The Real Truth About Mississippi & Another Move

So...when I started this blog I never wanted to be an "occasional" blogger.  I had hopes of blogging at least once a week...not every now and then.... boy do I have a lot to catch y'all up on!

Jon and I moved to Mississippi in January and things didn't go how we had hoped it would be.  Remember when I told y'all about our move down to Mississippi and the minor wrecks, and how I referred to it as a bad omen? Well....maybe that gut feeling was right.  Jon and I were not happy in Mississippi.  We were newlyweds that barely saw each other.  We hardly got to spend any time together.  We didn't have any friends.  We were both miserable....and maybe that's why I never really blogged...

When Jon started his new job in Mississippi, he was transitioning out of the military.  He had been a soldier for eleven years, and his new job was very different.  He was use to working an 8-5 job, with weekends off  (except for when he was on-call) and having holidays off.  He was working ridiculously, crazy hours--and that was the reason for us never really seeing each other.

During his training he had to be at work at 4:30 A.M and we lived 30 minutes from his job.  He would wake up at 3:30 in the morning, and some nights didn't get home until 6 or 7.  I'd have supper ready, he would eat, and would quickly fall asleep on the couch.  His hours changed to the night shift, and I thought we'd see each other more...but I was wrong.  He would have to be at work at 2:30 P.M.  I would make lunch, he would eat and then get ready for work.  He wouldn't get off until around 3 or 4 A.M so he would sleep all morning, and I would wake him up to eat lunch.

The weekends were spent with Jon catching up on sleep.  So we wouldn't really go out and about.  That was the only time that we really got to spend any time together.  Being apart as newlyweds was hard.  To make matters worse, we really didn't have any friends where we lived.

We went to a Sunday School Class for newlyweds, and we considered the Sunday School teachers our friends.  The people in the class were nice--kind of.  I know that sounds weird--nice, but not really--I guess you had to experience it.  They all grew up together, went to school together, and hung out with one another. 

Jon and I were the outsiders, and we were not going to be allowed into "the click".  Most Southern people are really friendly, but when you get into really, really small towns if you're not from the area sometimes you aren't ever really accepted.  Like in Springhill (a rich area in Mobile) if you don't have ancestors buried under a certain Azalea tree you aren't invited to the rich in-crowd.  I tried to be-friend some of the girls, but I always got that feeling that they thought I shouldn't really be talking to them. 

Y'all, if I didn't have Louella Mae I would have gone crazy.  I was lonely, and I missed Jon.  Jon was lonely because his family and friends were far away too, and he hated his job.  I hated his hours, and that I barely saw him.  I spent my days being a stay at home house wife.  I had my routine of chores and everyday household things.  I also taught Louella Mae to say "please" to get a treat. 

I did some of my art work, and had fun decorating the house.  We were both depressed, and not happy in Mississippi...and it was time for something to be done about it...

So...with all that said...we are moving back to Birmingham!  Jon finished his first week at his new job today.  We are going to celebrate finishing his first week tomorrow!  He is actually home for dinner, and though he may work some overtime, it's not crazy hours.  We ate dinner together tonight (I've been in Mississippi packing up our house all week) and are watching the soccer champion game together right now.  He actually likes his job, and is in a much better mood.  What a difference a new job can make!

Everything happened so fast, we are still looking for a place to live.  We are hoping for a rental house, but with the amount of time we had to look before he started his new job we never found a house in a good area.  We are going to stay with my family for a few weeks while we continue looking for a place. 

I also got a job!  I'm going to work for a DJ company.  I'll be working with brides and setting up appointments for their wedding.  Planning the music for our wedding was one of my favorite parts of wedding planning!

So...there you have it...that's what is going on with the Werkmeisters!  We are excited about coming back to Birmingham.  My family is here, and so are our friends.  Jon has made some awesome friends in Birmingham too! Watch out Birmingham...we're back!

XOXO,

Ashlee

 

Be truly glad.  There is wonderful joy ahead.

