by Joey | Mar 5, 2015 | Throwback
>> Obviously I’m in Charlotte now. It’s been kind of a whirlwind of a few weeks, and I totally appreciate you guys being patient with me! There are going to be a lot of adjustments made over the next few weeks, but I’m ready for them! Your support and excitement the last few days has been incredible!
>> The support that blogland showed me during the week the book was on sale was overwhelming. I hate that the sale ended up running during the week that was the craziest of my life with all the Charlotte stuff shifting into gear, so I feel like I wasn’t able to fully appreciate all of you who went above and beyond to share the information. Really, I cannot thank you all enough.
>> I dropped B off at Grandmas on Monday for the next few weeks while J and I get settled into this new life. It was honestly a hilarious sight. I know we call them our “furkids,” but it legit looked like I was dropping my kids off for a few weeks. Bailey was totally equipped with all of her “must” toys. You know, yellow dog, reindeer, and her new Dino bone (courtesy of Chewy.com). Is it sad that it’s only been two nights and I already miss them terribly?
>> I won’t lie. When I got to town on Tuesday, I rode by my friend’s office to grab a key, went to his house to set up the air mattress…and then I went straight to Target. Are you even a little bit surprised? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
>> I also immediately googled once we secured our apartment to find out how close the nearest sushi place was. Priorities people.
>> I bought my first article of clothing in three years on Monday. I had a pair of jeggings from American Eagle that I wore pretty freaking often. They were the only pants that fit me right (I’ve been having a hard time in the pants department lately). Well, they might have fit…but then I split them when I bent down to feed the cat a few weeks ago. I know. I know. So I bit the bullet and bought a new pair. If I wasn’t confused about women’s pant sizes before, I definitely am now.
>> My nails have been bare since Saturday, and I don’t even recognize myself right now. I packed all my polish up and brought J over to the bin and was like be more careful with this box than you would be with your own life. And I meant it. I have nightmares about nail polish casualties.
Alright friends! It’s your turn!
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by Joey | Mar 4, 2015 | Throwback
Good morning! This post is coming to you in real time from my first morning back in Charlotte! I am so grateful to our friends who have been generous enough to let me crash in their extra bedroom until J and I are ready to move into our new place later next week.
So I dropped a bit of a bomb on y’all on Monday then pretty much went MIA! I’m sorry! Many of you have been asking for details, and some of those are mine to share and some of them aren’t. And I hope you’ll understand that while I choose to keep a blog, my husband doesn’t and so I choose to keep some of what goes on private.
So I’ll share my details today! You’ve been asking me so Joey! What are you going to be doing? Good question! When the opportunity came up for us to move, I started praying really hard to find some direction. I’ve really enjoyed getting to stay home the last two years to pursue the writing. And Buies Creek was the perfect place to do that thanks to the opportunity to live in a house provided by the school and the fact that…well, there wasn’t a whole lot of temptation. Meaning: we ate nearly every meal at home and I wasn’t dropping $250 at Target every week. *guilty*
But when we decided to move back to Charlotte, I knew I’d need (okay, want) a little more flex in our budget. Charlotte is a fun town, and J and I enjoyed experiencing Charlotte when we lived here last. But I didn’t want to give up writing. I wasn’t quite at the place that writing would be enough.
Before we moved to Buies Creek, I nannied. I wasn’t looking for nanny jobs this time. In fact, I was focusing more on marketing type jobs. But I had this nagging thought in the back of my mind that if I went into a full-time business job, when would I write? J sent me a link to a nanny listing that was a little different than what I’d been doing the last 5 years.
I went to bed that night and prayed for some kind of answers. Something felt…right about it. The next morning I woke up, reactivated my Care.com profile, and applied. In the meantime, I got bombarded with interview requests from jobs I hadn’t applied for. It was absolutely overwhelming and a definite clear sign that God was saying “Joey! You need to be doing this! You’re good at this, and it’ll allow you to focus on your writing.”
That afternoon, I applied to be a consistent contributor to two online magazines. I told myself if I was brought on by one of them, I’d go back into nannying. That it would be the sign I need to continue with my writing career.
…I got hired by both.
I had many phone interviews on Sunday Feb. 22. Monday Feb. 23, J and I drove into town to interview for all of those jobs in person. When I left the interview for the listing J sent me (which was a 2+ hour interview, no less), I admitted to J when I got in the car that I just didn’t want to leave. Their home felt like home to me.
