Don't Forget Where You Are From

As I type this, I am on a plane headed back to San Antonio. I was telling Brian yesterday that although I will miss my family & friends in MS that I was actually ready to get back home to Texas. In the short month that I have lived there, it has already began to fill like home. It probably adds to it that our "home" in MS has no furniture & none of the comforts that we are used to in a home since everything has been moved to Texas. I think wanting to be in a regular routine is some of me wanting to get back out to Texas. I am just ready for my family to be there with me! I miss them TERRIBLY at night & on days I am off work!

Next weekend, I will drive back to my MS home for the last time for awhile. That brings me to the point of this blog post. Texas has so many great things to offer & my family & I are excited for the new adventure; however, we will never be that family that moves away & bashes our home state. Mississippi has many great qualities. I, for one, will miss my drive home across the causeway & though I haven't experienced many sunrises, I have seen many beautiful sunsets from the causeway looking out toward Ridgeland. The contrast of Mississippi's green grass & trees against a beautiful summer blue sky is hard to beat...you just have to take the time to look at it & remember God gave us such beautiful things & to be grateful! Even in such a small place (in comparison to much larger cities) we can forget to appreciate the small things because we are ao busy in the hustle & bustle of life! Being a southern girl, I am very fond of the politeness of most children in MS & their use of "ma'am" and "sir". I love that many people are courteous enough to hold open the door. I love our good southern food & had to laugh when someone in Texas asked if we have catfish in MS! I especially love my family & friends & all the memories I have made in MS!

Our family is off & away on a new adventure! We will make new memories & call new places home & who knows we may be back to MS one day...or to another state BUT no matter where life takes us...we won't forget where we came from & the place that made us who we are.

Catch Me If You Can!

...am I in Texas or Mississippi? Your guess is as good as mine! :) The last few weeks have been a whirlwind but it has been enjoyable albeit tiring! I was in Texas a little over three weeks until I came home for a few days last weekend. I drove then so I could bring Ruger back to Mississippi and take a load of boxes out to San Antonio. I drove back to SA on Monday. It was a pretty trip. We have gone through Dallas and gone through Houston and they are both good rides. This past time I went through Houston &  for whatever reason it seemed like it was a little easier to stay awake than through Dallas. Either way is a good drive...even if it is 10 hours! I worked my last week with my preceptor Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday. I flew in to Mississippi Friday morning and will leave back out on Tuesday. I will be in SA for about 10 days and then I will drive (Again!) back to Mississippi for my baby brothers graduation. That will be my last trip back to Mississippi for a while...possibly even until fall. Mainly because a lot of family/friends plan on coming out this summer and once Brian and Baylee get over there with me we have to get settled in & get her ready to start school in the fall.

Baylee is doing good. She has been helping her daddy work on the house and doing a good job. With all she had going on the past year we never let her get her permit but we finally got the things together and she will be able to get it here in Mississippi one day next week. The rules are a little bit different in Texas so there are a few things she will have to do there but she may not have to keep her permit the whole year before she gets her license (Of course, this also depends on how well she does with her permit!). The weekend of Hunter's graduation is Brians May drill so we will head down to Nola with him and then he and Baylee will go back to SA with me to take the rest of our things. Baylee will stay in SA with me (other than little visits to MS before school starts). Brian will come back to Mississippi to finish up the house and then the plan is for him to be in SA with us by the beginning of June. Baylee is excited about the pool, possibly getting a job this summer, all the things to do in SA and starting school in the fall. She will be going to a show choir camp here in MS the beginning of June and one in SA the end of June.

Brian has a telephone interview Monday with an ambulance company in SA. He has already spoken to the operations person there and really likes him and the company sounds good. Should he officially get offered the job, he is hoping to start the beginning of June so he can give his supervisor in MS a good 3-4 weeks notice because they have been shorthanded. His supervisor knew that we were moving when he accepted the position but Brian still wants to be courteous. He has worked really hard on the house but we have a lot left to do still. Maybe not as much as it seems but you know when you are the midst of it, it seems like a lot...especially when you are in a time frame. We were hoping to rent our house but we may put it on the market for a short while first and see how it goes. If it doesn't sell fairly quickly (Within a set time frame...we haven't decided how long yet...just have to look at our finances) then we will rent it. 

Out in San Antonio, things are going well. It is different living in an apartment when you are used to a house and extra space but the apartment is nice...even though it is small! At least, it doesn't take long to clean! :) My work is fabulous! I still have to get used to the equipment, processes and what the doctors like, etc. but I got it in MS so I know I will catch on in TX. I LOVE my coworkers...as well as my other friends I have met there in SA. They have done well to help me adjust and fill me in on all things Texas! I can't wait for my family to get over there so they can enjoy it as much as I do!

