Let's Do This

Hey everyone!
I know it's been such a long time since I've written, and for that I apologize.
But what a whirlwind it's been for me!
Ross and I moved into an apartment together (which was when we realized we have way too much stuff); I started a new job (which I love and seriously hope to stay at for a long time); Ross and I got married (woo hoo! It was such a great day. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was absolutely perfect.), and we went on our honeymoon (to Turks and Caicos which is by far the most beautiful place I've ever been, and probably ever will go)!! So, I've had a lot going on. No excuses though! I know I should've been writing the whole time, and I promise to be better at keeping a posting schedule.
I'm thinking of starting a newlywed blog, though there are so many, I'm not sure how to make mine stand out.
Other than with my impeccable wit and charm, that is...

Totally stolen from SweetOnDean.blogspot.com

So that's on the radar. Perhaps. We'll see.
For now, how about some updates?
So, Ross and I moved in together about a month before we got married. Since moving to DFW from College Station in 2011, we haven't lived closer than 45 minutes from each other. Don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining about the long distance. I know a couple that dated and were engaged when they lived several states apart. So I understand, that's not really a long distance. But when we first moved up here after college (that's right folks, I'm an Aggie. WHOOP!), it was really hard adjusting to not seeing him every day. There was a time when we went a couple months without seeing one another. It was really really rough. Like, "is it worth it?" rough. We obviously stuck it out, and made a Friday night date night part of our weekly schedules to make sure we saw each other. Things got much better. Now, we finally live not only in the same town again, but in the same house! We see each other every day! It's awesome.
Oh, and I have hot water, a bath tub that fits human beings, a laundry room with no strangers in it, heat, and a full sized kitchen everything! I'll never take space for granted again.
Ross and I got married! Guys, it was super fun. We wanted it to be a lighthearted celebration, and we nailed it. We had the best officiant ever (thanks, Thomas!). We had two readings and a duet by two practically-family friends that just did AMAZING jobs. One reading was the "Mawwiage" speech from The Princess Bride, which really set the tone.

Taken from DontHateTheGeek.com. Though, you spelled it wrong, so I kinda do...

The wedding party walked in to "Here Comes the Sun" instrumental. Our best friends and siblings were standing up there with us as we said our vows. Ross's brother gave him a Ring Pop instead of my wedding band. In our recessional, this happened:

Watch The Breakfast Club if you're confused.

My dad and I danced to a song he picked, and it was so sweet. Ross and his mom danced to a medley of songs that they love (which was a surprise and awesome). Ross and my first dance was also super sweet. I fell in love with him dancing in College Station, so it's something really special that we share. The music was great; I hardly ever left the dance floor (I'm not a good hostess.). Our cake was the bomb. And I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time. 

The next day we had brunch with the fam and close friends then left for Turks and Caicos. The Turks and Caicos islands is a string of islands on the border of the Caribbean and Atlantic oceans. And it's a screensaver. Check this out: 

I took this at a stop on our kayak tour. 

We kayaked, snorkeled, scuba dove, ate fresh seafood every day, and made cool friends. We stayed on Grace Bay in Providenciales. It's been rated the best beach in the WORLD numerous times. See for yourself.

#nofilter

It was magical.

I started my job 2 weeks before we got married. After being there about a week and a half, the company threw me a wedding shower. Who does that????? I'll tell you who: a company that cares about its employees and truly takes care of them. I'm so blessed to have found this place and been given the opportunity to work for them. After my last two places of employment, I just can't believe this place. It's a dream.

So now, Ross and I are doing our day-to-day being married thing. I gotta say, I really like the guy. ;) Seriously though, I'm loving being married to the man of my dreams who makes me laugh every day. We're friends, and that's special. I know I'm lucky. 

I also know I have more stories of the trailer park to tell! Be on the lookout for the next installments soon. I wish you all the best, and thank you for sticking on this adventure with me.

God Bless Peyton Manning and his 509 touchdown passes,

Ray

"The time has come," The Walrus said...

"To talk of other things. Of RVs and trailer parks. Of meth heads and propane. Of moving out and moving on to a place on Briargrove Lane! Kaloo Kalay we'll move Sunday to a place on Briargrove Lane!"

