Austin to Temple

Quick update on life. It's been messy! And busy! But also really good. We are in Temple and have been for two weeks tomorrow. Our apartment is a dream, cheaper than our apartment in Austin, yet bigger and nicer and quieter. We're surrounded by new housing developments on two sides, an old neighborhood on one, and a field of wildflowers on the other. We face the wildflowers (my allergies!). We're on the outskirts of Temple, on the way to Belton. So we kind of get the best of both worlds. Temple is nice and actually pretty big, but I think Belton might be my favorite. It's smaller and cuter and they have a river and a lake. I'm partial to living near water. But the two towns are basically smashed into one another, so lucky us. I was honestly terrified that I would hate it here after Austin, but I don't. I adore the lack of traffic and the slower pace. We haven't had much time for exploring, but from what we've seen, we like it here! The cats do too.

It's been a nice two weeks of a whole lot of nothing. Well, that's a lie. For the first week Brendon studied his butt off for the NAPLEX (Which he passed! One more test in July and he'll be a licensed pharmacist! What a process this is!) and he's been working part time at a CVS here in Temple. And I've been just chillin' like a villain (insert sunglasses emoji) and working once a week at my sewing job in Austin. It's been a nice change of scenery and breath of culture (and a chance to satisfy any cravings for Austin goodies), and enough of a taste of Austin and it's traffic to make my commute home a happy and relieved one. But mostly we've been relaxing when we can. Watching lots of movies. Lots of cuddling. Lots of sleeping in. It's been good for us, because the last four years of our lives have been go go go GO and now we've had a much welcomed moment to breathe. And we've had visitors! My momma-in-law and little bro-in-law came to stay for the first weekend we were here and my mom was here yesterday! I love visitors. This is an open invitation to anyone who wants to trek to Temple and hang out. I am an expert at relaxation at this point, come chill with me.

Just as we get settled in, we leave for our little summer vacation next week. A real one, where we go somewhere, because I've definitely been on vacation for two weeks already. And then Brendon starts his residency when we get back! Which is a bummer, but hopefully means our lives will settle in to some sort of routine. Don't get me wrong, I like this hanging out in limbo we've been doing, it's been a nice change of pace, but I am not-so-secretly a huge nerd who needs a little structure in her life to thrive. Only a little though.

Austin, TX

June 1st marked the end of our first year in Austin. Can you believe it? A year ago Friday we packed up our little lives and uhauled our butts down here in 100 degree heat. We were hella naive and optimistic (and slightly stupid), little did we know what was in store for us!

Turns out, I hated it here. I was away from everything familiar, thrown into a big city. My friends were hundreds of miles away. I was lonely and sad and wanted nothing more than to run away back to Denton. Last June was one of the roughest months of my life. I couldn't find a job, I spent the majority of my time alone, we were broke broke broke, and then I got pneumonia. I was seriously ready to give up. I mean, pneumonia? What kind of crap is that?

But I got over pneumonia, eventually. And I got a job (thanks Coffee Bean!). And things slowly perked up. We figured our way around town (at least our small corner of the city) and things didn't seem so unfamiliar and scary. We got to know people here. And slowly but surely this crazy city sucked me in.

Since then Austin has grown on me. Tremendously. I love it here. I love this stupid city. It's insane and scary and too big for me, but I love it. There is so much to see and so much to do. It's such a vibrant place full of vibrant people. Moving here almost broke me but it has made me into a stronger and better person. My life is drastically different now than it was a year ago. If you told last May I'd be where I am now, I'd laugh in your face.

I was thrown out of my comfort zone and into this mess and I have made it my home. Our home. Me, Brendon, and the cats are one happy little Austin family. Although Brendon says he hates it here, but I think he secretly loves it. Just like he secretly loves pharmacy school (ha, jk! pharmacy school is the devil). There are somethings that truly are terrible here (traffic!!!), but for the most part the good greatly outweighs the bad.

Last summer when I first started blogging on the reg (another good thing that came out of Austin, my month of unemployment kick started this blog!), I said I hoped I would learn to love Austin like I learned to love Denton. Your girl called it, I have. This is home now and it becomes more so everyday. And I plan on staying here as long as we can. Although moving into a nicer (safer) neighborhood would be nice. Tryin' to upgrade!

So thanks, Austin. Thanks for whooping my ass and making evolve into something better. Tough love.

Sophie decides to be cute and we attempt to get the heck out of Dodge (Denton)

This is a rare moment for Miss Sophie and I. Not only am I home and able to cuddle, but she's being friendly enough to do so! If that makes her sound like a grumpy old sourpuss, it's only half true. She's very sweet when she wants to be, but it usually has to be her idea. So, I take what I can get and am typing over and around a plump little kitty while she purrs and looks cute. :)

And please excuse the wildness that is my hair, apparently I ate something no bueno last night and spent the majority of my usual sleepy time being very sick. Totally lame, but after about 5 hours of being sick (that Brendon somehow managed to sleep through) I finally was able to snooze off, and thankfully I got to sleep in this morning. So I am semi-rested and ready for the move-a-thon.

In other news, my left shift key isn't working properly! What a pain! Seriously though, we're just about all packed up (like no silverware for breakfast this morning because it's in a box) and ready to head to Austin. We're loading up the uhaul tomorrow and heading down Wednesday morning. Ahhh! So crazy! Yesterday was my last shift at work, after 4 years at one company it's surreal to say the least. I was ready to leave but it's definitely going to take some getting used to. Can't believe it's all really happening!

One more week

We are so busy! I thought we'd be able to relax some before we move, but dang, we're going nonstop! Any free time at home we get we pack or glue ourselves to the couch and watch tv. I think it might be more tv than packing but whatever.

This is our sweet new couch! Our old couch gave us many years of good relaxation, but it was falling apart and due for retirement. Sophie and Greg had literally pulled a side of it off, plus it was a sleeper sofa and the bed part of it was busted. It was just a hot mess, and we didn't feel it was worth it to move it. We were planning on just waiting until we got to Austin to get a new couch, but we came into some Macy's gift cards after the wedding and got a sweet deal on a floor model at a Macy's up here on clearance, so we decided we couldn't pass the deal up and got one before we moved. Moving the old couch down the stairs and the new one up was an experience, but I am very proud to say that Brendon and I did it all by ourselves! I don't mean to brag, but for me that's pretty impressive. Now we have to just do it again next week. Plus a bunch of other stuff.

This craziness is what our living room looks like right now. CHAOS! But on the bright side, we've packed a bunch of stuff! We still have a whole lot left to go, but we're making progress! It's exciting but sad. We were packing up photos and knickknacks from the living room and I started crying! We have had so many happy memories in this apartment, it's been so good to us. If I could live here forever I think I might (well... only if the kitchen were bigger. It's a giant apartment with a tiny tiny kitchen! Makes no sense.). But we will have many new memories to make in our new place and our new city! Just need to keep telling myself that.

Last night we went to Babe's with a bunch of our friends (who are aaaaamazing and I am going to miss so much!) for a going away feast, and a feast it was! I have seriously never been so full in my entire life. It was so good, I couldn't stop eating. The chicken fried steak, the potatoes, the BISCUITS! All covered in gravy.... mmmm..... Why does my life feel like it often revolves around food?