Time flies when you’re living life!

Can you believe that is has already been 6 MONTHS since I moved to Connecticut?? My anniversary was on February 19th, just a couple days ago. It is so awesome to see how far I have come and how I have made a completely new environment and place my own. So what has happened since my last post?

The road trip from Florida all the way up to Connecticut was a long, but extremely fun one. My best friend, Sam, drove with me while my dad drove my rental truck. The day before I am supposed to leave, my dad and I go pick up my rental and head to my Nana’s house where I had put all of my boxes and furniture. When we finished packing everything in, we decided we would head out to go get some hard-earned lunch and then go back to our house to make sure everything else was taken care of before we left in the morning. As we leave, and I’m following my dad in the truck on our way to eat, something goes wrong with my car.

I’m going straight ahead and suddenly my steering wheel is moving a lot, even though me and the car are not. I think to myself, “I don’t think this usually happens, weird,” and I turn a little corner. When I’m straight ahead again, my steering wheel is moving all over the place, my Electronic Stability light in flashing on, and next thing I know I’m pulled off the side of the road with no control over anything as my car is trying to stop on its’ own. Just my luck. I call my dad to have him come back, call the tow truck, and have them tow my car to the Hyundai dealership to figure out what went wrong. After a lot of phone calls and aggravation, they tell me something in my steering had come undone and that they will fix it, but the part won’t get there until tomorrow. Cue the stress. My dad decided he would leave at our planned time and drive the truck up early, and Sam and I would head up once my car was finished.  Angry phone calls, non-stop tears, and almost two days later, my car was fixed and I was FINALLY on the road up to my new home.

Our road trip was a blast. We took turns driving, stopped at fast food places and got something to eat whenever we stopped for gas, and made it to South Carolina before we pulled into a rest stop. We got everything ready for bed and made my car into our house for the night. I brought my mattress pad with me, we put my back seats down, and headed into the back of my car with our pillows and blankets. Only a little bit hungry, we walked to the vending machines inside the rest area and brought a thing or two back to the car to be joined with a couple beers in the little cooler we had. LIVING THE DREAM. The next morning we woke up and headed out to make it to Connecticut at a reasonable time the next day. We finally made it to my new apartment where my dad and my uncle, Jimmy, had *thankfully* unpacked just about everything in the moving truck and were enjoying some beers on my little front deck. Sam and I finished bringing what was left in, talked to my dad and uncle outside for a little bit while we waited for my other friend, Sage, to come over, and we all headed out to dinner to celebrate! Once we came back from dinner, I popped champagne, everyone cheers and toasted to our successful trip, my new apartment, and my future up in the North.

We started unpacking some things the next morning and tried to put the big things into their place before I eventually had to bring my dad and Sam to the airport to go back to Florida 😦 MANY tears and hours had gone by, they were back in Florida, and I was back in my new house all by myself for the first time. I finished unpacking some more things, Sage came back over to check on me and hang out with me, and eventually we called it a night.

I had gone into my new job at the car wash a few days later to do paperwork and to start my sales position! It was a crazy busy first two weeks or so there while I worked 9 days straight with super long hours each day. This helped prepare me for the transition to an official full time job. I tried getting into a routine eventually, using my days off to go to the gym, and got to see some family in the meantime! I spent a day with my other uncle, Sean, and his fiancee, Lia, as we headed out to some breweries and he showed me around his neck of the woods (literally)!

Since moving to a new state, I needed everything to eventually get converted to CT. This included registering my car, getting a new license, and making sure everything was wrapped up in FL. One thing to note, FL DMVs are WAY better than the ones up here, so do not take for granted having to go to one because I waited like 4 hours just to do some paperwork my first day. With a little trouble from FL at first, I eventually had my new license (finally a sideways one 😉 ), an emissions test, and a registered car with CT plates.

In September, my friend Jamison’s 21st birthday was coming up so I planned a little trip for a few days to head up to New Hampshire to celebrate. I headed up to MA first so I could see my favorite little munchkins and cousin, my aunt and uncle, and also stop and see some family friends. While I was there I got to apple picking for the first time with my uncle, which is not a thing in FL! Definitely a change from picking strawberries and blueberries! A few days later I left there and headed up to NH. We celebrated Jamison’s birthday by going out to a bar with his older brother, drank a few drinks, and watched some live music. All in all, a fun trip to see family and friends whom I now live closer to!

