Ch-ch-changes

So, I was alerted the other day that it has been 11 weeks since my last post.  My bad.  But a WHOLE LOT has happened in those weeks.  This post is gonna get a little picture-heavy in a bit, so gear up.  First really big thing is that we moved!  Not just like across town but from the Lowcountry to the Upstate.  It was not really planned, but we feel like God opened all the appropriate doors and that the timing was perfect.  First, Hunter got a new job, and our lease was up in the next few weeks after Hunter found out about the job opportunity so we didn't have to pay bookoos of money to break the lease.  Then I got a job and moved out literally the day before our lease ended.  Oh, and Hunter was already in the upstate for the last like 5-6 weeks before I moved, so we had a mini long-distance thing going on.  The decision was not an easy one, by any means.  I had massive anxiety about the thought of moving away from all of my friends I've come to know and love over the past almost 3 years.  I cried and cried at the thought of telling my work wife.  And I cried some more after that.  And then some more later.  And had some emotional breakdowns while I was packing up almost all of our stuff by myself and trying to figure out the logistics of how we were going to move.  It was tons of fun.

Thankfully, my new employer offered a moving allotment, and we were able to have a company come and pack up the remainder of our belongings and move all of our crap at no cost to us (up to a certain amount - which we didn't go over - Hallelujah!!).  Mainly they just had to pack up the kitchen.  I had packed up mostly everything else, but I was NOT looking forward to packing up the kitchen.  I don't know how we came to accumulate so much stuff, especially in the kitchen department.  But somehow we did.  We are, for the time being, living with my in-laws while we save up a good downpayment and are hopefully going to be buying a house in the near future.

I have just finished Nursing Orientation at my new job.  I am SO happy to be going back to my 12-hour shifts.  Kudos to those of you who do the whole getting-up-early-5-days-a-week-and-probably-Sundays-to-go-to-church-too thing, because that junk is for the BIRDS.  I absolutely cannot stand being up early and being out when everybody else is out.  I miss my 12-hour shifts so bad.  My body was not built for going to sleep early and getting up early - just ask my classmates who watched me come in borderline late every morning senior year of high school and put on my make-up during the first half of Mrs. Dunlap's class.

A few weekends before I moved, I attended the March of Dimes.  It was a lot of fun, even if I do look glow-in-the-dark in the pic below.  I generally have fun when these two are involved.

Before leaving the lowcountry, my coworkers threw me a surprise going-away party.  So here comes the picture portion of your blog experience:

The cry-fest officially began within the first few minutes.

My Carolina fan friends actually picked out this shirt!  I was probably eyeing my work wife in this picture, who is a die-hard Gamecock.

And then I got hugs and cried.

And more hugs and cried.

And more hugs and cried more.

And even more hugs and cried some more.

And guess what else happened?  I got hugs and cried.

This is my work wife's "I am not amused by this" face.  She actually was in denial for a few weeks after I told her I was leaving.  But never fear, our relationship is back on track now.  We also FaceTimed Erica for a little bit.

My friend in this pic was the photographer for the partay.  I learned that I do not like candid photos of myself.  There are approximately 100 pictures and I look like a blubbering, double-chinned fool in the majority.  But I love candids of other people.  Go figure.

My friends at work bought me a mustache balloon and he hung out with me until he had to go in the trash can RIGHT before I moved.  Literally, he was one of the last things to go.  And only because I couldn't have safely fit him into this packed to the brim vehicle you see below.

And then I packed up the Escahpay and rolled out.  And cried some more.

So while I'm missing all of my Lowcountry friends TERRIBLY, Facebook, FaceTime, and picture messages are wonderful for keeping in touch.  I'm excited to see what the future has in store!

I have a funny story to share that is completely unrelated to the topics in this post, but I giggle thinking about it and I have to share.  There are probably going to be repercussions to this, but it's worth it.  Relevant background - 1) I absolutely love corny jokes and 2) Hunter and I were sitting on the couch.

Hunter:  "I thought up a really funny joke the other day."

Me:  "Oh!  What is it??"

Hunter:  "What do you get when you cross an elephant with a rhino?"
Me:  "Elephino."  (Pronounced like "[h]Ell-if-I-know")

Hunter:  "How did you know that?"

Me:  "I heard that joke about 20 years ago.  Have you never heard that one?"
Hunter:  "No!  I just made it up a few days ago!  You stole my thunder."
Me:  "Then what DO you get when you cross an elephant with a rhino?"
Hunter:  "NOTHING!"