That's right, friends. Ross and I found our first home! My last day in sunny Shady Grove is Saturday!
As I think about leaving the trailer park behind, I am of course super excited, but it's also incredibly daunting. Well, maybe daunting isn't the right word. I am simply struck with the thought that I am closing a chapter on my life. I am starting another fun, beautiful, and exciting one with Ross, but moving out of the trailer park is signaling to me that nothing will ever be the same. I'll never live alone again, and I adore my independence. I'll cook for two, buy groceries for two, and (ugh) clean for two... I'll have two pets instead of one. I'll have to share DVR space. I'll have to be consciously tidy instead of cleaning up when I finally realize the place is dirty. I'll have to make sure it's OK if I invite company over.
None of these changes are bad. They're just different. I can't wait to live with Ross and marry him. I can't wait to have a full sized kitchen again. We've already discussed splitting up the chores, so cleaning won't be like pulling teeth. I love his (our) dog Lucy, and I've missed having a dog to walk. We watch many of the same shows, so it's not like the DVR will be taken over by crap TV. He's also going to have to work at being a little cleaner because we're sharing space so that's fair. And I would like him to OK it with me if he wants his friends over, too. What if I've had a bad day? What if I just want to zone out on the couch? I could say, "Why don't you just meet them somewhere?" And he could tell me the same thing.
I'm not really freaking out, but I just know that my life is changing, and it will never be the same. I almost feel like I'm losing something, or saying goodbye to something. But that's silly because I'm gaining so much! Ross is the man of my dreams, and I want to be with him forever. I don't want to be single forever, and I certainly don't want to live in the trailer park longer than absolutely necessary. Why do I feel like I'm going to miss being out here?!

Are any other newly wed brides or even long-time wives out there that remember feeling this way? How did you handle it?

Gathering boxes and packing tape,
Ray

Pro Pain: The Saga Continues

It was a grey day in Texas today, and that reminded me of winter when the sun went down early and I froze half the time. And I remembered a great story I hadn't shared yet. It's a doozie.
By now, you know how much I hate being cold, and how easy it was to run out of propane in the winter. Well, one cold winter's night, I am curled up in my bed under about 3 blankets and a sheet along with a personal heater in the shape of a cat watching a scary movie when I realized that I was bundled up under layers of warmth and still really cold. Fearing the worst, I got up and turned the thermostat to 80 degrees. Lo and behold, nothing happens. I'm out of propane. Go figure. Shady Grove fills propane tanks every week day for a fee, but all you have to do is unhook your tanks from the lines into your RV and set them in your driveway for the propane guys to pick up. They return them to your space full, and you can hook them up to your RV and bask in the warmth they give. So, I get my coat and boots on and go out to unhook my tanks so I don't have to do it tomorrow morning before I leave for work.
I shut the tanks off and try to unscrew them from the hose, but the collar on one of them won't budge! I wrap it in my jacket and try. It doesn't give an inch. I go back in the trailer to find a pair of gloves to use, but I can't find them anywhere. I end up grabbing a towel and trying that, but to no avail.  I'm pretty sure it's frozen shut. That sounds like a big problem to me, so I call Bob the best future-father-in-law ever to see what can be done if the collar gets frozen onto the propane tanks. It's about 9 o'clock at night, but he answers with what can only be described as an unamused tone. When I explain to him that the hose connector is frozen onto the propane tank and I can't get it off, he tells me to get that pair of gloves he left. When I tell him that I've already looked for them and can't find them, he's not too happy and gives me a little lecture about making sure I know to fill my tanks BEFORE they both run out. But, being the great future-father-in-law that he is, he offers to come out there to unhook them for me. It's a 45 minute drive for him to come out there from where he and Fran live. I tell him it's really ok, I can go one night. I said I would borrow a pair of gloves from the place I worked and unhook them tomorrow after work.
"But then you'll have to spend another night in the cold because they won't fill the tanks until the next day." He lets out a big sigh. "I'll come out there, just hold on. There better not be a pair of gloves there."
I assure him there isn't, and we hang up. Well, it is still freezing, and I have 45 minutes, so I get back under the covers and start the movie again.
I was watching You're Next, a movie about a holiday that goes terribly wrong. It was just getting good, the bad guys were trying to kill the main character and the suspense was building, when I heard a knock on the door. I was so engrossed in the film that the sound jolted me out of bed before I realized that a killer probably wouldn't knock before he busted in to murder me. Nope, Bob was here. My hero.
I open the door and tell him he almost gave me a heart attack, to which he replied, "Why are you watching a scary movie by yourself?" Good point.
He handed me a pair of gloves he brought and we head to the propane tanks. I put the gloves on and try to turn the collar on the hose. It spins easily. I look up at him (he's 6'6") with my mouth wide open.
"I tried my jacket! I tried a towel! It really wouldn't move before! Really!"

