Weekend Recap | Moving to the DUB

Amazing art by my bestie

Everything hurts...

my hands from carrying boxes, my legs from going up and down our stairs, and my back from the never-ending packing that happened all last week. But it's done, we've moved! I've still got a week left in Statesboro to finish up work and clean out the house, but we loaded up the biggest U-Haul I've ever seen on Saturday morning and drove to Dublin that afternoon.

Dublin's own Villa Blanca {RHOBH anyone?}

After unloading, eating the most delicious pizza ever {probably due to moving-induced starvation}, and taking by far the most amazing shower of my life, I slept in our new house! Sunday was filled with coffee on the back porch with the pups, picking out Round 2 of paint for the living room {who knew there were so many grays!}, and being blessed once again by the TJ Maxx gods with enough matching curtains and curtain rods that match our look!

Side story: our first night in the house was supposed to be Valentine's Day, but we moved in a week early. My gift to CJM was this shiplap sign with our name and the house's coordinates on it, similar to how my wedding jewelry from him had important coordinates, too! I got it on Etsy, and it looks so good! 

Without any Internet or TV, and phone data in my case, CJM and I had sushi on the coffee table while watching a movie last night to celebrate a successful weekend. We are so grateful for all of our supportive friends and family who helped us move; it's truly a labor of love to help someone move. It's so nice to plan on not moving for a really long time.

Can't resist the fun holiday decor!

After I finish up work next week, I'll have a couple of weeks to unpack and get everything settled before starting my new job. I'm looking forward to getting to know the neighborhood and area much better, and relaxing while working on some fun projects throughout the house and on the blog--I can't wait to share!

6 Tips to becoming a Pro-Packer

I thought I was a pro-mover. Having moved every two years growing up {and sometimes on only three weeks notice} taught me the importance of throwing things away before the movers pack trash in a box, and organizing things to be packed in the way you want them to be unpacked. But see here's the thing: we had movers. It's a little different if you're doing it yourself and just moving across town. This move, we have a lot more stuff and a lot more furniture. Packing the U-haul is going to be like playing a major game of Tetris! 

But I have learned a few useful tips that I'd like to share and hopefully make someone else's life a lot easier in the future:

• Take out the Trash: Every time I start packing, I throw stuff away. It's my goal to throw out a whole bag of trash after each packing session. This is hard for someone who wants to hold on to every note, coupon, sauce packet, etc. Maybe I am a hoarder... I'm also trying to purge decor items that either don't match what we have now, or what we're planning on for the future. Moving into our own home will come with a lot more customization opportunities than what I've had renting, so I don't want to hold onto things that don't match the new house or new look.
• Little box carries a lot: My box packing mantra. I like to reuse boxes that have come in the mail that are usually on the smaller size as they carry clothes, makeup, or books. These boxes are typically wider and much more shallow than your traditional moving box, so it forces me to pack less which lends to more boxes but a lot easier time hauling them down a flight of stairs and across a parking lot. Another box favorite? Chick-fil-a fry boxes. Probably the sturdiest boxes I've ever run across. Call before lunch and have them hold their lunchtime boxes for you to pick up after 2 p.m. You'll get a ton. 
• Mix and Match: Fill your china boxes with dish towels. Put books in your rolling suitcases. Put random items that aren't necessarily related, like mixing fall and Valentines Day decor, but need to be stored in the same location, in the same box. My somewhat OCD brain wants everything to be organized and orderly, but mixing allows you to save packing filler materials, and also prevents over packing too many heavy items like a box full of only books.
• Pack what you want First, Last: After loading the trailer during the morning and driving to the new house a couple of hours away. I know I'll be exhausted. So I'll need my bed, linens and pillows, and bathroom things first. Pack everything first and make sure all bed and bath items are easily accessible. After dragging in the mattress, you'll probably have just enough energy to hang the shower curtain, brush your teeth, and sleep on top of the mattress with just a sheet...and not the fitted one. 
• Clean out the Kitchen: Do Not take old food to the new house! Even if it's just a box of brownie mix. Moving is a great time to clear out and start over with a fresh, new outlook on life. This is something I'm really not good about, but when the move is more than just across town, it's kind of a necessity. I also find that I have a little bit of my great grandmother in me, and save ziploc bags, tin foil, and twist ties to reuse. This is not the time to move them to the new place! Just start a new collection. 
• Organize You: For me, this means my personal files. Actually put away the W2s and the pile of paperwork that comes with buying a house into their appropriate locations, and not just let them stay in the stack on the kitchen table. I need to print out all of my references about transfers from my email {mail, power, etc.}, that way in case anything goes wrong or isn't turned on, or is lost, YOU have reference of what was supposed to happen at your fingertips in your personal file folder. 
  
