Wednesday, March 7, 2012

First time for everything

In my life, things do not go according to plans. Ever. Seriously, things happen to me that seem like they are straight out of a movie.

Boyfriend surprises girlfriend and meets her in Nashville. We run over a 6 foot ladder on the interstate, have to be towed and then have no car until the next day when we go our separate ways. Boyfriend and girlfriend are headed to the beach for a lovely vacation.  Boyfriend forgets swimsuit, gets speeding ticket, and then has the most horrible case of the flu known to man.  Awesome. Girlfriend sweetly buys boyfriend tickets to the Braves vs. Yankees game in Atlanta. Traffic is a nightmare, we detour, get lost, and finally make it by the middle of the 7th inning. Throw in a side of our best friend getting diagnosed with not one, but two rare genetic conditions while on a weekend visit and you have a quick snapshot of my life. Can't make this stuff up.

But then a weekend comes along that is nothing short of magic.  It wasn't anything fancy or elaborately planned out, just a weekend.  One blessed weekend that has kept a smile on may face even through a somewhat trying work week.

Saturday morning we actually got to sleep in together, followed by a delicious homemade waffle and bacon breakfast. After that we took our time getting ready and then headed to Mississippi for me to learn to shoot some guns. NOT before RJ bought me some pink ear muffs to keep my delicate ears from hurting and we loaded up on ammo.  Yay!

We spent the afternoon with RJ's best friend Brian, his girlfriend Megan and a few of their other friends.  And believe it or not, folks, I am a pretty good shot.  The real purpose of this outing was for me to learn to shoot RJ's gun, should the need arise, but it turned out to be pretty fun. With the most exciting part of the day being when they pulled out the exploding targets. Remember, I was in Mississippi and the land we were on pretty much looked like an armory after all the boys pulled out their toys. After that we had some, ever delicious Taco Bell, and headed home for an afternoon nap that turned into us not getting up until 8:00, but it was heaven. 

Later that night we went to a friend's birthday party, had a few drinks, and then realized that we were starving.  Since there is no City Cafe in Memphis, we went to a place called CK's for some late night yumminess.  It was here that RJ realized his dream of becoming a diner employee... because ONLY MY BOYFRIEND offers to help the lone 2 employees by busing tables and refilling drinks.  We were tipsy and it was funny and extremely sweet.  After our "free" meal, due to RJ's hard work we went home and poured ourselves into bed.

Sunday was lazy and wonderful.  We went grocery shopping and to dinner at his parent's house.  Uneventful bliss.

Needless to say I am one happy girl right now.  If only the gods can continue to shine on us this weekend as we make our way to St. Louis for a long weekend away together.  My sweet boyfriend will celebrate his birthday Saturday, so send some love and luck his way. 

I wouldn't mind another perfect weekend, but I'm not taking holding my breath...

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Lean with me, Rock with me

Last May I packed my bags and moved to Memphis.  I didn't know the area very well and when RJ's cousin happened to have a house for rent, in a safe area, with no deposit, and rent in our price range we kind of just said "OK" and moved in.

Our house is cute from the outside, we have a deeper front porch with a porch swing and enough room for my iron table and chairs.  We have "2" bedrooms and 1 bathroom.  I say "2" because what we really have is more like 1 bedroom and 1 room of unknown description.  We use it as an office/guestroom. Our eat-in kitchen is really roomy, but lacks counter space and our den is actually pretty great, it's big and has a fireplace.  All in all this house is not a horrible place to live.  I'm not scared to stay at home alone and I can walk the dogs without feeling like I need both a billy club and mace. That is until recently when I noticed that the slight unevenness of the floors had turned into an all out lean.

We knew that the house had problems, a water heater had burst before we moved in and the repair work was shoddy at best, but we could deal with a little tilt.  However, our bathroom is now a  ski slope and all the tile is cracking from the pressure. In short we are now looking for a new home.

We spend our weekends driving around Memphis looking for houses. I spend hours online searching for something that we can love.  The problem is that I have already fallen in love with one neighborhood in Memphis.  I mean like head over heels, we drive the same streets every weekend just hoping and praying a new house as gone up for rent, in love.  The HighPointe neighborhood is everything I miss about Chattanooga.  It is a neighborhood made up of sweet older homes that people have lovingly restored.  The residents are younger families who walk their dogs and push their babies in strollers to the nearby restaurants and markets.   They all have swings hung from tree branches in the front yards and tasteful, yet unique, paint colors on the shutters. I want SO badly to live there. Reality: Nothing is for rent that is not crazy expensive.  There are quite a few houses for sale, but with our future somewhat uncertain we are leery to buy until we are more settled.

So kids, say some prayers and throw some good luck our way as we keep searching.  Until then we'll be laughing our way through life in our little house that leans. I mean really, first houses are supposed to give you stories, not everything you want.  More memories to be made, at least that's what I'm telling myself.

Lots of love to you on this beautiful Thursday!