Palm Beach

Jason and I finally made it back up to Palm Beach. We had to move the RV to the other side of our friend's yard and use a plug that was not on the same breaker as their home. It seems to be working great and the air is nice and cool.

Jason and I went out to dinner after getting everything set up. There is a Publix shopping center down the road from the house with a gas station and a few businesses/restaurants. We ate at a place called Kocomo's. It was delicious. Jason enjoyed the mahi in the weeds and I took advantage of the Monday night special and ordered the boneless chicken wings appetizer for only $6. The food was delicious and we loved the environment. We also loved how close it was to Heather and Richie's house. Apparently it one of only 2 or 3 restaurants near by and that is the only Publix within 15 minutes.

 It was super nice spending time with friends and then just walking home. We stayed up and talked about tons of things with Heather and Richie until 11pm. Jason and Richie took off to work this morning while Heather and I ran a few errands including lunch at a Cuban place and getting my haircut by Heather's friend Dee at Moda Hair Design Salon. I can't believe how quickly she cut and blew out my hair. I love not having dead ends. I promise not to go so long without getting my hair trimmed. The salon was so cute and modern.

For now I sit in the RV with my little girl Taylor. She really seems to love it out here. She looks adorable in a large yard. She has no idea what to do with this many smells.

Change of plans

There is never a set plan with my husband. It's something I struggle with everyday. Although he has taught me to loosen up and go with the flow a bit more than I would like, I still like my calendar and set plans. We were suppose to leave Markham park on April 9th and head to West Palm Beach to stay with some of our friends and check out the area. Well. . . change of plans. We took off April 8th to West Palm heading North on the Sawgrass expressway. I drove my car ahead of Jason while he towed the RV behind me. We were a bit nervous driving the RV with a busted slide. Friends of ours advised us to get a slide locking bar to prevent an vacuum reaction a semi may have on the RV. Luckily the slide stayed in even with the broken cable.

There was a bit of an issue along our travels, but not with the slide. I looked in my rear view mirror and noticed Jason pulling off the the shoulder. OMG. I immediately pull off to the shoulder as well and jump out to see what was wrong. The front door was wide open as I ran to him. Cars are zooming past us and Taylor is frantically sticking her head out the window trying to keep me in her line of sight. Jason said he noticed the front door starting to open up. Right before he pulled over it swung completely open. So scary. He likes to drive with the front door unlocked in case he wants to run in while we pull over. I always ask to lock the door. . . we will from now on. We shut and locked the door and headed on our way.

Heather and Richie's neighbors definitely heard us pull in as we screamed at one another about how to pull the RV into the narrow driveway. He of course wanted to back the RV in while I saw the ease of just pulling it in forward. Jason got his way and we finally were able to back the RV into the designated spot. We quickly unhooked and headed to Ocala to see Jason's mom. He had been wanting to get up there, see his mom, and pick up the trailer and 4-wheelers. So again. . . change of plans. . . to Ocala we went. It was so nice driving the truck without the RV attached. So much easier.

We made it up to Ocala around 730pm. We talked the whole way up. We tend to not listen to the radio on road trips. It actually is where we make most of our long term plans. I love it. Ocala was a nice getaway. It's always nice spending time with family. Danny, Jason's brother, even made it up for a night. I know Jason had been dying to spend time with him. We spent a lot of our time catching up on little projects, i.e.; getting an oil change in the truck and prepping the trailer to haul the 4-wheelers home.

We went to a few great places while in Ocala, a restaurant on the water for dinner and Santos park for mountain biking. I was super proud of myself for riding the trails (even if they were the beginner ones). I even hit a few jumps and cleared a narrow bridge.

That's me at the bottom of the cliff waiting for Jason to finish a jump.

Our drive home was enjoyable minus the horrible weather. Luckily it just hovered over us instead of slowing us down. We pulled into West Palm around 1030pm and started setting up the RV. We tripped our friend's breaker multiple times. The AC in our RV draws too much energy for their box. We finally were able to get partial air coming for the bedroom AC unit, just enough to fall asleep.

