So Yeahhh, Florida is HOT!

 

We're 6 days into being Floridians, guys. Holy wow. Can I tell you a secret? It feels like we've been here forever. Like we just slid right back into some comfortable, familiar type of place...only with more palm trees and salad dressing options. We went to the grocery store for the first time last night and I felt some of that reverse culture shock everyone's been talking about. I was overwhelmed by the sheer plethora of cracker flavors. I. WANT. TO. TRY. THEM. ALL! And right now. D had to reign me in from filling our entire cart with Triscuits. Thank goodness for that man. We spent almost an hour and a half roaming the vast aisles of Publix, making googly-eyes at the ice cream section and mega-huge Florida avocados. D could have cried when he saw that some of our favorite Belgian beers were in the cold beer aisle. I was the one who had to reign him in there. We have 12 crates coming across the ocean, sir...pace yourself!

 

 

We've also been to Target, and Walmart, and Starbucks about a half million times in 6 days. There's a flippin' SUPER TARGET right down the road from our house. I think it fell straight from heaven (I had no idea these existed, y'all. My squeals could be heard all through Florida, I'm sure.) There goes all of D's paychecks from here on out! I'm probably gonna have to go start working the pole to fund all the new spending habits America is going to slap on me again. I forgot just how easy it is to spend a dollar in this country. Reverse culture shock again, folks. It is a real thing! All kidding aside, Florida is grand! We have quickly fallen in love with just about everything here. Well, except the heat. Why didn't you guys tell me just how incredibly HOT this state would be???? I mean, we had an idea of the weather conditions, but we were still a bit naïve to exactly how hot and how humid. I stepped off the plane and my hair basically turned into a lion's mane. D sweats the second he walks outside. I'm hoping that over time our bodies will acclimated to the humidity, but as for now, we're two big, sweaty whining babies. Also, Florida thunderstorms are scary.

 

 

The gratuitous "D finally got his beloved Buffalo Wild Wings and then complained about heartburn for 2 days after" shot. Welcome to America! HA!

 

Since our arrival in the Sunshine State, we've been running around non-stop. Appointments and shopping and more appointments...waking up at 5am from jet lag, but crashing at 9pm from sheer exhaustion. Today was the first day we actually slept past 6am. It was a total treat, and much needed. I'll be happy when our bodies have synced up to the time difference, too. I would love to say we've done some Florida sight-seeing, but aside from staying in an oceanfront hotel in Cocoa Beach for the first 3 nights of our arrival, we've pretty much kept to seeing the insides of stores and car dealerships. Which brings me to my newest announcement...we bought a car! YAY! We're no longer a 1 car family, which makes me a very happy camper. Ok, so I lie. We're still a 1 car family for now, but only because D's car is currently on a cargo ship making its way across the pond. Once it arrives in...ahem...August (shoot me now!), we'll go back to the comfort of having 2 lovely vehicles. Many of you may have already seen our brand spanking new Nissan Murano via my post on Instagram, but for those of you who haven't...I literally bought the same car I had prior to moving to Germany. Only 5 years newer and for less money! Hilarious, right? Lord knows how we were able to make that happen, but it did and I'm BEYOND grateful to have my favorite car back in my life. I'm a creature of habit, what can I say? I cried over having to sell my Murano when we moved to Germany...so, it only made sense to get "Pearl" back (we all name our cars, right?) when we made our way back stateside. I didn't expect to get the exact same color, but it's like I reconnected with an old friend. Feels like she never left me. Sometimes we all need a little familiar in our lives. Especially after so many years of the unfamiliar in Europe.

 

 

Let's see, what else is there to tell you guys? Aside from how we're the absolute whitest and least tan people in Florida (thanks, Germany!), I'm also incredibly sorry that I haven't been able to keep up with this space as much as I'd hoped I would. You guys are cool though, right? You know how it is be displaced and literally without any normal routine for an unspecified amount of time. I like to give people this visual to describe what it's like moving back from a foreign country...it's like having pieces of your life puzzle (car, home, cell phone, job, insurance, food, furniture, etc.) just dangling above your head and each day you grab a piece of that puzzle and try to put it back where it's supposed to be. I wish I could say I was officially settled and ready to get my blogging (and life) groove back, but that'd be a load of horse crap. Our puzzle is far from complete. We have regular internet now (woo hoo!), so we're making progress towards some semblance of a settled state. Truthfully though, we're still a ways off. But the light at the end of the tunnel is there...we can see it...it's just one really big, long tunnel. Anywho, I've got one more piece of fun news to share with you tomorrow (or Wednesday, if I'm being honest)...so please come back and say hi to me then! Also, I swear someday I'll email all of your sweet faces back...as soon as I'm sleeping past 7am. You guys are just the most patient readers. I'm the luckiest gal in blog world!

 

Oh, and did I mention my sister (and parents) fly in to stay with us for 4th of July week today? Talk about not being able to wait for things! My mom would have been here Day 1 if I would have let her. We're looking forward to some family time and REALLY getting to enjoy this beautiful state! Talk soon, friends!