North Carolina Residents :)

Well, it has been exactly one week since we arrived in NC with the last of our belongings. We said good-bye to Florida as we made the long drive up I-95, stopping at rest areas along the way to capture some video of our trip (hope to be edited soon!). I'm happy to say that the majority of our stuff is organized into some designated area here at my parents' house and we've had quite a productive first week!

On July 4th we attended my family's church where we were greeted with warm smiles and welcomed into the area. We spent the evening watching fireworks at the town next to ours and were able to enjoy a day at Tweetsie Railroad on Monday. We went as a family since my dad was off of work and my youngest sister had a friend with her. I had not been to Tweetsie in over 10 years and it was quite the treat. Matthew and I marveled at how peaceful and relaxing the park was compared to a busy Disney World. We decided we'll certainly take our own children back there one day so they can experience the train adventure and the beautiful mountains (ah, mountains make my heart sing!). We thought our niece and nephews would love the place as well. Following Tweetsie, we drove down the road to Blowing Rock and paid the small fee to see the sight, an Indian legend. After taking pictures and eating some much needed ice cream, we loaded up the cars to make the 3 hour drive back home.

In the meantime, I have applied to approximately 5 more jobs and was called for an interview on Thursday! My sweet husband drove the hour long commute to drop me off and picked me up after with a pretty bouquet of flowers. I love his thoughtfulness :) Overall the interview went well and I will find out the decision sometime next week. I'm hoping to get the rest of my paperwork in Monday/Tuesday and will continue the waiting period from there. We've been praying and listening during this time of waiting and Matt & I know God will certainly take care of us and show us the right way. Aside from my job hunting adventures, Matthew hopes to be in the office of a production studio helping out in the next week or two. He received an e-mail about coming in to assist with editing and we pray that will lead to something great!

We had lunch with friends, the Elias, in Durham on Thursday and loved the time we were able to spend visiting and chatting with them at a great place called Parker & Otis. Tonight we are going out for pizza in downtown Raleigh as we are now a part of a pizza club (woohoo!). Friends of ours, a couple we did video work for in their wedding down in Florida, has moved to the local area here and invited us to join. They are heading it up and were a part of a pizza club in Orlando in the past. We get to eat pizza at popular places once a month as we search for the best. We're excited to be with old friends and meet new ones, as well as get some good food!

We'll be leaving Borders soon to head out for dinner. Internet at the house is sadly very slow... so venturing out for internet will be quite frequent for us. Thankfully the library in the town over from ours is very nice and has great internet service. We just happen to be at Borders (a favorite of mine) in Wake Forest because we shopped around the Raleigh Flea Market today. It's tempting to buy all the wonderful things I see, but I am reminded that we don't have a place of our own yet, and we don't know what our next place will look like. We will have to share our interesting finds in another post though!

I'll close with a picture of us on top of Blowing Rock. Look at those mountains!

Scrapbooking Projects

I thought I'd share the digital scrapbooking pages I have created with my Memory Mixer software. I'm still new with the whole thing, but I love creating the pages to give as gifts. I do wish to create an album of our first year of married life, but have yet to begin :) My biggest dilemma is deciding what type of paper I would like to use or what embellishment would look best - then taking the time to look at everything I have and search online for more. I think I just need to give in and buy the online themed packets here and there when I see something I like rather than spend hours searching. I might try to do another page later today.

I printed these size 12x12 and bought nice frames from Michael's. My mom loved it and has them hanging in her craft room!

When my dad saw what I had created for Mother's Day, he said, "You know, that would make a great Father's Day gift." I took his advice and created pages for him too. He has yet to see them because they weren't quite ready for Father's Day. Dad will get them this weekend. :)

I created this page last week for the girl I've babysat since she was an infant (5 years!). I'm going to miss her very much when we move. It's placed in a white frame and will match her room perfectly!

"Where Shopping is a Pleasure"

My how we will miss this beloved grocery store when we move to North Carolina. In fact, I miss it already. If you have never been to a Publix, and happen to be in the southeastern US, then do make a stop in one and here's why...

You see, the husband and I decided to shop at Wal-mart {shudder} for groceries when we were first married because we assumed it was the more frugal option and being newlyweds, we were in it to save money. If you've ever been in a Wal-mart, at least here in Florida, it is pure chaos! You go in with a "get in - get out quick!" mentality. Oh, and need I mention the loooong lines? Or how when you opt for the short DIY checkout you almost always end up waiting for assistance? :( Have you even tried to squeeze down the bread aisle? [insert other frustrations here]. As my husband puts it, "Crazy people don't go to Wal-mart. Nobody is crazy before they get there - Wal-mart creates the crazy people." Agreed, agreed. Now don't get me wrong, I still choose to frequent the store for craft supplies and other various items when necessary, just not for food. One day I expressed to Matthew how instead of going to Wal-mart for our grocery shopping, I wanted to go to Publix - where shopping is a pleasure (I have to add that in there because it's so true!). We've been there many times before when we needed different items for a particular recipe or wanted better quality produce, but for a time Wal-mart had our $ due to the convenience of the location on our way home from church. We put an end to that madness!

Grocery shopping can be quite a chore, but when I go to Publix I admit that I honestly feel fine, even good, about going! You can't beat the friendly workers either. What about prices, you might ask? Well, with plenty of BOGOs and amazing coupons for great quality products, you are doing yourself a favor by skipping out on the chaos elsewhere. And if you still aren't convinced, please check out their website... www.publix.com. My favorite is checking out the Season's Peak portion of the site where I can read about the fruits and veggies in season, as well as find recipes of what to do with them. You may wait in a long line every now and then, but guess what? It's ok because you're at Publix! Yes, it's true, I heart Publix. Call me crazy, but I walked into the store yesterday for the last time and left knowing I just had to pass on the goodness! I could go on, but I'll spare you the grocery talk :)

And Publix, if you're out there in the blogging world, pass this plea on to the big guys upstairs...

Dear Publix, We will miss you oh so very much. Please come to North Carolina so the Taflans can enjoy grocery shopping once more (sigh).