Jason had to leave super early in the morning for work. We mapped out the back roads he needed to take and estimated his trip to be about an hour and a half. I woke up and turned off the bedroom AC. With the AC off, I would be able to plug my computer and phone in as well as turn on the TV. That was the good news. The bad news was no AC. I sat there for 4 hours until I couldn't take it anymore. With a temperature of 84 degrees in the RV and no circulation, I was out of there. I packed my bags and headed to my parent's house. By time I finished loading the car with dirty laundry and an overnight bag the RV thermostat read 90 degrees. No way in heck I would be staying there. Lets hope we get the issue under control and allows us to be comfortable again.

Ave Ma. . . NO

Everyone should know by now that we purchased the RV with hopes of traveling a bit, but most importantly to find our dream city and buy a house there. The RV would give us the opportunity to check out multiple cities, all the while staying as long or a short as we desired. We just couldn't see spending $24K in rent and being locked into one location for an entire year. By doing things this way, we have the flexibility to come and go as we please and still have something to show for it in the end, an RV.

Our first area of exploration was this past Tuesday to a small Catholic development in Naples, FL called Ave Maria. We decided last minute to take off to the small town in the middle of the everglades. Things that attracted us were its remoteness (easy drive for Jason to get to work and still off the beaten path), its newness (brand new development started in 2007), its affordability (new construction 4/2 home for $200K), master planned community (self sufficient neighborhood with restaurants, gas station, Publix, pool, gym, etc.), and its religious affiliation (based around a Catholic church).

We arrived fairly late due to our last minute change of plans. The drive was extremely easy. Just down the alley to exit 80 (20 minutes prior to the alley ending). A few miles north, make a left, and there it is. It literally appeared out of no where. The grounds are gorgeous. Lush landscaping, large trees, and freshly cut grass. A huge church is at the center of the town and can be seen from every inch of the development.

The gorgeous grounds

The church

The shops and restaurants surrounding the church

We found the welcome center and watched a 5 minute video that spoke about the development. We were given a brief overview by the salesperson and then split off with a few of the builder's representatives. Of course I had many questions for these people and didn't hold anything back. I asked flat out why there is an online article that spoke to a possible bankruptcy in 2009, why the gas station has been left unfinished and vacant for 3 years, and the impact that a 5,500 student university would have on my potential development. Hearing their round about answers, I began to feel a bit uneasy. One developer wanted us to put 5% down without seeing a model. It was a new phase they would be starting, but couldn't promise a finished house until March of 2014. Look buddy . . . I want a baby yesterday. Your 1 year wait isn't going to do it for me. . . and there is no way in HELL (pun intended) that you will be getting 5% of anything until I see something concrete (again pun intended).

We did see a few models on property. The ones we could afford were nice, but nothing that made us want to purchase right away. After a few hours of exploring the neighborhood we decided to eat dinner on property to see what it would be like living there. Our options were an ice cream parlor, an Italian place, or an English pub. Italian won! There were 2 other families enjoying dinner, 1 older couple and 1 large family. As we waited for our pizza, I started listening to the large family's conversation. Not because I was snooping, but because it was impossible not to hear the dad. I wasn't sure the logistics of the 1 man, 2 women, and 7 children. Not sure that I wanted to know. With every word that came out of his mouth I grew more and more annoyed and upset. This father spent his entire meal micromanaging his children and the women sitting next to him. I started feeling like we were in a cult like environment. It is not possible to evoke my feelings in this blog. I grew so overwhelmed I began to tear up at the table. Was it another option gone? Another development a NO? I just want to find somewhere great, buy a house, and get pregnant. 

I know we do not need to rush it. Our living situation allows us all the time we need. Our search will continue. We leave for the West Palm area on Tuesday, April 9th. We will be parking the RV on some friends lot and staying with them. We are growing more and more in love with the city of Weston. Living out at Markham has forced us to learn our way around here. We eat here, shop here, etc. We really are loving it and would buy here. . . only thing is. . . the houses are extremely expensive. We would only be able to afford a condo or townhouse (not that those are bad, just not for us). So we will look in the West Palm area and then will be back to Markham for a week or two before heading to Naples. We will search the Naples, Bonita Springs, and Estero area. 

Hoping to find where we belong soon.

