House Hunting....

Friday at school, Ryan sent me an email from our realtor. She had a house to show us that wasn't on the market yet but she knew we would love it. The price was just over our maximum we are willing to pay. My response: No. We will love it and we can't afford it. I don't want to look at it.

We went to look at it.

And guess what?

I love it. It's ridiculous. I knew we shouldn't have gone to look at it. I knew nothing about the house. I just knew it was out of our price range and I knew I would love it. It's a little cottage straight out of a magazine. I love it mostly because the lady who lives their is an excellent decorator. I try to remind myself of that every time I think of it. Would it have been as cute if she didn't live there??? I don't know. What I do know is the house devil is tempting me.

What sucks about this? The house isn't really that expensive. It's definitely on the low end when it comes to houses. But when we left Fort Worth we took a pretty big pay cut. This house is about the same price as our house in Fort Worth. But we don't make as much money as we did in Fort Worth. We are trying to simplify. Simplify, Meredith, simplify. I will continue to chant this over and over every time I remember the picture perfect cottage. It probably won't work. We'll see.

Blake putting in Mimi's earplugs. Those can't get stuck can they?

B's halloween costume. I should probably wait until Halloween to post this but after this day, it was really hard to get her to wear the hat. So, here she is.

wearing Mimi's glasses. Blake really needs more friends her age. No offense Mimi.

Day Off...

I took a day off from school today...mental health day. When I called in for a sub, I chose "personal business." I didn't feel good about choosing "personal sickness" because I'm not sick, just sick of school...Ha! (I hope my principal isn't reading this.)

Well, I finally made a freaking header for my blog. It took me two hours. I think I found my new hobby. Yeah right. I know that I shouldn't design blogs like my bff Shauna for many reasons. But I think if I went to blog design 101 they would tell you to pick your background and then make a header to match it. I did it the other way around. It took F-O-R-E-V-E-R to find a background to match. When you are cheap and want to get it all for free, it doesn't end up perfect but this was my first go at it. I think I may get better....or I may have this blog design for 20 more years.

Yeah, yeah, yeah... but really Meredith, where the heck have you been?? Well, thanks for asking!

We packed up all of our belongings, Blake, two dogs and a cat and moved to Abilene! We really love it so far and everything with our move has gone amazingly smoothe. I got a job teaching 8th grade at the beginning of June and had to be in Abilene by August 13th. We moved our stuff on August 9th and we closed on our house on August 12th. Ryan went back to Fort Worth to finish up with his job and then he moved somewhere around the 16th or 17th. Then after a little searching, Ryan found a job too. The last piece of the puzzle is not happening as quickly as the others......we have not found a house yet and we are still living with my parents.

Which is totally awesome, don't get me wrong. My dad cooks every night and there is a cleaning lady who comes every other week AND we have live in babysitters! Amazing!!! It has been like a vacation. We have been looking at houses and haven't quite found the right place yet. But we will...someday. Because, we can't live with my parents forever...or can we? More news to come.

IF you are reading this, thanks for not giving up on me! Here are some pics of the last few months. We've tried to change a few things about our life since moving to Abilene.(ps-if you think my blog is ugly, don't tell me.)

Blake with her nanny. We've really started watching the kinds of food we give Blake. Here she is enjoying some brownie mix for supper.

One day Blake told us she was going to run away. We just wanted her to be prepared. P.S. Her shirt says Dear Jesus, please holla back.

Since moving to Abilene, I have tried to avoid the there-are-no-cute-stores-here-so-you-can't-possibly-dress-cute-all-the-time stereotype. Heather looks good too.

Blake has made a lot of new friends since moving to Abilene, here she is with one of them...so cute. And I don't want to hear any comments about the pacifier in her mouth...it had been a long day, I think.

And finally, our cleaning lady at work.

trying to make a come back...

I really, really want to start blogging again...and I will. But first a new look is a must! I have played with about 50 backgrounds, not set on this one either but I can't make the header smaller. I love what Shauna did with my blog the first time but I don't think I can afford her anymore!! :) I love you Shauna!! So, I need a new look. What do I do? Does everyone pay someone to make their blog cute or do you all know how to do it now? ideas, please!!!!