~1Peter 1:6

We're Still Here!

Hey y'all!  It's been awhile since I blogged on here.  Jon and I have been so busy, I haven't really had a lot of time!  So...this post will catch y'all up on what's going on with us!  A lot of stuff has been going on! 

I got the house finished...I just need to add some dried flowers from our wedding around, and I think it will be finished!  Ohmiword! I'm in love with how cute the house turned out!  Y'all I wish I was an interior designer.  Dream job! My sweet, dear friend Meagan keeps telling me she wants to see pictures of our house.  Pictures of the house will be up soon! Pinky promise!

We have found a church that we like, and a Sunday School Class for young married couples.  Our Sunday School teachers are awesome!  They have been married for 14 years, and are really helpful.  They have made us feel welcome.  They had a Super Bowl party at their house for everyone in the Sunday School Class.  Jon and I were the only ones who showed up!  It turned out cool because we really got to know the teachers!  It turned out that Emily's mom was actually the first person we met in town at the Chamber of Commerce!  That is how small of a town we live in!  HA!

I was *obsessed* with the Olympics!  Charlie and Meryl were so beautiful skating together!  Now I'm totally into watching them on Dancing With the Stars! I also told Jon that I wanted to do the Snowboard Slope thing where they were doing flips in the air!  That was new to the Olympics, but really super cool!  Jon wasn't as in to the Olympics...but he did like watching Hockey!  I'm glad we had gotten cable by the time the Olympics had started!

We celebrated our first married Valentine's Day at the house.  I made red velvet cookies and a Chicago Deep Dish Pizza {Jon's favorite}! 

Well....I've made the Chicago Deep Dish Pizza before, but this time it didn't turn out right.  I actually *almost* caught the house on fire!  Needless to say, I'm a little afraid to try and cook that again any time soon!

The next day we went to Natchez and stayed at The Dunleith; it's a gorgeous plantation that was turned into a Bed and Breakfast.  We went on a carriage ride to learn about the history of Natchez.  Jon didn't have any cash...so we seriously went through the ATM in a horse and carriage!  HA!  That was the funniest part of our trip! 

I loved all of the Victorian houses in Natchez {no shock there, right?}  I also told Jon that we WOULD live in a Victorian house one day--white with blue shutters, wrap around porch, and a white picket fence!  With maybe a view like this...

Sunset on the Mississippi River.  I was proud of my photography skills!

For St. Patrick's Day I made Rice Krispy Treats with Lucky Charms.  They were really good! 

We also had a "Shamrock" Pizza.  I cut green bell peppers and made them look like shamrocks and put them on top of a homemade pizza.  Cuteness at it's finest! 

Jon knew that I was the girl that decorated for every holiday...but it's been fun cooking for the holidays too!

We also have an unspoken prayer request...God knows the situation.  Please pray that God will show us His wonderful plan, and that His will be done. 

For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, not harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future. 

Jeremiah 29:11

 

XOXO,

Ashlee

Hey Good Lookin' Whatcha Got Cookin'?!? {A Week's Worth of Meals in the Crockpot}

Hey y'all!  I'm still busily working on organizing and unpacking a few boxes we have left.  The problem is that I'm at a stand-still organizing--and even decorating-- my kitchen.  Two of the three  plugs in the kitchen don't work...which makes it hard to cook and organize the kitchen the way I'd like.  Every morning I have to move my cute, teal coffee pot to the other side of the kitchen to plug it in.  Then I have to move it back to the other side to plug in the microwave or crockpot or whatever else I need to plug in...so it's pretty much a constant rearranging everyday! I hope the landlord comes to fix it this week, so I can cross the kitchen off of my long to-do list!

I have the office, guest room, and other part of the living room to organize.  It's coming together, just slower than I'd like!  Like I promised, when it's all finished I'll take you on a virtual tour of our house!  In order to accomplish everything on my long to-do list, I gave myself a deadline of when everything had to be complete...so... next Friday, February 7th is my deadline.  That means the landlord has to come and fix those plugs!  {Cross your fingers!}

With all of the unpacking, cleaning, and organizing it's hard to find time to cook. 

