We moved again (4 months ago).

Taken by my extremely talented friend before we left Virginia.

So, in case you somehow missed it, we moved to Florida 4 months ago. I don't know how someone could've missed it with all the pictures of clearly Florida things I post (mostly Disney World and the beach). While Florida isn't quite what we expected, since we were supposed to be going to France, we like it here. Gabe is struggling a bit, but we are a thousand times happier here than we were in DC. Though, I do miss living so close to a few very good friends from England. And I miss Tyson's Corner mall, because the malls on the Space Coast just aren't cutting it.

We have been settling in just fine here. For the first time in our almost 5 years together, we have an actual house instead of an apartment or townhouse! It's pretty cool not sharing walls with other people. The house is also twice as big as our tiny apartment in DC and has a garage, so we can fit everything in our house, which is nice. There were a LOT of issues in getting into this house though. It was a stressful few weeks. We painted the ENTIRE house ourselves (which I don't recommend at all). Gabe had to do a lot of manual labor other than the painting, and we had to wait while dog pee soaked carpet was replaced, which was disgusting. To sum up, we are unimpressed with our landlord. We had found the perfect house that we loved, and still regret not just buying it. Live and learn I guess.

Our first rocket launch.

Before Christmas we got to watch a Space X rocket launch where they actually landed part of it back at a landing pad. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty cool watching a big part of history in the making, and I will probably mention it for years to come. Because when you get to watch a rocket come plummeting back toward the earth 20 something miles away from you, you talk about it.

We have already had a few visitors, and are expecting more. Our best friends from Ohio actually spent Christmas with us, which was awesome. It was like a million degrees, or 90, the entire time they were here. We actually spent Christmas Eve at the beach. Plus, we went to Disney World with them, and we walked out as annual pass holders (which has been awesome by the way)!

I also got to see an old friend, as in a girl I knew when I lived in Florida 18 years ago, right after Christmas. And then one of Gabe's cousins came with her family for New Years. So really, the last 2 weeks of 2015 were pretty great!


My mom came at the end of January. It was nice to have her around. And Peyton LOVED it, which is no surprise. We took grandma to Disney World, and manatee watching (where we only saw a dolphin). Grandma also babysat a couple of times so Gabe and I could go out. We did his birthday date to Disney World with some friends of ours. So fun! 10 rides in less than 5 hours! Gotta be some kind of record at Magic Kingdom. Then we were able to go have a nice dinner the next week. We miss having Grandma around. Me especially, because I'm back to being Peyton's full time entertainment.

2016 is shaping up to be a good year for us so far. Gabe is working on a BIG project for something really awesome that I can't share yet. But it involves a flame thrower. A flame thrower that he TESTED IN MY HOUSE. Never again. I'm still shocked that he thought that was a good idea. He may be smart, but sometimes he doesn't quite think things through. Good thing he's cute, right?

I'm not really looking forward to summer here. It was hot and disgustingly humid in December, so I'm terrified of July and August. I am told it will start getting warm again soon. And I'm not saying it's cold. Florida "winter" is actually very pleasant. It's been ranging from the high 50s to the 70s. We've had a couple days of 80+ degrees, which have been beach days! But those lower temps are very comfortable Disney days. Waiting in lines isn't so bad when it's not a gazillion degrees. So, I don't look forward to the humidity, but I'm excited for weekly beach days with Peyton. She's so easy at the beach. She loves it. She spends 90% of her time building sandcastles, and the other 10% looking for seashells/braving very shallow water.

I hope to someday see these alligators people have been telling me about. I'm told they live in Florida. Gabe (supposedly) has seen a bunch on the base, which I conveniently can't get on.
I don't believe it! I've seen a wild boar, two dolphins, three ginormous cockroaches, a bunch of manatees, a bazillion crabs, countless lizards, I've even seen a shark. No alligators. They don't live here. I've seen the warning signs next to ponds, but I'm convinced it's all a conspiracy. Sorry to ruin it for you. Can't deny facts.

I'm really hopeful for this year. Probably because it's already a million times better than last year, and a big part of that is that we don't live somewhere that it takes 30 minutes to get to the grocery store a mile and a half down the road. While driving in this are of Florida comes with some scares, it's nothing compared to the stress of DC and knowing that the car next to you probably doesn't care about how physics works and they WILL try to occupy the space you are in. Of course, people here do silly things like drive over huge medians, and the snowbirds seem to have a rule that they all go 20 miles under the speed limit. But that's not so bad.

Friends and family, if you come to Florida, let us know. We have room for guests. And Peyton and I are always up for Disney World or the beach. We will even take you to watch a rocket launch if you're here at the right time!

I know this is a boring update, but sometimes boring is all I have time to write. Peyton being an only child keeps me pretty busy. Whenever I sit down to start a project, whether it's for the house, or some lettering, she interrupts me within seconds of sitting down, without fail. By the time she goes to bed I'm too exhausted to function since I don't sleep much as it is. There's a reason projects just don't get done around my house! Someday I'd like to finish projects, and I'd like to write more, because I love to write. But that day is a long way off. But that's okay. Peyton won't be little forever and I love her too much to let it bother me...much. :)

That's all I've got for now!