Spring Cleaning

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain


It's been a busy, busy springtime! It's time to clean house and play catch up...

After our return from Atlanta in February and our wonderful cruise vacation, I was fortunate enough to receive an unexpected job offer. I had braced myself for months of scouring the classifieds and submitting dozens of resumes. I had also resigned myself to making my jobless time a productive one by turning my house back into a clean, organized, attractive home! Well, that didn't exactly happen as planned (nothing ever really does, now that I think about it). Fortunately, I was spared the tedious and excruciating chore of job hunting after I accepted an offer from a nationally recognized, Orlando based wedding planner. I now work from home, which is taking some getting used to, as her administrative assistant.

My day-to-day duties include working with brides to finalize all of the details of their ceremonies, scheduling and hiring various wedding vendors (officiants, florists, musicians, etc), contributing to our blog features on the Perfect Wedding Guide's blog (Susan, my boss, is their 'National Wedding Expert'), and dealing with whatever else comes up, quite frankly. It's a job tailor-made for me; I get to combine my creative and organizational strengths to keep things fresh and running smoothly.

More posts on the crazy happenings at my job to come, I can promise you that!


Speaking of work, Charles also works from home installing and supporting email archiving software (I'm not pretending to fully understand what that means), which --again-- is taking some getting used to. We are currently trying to find some sense of harmony with both of our schedules and develop a healthy routine that will keep us from crawling the walls and/or killing each other. We each have our own offices in our spare bedrooms, so there are lines in the sand. So far, so good...

Before you think we've both turned into hermits, we actually have made a concerted effort to get out of the house on a regular basis. In April, we joined our first bowling league! Anyone who knows Charles will not be surprised to find that he has fully immersed himself in this extracurricular activity. We bowl our league games on Wednesday night and attend Saturday morning open practice. I'm pleased with my bowling equipment (purple and pink flame shoes, a sparkly purple ball, and matching purple bowling bag). My husband has managed to get himself outfitted with every conceivable piece of bowling equipment and is reaping the benefits; his average trumps mine by a solid sixty pins. There's no danger of me joining the pro tour, I'm just casually enjoying our new hobby. Bowling, priceless people watching opportunities, and killer snack-bar French fries in one place? I'm there.


What else? Some honorable mentions include...

Activites: We've recently joined a local country club. It was almost the same price as joining the YMCA, without having to deal with a bunch of screaming kids, so we're looking forward to using the pool, the gym, and maybe joining a social club or two this summer. Many thanks to Charles for the brilliant idea, I think this is going to be a lot of fun!

Church: We're super excited to be attending our home church of First Christian Church of Winter Park again. We have missed our friends there terribly and are glad to be meeting with the Young Married Couples' Group again!


Family: It's good to be back in the swing of visiting my Mom, nephews, and family on Saturday mornings again (when we can). My Dad's side of the family all came over to our house for a 'BBQ & Bowling Birthday Party' last weekend. We celebrated "Jergi's" 61st birthday in style; it was great to see everyone and I think we all enjoyed ourselves!


The Pets: They've adjusted quite well to being back in Florida. I don't think Kittums noticed a difference (it doesn't matter where the laundry basket is, he'll still sleep in it 20+ hours a day), but Holly was going a little stir crazy in our apartment. The freezing cold weather didn't afford her the opportunity to get out much in the winter, as she hates anything cold and damp (much like her owner).


Travels: We will be on the road next weekend for my sister-in-law Hope's wedding in West Virginia! Later this summer we have a trip to Las Vegas planned. In the fall we are expecting to visit my grandparents in North Carolina, although the details have not been worked out yet. I hope to visit Atlanta with Charles before the year's end; I MISS my friends and favorite places up there. We'll cap off the year with a Caribbean cruise with my Mom and Buz in December... "I cannot wait" does not do my anticipation justice!

That about wraps things up for now, I'm all caught up and looking forward to updating more frequently now that I have my life back on track after an unexpectedly amazing year last year. By the way, my scrapbook on Atlanta is almost complete! Once it is, I'll feel like I have a sense of closure. Thankfully, since returning home, we have been blessed with many opportunities both personally and professionally and we're doing our best not to take them (or time with family and friends) for granted.

"If you would attain to what you are not yet, you must always be displeased by what you are. For where you are pleased with yourself there you have remained. Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing." - Saint Augustine