Jon's always hungry so I have to cook him a nice supper!  That's why I like love my crockpot!  I especially love crockpot recipes that don't have a lot of ingredients and you can just throw together.  Next week, all of our meals are going to be easy, peasy crockpot suppers since I have that deadline.

I plan out the meals we are going to eat during the week, and we only buy the ingredients on our list.  Since we live out in the country, we can't just run to the store and buy a couple of things we need.  That's why I make out a list of everything we need for the week.  Here's the crockpot meals what we are having next week that I have pinned on my "Crockpotapalozza" Board on Pinterest:

Monday:

Honey Sesame Chicken with Brown Rice

 

Tuesday: 

Cheese Ravioli, Salad, Garlic Bread

 

Wednesday:

Sticky Chicken, Green Beans; Bread

Thursday:

Italian Chicken, Salad, Garlic Bread

Friday:

Buffalo Chicken Sliders with Potato Wedges

Saturday: 

Dr. Pepper BBQ Chicken, Butterbeans, Rolls

Sunday: 

Lasagna Soup with Garlic Bread

 



So that's what we are eating next week!  Let me know if you decide to try any of these recipes I've linked up for you!

Let all that you do, be done in love.  1st Corinthians 16:14

 

XoXo,

Ashlee

Out in the Country...

Hey y'all!  I'm back with a quick post about our adventure so far in a new town and house.

We still have boxes to unpack and some things to organize, but when it's done I'll take you on a virtual home tour.

Here's what I've learned so far...

1.  There's only *one* light in our town.

2.  Only *two* cable companies come out our way...and both of them have come to our house.  However, we still don't have cable because of all the trees in our front and back yard.  One company is coming again on Monday to possibly give us cable.  We can't drill a hole into the yard, which is the main problem.  We did get Netflix and have been watching "Saved by the Bell" and movies though.

3.  Everybody knows everybody.

4.  Everybody is really friendly.  So far we have met two people at this cutsey little antique market {which I will be at A LOT!}  We were invited to an auction that happens every other Saturday; and to church!

We bought that welcome to our home sign for our house!

5.  Everything closes early for the weekend.

6.  You can't take a shower while running the dishwasher or washing machine-- or else you'll end up freezing cold in the shower.

7.  Louella Mae has hiding spots that I still haven't found yet.

8.  People live a quiet, 'slower' way of life 'round here...which is different from fast-paced Birmingham!

9.  If you're "going to town" plan to stay for awhile because when you have to go "to town" you have to drive at least 30 minutes to do pretty much anything.

10.  People like to use the backdoor instead of the front door.  I'm not sure why, but the mail lady and a neighbor that came to introduce himself both used the back door. 

And that is what I've learned so far living out here...out in the country...and I think I might like it that way.

XoXo,

Ashlee

Moving Day...Dun, Dun, Dun!!!

Hey y'all!  Jon and I moved in to our new house in Mississippi on Saturday.  Let's just say that the 'dun, dun, dun' on the title speaks for itself....

We had two *minor* accidents with the U-Haul (don't worry nobody was hurt!), spent about two hours in Meridian, MS repairing a damaged U-Haul, and then a scare that Louella Mae had gotten out of the house...and here's how it all went down...



I think we could have made some more stuff fit!

Friday Morning:

We picked up the U-Haul and headed towards the storage place were we had two storage units packed with stuff.  My storage unit had my apartment stuff and everything in my classroom in it.  Jon's storage unit had everything from his apartment and everything we had gotten from our bridal showers.  Mason {my brother-in-law} and my Momma came to help me and Jon load our storage units.  Miraculously everything {including my school stuff} fit into the U-Haul!  Our house has a storage area in the backyard, and that's where I put my school stuff.  Two hours later we leave the storage unit...and Jon...bless his heart....hit a pole at the storage unit....luckily the U-Haul was ok...and I thought the worst was over....WRONG!!!

