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

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