  BONUS TIP! Another organizational process shared with my by a co-worker and mom is to only move furniture into the house first. If you have a garage, fill it with aisles of boxes, only a few high, and bring in a few at a time to intentionally unpack and put away. They can still be grouped by rooms in the garage, but it prevents having boxes all throughout the house for months at a time. Plus, if you're like me and super excited about having a garage again for the first time in years, you're going to be working in overdrive to get the space freed up! 

What are some of your best #movingtips? 

I never thought I'd write this blog post.

Products c/o Deep River Outfitters 

Sounds dramatic, right? While not meant to be entirely "clickbait," it's sort of the truth.

When I moved back to Statesboro almost three years ago, it felt like coming home. It was my "safe space" away from a terrible year filled with stress, disappointment, broken hearts, and too many other challenges to name. I knew Statesboro was a place of growth and also of healing for me. With CJM in Savannah, it was as close as I could be to him during pharmacy school, and was a place where we both wanted to end up eventually. Statesboro felt like home; like a place we could envision getting married and raising a family.

We definitely have made a lot of memories in Statesboro. We've made new friends, grown personally, and laughed a lot. CJM took a job out of town after graduation, and in the fall, we realized that this continuation of our long distance relationship was not going to work for us. While I am thankful for my independent spirit, I crave creating a life with my husband.

I'd like to actually see him every day, even if it's late after a 12 hour shift, instead of just once or twice a week. I want to create friendships and memories with him, and grow together as husband and wife. And that doesn't happen easily when we sometimes have less than 48 hours together each week.

After more or less exhausting our options in Statesboro, we began to consider where we were being led. Both of us had an innate feeling that we were supposed to be near family and where he could accomplish very specific career goals. I've spent the last few months being supportive and watching all of the pieces of our new life somewhat fall into place at the exact moments I needed them to when praying for guidance, encouragement, and confirmation. I've only just recently begun exploring my own personal options, with the ever-growing realization of all that I'm leaving behind.

In just a few short weeks, we will be packing up the home we came home to from our honeymoon, and moving to Dublin, Georgia; CJM's hometown. We have found and fallen in love with what will be our very first home, and I can't wait to share with you once we close and officially move in around the middle of February.

I'm actually getting excited: the idea of decorating our true first home, making it our own, and all the memories that will come along with it. But I'm also a little nervous about finding a job, as well as making friends, in a place that I truly know very few people. I haven't had to do that in a while, and I know it will be an adjustment from seeing my best friend almost every day. I've spent the entire time of knowing Christopher saying I would never live in Dublin, but here we are, getting ready for another big change.

So the next few weeks will be a rush of getting rid of all the junk I've collected the past few years, sorting things into what room they will be living in at the new house, and boxing up each space one room at a time. I've got a running list of all the place to eat at in Statesboro that Dublin doesn't have {El Som anyone?}, and I'll probably be stopping in Walker Boutique once a week to try and get my fix, as well as pick up a few new pieces for the new house.

But we are excited. We have been so supported by family and friends in Statesboro and throughout the South during this time, and I'm forever grateful for these lifelong relationships. We're also super excited about these really cool hats. No, we don't normal twin like this, but I discovered Deep River Outfitters and the Hometown Traditions "Calling Home" hats in our new area code on Instagram and thought they were so cool!