Saturday Morning:

We got up early for moving day.  We were busy loading last minute boxes.  My parents and my sister Amanda came to help us move.  We left around 7:45, and began our journey towards Mississippi.  We crossed into Mississippi and stopped to get more gas in the U-Haul in Meridian....and that my friends, is where it all went wrong...

My Daddio...bless his heart...hit a pole at the gas station.  He went to reverse out...and well...the pole got stuck in the back tire.  Y'all I about had a heart attack because the noise that the pole and the U-Haul made together was one noise that would make your skin crawl!  Worst of all, I thought the U-Haul was going to flip with my Daddio in it...

After pulling the pole out from the back tire of the U-Haul we were left with 4 *long* pieces of metal skirting (the metal part at the bottom of the U-Haul) disconnected from the U-Haul and was just kind of flopping around...

There was a U-Haul place close to the gas station, but we were afraid we'd have to reload *everything* into a new U-Haul.  Jon and my Daddio went to a hardware store to buy a  metal grinder to remove the metal pieces that were flopping everywhere...and that was when Amanda, my Momma, Louella Mae, and I sat in the gas station parking lot for about an hour waiting on them to return.  Louella Mae was really good, she didn't cry or anything!  We all talked about the most random things, our new house, and discovered what kolaches were {the gas station restaurant was selling them}.  It's a breakfast thing that either has jam or has sausage in it...

Anyway...they finally come back and for another hour or so my Daddio and Jon saw off the metal skirting pieces with the metal grinder. That was scary too...they didn't have goggle...I had some somewhere in that U-Haul from my classroom...where are goggles when ya need them?!?

I'm sure we are still the talk of the Meridian gas station!

Finally we continue our journey to our new house, and I prayed that everything would be alright after that.  Our friends Meagan, Clay, Buck, and Nikki came to help us move in, and they beat us to our new house; and I hear that they played in our back yard, climbed a tree, and met some of our neighbors!  HA! 

Louella Mae got put into a closed room while we had doors open to move in.  Jon and Buck had put a mattress in that room...on this mattress she had created her own little hiding spot in!  Then a little later, Clay and Buck came with my big ol' armoire and had to open the door of the room she was in to bring the armoire into our room.  I was watching for Louella Mae to come out, and she never did.  I went to check on her...and ohmiword y'all... I couldn't find her.  That *literally* scared me to death!  Nikki  helped me find Louella Mae...inside of the hiding spot in the mattress!  Whew!  I was so worried about her getting out, not knowing where she was, and not having any claws!  Thank goodness she was hiding!

Sunday Morning:

We were so thankful for our awesome family and friends that came and helped us move!  We returned the U-Haul to "Affordable Storage and Tanning"!  We thought that was funny...but hey we're out in the country!

And that is the story of our move to Mississippi.  Hopefully our string of bad luck is over....they say bad luck comes in threes {right?!?} so hopefully it is!  I told everybody that I hoped it wasn't a sign of a bad omen!  HA!

Come back later to see what I did with the house!

XoXo,

Ashlee

Big House Plans {Part One}

Yesterday I told y'all the story of our house hunt.  Today I want to tell y'all my plans for fixing the outside up.   I really want to paint the shutters and door red or a pretty blue; and add new, modern locks, and a modern light...but since it's a rental... that we can't do....sigh...but I've got some other plans that will spruce our first home right up!  The numbers are some of my plans for the outside!  I'm a visual kinda girl.

1:  We need to obviously rake all the pine straw in the yard, and get it off of the roof.  The realtor lady said that should be taken care of before move-in day.  Cross your fingers!

2:  I bought a cute old chair without the seat at The World's Longest Yard Sale that I conquered with one of my best friends, Heather, for our wedding.  At the wedding it had a plant in the part where the seat was missing.  I plan on finding a pretty, colorful potted plant to put into that chair.  It'll look so cute!

