The beginning...

I guess I should start off with the basics and let you know a little about me. Im 31, and I consider myself to be average. If average is high strung, hot tempered, and overly vocal then yes, I am totally average. Born and made beautiful by the great state of Arkansas I can proudly say I bleed Razorback Red and proudly show off any and all of my Hog paraphenalia I can on the beach. How did I get to this beach I now call home here in Destin, Fl? Well first let me ask you this... you think this is some amazing tale of how some corporate girl stood up in her cubicle and shouted "IVE HAD ENOUGH!!!! TAKE THIS JOB AND SHOVE IT YOU CORPORATE SLAVE DRIVING IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", right?  No, this isnt that story. It is the story of supporting the dreams of my spouse and making a sudden move to further his career, leaving behind my new house, job, The Junior League of Northwest Arkansas, alllllllllllllll of my friends from all over Arkansas and my entire family as well.  No big deal, our nations military wives do this everyday right? Heck yes they do and those women are STRONG and AWESOME! Me? I thought I was. I now know better.  Here is how it all went down.

Phone rings some random day in June 2011 and it is my husband calling just to shoot the breeze with me for a moment while Im at work. We do this at least once a day if possible because he works for one of the nations major retailers and has the luck of co-managing it. With that line of work comes pretty much shift like hours, also known as retail hours. 5am to 4pm. 11am-10 pm, and sometimes a mid- shift like 8am to 7pm. We never saw each other. We cover the basics in our 5 minute conversations like " How is your day? Did you remember to pay xyz bill? Will you get off on time to pick up the kid? What do you want for dinner?" and occasionally we share a snippet about something thats happened at work already today. Todays call was  bit different.
" Hey babe, guess what I saw posted on the open job board site at work today?" he says. Im typing away and cursing some moron on email under my breath or seething at my boss for one reason or another and I respond half listening, " Whats that?" I say. " They are builidng a store in Destin, Fl!"  WOW!!! Destin, Fl??!! How cool is that? " Oh yeah?" I ask. " You gonna apply and move us to a beach town before they decide to send us to some random place like No-mans-land Montana?" I laugh.  " Ha, yeah right, they wont move me to Fl. Shan, not unless they need me" he says. " I say, well go ahead and apply, just to see what happens..." 2 phone interviews later and a 2 week moving time frame he was gone!! When the offer comes down you dont decline. You go. He went. I stayed to start the relocation process and it wasnt pretty.

My head and world were spinning!!! How am I going to sell this house? We cant afford two mortgages so where will we live?! I have to find a job! We have to get Blakely in school! How on earth do we tell our friends? What will our families say/do? OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was an emotional nuclear bomb of " WAY TO GO SHANNON!!! YOU JUST TOOK YOUR JUST NOW SIMPLE LIFE AND SHOOK IT UP LIKE A SNOW GLOBE!!" PANIC!!!!!!! and yet.... We were really moving to the beach.. holy moly. So to go back to what I said before, these will not be stories of a gutsy girl who decided she wanted to live like a pirate on the beach. They are of that of a homesick, hardworking ( giggle ), wife, and mother.  Hold onto your seats if you are expecting predictability.. you wont get that here. What I hope you get here is some laughs, some ability to relate, and some reassurance that " yes, running away to live on the beach can be done!!!"  So happy reading! OH and most importantly.. We are 10 minus twenty minuets from the Cotton Bowl featuring my Arkansas Razorbacks.. WPS GO HOGS GO!! Its Mich-Ultra time.  Catch you all later!