Memphis So Far

Well... we're here. I never, ever thought in a million years that I would be living in Tennessee. It has a lot of TX feel to it, which is nice, but it doesn't feel like home yet.

What a fast move! We literally had everything packed up and ready to go in a week and a half. I have never been so stressed out in my life. Many cans of Dr. Pepper and bags of peanut M&M's were consumed. But we did it. We absolutely could not have done it without my in-laws. They saved us! Not only did they come up and help us drive our vehicles down, they paid for a plane ticket for me to fly down with Janae. I love my daughter, but a three day road trip of non-stop driving would not have been fun with her! So we flew instead. First class no less. My in-laws left Monday night, and Jared went back to work today so essentially it's life as usual, except we're in a different state and I have no friends.

So, what's it been like so far? Weird. I swear, I think Janae is the only baby in all of TN. In Utah, you can go to any store at any time of the day and there are a bunch of moms out and about with their kids. Here, it's me and all of the old people. I am so not joking right now. As a stay-at-home mom, I am seriously in the minority. We went to Wal-Mart Monday afternoon and it was dead. If you go to Wal-Mart in the afternoon in Utah, it's a zoo! Every place I've gone Janae has been either the only kid there, or one of few. And definitely the youngest by far. I've also never had more people stop and want to look at her than I have here. Has no one seen a baby before? Really? It's like all the Tennesseians popped up out of nowhere straight into adulthood.

I went to the public library today. Oh, how I miss the Salt Lake public library! The Cordova branch maybe has 20 books in it. Including non-fiction. And it's so old fashioned! I had no idea how blessed I was to be a part of such an amazing public library system in Utah. I might have to break down and either buy an Amazon Kindle, or become a book buyer if the library system here just doesn't cut it. Again, it was Janae and I and all of the old people at the public library. Of course, she decided to be a stink today too, so everytime she made a peep all of the old ladies would "shhh!" us really loudly. I felt like saying "Do you think your shhhhing is any quieter than my kid? At least she has the excuse of being a baby!". But of course, I didn't. And THEN... oh, this was a real treat... I was out in the little lobby trying to quiet her down, and this lady stopped and talked to me for 20 MINUTES about her pug, her son and all of the rotten girlfriends he's had, her business and how great she is with kids. Can't you see I have a screaming kid here lady? I honestly don't care to know your whole history of pets right at this moment (or ever, really). First there was her dog named nootle (who was named that when she was drunk), then her dog Chicken (who died and was buried in her garden) and now her dog's named Isabella (NOT after Twilight, she made that very clear). Oh... my...holy...heck.

Our apartment is still mainly in boxes. I guess that's what we get for moving from a way bigger place to a smaller place. Thank goodness it's only temporary. It feels a lot like living in a college dorm room, which is not quite what we envisioned at this stage in our lives. I'm starting on the house hunting next week, so cross your fingers that it goes well! We actually really love the area. It's really close to all shopping (our apt complex is across the street from a Super Wal-Mart and Super Target), and the commute for Jared isn't really that bad. I think we're going to try to stick to this area if possible, so we'll see.

Really, besides the whole enviroment shock (I guess we just lived in Utah for way too long!), we are really happy with the decision to move here. Everything has fallen into place perfectly and it couldn't have gone any smoother than it did. I think that once we get to church on Sunday and meet some people we'll feel a ton better. I'll have pictures of Janae, the apartment and everything posted soon, for those who want to know. Janae is four months today! Can't believe it.

Now, I'm going to pop open one of the books I managed to check out at the library and get busy reading. I love nap time!