3:  I'm not a fan of the green door.   I like green...just not that green! A cute, rustic wreath with left over burlap ribbon and lace from the wedding will add rustic charm to our front yard.

4:  I think some stepping stones leading from the driveway to the front door will add a whimsical element.

5:  When the winter is over I'm going to plant some bright flowers to have a little pop of color to the front yard.  We have tons of seeds left over from our wedding that I will probably use.  However, I do not have a green thumb...so maybe I'll be able to keep them alive! 

6:  I think some cute stepping stones or even bricks around the flower bed will look very cute. 

Then we have this adorable wagon that we had at our wedding that I think will be cute somewhere in the front yard with some colorful potted plants inside of it.  At the front door I'm going to put out the pallet sign we had at our wedding I made.  It said "We're So Glad You're Here!"  that will make our guests feel welcome.  That's all of my ideas for now...but I'm sure there will be more!  We are moving on Saturday!  I'll post before and after pictures when I have them!

xoxo,

Ashlee

Operation: Find a House Quick

Hey y'all!  Jon got a job last week in Mississippi!  We went looking for apartments/ rental houses around the area Jon's job will be.  We called our trip Operation:  Find a House Quick.  We had two different realtors, looked at apartments, and rental houses.  Let's just say that there is not a lot of choices where we are moving to.  The first rental house we looked at was a cute, older house that had vintage charm.  Y'all know I'm a vintage girl, so that one was cute to me!  It had a swing on the porch, and built-in china cabinets.  The downside was that it was in an area that we didn't think was safe, and it didn't have central heat or air---y'all know how Southern Summers are...so that was out!  The next house we looked at was the one we ended up getting {only we didn't think that would be the one we picked!}  Then we looked at a trailer that had an add-on in the back {weird} and had a cow skull in the front yard!  For real, a cow skull just for decoration...you know you're in the country when that's considered 'decor'. 
From there we drove into another town to look for apartments we had seen online.  The first apartments looked really nice...we found out we couldn't live there because it was section 8 government housing.  The next apartments were nice, but they were price-y.  They even wanted another $20 a month for Louella Mae on top of a pet deposit.  Paying a pet deposit is fine, but an extra $20 for a cat that doesn't even weigh more than 10 pounds is just ridiculous!  We went to look at the last apartments and didn't even go in to look because they looked very run down.  {We found out later that the area we were in is very dangerous, and that we shouldn't have been there!}  From there we called *many* realtors and none of them had any rental houses to show.  The  last realtor we called had three rental houses to show us later.  We got some Chinese food, and then  large Cherry Cokes from Sonic to waste time until it was time to meet our next realtor.

From there she showed us another cute, vintage charm house without central heating and air and in a run down area.  Then she showed us a vintage charm house that needed some work in the front yard but had been restored inside.  It had a sun room that I knew Louella Mae would love!  It was close to his work, and it was the house we were seriously considering.  After talking to our friend that is from the area she said that street wasn't the best street to live on.  Boo.  We looked at another house in the country on a windy, one-way street.  We decided that wasn't for us because of the road, and it was way out of the way.  The last place we looked were some apartments in the country.  It had been a house built in 1862 {and it was so cute from the outside!}, that had been turned into apartments.  The problem was that it had been an assisted living home before becoming apartments.  The set up was very awkward, and it smelled like it had been an assisted living home.  The bathrooms were kind of scary, smelled, and made me sad when I thought about the people who had lived there.
We decided on the second house we had looked at, and had called the realtor back to rent it.  She knew we'd be back because she knew what was out there...slim pickens! 


Our first house!

 It was a good thing we had called her when we did because she was going to show the house to other people later in the day!  Check back tomorrow because I've got big plans for the outside of the house already {notice the numbers...those are my plans}!  I'll let you know how I want to fix it up tomorrow!  I'm off to make supper!

XOXO,

Ashlee