Similar in style to the well known Aviate collection, these hats feature local  Georgia area codes like 912, 404, 770, etc. They're available online, and also at local retailers like The Exchange in Dublin! They come in a few different colors depending on the style. I love the idea of building the sense of community with your brand, and Deep River definitely does that through their products and their motto, "Live Deep." We're going to be living deep in the Dub very soon!

Be sure to follow them on Insta and show them some love like they've shown to us and our move--if you do place an order, let them know you found them through my blog! And of course, continue to follow here and on my Instagram to see more about our upcoming adventures.

Photos taken by the bestie, Kirstie. Thanks for doing life with us. Dublin is less than two hours away. No excuses.

How to Cut the Cable Cord

Let me start off by saying two things. 1. I'm addicted to trashy TV. Real Housewives, Teen Mom, Marriage Boot Camp, etc. Maybe I'm more addicted to reality TV, because I love AGT, the Bachelorette, and any/every food show, too. 2. I love to save money. I love coupons, cutting financial corners, and basically anything that makes me feel like I'm getting a deal. Which sometimes makes shopping for clothes {and cars!} a little bit challenging.

When I graduated from college and moved to the Atlanta suburbs, one of my monthly bills was a $125 {first year deal! ugh.} cable/internet package. I moved back to Statesboro literally one year to the day of the contract starting, so I never actually experienced the price increase. A high bill, plus the rather disappointing South Georgia cable and TV offerings pushed me over the edge: I cut the cable cord.

Acrylic monogram tray, Kirklands, old | Similar, here

For a few months, I survived solely on Internet, Netflix, and an antenna in my attic to get local Savannah stations but when I moved across town, the antenna option just really didn't work for the new house. I added Hulu to the mix and knew the combo was almost meeting my TV needs, but I identified one major hole: Bravo. I had no Real Housewives. At least not in a timely, and visually pleasing manner.

This week, I decided to take advantage of a one week free SlingTV offer. I've heard of SlingTV a lot of the last year or so, but it was never quite right. Lately, they've updated their offerings to two basic packages at $20 and $25, with handful of "themed" add on packages for $5 or so. Lucky for me, Bravo is included in the $25 SlingBlue package.

I downloaded the app on my Amazon Fire {I have the stick in my bedroom, and the box in the living room through which I stream Hulu & Netflix, too} and have been so impressed! You can watch the channels in real time, there is a guide of what's coming up and when, and there are on demand offerings, too! I was able to watch RHOC when it actually came on Monday night, and caught up with RHONJ on Wednesday. CJM and I have enjoyed starting Season 2 of UnReal on SlingTV, after watching the first season on Hulu a few weeks ago {in like one day. Go watch it.}.

The loading speed is good, and the picture quality is very high. There are a few maneuvering things I wish the remote and the program would respond to differently, but overall, I absolutely love it. I'm able to watch what I want to watch without limitations such as available the day after it airs, and can even catch up on some local and national news. For roughly $45 a month, I've got all that I need for TV. Depending on your preferences, Hulu + SlingTV or Netflix + SlingTV may work just fine. I like having all three, because I feel like they each offer different things. I just love having the ability to control how much I'm paying and for what.

This review is completely my own; post is not a collaboration with any company listed above. 

#2015bestnine

2015 has been such a whirlwind of a year. Today, I'm exactly four months away from getting married and with New Year's Eve tomorrow, it seems like the perfect time for reflection.

2015 Best Nine Memories

My best memories of this past year don't exactly align with my most popular Instagram photos of the year, but they're pretty close.

