Now I swore I'd sleep a whole week when we returned, but if our trip taught me a single thing it is that things hardly go as planned. And oh so rarely is that little life truth proven wrong.
So to catch you up...our way home was supposed to be filled with visiting a bunch of friends right?! And a big final bash in DC right?! Welllll, about that. So to start off, we spent some great quality time with my cousin Laura and her man, Bob in Columbia, MO where we were treated to dinner and loads of unbelievable hospitality. Laura and I stayed up late chatting and catching up, giggling over old family photo albums and what everyone in the family is up to now. We just appreciate them so much, they're always up for a visit for the books! From there it was off to another staple stop for us, to see Shawty in St. Louis. And bless her, she and her great boyfriend, Nick were quite the host and hostess with the mostest for three whole days! She filled our days with a perfect blend of fun and relaxation - some 24 marathons, homemade dinners, bookstores, downtown strolls and a oh-so-fun trip to St. Louis' awesome city museum! Seriously, in you're ever in the area, ya just gotta go! Its like a huge, creative, recycled playground!
And the fun continues for 10 stories, all the way up to the roof! So after a bittersweet goodbye to Shaw, who I wouldn't mind hanging with everyday, we headed to another set of camp friends that I would love to live closer to - Julie and Jeremy. The hospitality just kept right on going. We kicked off with a homemade spaghetti dinner and a perfect, lazy night on the couch. Did I mention I missed some good couch time while we were gone? The next day the workers had to work while the bums had to bum (tis our duty) and that we did. But most importantly, I did spend time on the phone with Katie and Harper to get plans situated for DC. After some back and forth and rearranging, and wonderfully appreciated flexibility on their part, we settled on a plan. Mike and I were siked to see them! We ran to the grocery store to get stuff to barbecue ribs and bake sweet potato fries for dinner for the Julie and Jeremy, earn our keep you know. Repay our sweet friends for being so dear to us. Dinner was well on its way when they got home and we kept adding delicious goodness to our menu and wound up with a feast. It was oh so good! All seems according to plan so far right?! Well we go to check on Sully outside on the back patio shortly after dinner and dun. dun. dun. Sully had thrown up everywhere and we instantly figured out he'd gotten skunked. As in sprayed by a skunk. My poor, pitiful, sweeter than sweet boy! We washed him twice with every tomato juice product Julie had in her kitchen. It knocked the edge off to odor, but not enough. We set up a fan and had Sully sleep his stink off in the garage, and went to bed assuming it would be gone in the morning. Or a the very least bearable. What was that thing about life not going as planned again?! Yeah, in the morning it was worse! We could hardly stand to ride in the car with poor Sully, much less take him to people's homes while we visit in DC. Soooo we made the decision to head on home, although disappointed not to get to follow through with our plans with Katie and Harper in DC! Bummer, but what could we really do at that point? Thankfully, they understood our situation and it'll just make our eventual visit that much sweeter!
So, a bit on the unplanned side but, nonetheless, we made the trip home on July 14th. And after a month and a half away, we hit the ground running. First on the agenda. Jobs. C'mon, have you seen our bank account?! It looks like we've been traveling for a month and a half. Imagine that. We splurged and had ourselves a weekend filled with catching up with family and friends (like my best guy friend that moved to Michigan that I miss so very much, and my BFF that insists on becoming a vet so has to spend her time in Auburn learning and junk) and going up to our high school hangout spot at Wilhite's mountain cabin on Crystal Lake. Such a great time catching up with friends from high school. Yes, please. And later we visited another old tried and true hangout - TTT's in downtown dear old Clemson for Meg's (that soon-to-be vet I was telling you about) 24th birthday.
We can't quite kick it like we used to. :) Anyways, the following Monday I contacted a lady, such a sweet lady, that owns a RD consulting company out of Greenville and went for my interview just yesterday. It went really, really well. Like I'm in, but may have to do with more part-time work until she has more for me to do. That part's a bummer because we can't really pick up and move from our graciously free basement dwelling to our own place in Greenville with one part-time job between the both of us. Not that home isn't our first choice, but we gotta go where the work is. And we'd like a place (a house with a yard for Sully) that we can plant ourselves for a while, and the certainty that Mike can find a job there that he enjoys. He actually impromptu interviewed with an equipment dealership the same day I did. Lloyd was amazing and brought him a set of nice clothes all the way from home so he didn't have to take advantage of the employers free time in the shorts and sandals he initially rode to Greenville wearing. Bless him! Although no effort was in vain, the opportunity they proposed doesn't feel like what we're looking for. Mike was just too overqualified. We'll just keep pumping out his resume and sifting through the nibbles. So, really, even when you get downright serious about planning things they don't quite always go as planned.
But as Mark Twain says, "Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is." Highly applicable to life at the moment. Which is beautifully uncertain. And we thought the adventure was over! :)
