"You are my wife. Good-bye city life!!!"

Ok. So it's not exactly 'Green Acres'. We don't have a pot bellied pig running around the house. (Although the prices for them were listed in our community paper;)
Still, it is the country, and there's a lot to get used to.

Critters - We are absolutely overrun with wolf spiders and those annoying little centipedes. There not dangerous, I know, but is there anything more unnerving than finding a spider an inch from your head while you're showering? Or feeling the floor crunch when you go to the bathroom in the middle of the night? When we asked what was good to get rid of them, we were told "Jus' spread a little sebn dust. At'll do it." Seriously? Is that stuff even legal anymore? Guess I'll have to check my black market connections.

Cell Phones - We fell in love with this house the moment we saw it. We couldn't sign the papers fast enough! But sign we did, and then tried to call the parental units to give them the good news. NO SIGNAL! Not one lousy little bar! Now that can really hurt a girl. I LOVE my cell. It's my life-line, my 'binky'.
Here, though, it's a pretty polka-dot covered paper weight. (sigh, sniffle)

Internet - Cable, DSL, Ethernet. As I've said before this is all hubbies area. All I know is when I sit down at the computer and click on the 'e', the world should be at my fingertips! But nay, nay. I don't try to understand my man's cable lingo, I just know that whatever high-speed we've had in the past is unavailable out here. The Internet works on the desktop and is almost as fast as before, but a wire had to run from the girls room, down the hall and into the office to make this possible. Tenacious "J" is still working on the laptop.

Shopping - Hattiesburg has a lot of great shops, but it's 20 minutes minimum to town! There's nothing between here and there except a BP (future remains to be seen), and a tiny Louisiana restaurant (great shrimp and alligator) owned by one of our semi-close neighbors. We've been so spoiled in the past. Since joining the the military, the smallest town we were in had a population of 120,000. The largest was a little over 1.3 million. We could find anything we wanted at pretty much anytime. Spoiled.
Now we'll probably head to town once a week. And no more of this "Oops, I forgot" business. That's a long way to drive for a gallon of milk!

Local channels - NONE, NADA, El ZIPPO!! We've had DirecTV for years and have always been happy, but something about not having a local connection, or a station in Hattiesburg to relay, or yada, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah. Honestly I kinda blacked out a little when he said no locals, so I missed all the details. No CSI's, no Glee, no nothing! Guess I'll have to watch them online.
"Hey, Honey! How's the laptop Internet coming?"

In spite of all these little inconveniences, and they really are little, I LOVE this house. It's beautiful, barely six years old, has an acre and a half yard and all the privacy a gal could want. The girls have room for the pool and the trampoline. They have a basketball goal out front and a safe loop to ride their bikes. Joey has a deck to fit all his grills, and I have a jacuzzi tub with enough jets to scare the ache out of any ones back!

God is good. God is faithful. He gives us what we need, then adds the icing just to prove He can.

Moving takes a toll. Especially when it's not your choice. The military is not the easiest way of life. But I've always been proud that we're a part of it. I'm proud of what my husband has accomplished, for his family and his country. He's a loving husband, wonderful father and dependable provider.

Thanks for the new digs, babe. I love you!!

To Do - wa diddy diddy dum diddy do - List

I'm writing to you now from deep inside a great big empty! It has been a busy week, but we are finally starting to see light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

Thursday morning bright and early Honey, Takella, and Ms. G (our little gang of packers) came in and got to work. We were nervous at first. Usually it takes a group of three a couple of days to pack us, but because of a paper snafu they had to do it in one! These ladies were a trip! It was the most fun we've ever had on pack day, and they had us in stitches most of the time. We cranked up the 70's classic station and partied through almost one hundred and thirty boxes! When the lovely ladies left us, all but the really big items were safely tucked away and ready to go.

We made our way through the cardboard maze that night and fell into bed, mentally going over our to-do list for the next few days. Morning came all too soon, but that wonderful man of mine had already been out and had brought me a steaming hot cup of vanilla cappuccino! Cha-ching!Money in the 'Love Bank'!

Around 8:30 Friday morning, our movers showed. There was Sam, who looked to be a good seven foot tall from where I was standing, and Lynn, who had strategically ripped the sleeves on his shirt to showcase his tats. There was supposed to be a third guy, but he was a no-show (snafu #2!). Well, these two sweeties pumped it up and got it all loaded anyway! It was smoking hot and humid as all get out, but they kept on and finished up before dinner. Praise God!! Now our fun can begin.

We drug out our to-do list and started in. Washing baseboards, shampooing carpets, dusting ceiling fans, you know, all the things you'd like to do for your family but never have time so you only do it when someone else is moving in! Or am I alone here?

We're almost done. Tuesday morning we'll hit the road and head for Mississippi!

I'm going to miss the salty air, the constant breezes, the palm trees, people going to church in Bermuda shorts. But I'm sure Ole Miss comes with it's own unique flavor. It's always fun exploring a new place.

Here's to adventure, friends!!!