1. Engagement pictures--this was something I had looked forward to for such a long time. We had a great day with the perfect weather, as well as an excellent photographer who helped me relax and perfectly captured our relationship. Christopher and I both talk about how much fun we had on that day, and how excited we were to look through the pictures only a million times. 
2. Dolls Do HHI--The first of hopefully many annual college girlfriends weekends during the last weekend of July on Hilton Head Island. Too many memories from this weekend to count, and too many we may not remember...oops. 
3. Georgia Southern football games--something I look forward to every year, but this year was by far the best. We got into a really good groove, and I loved having my regular weekend visitors stay with me!
4. My best friend's wedding--Niki's wedding was a definite reoccurring theme throughout 2015. Weddings seem to provide extra opportunities for fun times together, which I love. We had a great time going on her bachelorette in Chattanooga, and her wedding was perfection. 
5. Wedding planning--Once we settled on a date in early spring, planning my wedding truly began! Finally! It's been something I've really enjoyed and has been relatively stress free. I've had a while to cultivate a vision and feel for the day, which has helped the other events like showers and things come together seamlessly as well. Of course, I couldn't do this without my mom and Maid of Honor, as we hash and rehash everything a million times each night on the phone! 
6. Moving into my new house--I moved into a new house at the end of February which I am incredibly thankful for. It has been a place of serenity for me, as well as a home full of laughter and love, filled frequently with friends and family. I'm thankful to have the space to share and time together. 
7. Starting Therapy--maybe this isn't the cool thing to talk about, but starting to see a therapist regularly has been life changing for me. It's something I look forward to, and something I've grown from. Most people know that my life over the past two/three years has been tumultuous at best. After keeping a strong front, I finally wore down and could not handle the stress any longer. After working through some bigger, overarching issues, my sessions focus a lot of self development and being an emotionally healthy person. My goal from the beginning has been that I want to be my best self for my marriage. I feel like therapy has helped all of my relationships so much, but also my own personal sanity and physical health as well. If you're questioning it, don't--just find someone you're comfortable with and trust. It's life changing! 
8. Phi Mu--I've become an advisor for my Phi Mu chapter this year, and have also taken on an important role in the chapter's housing corporation. It's been challenging, but so very rewarding. I love spending time with the girls that were mine when I was the new member director, as well as learning from the alums that are still involved 60+ years after graduating.  
9. Friendships--My friendships have evolved a lot this year. I've also needed my friends more this year. It takes a while to transition from seeing your friends everyday in college, to incorporating them into your daily life postgrad in an intentional, real way. I've also developed more 'adult' or 'professional' friendships that I enjoy.  I'm thankful for the reconnections, the closeness, and joy that I've experienced in these relationships and can't wait to celebrate together in the coming months. 

Thankful for an amazing 2015, but I know 2016 is going to be even better...I can't wait!

Moving Mania

the white house

Hello, end of-March! I never do well in February when it comes to maintaining the blog. It's too short, and crammed way to full with holidays, parties, and work events. Then today, I look down and noticed it's the last week in March--oops!

In February, I moved into a new house! It was crazy, but I'm finally getting settled into a beautiful new home that will work well once Christopher (hopefully) is in Statesboro full time after he graduates next year.

It's a great older home with a large yard for the dogs, and plenty of running around room on the inside too. I feel like I'm still in a moving kind of transition as I realized I need some new pieces to complete the look of a larger home, and I've not hung up a single thing. I love being in a detatched real house--it's so quiet, and Layla barks so much less. Plus, I have awesome neighbors, which makes it all really fun.

Now maybe I can think about blogging again, as we head into the busy spring with wedding planning, multiple Easter functions, and a multitude of work. Be on the look out for some of the things I'll be using as inspiration for my wedding next spring! *eeek!*

New sofa table from Humble Abodes in Statesboro, GA

First really big, big girl purchase: brand new W&D.
Also notice, this house has a dishwasher--yippee!

On the Move

I thought I was a pro-mover. Having moved every two years growing up {and sometimes on only three weeks notice} taught me the importance of throwing things away before the movers pack trash in a box, and organizing things to be packed in the way you want them to be unpacked. But see here's the thing: we had movers. While I did move three times by myself in college with friends' help, and moved last year with my family's help, moving all by yourself is a totally different experience. I keep looking around with no idea where or how to start, especially since I've spent maybe five whole minutes in my new house. Last year I spent time in the apartment, looking at the floor plan, and plotting where everything was going to go. This time around, I'm not totally sure my kitchen table will fit in my kitchen.