I started working a lot, over 40 hours, but was making really good sales! I was receiving a lot of positive feedback from work, getting to know my coworkers very well, and made myself at home! My gramma had come up to visit her family and was heading back down to FL one day, so she even got to come to my house and see what it looked like! We went out to lunch with her and  her sister before they had to leave, and it was so nice to be able to see some FL family again. 🙂

Fall started to come, the leaves on the trees started to change, the weather got a little bit cooler, and I decided to take a hike up one of the mountains near my job. At the top of the mountain they have a tower/museum that gives you some history on the area, how it got there and who used to live there, and an amazing view of the city and the beautiful foliage (something you don’t get in FL). Soon after came Halloween where I headed back over to Sean’s house and got to carve pumpkins with my cousin, Lexie! We challenged and raced each other to see who could finish their pumpkin first (which I did), but we’ll just say that Lexie beat me 😉 it was great being able to see her again since she wasn’t there when I originally saw them, and we had a great time!

After being settled in officially, I was starting to miss playing volleyball a little. I had played all through college so to not be playing anymore was starting to get a little bit sad. I decided I would google to see if there were any recreation teams or leagues that played that maybe I could join, and I was able to apply for one! Their season had started only a couple weeks earlier so teams would start to know if they needed more people or not. A day or two later I heard from a lady on a team that could use a substitute! After some emails back and forth, she told me the would need me to come play at their next game! Our team is an adult women’s team made up of ladies who have known and have played with each other for years, most of whom have also coached before. I’ve always gotten along with people older than me (shoutout to all my moms friends who are also my friends, hahaha ❤ ) and we have had lots of fun playing with each other since then!

Towards the end of October, I planned a surprise visit down to FL with my best friend’s mom so I could make it to their annual Halloween party that also doubled as Sam’s birthday party that ALSO happened to be the same weekend as my sisters’, Courtney and Izzy, homecoming weekend! My trip was a success, no one suspected I was coming at all, and everyone was very surprised! It felt so good to be back home with everyone after being gone for a couple of months.

Shortly after heading back home to CT, I had a Halloween After Halloween party thrown by Sage in his new condo! I was runner-up for the Halloween Contest with my Housewife  costume, and it was great to be able to hang out with him and his group of friends.

Something that NO ONE told me before moving here was that come winter time when it got cooler outside and would soon be snowing, MICE will migrate into your house in order to stay warm. So as you may know if you have me on social media, I learned very quickly that this FL girl can handle a lot of things, but mice is not one of them. I had my landlord, neighbor, and even friends come to my house when I would catch one in a trap because I was not taking them out by any means. I caught about 8 of them so far since the beginning of winter, and am not sure if I just don’t have any more or if they have just gotten smarter and avoid my traps now. Things have definitely died down since we’ve been in winter for some time now, but I had a dream last night that TWO RATS were in my house — let’s hope that stays just a dream.

Sometime in November we got our first snow fall/storm, and I became an official New Englander! Luckily my day off was the day after it had all fallen down so after sleeping in that morning, I began shoveling my driveway out. This, my friends, is no easy feat when you see how long my driveway is. I have since learned that when I am aware we are getting snow or ice of any amount, I will park closer to the end of the driveway where my neighbor parks so then I will only have to shovel a path from my stairs to my car and then maybe shovel from my car to the road. My sister also got me a windshield cover for my car so that definitely helps save me time of having to take snow and ice off in the morning! After spending almost two hours shoveling everything out, I headed back up to my apartment and decided to make a snowman on my front deck! If you got my Christmas card you know I did a little photoshoot with my snowman and did a pretty decent job if I do say so myself!

Next came Thanksgiving, and I baked some goodies to bring to MA where I would be spending the holiday with my uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents. The good thing about living up in New England is that you can drive a couple hours and end up in different states. In FL you just keep on driving for hours and  hours and you’re still stuck in FL. I’m lucky to have so many family and friends within just a few hours of a drive!

