And then there was Memphis

I know I'm really summarizing our lives in these first few posts. I'm just trying to get everyone caught up so I can start blogging about our current life. My wonderful friend and "blog muse", Krystina, told me I should just jump right into the daily blogging, but I'm having a hard time doing this without giving brief background info. So I give my apologies to all who find my summarized life boring. I only have one year left to cover. : )

After a brief stay in Chicago, we were off to Memphis. We stayed in a Motel 6 until we found our new home. I remember it was Halloween, and we were searching for an apartment. We finally found the perfect one. . .a small two bedroom in a beautiful complex with a lake surrounded by Willow trees. I loved it. The apartment managers were shocked when we said we wanted to move in that same day, but since we had cash in hand they made it happen. All of our stuff was still in Texas, so we went to walmart and bought a blow up mattress, a blanket, and some towels. For dinner we walked across the street to the Flying Saucer, which we were just sure would become a frequent hang out for us, and had pear cider and pizza. It was a perfect Halloween and a perfect first night in our new home.

Once we were all settled in Memphis. I finally got my dream job as a flight attendant. I know it was a silly dream, but still it was something that I always wanted to do. . .so I did it. I flew lots of places, stayed in lots of hotels, and spent many hours in airports, but I wasn't seeing very much of my husband and I wasn't making any money. So after a very tiring year I quit my job with Pinnacle Airlines and went to work for Youth Villages Girl Center. My job title is Teacher Counselor, but should really be Prison Guard/Babysitter/Shrink. I am working with high risk teenage girls, who love to fight, self harm, destroy property, run away, tear their clothes off, do drugs, and have sex. But they also like to dance, listen to music, watch movies, play games, laugh, write poetry, talk and be normal teenage girls. Steven says there is something wrong with me. . .because of how I'm drawn into these high stress jobs. Sometimes I think he's right. But I am really enjoying this job and I feel like I am actually helping these girls. I won't lie though, it is a rough job. I come home frequently with bruises and bite marks. And one night I even got punched in the face (for the first time in my life). But these girls need somebody, so I figure for now it might as well be me. . .the high stress junkie.

We've settled into our new life quite well. Several months ago we moved out of our apartment in Memphis to a house in Millington which is closer to the Navy base. I've now got myself spoiled to the larger space and the yard. I feel I will never be able to live in an apartment again. We also just added a new member to our family, her name is Journey and she is an adorable Bugg puppy. We figured it was the natural progression of life and responsibility to first own a fish, and then a cat, and then a dog, and then finally when you're sure you can handle it--a child. So for all of you who keep nagging us about having children you should be happy to know that we have arrived at the puppy phase in life, which is only one phase away from child bearing. Some people progress faster than others. . .sorry but we're on the slow end of the spectrum : ).

Well, this briefly sums up the last several years. I feel like there are a whole lot of things that we've done and gone through these last few years that I want to write about, but I will try to tie in more of those details and stories into my future posts.