Thrifting, Errands, and Free Wine!

Ma has only been here for two full days and already we have done so much, that is my mom for you! It was extremely bittersweet having to say "see ya later" to my lady, but hello to my mom. I miss Jade so, so much, but I know I will see her again for sure; she IS my lady after all!

Jade certainly did a great number on my apartment, making it homey, but Ma has definitely filled in the gaps with things like side tables, a desk, an area rug, a few kitchen items, among other things. My apartment is finally looking complete! Thrift stores are the place to go- we managed to find a TON of items (throw pillows, leather desk chair on wheels, a huge cutting board, and many other things) for just $20 total! Bargain shopping, I learned it from the best! Then, of course, we hit up the dollar general for a few smaller items and end up spending nearly 4 times as much- how does that work out?

Yesterday we set up all of the furniture I got which looks great! Then we went thrift shopping and got all of the afore mentioned items. Today we walked to campus to a) see how long of a walk it would be on a regular basis and b) to get a few things done on campus such as getting my ID made and having a few questions answered. Overall, it took about 15 minutes to walk to the edge of campus, not too bad although it got pretty hot. Campus however, is known for having the most square footage, which makes for a trek to anywhere ON campus. That will be something to get used to!

After the errands on campus, we went to lunch at Freebirds with Aly- super cheap mexican food that was very good! Great service as well! From there we drove to Llano Estacado Winery and had a free tour and free wine tasting! Absolutely amazing, the smells were simply divine when you walk into the factory. I am personally a fan of only sweet, white wines. The Reisling was my favorite Texas wine. My absolute favorite wine was the Viva Rosso which was actually a wine from Italy. I was very happy to find out it is cheap AND sold in the grocery stores around here! I'll be buying many bottles in the near future haha. 

We have a full week planned! Tonight we are hitting up the Drive-In for Bourne Legacy and Ted, double feature for $7! Tomorrow we are going to Palo Duro, the second largest canyons, next to the Grand Canyons. We are also going to hit up Amarillo and check out that area. Thursday we have a craft day planned- anyone who knows my mom, or me, knows we are into crafts, big time! Thursday evening we are going to see a live Bluegrass band at a restaurant. Friday night we are going to a saloon so she can do some country dancing, while I sit aside and take great photos! Haha! Those are the plans thus far, I will be sure to post next week with the updates and photos.

Next week I have a full week of Orientation and intend to be busy with notes, homework, and reading. Lots to do before classes start on the 27th. Not only will I have my only classes to attend, but I will be teaching at least one class and will have office hours, pretty legit! I am excited for the coming two weeks! Stay tuned and as always, PLEASE leave a comment of some sort. I understand you have to go through a few steps and create a profile, but you don't ever have to use it and you can leave me awesome words of encouragement and such :)

Settling In Nicely

Now that I have internet, I can write a new post! I have been in my new apartment for a week today and it has become quite homey, most thanks to my lovely lady, Jade. She has certainly helped keep me sane and has contributed significantly to the smart-thinking I am lacking because of all the excitement.

I have managed to furnish my living room with a couch and HUGE TV (with stand) for $90 total, talk about a bargain! I have put up most of my decorations/artwork and it is looking pretty nice in my cozy one-bedroom. I found a great Office set at Walmart for $75 that includes a desk, a small bookcase, and a bookcase/drawer thing. I am pretty excited to get this next week when my mom comes to visit. I should be fully furnished after that last purchase. There are some smaller items that I am waiting to get such as kitchen towels, an area rug, a kitchen mat, a vacuum, throw pillows, and a microwave. Having always had a microwave, you never realize how much you actually use it until you don't have one. We bought popcorn, not even thinking about how we were going to pop it, haha.


Zoey has actually LOVED settling into her new home, with no other roommates and no other pets. I thought she was going to be angry with me for weeks after that 30-hour drive. Once she saw me unpacking familiar items, I think she realized this is home for us, and she has been loving on me just as before. I have two closets in my bedroom, she has made one of them her harboring spot. She likes to sleep on top of the bins that hold my unders, so I am sure to leave one of the doors cracked so she can get in and out.