As Christmas would slowly be approaching, I started thinking of my Christmas cards. I’m a little extra so you know I had to go all out. I set up my Christmas tree, lights, boxes, and even a reindeer for some pictures that I dragged Sage to my house to come take (mega thanks because they came out BOMB). I picked out my favorite pictures, made all of the guys at my job take pictures with me as well, and ordered my cards to be made and sent to my house. If you got one I hope you liked it, and if you didn’t tell me next time and I’ll make sure to send you one! When Christmas finally came, I headed back down to FL to spend the holiday with my family as well as the family who lives up here! We decided to do Christmas with everyone down there for the first time so it was nice to be able to see everyone all over again. We hung out, had a crazy Christmas, and we spend a day at Disney (crazy, I know) to show the cousins what it is like! It was a blast all around, and a much needed vacation time with the fam.

For New Year’s Eve, I hung out with Sage and a couple of his friends and we headed out to the casino to ring in the new year right. We had an amazing time, and it was so nice to be out and social with some people that I knew. The new year has been going pretty well for me so far as I hope it is for all of you, too!

I have been working six days a week now at work, which is super tiring, but very rewarding at the same time. I have been the top salesperson for the last couple months and have been performing above and beyond even my own expectations. I was given some additional responsibilities at work and am happy to be able to help out my coworkers and managers whenever I can. Since working so many hours, I have been slacking on my gym game which isn’t something I have been used to since I worked out all the time before moving, but I recently started “gym shopping” in hopes I will be able to find a match that works for my schedule and is somewhat on my way to and from work. Hopefully I’ll find one soon.

For Valentine’s Day I went to a UCONN Men’s Basketball game with a friend which was super fun because while this team is a college team, it seems like everyone up here treats it like a professional team! No matter how many basketball games I went to while I was in college at FGCU aka Dunk City, it was nothing compared to being at this game! I also got a new tv stand (what an adult thing to be excited about) so now I don’t have my living room tv on rubbermaid boxes!! Soon I’ll be getting some more movies and adding some decor to it to take up some space but it looks SO perfect in my living room! I made little goodie bags for the guys at work that had some chocolates, candies, and valentines inside that they LOVED, and I even baked some cute heart sugar cookies to give them as well!

Something I get asked a lot since moving up here is how I’m liking the cold, how I’m handling the snow and the ice, and if I miss Florida. I can tell you that if I didn’t have to stand outside for work, I would enjoy the cold a lot more, but we have a very nice heater to stand by and honestly it has not been too bad at all. I am able to layer up and be comfortable where I’m not freezing all the time. As far as the snow and the ice go, I LOVE looking at it while it’s happening and I love how it looks on the sides of the road and on the trees, but I’m not too big a fan of driving in it. When we got snow and ice the other day, I wasn’t even able to move my car out of my driveway to get to work! I also was able to put my window down and then stick my finger through the sheet of ice that was still there haha, it was almost like being in the polar vortex but on a safe level (I send my love and heat to those who had to endure that). While I do miss my family and friends in Florida, I love Connecticut and everything that I have been able to do while up here.

I have been able to pay off my credit card after years of debt and payments, I have been making decent money and have been working towards growing my savings back up again, I have become close friends with my coworkers, and I have absolutely loved living on my own and making my house my own little homey area of space. I feel so blessed to have the opportunities that I do and the support that I have. I might be far away from everyone I know, but I do my best to stay in contact with them and send them cute little cards every now and then. I have learned to cook a few more meals and have taken up some pointers from all the Spanish people at work (I was definitely Spanish in my past life) as well as learn a little more Spanish than I knew before moving here.

While the plan was that after 6 months – 1 year of working sales I would reevaluate my position to possibly become a Manager in Training, I have realized that I am happy doing what I do right now. After the busy season comes to an end and summer starts to approach, I might start looking more into finding a job to launch my career in Human Resources, but we shall see what happens when the time comes. For the time being, I am going to try to take some more time for myself, get back into doing the things I want to do, and continue to work hard and make that money!

If you’ve stayed reading this the entire way through, I thank you for your patience as well as walking with me through this new journey of mine. I appreciate all of you, and always love getting some mail so if you’re ever bored or want to send some love my way just let me know, and I will be more than happy to send you my address! Thanks again, and I hope you enjoyed my six month recap! Until next time!