Well...guess that is enough rambling for now! I just wanted to do a little update to let everyone know we are doing good and how we stand on everything! Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Choo! Choo! Chugging Along!

Hello from the Alamo City! :o) I hope life is treating everyone well...no matter which state or city you are reading this from! Things with the Garrett family are chugging along as smoothly as could be expected. Considering we are living in two different states and paying bills on two different houses...things could be so much worse but God is truly good! Just to give you some updates of what has been going on...

Brian & Baylee made it back home safely, of course! Brian had to head to work the next day after making it back to Mississippi so he was pretty exhausted. Thankfully, he got blessed with a not so busy day on this past work day and he said he FINALLY was starting to feel rested. His first day off, he and Baylee did SO much around the house. He has gotten her bedroom, bathroom, extra bedroom, living room, hall closet and dining room completely cleaned out. There are still some things in our bedroom/bathroom & a small amount of things in the laundry room cabinets & kitchen cabinets that we were not able to get to before we moved our other things over here. Everything else, he has gotten moved in to the garage. Some of it will come to the apartment but most of it will go into our garage here once we get it moved. We got rid of SO much and cleaned out SO much but we still have SO much! Anyone else know how this feels? He has also gotten a lot of the priming done around the house.

Baylee has been a huge help to Brian. She has painted & cleaned with him. She has stayed with Bebe once & will stay with Sally & Danny this Saturday
night. Brian & she will be doing something (I don't know what) I am sure for her birthday on Sunday...I can't beleive she will be 16!!! Next weekend, his drill weekend, she will be at my moms house IF my mom is feeling better. (She - my mom - is having horrible tooth pain...please say a prayer for her!) She "may" (we haven't decided yet) come over here with me the second week in May. Of course, she will be right back over there (Hattiesburg) for Show Choir camp in June. She will turn around & go to a Show Choir camp here in Texas in late June. Brandy & her family will be coming right at the end of that Show Choir camp so we will be out and about with them at least one of those days and we are very excited about that! Other than that, nothing real new going on other than possibly getting her permit soon. We waited for awhile for lots of reasons and actually are glad we did...but do watch out when she finally hits the road! :o)

I will be driving to Missisippi April 17th and returning back to Texas on April 21st. I, unfortunatley, won't be able to get out and visit with anyone. We still have a lot we need to do to the house so that we can put it in on the market and/or up for rent. Feel free to bring your garden tools for my flower bed, or pressure washer or a paint brush and come and visit. Ha! :o) Only joking...sorta! I will be back again for Hunter's graduation around May 9th but not sure how many days I will actually be in Mississippi. Baylee may come back with me to Texas then depending on how the house stands & if Brian goes to Chief's Academy for two weeks or not. I will be back again in June to go to Baylee's Show Choir program concert & to bring her back home but that will just be a brief trip & I possibly will only be in Hattiesburg for the day and heading back home afterwards but we again will see how it goes. I have two more days of orientation (Mon/Tues) and then I start working with patients on Wednesday. I am very excited about it and have already met a few people & found a great hair dresser! (She is no Kelly but what can ya do?)

I guess that is all for the Garrett family update! More to come!

Miss y'all lots!!!

Tiff & Dar Take On San Antonio!

I was so glad my mom was able to come and help me unpack! We got a lot done around the apartment & everything looks great! (Although, I did make her leave a few boxes for me to unpack to give me something to do while I am alone!) Baylee will love her room! I still have a few things to do here and there around the apartment but I am trying to hold off on spending too much until we get more done around our Mississippi house and get caught up from all of our moving expenses. 

While she was here, we hit a lot of the nicer strores in the area as well as some antique stores and thrift shops and had a BLAST! We were like two ladies on a mission! After all of our hard work we took about a day and a half just to relax. One of the things we did was a River Boat Tour at the Riverwalk downtown in a boat like the one pictured above (I haven't loaded my photos up yet! Photo used is courtesty of San Antonio's Visitors Bureau.) The cruise was nice, the weather was good and of course the company was fabulous. We also went to a church in downtown that beautiful named St. Joseph's. (I will do a seperate post on this one sometime!) We had some of the most delish seafood I have had in sometime sitting at a little table right on the river. It was peacful & very relaxing. Everyone that walked by gawked about how delicous our food looked (Seriously). We took some time to visit The Shops at La Cantera (This place is Beautiful!), had gellato and then went to the Palladium IMAX to watch a movie. On her last day here, we got up early and went to church and then had brunch before she flew back to Mississippi. It was a nice visit. I wish we could have done more but it was nice to show her around the city, have her help and have her company for a few fun things! I look forward to next time!