The maintenance here has been awesome! Every time I call in something wrong, within a day or two, Daniel is here to fix it. He is SUCH a nice, friendly guy and I am so thankful for him. He not only fixes my problems, but provides nice conversation too :) The only problem I have right now are the bugs, I have found an average of 3 per day. Jade certainly is not fond of this, I hate to kill them, but don't want them in my home!! The exterminator should be coming next Thursday, hopefully I can hold off that long.

I am getting better at orientating myself around Lubbock. If anything, I certainly know where my bank is! Walmart is a straight-shot down one street from my apartment, which is really nice. There are a TON of dollar stores around, makes for pretty cheap shopping. We visited the mall, it is pretty large and has many useful stores. This is why we left shortly after we entered, didn't want the temptation to spend money we don't have!

Well this is the end of this post. Stay tuned for the next one, next week. I greatly appreciate all of you who read my blog, but it is always nice to see some comments with words of encouragement, thoughts, or just a simple hello. Until next time...

Go with the Flow

So we made it! Took us a total of 30 hours to get from Charlotte, NC to Lubbock, TX. We were in no rush and claimed "go with the flow" as our mantra for the trip. We did not set a certain time to leave or get into town, we felt it was important to just get here when we get here; less pressure this way! 

We stopped at every Welcome Center at each state line to take pictures and use the restroom.

<--Ready for take-off

 <--South Carolina

Very useful rest area stretches!!

Georgia

 

Alabama

   Mississippi

^Lousiana

 Texas

I am anticipating moving into my new apartment tomorrow (August 2) and unpacking the car. Friday, my new friend Aly, whom is currently a Grad student in my cohort, is going to show Jade and I around TTU's campus and around Lubbock. I am excited to discover what my new surroundings have to offer me.

More updates to come so stay posted! Please leave comments, words of encouragement, anything you would like to say or leave in my comments area, I greatly appreciate it!

Greetings!

Hello!

I greet you with my first blog post from the home of my lady in Charlotte. Yesterday I was able to pack up my car (to the very brim) and head this way from Greenville, NC. Kind of bittersweet leaving the town I have known for so long, but for the very same reason I am so glad to be out of there. I have bigger and much better things on the horizon. By the horizon, I of course, mean Texas!

A plethora of feelings have been swarming around me for the past week or two: excited, nervous, overwhelmed, anxious, scared, thrilled, and any others you can think of that are perfectly normal with big moves. I've always talked about getting out of Greenville (where I basically grew up) and going somewhere far, far away. Surprisingly, I guess I never thought the day would actually come and yet it fast approaches. I am leaving everything I have known for the past 15 years of my life. That is rather un-nerving to think about, but I am teaching myself to push out those thoughts and welcome the new ones of starting fresh, being a nobody in a crowd of everybody. Now THAT- I am very excited for. Although I have thoroughly enjoyed being in a spotlight at ECU, I'm rather humbled by the thought of blending in and having the focus and determination for my studies at TTU.

Yesterday, I had a slight nervous breakdown when my storage bin on my car roof had to be completely repositioned. Thankfully, my great friend Ash came to the rescue and helped me out. In the midst of all of this, I received a phone call from Lubbock. As it turns out- my apartment will be ready for move in, whenever I get there. Now you may think, well why wouldn't it be?? When I found this apartment, the only downside was that it may not be move-in ready until the early days of August because of the previous tenants and when they choose to move out. Lucky me- they moved out! Very exciting news!! It feels really nice knowing that I can drive right to my apartment when I get into Lubbock and start unpacking all of my things. I'll tell ya, you never really know how much you have actually acquired over the course of just a couple of years, until you have to pack it ALL in one compact SUV. My childhood friend, Lauren, reaped all of the benefits of helping me pack my car Tuesday night. I ended up giving her quite a bit of stuff that I felt I could live without considering my limited amount of space. She's moving into a new place as well and was happy to receive anything she could get.

And so...the real countdown ensues! SIX days until Jade, Zoey, and I drive out to Texas. A BIG thank you to all of those that have supported me and helped me out with gas money and the likes in these recent days. Be on the lookout for my next post and please leave comments, words of encouragement, recommendations/advice, questions, or anything you would like to say! It's nice to know someone is reading your thoughts :)