I know I've already committed some cardinal moving 'sins.' I wrapped fragile kitchen pieces in newspaper {I was being stubborn, okay? Determined to make the newspaper work. And yes, I realize my hands and my glasses are now black}. I packed a whole bookcase in one box. Whatever, I'll carry it.

But I have learned a few useful tips that I'd like to share and hopefully make some other single person's life a lot easier in the future:

• Take out the Trash: Every time I start packing, I throw stuff away. It's my goal to throw out a whole bag of trash after each packing session. This is hard for someone who wants to hold on to every note, coupon, sauce packet, etc. Maybe I am a hoarder...
• Little box carries a lot: My new box packing mantra. I took all of the boxes that yearbooks came in from school to pack the majority of my things for this move. I figured if they carried heavy yearbooks, they could carry my stuff. These boxes are wider and much more shallow than your traditional moving box, so it forces me to pack less which lends to more boxes but a lot easier time hauling them down a flight of stairs and across a parking lot. Another box favorite? Chick-fil-a fry boxes. Probably the sturdiest boxes I've ever run across. Call before lunch and have them hold their lunchtime boxes for you to pick up after 2 p.m. You'll get a ton. 
• Mix and Match: Fill your china boxes with dish towels. Your book boxes with small blankets. Your suitcases with hangers on top of the giant stack of clothes. My somewhat OCD brain wants everything to be organized and orderly, but mixing allows you to save packing filler materials, and also prevents over packing too many heavy items {see bookcase box above}.
• Pack what you want First, Last: We're loading the trailer Saturday morning and driving to the new house four hours away. I know I'll be exhausted. So I'll need my bed, linens and pillows, and bathroom things first. Pack everything first and make sure all bed and bath items are easily accessible. After dragging in the mattress, you'll probably have just enough energy to hang the shower curtain, brush your teeth, and sleep on top of the mattress with just a sheet...and not the fitted one. 
• Clean out the Kitchen: Do Not take old food to the new house! Even if its just a box of brownie mix. Moving is a great time to clear out and start over with a fresh, new outlook on life. 
• Organize You: For me, this means my personal files. All of my copies of bills and receipts from the past year need to be filed. My new lease needs to go in place of my old. I need to print out all of my references about transfers from my email {mail, power, etc.}, that way in case anything goes wrong or isn't turned on, or is lost, YOU have reference of what was supposed to happen at your finger tips in your personal file folder. 

What are some of your best #movingtips? 

Smile Because it Happened

Whoa. What a year. As I look back from the time I started this blog on April 24, 2013, till now, it kind of knocks me off my feet. This year has been an absolute whirlwind, full of ups and downs, tears and smiles, opportunities and closed doors.

The new season of my life started in a flash: Christopher and I got engaged on April 28, 2013. Two days later, Christopher was accepted into pharmacy school...in Savannah. Two weeks later, I graduated college. Two weeks after that, I moved to my own place in North Georgia and away from my home in South Carolina as my family was getting ready to relocate to North Carolina, nine hours away from me.

Fast forward a few months, and my family and all I've ever known is crumbling around me. The perfect picture of what I thought I ever wanted for my future was shattered; more like ripped from my hands and shredded into hundreds of tiny pieces. Couple that with living a day away from the people I so desperately wanted to protect, and five hours away from my fiance, and I wonder how I even functioned some days. The amount of tears and feelings of loneliness I've experienced in the past ten months are things I hope I never have to experience ever again.

Needless to say, this year has not turned out to be anything like the one I expected when I started this blog last April. I suppose if you don't have expectations, you avoid disappointments, but I've not managed to make that work for me. I feel like if you don't have expectations, you don't have a focus or a plan, so how do you get things done?

