to check this out, you totally should. I hear that you should get there early so that you can get a spot and see everything. 

Did you have a wonderful 4th? I spend the actually day doing more packing before I watch the 3rd place world cup match. It was a great way to spend the day with the pup and being productive. I did take Sunday off, a trip to the dog park and then an afternoon with my brother and sis-in-law was just the thing I needed.

Happy Birthday America, you don't look a day over 225!!!

Being at rest

As the move is even closer, I find that I am not doing a good job of taking time out to relax. Even when I sit down to watch my favorite shows I have a book out, my laptop, my dog, probably food. There are so many things all over me that I can't actually get anything done ever! I also feel guilty about not doing any of those things or not being able to finish any of them or do them well. So I am trying to start a new habit of being still during the things I enjoy: watch the tv show without having to do something else or maybe go to dinner and leave the phone in the car.

So I thought I would give you a list of 5 ways that I am going to work on enjoying the moment. 

1- Stop trying to do everything at the same time. Do one thing at a time and do each thing well before moving on to the next task. 

2- Take time for me. Spend time on a craft project, reading a book, blogging, the dog park with Lily, or whatever makes me happy. 

3- Let the pressure go. I know it sounds way to much like Elsa, but everything will get into a box at the end of the day so I don't need to make anyone else happy with my packing arrangement. 

4- Stick to my priorities. I am not doing a great job of turning down events that I don't want to attend and I am struggling to make time for the events that I want to attend because I feel bad about everything else. 

5- Get enough sleep. I've started staying up late and trying to get up early. In most of those cases I was watching junk TV?!? So I would like to shoot for 7 full hours in the bed without the lights or phone on. I gotta be specific. 

How do you take time for yourself? Is it by being away or being with people? 

Developing the perfect Biscuit recipe!

A few weeks ago I checked Southern Biscuits out from the public library, I saw it on some book email and was super interested. It was a great read about the history of biscuits and how to make them. I have tried to make biscuits over and over again and I usually get flat rocks... so I was intrigued about this making something different.

This book helped immensely, I got fluffy biscuits!!! It turns out that I was way over handling my dough and when that happens you get rocks. It was interesting to read about the methods and why you want to just kinda pull everything together and then let it rest. Mine are quite as big as they ones on the book cover but they are so much better than before.

All-purpose flour with baking powder

Self-rising flour

I tried two different recipes: Basic Southern Biscuits and Baking Powder Biscuits. They main/only difference is the flour: self-rising vs. flour with baking powder. I found they are about the same, some complain about the taste of the baking powder. I am so excited to finally have a biscuit recipe that I can whip up easily. I did use real buttermilk so that I don't tend to have but it was ok. Also, I just popped the uncooked biscuits in the freezer and then popped them on a baking sheet when I wanted them on another day (give them a few extra minutes in the oven)!

I am so thrilled that I got this book, should I see a copy of it somewhere for not a whole lot of dollars I will definitely pick up a copy. These are so good and I love that I can freeze them and then have fresh biscuits anytime I make breakfast.

Friday's Fun Fotos

You know with all of the moving and things I just thought that I would share a few recent photos of my life, just in case you don't instagram stalk me. I know pictures are super exciting, but none of these are enough for a full post so here you go. Happy Friday I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

So for months every time it rains this was my bedroom... awesome. In theory it is fixed

I had a chance to hang with my Aunt and her horses one day... so fun

New fun background on my work computer

I love this braid I just whipped up one day, fancy

The workers were here to fix things at the apt, Lily was over it.

I hope your weekend is amazing and that you are able to spend sometime with your fathers this Father's day. I won't be with mine, I wish I was but not this year. 

And so it begins...

Well it is official I am moving out of Dallas, yes I know that we have known that for months now, however I rented a truck today, hired movers in Dallas, will hire movers in Jax, and started putting things in boxes. What!?!? This is crazy. 

Look how nervous this little one is

I cannot believe that the move is getting close, less than 4 weeks. I will admit that I am so excited to get things started in Jax but at the same time it is hard to know that I am leaving all of my friends here. It seems like just yesterday that I was moving to Dallas away from all of my StL friends. Crazy. I have loved most of my time here in Dallas (there were a few minutes that just weren't awesome, but isn't it always that way).

There are a few big things that I still want to do while I am here and I have been trying to figure out how many of those there are. I know that I want to check out the Bush Library (this is W's library), I find these library's to be a must see. After that I just want to be able to spend time with my friends and family that live here. I feel like I am on a final tour... but I don't want this to be the last time that I come to town. I am sure it won't be my family lives here, so I am having a meltdown for nothing. Awesome.

Well I am off to put more things in boxes, I am hoping to get at least 7-10 boxes packed today. I am resisting packing because that makes it more real than putting money down on the move. I hope Lily and I can hold it together while we get ready to get out of Texas!

Canton, TX: Checking it off the Texas bucket list

One of the barns full of stuff

One of the items on my Texas Bucket List has been First Monday's in Canton, TX. For those that don't know this is a giant craft market with just about everything you could ever imagine. I talked two of my girlfriends into taking this adventure with me, we ended up going twice two months in a row since we got lost the first time. First Monday is divided into four parts: the Mountain, Dog Alley, Old Market Place, and the main part.