Move It Or Lose It Sister

Busy Busy Busy! I have been extremely busy. I by no means am complaining. 3 photo shoots in less than 24 hours is definitely good for business. I have been so blessed with incredible friends. Not only do they trust me with capturing their special moments, but they refer others to me trusting I can do the same for them. I have recently ordered new business cards, t-shirts, and other promotional items for the business.

What do you think?

Our camp site started to become annoying. The constant shutting off of the power and the persistent dirt that just seemed to continuously make its way into the RV were becoming too much. Jason transferred our spot early to a paved site further back in the park.

We were so happy with our new site, seeing as it was 2 sites away from my sister Tara and her boyfriend Justin. Justin's father recently purchased a class A (bus) RV and were testing it out post purchase. It was so much fun having them nearby at all times. In the mornings, the dogs would both be outside around the same time. Taylor would take off running towards Lacey.

Between our site and Tara and Justin's site happened to be a church group. 30+ children tent camping for 4 full days. Song time was early in the morning and although I am happy to hear 'I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N' coming out of their mouths, I am not that excited about it being at 8am. The group had booked a tree lined spot full of tree roots and shade. Of course the kids wanted to be out in the sunshine playing in the nearby field. Thus field happened to be our campsite. Perfect. I don't mind kids using our site to play here and there, but this is technically our backyard and you're in it. I went out one time asking that they stay clear of the cars as some were getting extremely close (I think even sitting on the bumper). They respectfully said okay and moved. The next day I see them back at our site only this time with a football. They would throw the ball back and forth towards our RV and away for the RV. On multiple occasions the ball would come lose hitting our folding table, the RV itself, and our grill. Kids would run so close to the RV that they would be on our paved site (10ft wide total). I went out for the second time and asked that they throw the football in the other direction. Day 3 came around and they were back at it again. The final straw to break the camel's back was when one of the little boys came over to our site, picked up our axe, and started walking away with it!!!!! I ran to the door, swung it opened, and in my best teacher voice said "PUT THAT DOWN!" The little boy set the axe down and walked away with his head down. What a safety issue. He would chop his foot off and we would get sued. Ridiculous.

We met a great military family of 4 while at our new spot. They were tent campers and just here for a few days while the kids were on spring break. I loved sitting at the dining room table watching them interact. Bikes, kites, balls, etc. It looked like so much fun.

We were switching sites again due to another RV coming into our spot. Check out time is 1pm and check in time is 3pm. While I sat at our site with coffee in hand watching Taylor sniff around, a lady approached me saying, "Excuse me." As I turned around, I noticed her walking towards me very aggressively. I responded with a "Hi" and a "Yes?" She comes within 2 feet of where I sat looking down at me like I were in trouble. She says "We are suppose to be moving into this spot today. Are you planning on leaving?" "Yes, I said. We have to be out by 1pm. What time is it?" She didn't know the time but I chimed in with a "I think it's around noon. We should be out by 1." She tells me "Well we are already checked in." That's funny seeing as we aren't even suppose to be gone yet and check in is at 3pm lady. So that is exactly what I told her. She didn't seem to like that and decided to reply with a bitchy "We are parked right over their waiting." What nerve some of these people have. Look, I know you want to get in the spot, but you aren't suppose to be here until 3. She ran back and told her husband that we would be out by 1. He decided to be just as big of a jerk as she and swing their RV right around the circle, backing it into our spot right next to us. I couldn't believe it. What never they had. Thank goodness Jason was out to the gas station on a monster run because he would have been pissed.

We ended up pulling out at exactly 12:59pm. I was so proud of us. We came over to our new spot, unhitched, and set up in less than a half hour. We are really getting good at this. Wouldn't you know it. . . as we are setting up, the bitchy couple who are moving into our old spot come walking by. Not in a rush anymore huh? I hope we don't get cranky like that when we are their age.