As always, when I let go, God steps in. Prayers for guidance and focus, as well as to be close to loved ones have been answered. I am thrilled to announce that I have accepted a position at the Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce as the Communications and Special Events manager! I will be relocating back to Statesboro in just a few short weeks to join an amazing community that I love and have missed. I am incredibly thankful for the experience I've gained during the past year, but am so excited to be back with all of my best friends and only a short drive away from my fiance! Finally, I can say I am once again looking forward to the upcoming changes in my life with positive energy--I can't wait to see what comes next, and hope you'll continue to follow along with me.

My sweet new home in Statesboro

I Said YES!

Well this week has been eventful.

During the weekend of April 20th, me, my mother, and my boyfriend Christopher went to Atlanta to see my new apartment, where I would be working, and to re-establish a feel for the place. Having grown up in the area it was a really neat experience to look at my old stomping grounds and think of how new it was actually going to be. On our way back to Statesboro that Sunday, Christopher asked me to meet him in Myrtle Beach the following week. I thought this was odd, Hilton Head is much closer to Statesboro, and driving four hours to meet me was really out of his way. But he persisted and I complied.

All week I wondered, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. A hopeless romantic, I had wondered if an engagement was going to happen a few times before, but it hadn't yet. I even told Christopher to not get my hopes up, I was already thinking it was going to happen. He said he wasn't going to (liar).

The week flew by and I went home for the weekend to start painting furniture for my new home (posts to follow!). As Sunday arrived, I over analyzed every event thinking to myself "If I was going to get engaged today this would make sense..." but when I hadn't heard from Christopher by early afternoon, I figured he was still asleep from his late night working and wouldn't make it in time for us to go. So I settled in to watch a Hallmark movie with my mother, still in my dress from church.

When Christopher finally arrived, my whole family practically shoved me out the door, with me still in my church dress. We drove to The Beach House Bar & Grill, one of our favorite places for some crab legs (which Christopher barely could eat). After dinner, he surprised me by taking me to ride on the SkyWheel ferris wheel across the street. Ferris wheels have a somewhat significant meaning for us as we met at the Statesboro Fair on my 20th birthday.

I got more and more nervous each time the wheel went around, until finally on the last rotation it stopped at the top. Christopher got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him and become his wife. He pulled out the most amazing ring, and I began crying. After he reminded me to answer him, and to which I said YES!, we descended and got off the ride. Still crying, I turned to look and see my whole family waiting for us on the other side of the gate.

I am so incredibly blessed to have such an amazing fiance and family. They did everything to make this the best day of my life, and I can't wait for so many more to come!

Piper & Christopher

Engaged April 28, 2013--Mytle Beach, South Carolina

Starting Out With a New Blog

I'm not exactly new to the blogging world. My mother first introduced me to blogging after her success at Southern Somedays. I started my first blog towards the end of my senior year and high school. While I enjoyed it greatly, the busy season definitely set in with Rush and my first semester of classes and I got a little side tracked. Then I was forced to blog in my communications classes, and that unfortunately seemed to sap any creativity from me.
      Now that I am about to graduate from Georgia Southern University with a degree in Public Relations (in three years, too!), I've rediscovered my writing side thanks to the multitude of excitements that have been coming my way in recent months. I've accepted the position of Director of Admissions, Marketing, and Public Relations for North Georgia Christian School in Flowery Branch, Ga., and will be relocating back to Hall County at the end of May. I attended NGC for the majority of my school career, so I am thrilled to be returning to such a sweet family.
     I will be moving in to an adorable apartment that I can't wait to decorate, and will be only 45 minutes from both sets of grandparents. This is a particular blessing as my parents will be moving to Edenton, NC., at the end of June. Of course, I am terribly distracted from finishing school at the moment with all of the planning that has taken over! All I want to do is paint furniture and buy lamps, which unfortunately is not exactly a conducive environment for writing four papers...
     I'm excited to be starting a new blog. I've rediscovered my creativity and can't wait to share it with the world. I'm excited to be starting a new career at a new (again) place. And ultimately, I'm excited to be Starting Out Southern.