First Trip
We got there in the early afternoon and I of course put on tons of sunscreen, can't burn this skin, and we headed off. We started in Dog Alley, which was full of puppies, cats, chickens, really everything you could want. We started to pet the dogs but it was a little weird to be told to use hand sanitizer before petting the dogs. After a bit of this we headed to the Old Mill section, only a few of the shops were occupied. Then we went to the Mountain, which was super cute and hilly. This was more like an upscale garage sale and lots of junk. At this point I was over Canton, because where was the homemade stuff?!? I had asked a few people about it but no one was really helpful. We went to the Farmers Market and finally a woman was like see all of those barns across the street... that is what you were looking for. I was so over it and hot so we decided to just head home. I didn't buy anything or get a funnel cake. So I wasn't sure about this adventure at all.

Second Trip
L convinced me that we should give Canton another go, so we decided to go back the next month and only hit up the Main Barns. Parking was slightly more difficult on this trip, we wanted to be closer to the shopping this time. After we parked we got in and it was everything I could have ever hoped for. I saw so many hand crafted things, knowing I was moving really kept me from buying everything. I struggled with figuring out what I wanted and what is worth the money. Hand-crafted things are super expensive and I like to make sure I feel like they are well made before ponying up. In the end I grabbed two Texas Stars for my new patio in Florida.

They are rusty and awesome. I am pretty sure that I can sand these and paint them a different color at some point in life. I think I want to like rustic things but I don't like them. I really like pretty fancy things, so I am sure these will get painted eventually but for $3 each I will love them.

Here are a couple of tips, things I wish we had done better:
-Hit up the main barns and leave the rest alone
-Wear sneakers and shorts. It gets warm in there and we went on days that weren't too hot yet.
-If you are really shopping bring a cart. Having to carry whatever we bought kept me from buying lots of things, but if I was really shopping I would have borrowed a cart from someone so that I didn't have to carry it.
-Look for deals but if you find something you like I would just buy it.
-Use a backpack, I would have loved to not have to buy water so that I could stay hydrated. However, unlike in Dallas most of the water was $1 so it wasn't bad to have to buy water.

Looking at apartments: JAX addition

So my mom and I flew into Jacksonville late on a Wednesday and were flying back out late Saturday night. I knew that we would spend most of Thursday and Friday looking at places and that most of the work needed to be done before I landed in Jacksonville. I had come up with a list of apartments that I liked online (probably 6 A-list and 8 B-list properties), I also had written down the things I liked about the properties so that I could quickly remember which ones I liked and which ones I didn't. I will admit that having a dog and some random specific things that I will not have in my apartment made it a little difficult to like lots of properties.

Before we left for dinner I drew up a map of the city and where the properties were that I liked, previously I just used alphabetical order or even just the order in which I found them. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't driving all over the city and back-tracking since I hadn't paid attention to location.

Well this is upside down but you get the point

In the morning of the first day we started with the closet property which also happens to be the one that I loved the most. I took about 3 pictures in the unit and I am not even sure we got the whole tour, I didn't see the dog park or even the rest of the property (didn't realize that until later). From there went headed out to see several more properties, one of my favorites didn't have any openings. I will admit now that I was not overly impressed with many of the properties that we saw that day and it made me panic. Before lunch we toured one that I had liked online but I was so unimpressed once we got there, I also might have been hungry (never a good thing). We toured another one right before we headed to the beach for a break.

After the beach we found a Starbucks, which was the saving grace of this trip the wifi and coffee saved us twice. Since I was in a silent panic about having choices because at this point we hadn't seen a first floor apartment and I didn't like some of the ones we had seen. Then I opted to see apartments that I didn't even like online, that was stupid. Eventually we called it a day and I was lost as to what to rent.

On Friday we spent the morning at my new job and then out to lunch. We toured one last property, which had a first floor apartment for an extra $75 on top of the most expensive rent. Also, we had to wait about 20 minutes to get a tour, which kills me. I also didn't love that she kept talking about seeing my students around the property (not the way to get my on board).

So back to Starbucks... I made a pro/con list while my mom read and I could see on her face that she was panicking too.

The list was crazy helpful, at some point it came down to who had what I wanted for the price that I was willing to pay. I found it interesting that a big part of my decision was how good the property would be for Lily. I think I would have rented the most expensive property for her but at the end of the day I think we will be super happy with the one we chose.

The kitchen, major selling point

This is our building!!

Healthy Lunch

In recent months I have been working on getting my lunch under control. I find that I forget that 100 calorie packs add up, you know if you eat 5 of them that is 500 calories not like 200. So in the last few months I have been trying to find options that I like and don't feel like I have eaten a million and five calories. Here is one of my current faves, I have estimated the calories for each part (I may be a scientist but these are just best guess numbers).

Tortellini with parmesan cheese and tomatoes: ~206 (tortellini), ~40 (parm), 5 (tomatoes)
Carrots and Hummus:  32 (carrots) and ~35 (hummus)
Nectarine: 62 calories

Total: 380 calories

A couple of things about the tortellini dish, I take the small package from the grocery store and cook it and then divide it into 4 portions, in this case. I keep it in the fridge and add some cheese and tomatoes in the morning and leave for work. I do tend to bring a few other options just in case I get really hungry in the afternoon. No one wants a hunger monster to show up in the office. I also tend to drink water which has zero calories! Yay!

Afternoon snack: goldfish crackers or a banana

I almost always have a snack at some point in the afternoon but I try to keep it around 100 calories, since that is what they are currently recommending. I eat cereal and coffee (with creamer) for breakfast.

What do you eat for lunch? I will try and share my other most favorite lunch soon.