The Luck of the Irish

A beagle in her recliner and a husband sick in bed. Not the way I imagined our Saint Patrick's Day being spent. I did however manage to get out of the house last night while Jason worked a concert for a quick grocery shopping trip. My first corned beef is currently cooking in the crock pot while potatoes and cabbage will join the meal a little later on. My heritage is a melting pot of great mixtures, one of those being Irish thanks to my dad's mother. We did make our way to church this morning. I guess the 11:30am service isn't really considered morning anymore. Pastor Fidel filled in for Pastor Bob. He mentioned Saint Patrick actually being British and at age 16, being captured and brought to Ireland as a slave. There, he publicly announced his joining of the Christian faith. Pastor Fidel went on to say how the lines have become crossed and now the holiday has no religious involvement at all. Instead, people celebrate the day with green beer and poor choices. Well. . . I guess the beer, clear cups, and green food coloring I bought during last night's grocery shopping trip are now all a waste.

I met an adorable couple at the dog park. A husband and wife completely crazy about one another, their two dogs, and a baby boy on the way. Of course I gravitated towards them and eventually became lost in conversation. With only 1 week left of her pregnancy, she mentioned being ready for him to be out. I asked if they had taken maternity pictures. My heart always hurts a bit when people miss out on capturing these once in a lifetime moments. She searched for me on facebook (I should always think to bring cards to the dog park) and I hope we can get them scheduled for a shoot soon. Turns out they also go to Calvary Plantation. Small world!

Markham has seemed to be quite empty lately. I think the snowbirds have started on their trip home already. We kind of like the lack of traffic in and out of the park. Our current site is a bit closer to the front of the park. Jason was growing annoyed with the long drive to and from our site. Our spot is completely surrounded by a canopy of trees,  most shaded with a great view of the sunsets. We aren't on the water this time, but Taylor is enjoying tracking the animal scents along the woods. She especially liked doing that at 4:30am the other day. Mommy did not like it very much. Me in pajamas (and not very conservative jammies may I add), running with a flashlight in the middle of the night, chasing Taylor 4 campsites down who was completely disappearing into the thick blanket of fog. Lovely!!!

Our site has been having an issue with the breaker box provided. When you park the RV, you usually plug into a beaker box for power, a sewer connection for. . . well you know what for, and a hose line for water. The power randomly shuts off at this site causing everything to turn off with it. A bit annoying. Jason has to go outside every time and flick the breaker. He rather just deal with the issue as it happens than call up front and move or have them spend hours fixing it.

We are starting to think of areas to relocate to. We are still planning on staying with friends of our in April who live in the West Palm area. While we are up there, we need to get our bedroom slide fixed at Palm Beach RV. We also are considering the Naples area. I have loved the area for years and finally got Jason to consider it these past few months. The home prices are still  bit high for us there and to get the price we want, we would need to be a bit remote and far from the everyday luxuries (i.e. Publix, gas stations, etc.). I still want to look into it. Not that you really care, but here are to pros and cons for each area;
West Palm/Loxahatchee Area                             

PROS                                                              

1. Cheaper houses                                            
2. Large, usable lots                                            
3. Good school system                                      
4. Friends close by                                              
5. Slower paced life                                          
6. Centrally located                                            

CONS                                                                

1. Possible cancer cluster (big concern)            
2. Not near family                                                
3. Further drive to Jason's work                          

Naples/Bonita Springs/Estero Area

PROS

1. Close to family (mine and Jason's)
2. Snowbirds/a lot of $$$ to the area
3. Nice houses
4. Closer to Jason's work
5. Slower paced life
6. Calvary Chapel in Naples

 CONS

1. Not as good of school systems
2. Higher cost of living
3. Narrow lots (hard to use fully)

There are more reasons for both. I guess we won't truly know how we feel until we spend time in each location together. Getting to know the areas, shop at the stores, live our daily lives. Any advice would be greatly appreciated (both good and bad about both places).

5 seconds of fun for $2.00

I am not sure if it has to do with the station change or just a weird coincidence. . . but my husband came home from shift a different person. 3/11/13 was his first shift back out at the Big Cypress reservation. It has been quite a few years since he has been on shift out there. He came home happy, not stressed, and although he did still take a nap, it was a much shorter one. He talked all about how great his day was, even with a few bumps that arose. He just seemed to be in an overall better mood. Hopefully this continues.

