One Week Down

HELLO! I am writing from Florida, wooooo! I have officially been here for one week today. It hasn't been a particularly interesting week, but I've been trying to get my life together.

I could barely sleep after writing my last blog post. I was really anxious to the point of getting sick in the morning. I couldn't stop thinking about how I will probably never be able to call that house MY house ever again. I kept getting upset about leaving my family and my cats (and the food in Jersey...). I also couldn't stop worrying about what I had packed, if it was too much, if I forgot something, etc. On top of all that, I hate flying. I'm one of those people that always thinks about the plane crashing.

Anyway, that did not make for a very comforting night or morning. I ended up taking a ton of crap out of my bags in the morning because I was scared they would be over 50 lbs. I said bye to my room and my piano and my bad cats, and then we were off. Linny gave me a muffin from her bakery for breakfast, which was delish. We had to drag my huge bags all over the effing airport because my flight was leaving from international but I had to check in at domestic. Then I encountered the biggest security line I had ever seen at an airport. I said bye to my family, which made us all cry a lot. Then I got in line, but they moved me to another line farther away, so I didn't get to turn around and wave bye to them one last time as I was going through. It was better that way though, so I didn't cry even more.

Fast forward to the flight. We sat on the tarmac for a long time, and the pilot finally told us there were 30 flights ahead of us waiting to take off. Then he said they stopped all southbound flights. I was almost positive my flight would be cancelled, but they let us go through eventually. I was only delayed a little over an hour, and only landed 10 minutes late after a very bumpy ride.

It was the best thing in the world to see Eric and Kristin and Ben waiting for me. Kristin was holding a piece of paper that said "DiGiuseppe, Jersey Girl Florida Girl" hahaha loser. I was so happy I wanted to cry when I hugged them.

The first words out of my mouth when we left the airport were "Holy fuck it's hot..." I'm not gonna lie. It was really, really hot and humid. And that is how it's been every day since. And I love it :)

We went to the beach after I dropped my bags off.

Beach!

Happy

<3 !

Then Kristin helped me unpack and organize all my stuff. Thank god I got that out of the way. Unpacking is the worst. Then we went to P.F. Chang's to celebrate :)

The rest of my time here has been spent chillin. I get up and run in the morning most of the time (it is HOT), and apply for jobs the rest of the day. I didn't have a car all last week, so I was stuck at home staring at the computer screen. I'm getting really frustrated, because I've applied to SO. MANY. JOBS. and have not had an interview yet. I know it'll happen eventually, but I want it now.

I sit on the porch and apply apply apply

I did finally get a car on Friday night. Kristin and I had gone to a few dealerships on Thursday to scout them out, and the next night we brought Eric and Ben with us. I know they all loved spending their Friday night helping me buy a car... but I would've been freaking out without them there. Yay for good friends! I was able to get $1000 off the price of the car! My haggling skills are improving ;)

Florida car!

Saturday was busy. Eric and I went to the bank in the morning so I could change my address on my accounts and get a check for the car, which we then had to take all the way to the dealership. Everyone at the bank was so nice, congratulating me on the car and my move to Florida, asking how I like it here. That's the response we get everywhere we go, like in the supermarket when we show the cashier our ID for alcohol (you can buy beer and wine there!). I've really never encountered so many nice strangers.

I helped Kristin weed the flowerbeds that afternoon, and then kinda watched while Ben and Eric made pumpkin beer. And yesterday we went to the beach again.

Eric looking like a tourist making drippy castles... Some lady walked by and gave him the most judgey look hahah

Beautiful

I think I'm transitioning really well so far. I do need to get used to a few things, like the nice strangers... haha. And lizards EVERYWHERE! They dart out in front of me while I'm running. There are a lot of snakes, too. Ben tried to kill one on the porch yesterday, but it got away. I miss my family, but Skype makes it easier for me. I'm a little jealous that I'm not experiencing this "fall weather" you are all talking about up north... but I don't think I'm jealous enough to want to go back just yet ;) I'm loving the weather and the scenery here. Eric and I were talking in the car the other day about how weird it is that we are driving around in Florida, looking at palm trees. It's a big change, and it still feels kind of like a dream to us. We're really grateful that Kristin and Ben have been so welcoming and helpful. I don't think we'd be able to cope with moving away from Jersey without friends. But Eric really likes his job here so far, and I think we can be really happy here :)