I was lucky enough for them to offer me a job mere days later. Everything went into high gear from there for us from packing up our home to securing an apartment, etc.
My hours allow for me to keep my normal writing schedule of 7-11 daily which is just unbelievable.
So I’m here. I said sayonara to Buies Creek on Monday, and I start my job later today. I’m crashing with our college buddies, and J will be following on the 14th!
Honey, I’m home!
by Joey | Mar 2, 2015 | Throwback
…since December
We’re leaving Buies Creek.
Until last week, we didn’t know
where we were going.
We just knew we were leaving.
But now we know where we’re going.
So yeah, we’re moving.
We’re moving… WE’RE MOVING!!!!
BACK TO CHARLOTTE!
Praise Jesus, Hallelujah!
Back to land of Targets and Restaurants!!
There are angels singing somewhere. You hear them too, right?
There is a whole lot of story here; some is mine to tell and some isn’t. Things have been insane the last few months and only got more so in the last week. I’ll go into details eventually, but I knew I couldn’t move without saying anything.
I’m leaving tomorrow. I know. I KNOW! Last week when we went on that sneaky little adventure? Yeah, I was attending job interviews. I landed a job (yay), and it starts on Wednesday. I’ll be staying with a friend for a couple weeks until J joins me later in the month.
That, my friends, is life. You never know what’s around the next corner.
In the meantime, I’ll be a weeeeee bit MIA as we make this transition.
And I PROMISE you a post coming soon with a little more information on
what the heck just happened.
by Joey | Feb 26, 2015 | Throwback
**First and foremost, thank you all so much for the love on Tuesday’s post. You guys are amazing!**
man I love that city
>> J and I went on a little getaway to Charlotte this week! It was a little last minute, but man was it awesome to be back in our old stomping grounds! We got to visit with a friend from college/when we lived in Charlotte, so that was really fun!
>> We also ate a lot of good food. Specifically, Toast. Well, we didn’t actually eat toast, but we both woke up pretty early on Tuesday (to a snow storm, no less), so we got dressed and ready and went to have brunch at Toast! Not only was it awesome to sit and have a leisurely brunch with my man, but the food (and the coffee!) were so so good.
>> Going from the good to the bad, I had probably my worst customer service experience in a food establishment of my life on Wednesday. I wish I were just being dramatic, but the way I was spoken to and treated at the Starbucks in Salisbury, NC on our way home was absolutely unforgivable. It was so bad that I’m not sure I’ll be able to bring myself to support that business for a while. I couldn’t believe it. Maybe that’s a sign that I should start passing over the ‘bucks for local coffee shops.
>> I was so busy from Sunday until now that I have hardly had a moment to breathe! I don’t know how you all balance so much life. I only got 2 hours of sleep on Sunday night, too, so I think I still need to catch back up! I think a night of tylenol PM is in order.
>> I GOT TO MEET RYAN!! I feel weird saying that because it didn’t feel like I was meeting her. It felt like I was meeting a friend for lunch. It felt…so freaking normal! But oh my goodness was it absolutely lovely or what! I think we’ll have to arrange more of those types of dates! If only she didn’t live in stinking Texas! (And let’s hope NC is nice to her and doesn’t hold her hostage with this winter weather)! She is the most adorable and genuine person!! It’s always so refreshing to meet someone in person who is the same as they seem online!
Alright friends. The husband and I have some life stuff going on right now. I’ll share details as soon as I can (we are okay!), but I might be a little MIA from blogland for the next few weeks. Things will resume their normal schedule very very soon! Love you guys so much for all your support lately!
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by Joey | Feb 24, 2015 | Throwback
The rain came pouring down
when I was drowning
that’s when I could finally breathe.
-taylor swift
Remember on Friday when I mentioned I’d had a mini-breakdown sitting in Starbucks? Since then, the rain has started pouring down. But sometimes the rain isn’t always a bad thing. For most of North Carolina, actually, it’s a really good thing. It washed away the snow and ice that caused so many problems.
But in the way of life, the rain has been a little different. You know how they say when it rains it pours? Oh gosh, you guys. It is true. It is so true.
While it feels good for the rain to wash away all the things we’ve been holding on to for dear life, it’s scary to be wiped clean.
The water filled my lungs
I screamed so loud
but no one heard a thing.
-taylor swift
But that’s where Taylor Swift is wrong. So, so wrong. I screamed out, alright. I cried, I begged. I needed the rain. I asked for the rain.
And God sent the rain…
