What a whirlwind!

On May 26, 2012, Jace Stamper proposed to me and it was one of the greatest days of my life. I knew life would be busy leading up to the wedding but then I thought things would calm down after our wedding. Boy was I wrong! Life has been going at WARP speed and honey I need to catch my breath. I never knew how much life two people could try to cram into 2 short years. As a Family Studies major, I know of a stress questionnaire and ya'll I have checked off every box except having a baby, buying a car, and buying a home. Thinking of those three things alone makes me want to hide under the covers.

I feel like I have so much to blog about and have drafted posts in my head only to stare at a blank computer screen or worse, not even make the effort to open up a new post draft. I'm tired at night and quite frankly don't want to stare at the computer screen any longer however, the urge to blog is still there. This post is an attempt to record our life's happenings since Jace's graduation (read: this could be wordy and lengthy).

After Jace graduated, we packed up and headed to Hilton Head which is our slice of paradise. We have been going for years now and its just comfortable to us.

 We started our week off by visiting Charleston and enjoyed seeing this historic Southern town.

We ate Moonpies and drank RCs in Charleston, took a carriage ride through town where I proceeded to ask the tour guide about the filming of Bravo's Southern Charm TV show. As Jace said, only I would ask something like that. We also visited the famous Angle Oak Tree that is regularly seen in Southern Living Magazine; what a beauty she was.

I know some people may find it odd that I am enamored by a tree but honey Live Oaks are amazing to me and scream the South!

The rest of the week was spent by the beach where Jace and I talked about everything and anything but nothing really of significance. We started our mornings off slow on our villa's screened-in porch drinking coffee and reading our Internet sites.

At some point we would decide to get ready for the beach and head out. We would come in for lunch and then we would stay late into the afternoon. The five o'clock hour is my favorite time at the beach. All the families have packed up for the day and are heading out to dinner, the tide is up, its quiet, and the sun couldn't get any more golden. That my friends, is the perfect time of day!

We hit up our usual restaurants and I thoroughly enjoyed not prepping, cooking, or cleaning up after dinner for seven nights! One night we ventured out to a new place called Skull Creek Boathouse.

Waiting for dinner at Skull Creek

Ya'll it went down that night. By the end of the night we were dancing under a Live Oak tree swaying to the music of some great band. Memories were definitely made and I am already itching to go back.

On our way out of town, we stopped at Savannah only to find ourselves in a lengthy downpour.

Savannah Cotton Exchange

It made for one wet trolly ride through town but it was fun nonetheless.Thankfully, we have toured Savannah before and I was familiar with the sites of the city.

When reality hit and we realized vacation really was over, life hit with full force. We suddenly found ourselves in a straight-up panic because the apartment that we had fell in love with was WAY behind in construction. Our move-in date of July 1 was only wishful thinking and we had to go back to the drawing board. I chose to live in denial about everything whereas Jace scoured Craig's List for some type of housing. Our months of planning, searching, and budgeting was basically in vain and we might as well have been twiddling our thumbs this entire Spring. I was pretty hopeless at this point until Jace found another NEW apartment complex that was almost finished with construction. We immediately contacted them and on July 1st we will move-in and be official residents of Smyrna, TN.

As far as the move-in process goes, Lord help! Y'all we live in 600 sq. feet so we only brought down the necessities. We can't start boxing up our things until the weekend before we move because where would we put our stuff? Besides, we need that stuff for the remaining two weeks we are in Gainesville. Jace has rented a Penske truck for our move and big boy gets to drive that thing! I will follow along in his car (Dana and Rickey drove my car back to KY when they came down for graduation). I told Jace that as soon as we cross the FL state line into GA that I will blare his horn so hard. Y'all we have lived 10 months in FL and I don't suspect that we will visit for a L-O-N-G time! We are both ready to get out of Gville and head up North to get to the true South. As a Southern woman, all I can say to the people of Gainesville is, "Bless Your Heart".

Now, the one good thing that we have found in FL is IKEA. I think I have blogged about it before but y'all we went back! We somehow got two nightstands, a 6 dresser chest, and a headboard and foot board into Jace's car! We walked in there with a plan and a tape measure and everyone looked at us funny. Don't mess with a woman who wants matching furniture. I will find a way to stuff long, heavy cardboard boxes into a Honda Accord. (In reality, Jace put the boxes in the car and I just scooted the seats!)

We ventured home last week for my father's mother's visitation and funeral. My MeMaw was a hog farmer through-and-through. She worked right along with the men and ran the show. Her health had been declining but her death was unexpected. With any funeral there are a range of emotions and Jace was there to see me through all of them. In ten short months of marriage, we have moved, had a few job search processes, a graduation, a death and are about ready to move again. Life can be funny at times but it can also wear your butt plum out. I think right now I am worn out and am ready for life to ease up just a little.

While we were home, we visited Sandy Keith's version of Bed, Bath, and Beyond, a/k/a her basement, where all our wedding gifts are stored. Y'all, people were so generous to us! We have honestly forgotten about what all we got and its all so nice! Jace and I sorted things into two piles: "the-things-going-to-Smyrna" pile and "the-things-we-will-put-in-a-china-cabinet-one-day-but-will-stay-in-Mom's-basement-for-the-time-being" pile. I feel like I should write another round of thank you notes to everyone who gave us a gift because we will finally get to use 75% of our gifts once we move. So if you gave us a wedding gift, thank you so much for your generosity and love. Your gift is greatly appreciated and will finally be used!

We came back to Gainesville on Saturday night because even though Jace has graduated, he has this course (from the Spring semester) where he has to present a paper he wrote (in the Spring semester). Do we sound bitter? Maybe a little! So he sits in class for two hours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays listening to other paper presentations; his presentation is on the 20th. His group is the only one who has to present their paper which given our luck, makes perfect sense. In his down time, Jace has done the "paperwork" for our move. No wonder people hate moving, there is so much paperwork involved! Speaking of paperwork, we made our first adult purchase together: a filing cabinet with hanging folders. You've never met two kids so excited to file crap away!

So that is what has been going on with the Stamper's. It has been a complete whirlwind and we haven't even moved yet! We pick up the Penske truck on the 29th and the big move will be on the 30th, at which time I will have no idea where our towels, toothbrushes, or brains will be! Lord help us!