Valentine's Day!

A midst one of the busiest weeks of our lives, we managed to squeeze in a very special Valentine's Day.  SEVERAL weeks ago I made a bold offer to Jeremie that I would plan Valentine's Day.  I insisted that if this "Day of Love" was about true love, then it's not fair for the man to be the one to plan a romantic date every year.  I insisted that for 6 years, he had successfully (with the exception of one year) planned Valentine's, so it was my turn. Now, keep in mind that about 3 weeks later, he told me he was moving me to Dallas, so I did lose that lovin' feelin' a little bit, but stuck with my commitment. : ) 

For our date, I wanted to do something that Jeremie would truly enjoy.  Well, I know that hands down, Jeremie's idea of a quality time date would be me & him by ourselves at home cooking dinner together.  So I stuck to that theme, but asked to borrow our landlord's lake house as the setting for our dinner.  Relaxing ambiance: check. Next was the menu. My very talented and dear friend, Morgan, cooked a delicious menu of salad, shrimp and grits, and chocolate cheesecake.....fabulous food: check. So one week while Jeremie was out of town, I packed up all my lovely china and a ton of candles and hid them in the closet.  The morning of Valentine's I hauled it all to my car and raced to the lake house after work to set everything up.  I arrived home, telling Jeremie to hurry and get ready so we wouldn't miss our reservation.  Lies to husband as a diversion:  check.  So when we started riding through the woods towards the lake house, J asked where the heck this reservation was!  I was about to bust to tell him about my scheme.  He was quote "ecstatic" that we weren't headed to a crowded restaurant to sit elbow to elbow with the rest of the poor Valentine's crowd.  

The set up really turned out beautiful if I may say so myself.  

I was really disappointed at first that it was raining because I wanted to set the table out on the dock by the lake.  But there was a beautiful screen porch on the side of the house that was perfect....in fact it was quite nice to sit out there and listen to the rain while we ate. Even though it would have been much easier to make a simple restaurant reservation, this date was priceless and perfect! And my hubby is totally worth it. : ) 

 I realize this post was a little mushy, but hey, who doesn't love love, right? 

Catching Up: Apalachicola

I am definitely behind a few weeks in blogging, so I'm attempting to catch up.  A few weeks ago, Jeremie and I took a much needed day trip to Apalachicola.  Since deciding to move to Dallas, we needed some quality time together, plus we have wanted to go ever since we moved to Tally.  It has taken us the full 2.5 years to pronounce this town's name, but we finally got it.  Apalachicola is the most adorable little fishing town settled on the bay.  It's almost like it's frozen in time, with its historic homes and shops.  There isn't much else to report from the trip, so most of it can be told in pictures.  : ) 

We took in the views, the shopping, and of course.....the food.  The seafood was delicious!!!!!

 

Country Come to Town....

Well folks, we are back from the Big D.  And honestly, I think "Big D" is an understatement.  I'm thinking more like "Gigantic D" or "Humongous D".  I really did feel like a country girl come to town.  Tallahassee was a huge "upgrade" for me when I moved from Brookhaven, MS, but Dallas makes Tally look like a little village. If I had a nickel for how many exits and turns we missed, our first month's rent would be paid.  The roads were CRAZY and there were just hundreds of neighborhoods!!!  Thanks to our fabulous realtor, Helen, we were able to get around town and find something.

So after 2 full days in the car, and looking at over 15 houses, we settled on an adorable home that has a 6 month lease, so we can hopefully buy our own house soon! 

It even has a fenced in yard for Little Buddy.  The comical thing is that it was the BIGGEST yard that we came across, and it is .25 acres.  One house that we looked at had a "yard" that was essentially the size of a large puppy pad; just enough room for Manny to squat and come back in the house.  We left that one pretty quickly. Little adjustment from living on +500 acres. 

Jeremie and I were almost delirious last night by the time we got finished with everything.  We ordered To Go from Chili's, went to the hotel, and ate our food on the bed in our pajamas.  Isn't that sad...in a town that hosts famous restaurants and we ate eggrolls and sliders.  Sigh.  

Anyways, aside from the house hunt stress, we are excited about our new city.  There is every restaurant and store you could ever think of.  We did manage to squeeze in our first ever trip to IKEA and it DID NOT disappoint.  That place is unreal; J even enjoyed it, mainly because they sell wood, so maybe he'll build something.  The suburb that we will live in also has a precious downtown, which reminds me of Thomasville.  

I have to admit, it was nice to get back to Tally, which I refuse to stop calling "Home" until the last item is packed and I am driving out the driveway for the last time.  But you know what they say...Home is Where the Heart Is....and this is my heart:  

Goin' to the Big D and I DO Mean Dallas!

HELLO WORLD. Well, there has been reason for my absence from the Bloggersphere.  We've had a little drama in the Wells household. A couple weeks ago, I came home from my Bible Study group and Jeremie immediately lowered the boom....He'd gotten a promotion......which most people would be excited about...which is why I was confused by the devastated look on his face.  The kicker was that the new position would be in....Dallas, Texas!  Cue the WATERWORKS.  The thought of moving away from our church, our friends, my job, and further from our family was heartbreaking! The news just kept getting better and better when J told me we had till Friday to decide and would have to move by March.

After crying for a good hour or so (and I am NOT a pretty crier...think puffy, red face) Jeremie and I said a tearful prayer and watched a couple episodes of The Office to try to cheer us up. FAIL.

So the next days few days were spent praying, weighing the options, and you got it...more crying.  We even pulled out the good ole dry erase board to visualize the Pros & Cons.  Manny even got a vote, which was an item on the "Cons" side:  leaving Sexy Lexie, his lovely Collie girlfriend.

I am not a huge fan of change, OR lack of a plan.  So I was really praying for discernment of God's voice and a clear understanding of what His will was. I clung to the fact that He goes before us in all things and is a faithful God. A book I read last year said "God, in His wisdom, softly draws the curtain of His love across the future of our lives and lets us live day by day."  Love this!

Later in the week, while talking to Jeremie's mom, she reminded me of Psalm 139, which was actually read in church a couple weeks ago......it says "All of the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."  (Psalm 139:24).

So after a long week, J and I realized that God was telling us the same thing, even though it wasn't what we really wanted to hear. That being said...we're goin' to Texas!!! Now that the initial shock is over, I am excited to see what God has in store for us in Dallas.

There are no words for how much we have loved our time in Tallahassee and cherish all the people, experiences, and memories we have made here.  It will always be piece of us.  But luckily, "a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and He examines all his paths. " Proverbs 5:21.

Jeremie and I have always said that as long as we have each other, we can go anywhere.  So here we go!  Tomorrow, we actually leave for the Big D to look at some rental homes.  The good news is that: