Once we get that in, it's all just packing and and making sure that we have everything we need in order to move into the new house. It's exciting and scary all at the same time. Since we try desperately to live on one income, it's not always easy to find that extra money lying around. However, we are each doing our parts. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to be attempting to pick up extra shifts when I can. We are also both trying to be more careful of what we are spending food money on. Luckily, our food bill is never really all that high, but we are definitely cutting back on it as well in order to save up the money for all those little extras that you need in a house v. an apartment.
So the month started out with my father and stepmother coming up for a few days. They came up, enjoyed the theme parks and we all had a nice time. My husband and I then had about a week and a half of nothing to do before my mother came into town. My mom arrived Friday the 13th, and didn't leave until the 22nd. This was great! We had a great time relaxing by the pool, hitting up parks and just overall enjoying ourselves. She and I also made a trip out to the new Vera Bradley outlet that opened here in Orlando. There are some GREAT deals to be had there! My husband's family arrived on the 19th, and left on the 26th. So we had a bit of overlapping, but that has happened before and is never a problem.
The problem, for me at least, was being out in the theme parks for two weeks straight. Especially with the Florida heat, and the fact that my husband decided thathe didn't want to drive from our home back and forth to the parks to see his family EVERY day. Okay, not a problem. We usually stay with his parents when they come into town at their hotel and I figured "Oh so we will do that again!"
"No. I don't want to stay with my parents. My dad snores really loud..." he tells me
"He was snoring really loudly though the last time we stayed with them...." I state, utterly confused as to what my husband wanted to do.
So we discussed our options, looked at hotel rates and my husband quickly realized we could not afford to stay in a hotel. We could, however, afford to stay in a tent at the campgrounds. Being a Floridian, I have NEVER camped in the summer time that I can remember. Well, there was one time, but we ended up at the outlet malls and far away from actually camping. We even went to the beach. It was my girl scout troop and we planned a camping trip, but our parents decided it was going to be too hot and took us to the beach. We had been on "roughing it" trips before (in the cooler months) and were going so we could show our service unit leader that we took a specific camping trip to earn our camping badge as we bridged from Juniors to Cadets. So, I was a bit worried going in to this trip because of the heat.
I probably should not have worried since we woke up every morning FREEZING!!! After being in 90 plus degree temperatures during the day, and it still being well in the upper 80s when we would go to bed, waking up at 5 am shivering because it was 71 is understandable. We had not actually anticipated this however, and were not prepared with the appropriate gear. Despite this, I have a feeling we will not be camping in the Florida summers again. It's way too muggy and hot and uncomfortable. It was a a lot of fun however, and a great time for us. We already decided that if we can swing it (remember, one income), we will go back in December around Christmastime to see all the Snowbirds setting up their decorations on their sites.
It was great getting to see everyone, including our niece. She has developed such a little personality, and is a complete ham. If a camera is in the area, she gives a big smile and poses. She hasnt quite learned that you need to be completely still to get a great picture, but that will come. She is definitely turning into a little diva though, and it's quite amusing to watch. Gotta keep praying for her and her father (husband's brother). The loss of his wife, and her mother, is still very evident. Life moves on, and so are they, but he is having to learn how to take on all the responsibilities that his wife had done previously. He's also learning how to take care of a little girl all on his own. It's not an easy task. But I pray he will learn it, and that we all remember to give him the chance to learn it. Every parent I know says you make mistakes and learn from them. So I hope he makes plenty of mistakes in this, so that he might learn. So far, he's been doing a great job.
The in laws are doing well, but I'm a bit worried about the hubby's mother. She's sucha wonderful and kind woman, and she gives so much of herself. I'm not sure she ever makes any time for herself to recharge. She also has a lot on her plate right now, and I think this vacation was a good time for her to get away ands enjoy the sunshine they have been desperately missing, although we did tell them we would gladly take the rain if they want to take the sunshine :-) My father-in-law is doing well, but was recently diagnosed with something called thick blood. Right now, they aren't too sure what exactly it means for him, but it does mean that he will get tired a lot easier than he used to, and his chances for becoming anemic are greater (which combined with heat is not a good thing from my understanding). But he is a trooper and doing well. Hopefully we will find out more soon since they are back home again. For now, just praying that all goes well and that they will be able to find the time to rest and relax and let their bodies recharge a bit.
And of course my sister in law is engaged!!! It's super exciting and I am thrilled for her! I already have a bunch of ideas of things I want to give her to help her prepare for her new life outside her parents home. I was teasing her while she was down that she needs to start working on those skills now. Skills like basic sewing and cooking and laundry and doing all the things that we need to do in order to make home a wonderful and inviting place. She lives with mom and dad still, which is an excellent way of saving money! But now it's time to learn how to do all the stuff mom does so she can make her home just as warm and inviting and her mother's! Im praying for her and wishing her the best of luck in all of these future endeavours!
Right now, I need to get back to my endeavours of keeping a clean and happy home. So some breakfast, some Bible study and lots of cleaning are in order :-)
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