Last night Jason and I took a much needed date night. We set out on 595 east bound. As we approached the airport, we noticed a group of police officers blocking a large portion of the road. As we slowly drove past, I saw what looked to be debris in the road. It seemed as if there were red wet rags scattered all over. It then appeared to be a larger piece with a huge chunk out of it. Brace yourself. . . I realized it was a body. . . and the rags were really just body parts. I freaked out. I have never seen anything like that before. I immediately called out that it was just a sack of tomatoes mashed on the ground. I figured this would delete the images I just saw and replace them with a sack of tomatoes. My lovely husband responds with. . . maybe it was a dog and not a person (like that was suppose to make me feel better). NOOO!!! It's a sack of tomatoes! Goodness gracious. I had to continue to reminding myself of the tomatoes throughout the night whenever the accident would pop into my head.

News Story

We continued east bound on 595 and ultimately returned to his birthday party location, the Quarterdeck on the Dania pier. Halfway through the meal I asked about our loyalty card and the points from his party converting into cash. . . $35.00 worth of points :) So dinner was basically free and of course delicious. A stop at 7-11 after dinner for a Monster and 2 scratch off tickets. Jason wanted me to win big. . . He should have picked better tickets then because we didn't win anything. Actually, we lost $2.00. Since we ate dinner for free I didn't mind the 5 seconds of fun that $2.00 bought. More so, just the simple fact that he thought I would like the idea. I did!

I had been wanting to go to Jaxson's ice cream for a while, but can never bring ourselves to drive all the way out there. Since we were close, we headed that way. Luckily, they seemed to be open when we pulled up. As we approached the building, lights flashing and all (just taunting me), the little old man who has been there forever stands at the door and points us to the pick up window. No! I want to go inside and eat. I want the full experience, not just the window. Jason approaches the guy and he reluctantly cracks the door, just enough for Jason to ask "What are you hours?" The guy looks at his watch and say a quarter to 11. That's funny. It's exactly a quarter to 11. Well played little man, well played. I didn't want to waste our trip on the pick up window, so we left. . . without any ice cream :(

Not wanting to go straight home, we tried to figure out what to do with the rest of our night. Jason's friend OJ text messaged us saying him and his girlfriend were bowling and we should come. Sounded like a great idea and seemed like a fun way to complete our night. It definitely was a good night. I won both games beating everyone :)

What's Worse?

My husband wakes up, uses the restroom, sits in the recliner, gets up, gets dressed, and the first words out of his mouth are. . . "I'm going into work for a little bit." "But it's Saturday and you're off," I replied. "Yeah well I want to get unpacked and talk to the Captain prior to starting in BC on Monday." Fantastic!!! Another day spent without my husband, or so I assumed. Jason left and by left I mean me, and without any food in the house. Jason had asked if he could do the shopping and cooking for the month in hopes of getting us both on a healthier diet. Well. . . there is nothing in the house. . . I'll let you figure that one out.

So with Jason gone to work, I figured I would run to the store and do a bit of grocery shopping myself. I text Jason letting him know my plan. Now of course I am that person in the store with the list, pen, organized cart, and yes, I am the crazy lady who goes up and down every isle. Yeah. . . I have a problem. So I am shopping, hitting up all the good deals. I can make corn beef and cabbage for St Patty's Day. I can make a yummy soup. Ohh. . . Chicken is on sale. SCORE! My extremely full cart is now starting to overflow. As I turn down the last isle I get a text. . . from Jason. It reads "So was I (referring to going grocery shopping). Just spent 200 dollars, please do not buy food!" AWESOME! What am I suppose to do now? I text Jason and asked what he would like me to do with my full cart. His response is to leave my cart there and come home. I am so overcome with emotions at this point and now begin to cry in the middle of Publix because of pure embarrassment. I ended up putting somethings back, not all. I couldn't spend another hour returning everything I had picked up.

I get home to find Jason cooking lunch. Now I don't know what is worse. . . the fact that he isn't at work like he told me he was going to be and instead is home cooking lunch, that he went to the store and shopped at the exact same time I did, or that we purchased the EXACT same items. Our home is now stocked with 2 bottles of ketchup, 3 packages of paper plates, a ton of tomatoes, 2 things of bread, etc. It could have been worse. . . I could have bought the rest of my cart and doubled the amount of exact items he purchased.
Our score for communication today????? ZERO