He shakes his head and lets out another sigh. "Gloves make all the difference. You really don't have any? I thought I left a pair for you."
"No, I looked. I didn't find any."
We start back towards the door of the trailer.
"If I find a pair of gloves in here, I'm kicking your ass."
I chuckled at that. Then Bob looked in a drawer I swear I had looked in, and he came up with 2 pairs of gloves. TWO.

I felt what can only be described as hilarious shame.The look he gave me... Well, let's just say I was glad he was leaving. I felt so bad, I apologized profusely and promised I would do a better job of getting my propane tanks refilled before they both ran out.
As he is walking out the door he says, "And don't watch a scary movie by yourself!"
"Don't knock on my door!"
He turns around and says, "Then deal with your own fucking propane!" and climbs in his truck.
Deep down, he's really glad I'm part of the family.


May you always find what you're looking for (before a large, angry man gives you a death stare),
Ray

Shower Time

In an RV (or at least in mine), the hot water doesn't come on automatically. You have to flip a switch that tells the propane to heat up the water. It takes a little while for this to happen, and not a lot of water gets heated at once. When I was moving into my RV, my future in-laws warned me that my showers would need to be much shorter. Fran, my future mother-in-law recommended shaving at a separate time than when I actually showered. In my head, I was thinking, "Oh ok. So a 10 minute shower? I can do that...if I have to."
You see, I enjoy showers, and baths sometimes, very, very much. The hotter and longer, the better. I also like the air around the shower and in the bathroom to be warm so I don't freeze when I get out and dry off. Basically, I like to stay very warm in and out of the shower. In the RV, things get a little tricky.
The first time I try to shower in my new abode, I shaved in the sink first. I figured I'd be using less warm water for that than I would in the shower, so I'd be fine. Leg shaving goes well. The water was barely running, and it stayed warm the whole time. So then I turn the water on in the shower, let it get warm, and get in. It's nice at first. Perfect temperature, nice and steamy. I shampoo my hair, then put conditioner in and lather up my body. In the middle of using my little puff ball thing to dispense my body wash, I feel the water temperature start to lower. And lower. And lower. Suddenly, it goes ice cold. Literally. It's December, and the water comes from OUTSIDE.
I quickly turn it off, freezing to death with conditioner in my hair and soap all over my body. I can't very well stand there all soapy until it heats enough water for me to rinse off, so I turn the water on to the tub faucet. In my head, I just repeat over and over, "This is for Ross. This is for our wedding." I get down on my knees and put my hair under the cold cold cold cold water. That part wasn't too bad, except that my hands got cold. But I'm still covered in body wash. If you can understand how much I hate being cold, and how much I hate being cold inside my own home, you might appreciate the fact that I didn't actually cry out as I cupped my hands under the freezing water and splashed myself with it. It was reminiscent of the self-flagellation of the uber-pious monk in The Da Vinci Code. Not a good experience.

The second time I tried to shower, I thought I had learned a thing or two. I got some advice from the Wunders about how to really take a shower and not want to die at the end of it. Turns out, you can't keep the water running the entire time. So, I turn the water on, wet my body and hair, and turn the water off. I shampoo my hair, turn the water on and rinse, and then turn the water off. Then, I condition my hair and soap up my body, and turn the water back on to rinse. It's getting colder though and turns to the temperature of a penguin aquarium before I can get all the soap off of myself. Once again, I'm left feeling like I may weep from the cold and contemplating how long a person can go without bathing. I didn't even try to shave. "This is for Ross. This is for our wedding."

Finally, I have discovered how to properly clean oneself in an RV. It's actually called a bower and is a combination of a bath and shower. First, you must let the water heat for 30 minutes or more before you even try to use it. It also helps if you have a little space heater that you can use to heat the air in the bathroom. After the water heats, turn the faucet on and fill up the bath tub as much as you can with water that you (I) think is warm enough to bathe in. This usually ends up being about 2 inches of water before the water temperature starts to fall. Climb on in. The tub is small, the water is shallow, but hey, it's an adventure, right? Get a cup. Using the cup, wet your hair and body with bath tub water, and shampoo. Then, use the cup again to rinse out the shampoo. Put conditioner in your hair and stand up to bathe. It is best to do all of this as slowly as possible. After you bathe, turn on the faucet and let it get warm again, which it should, since you've been moving very slowly to give it time to heat up. Turn on the shower and rinse off completely. Then step out into the warm space-heater-heated air, clean and not wishing for death.

It is no longer a gauntlet to clean myself, though I do only shave when I visit Ross on the weekends. That may be gross in a few weeks when it warms up and I can wear shorts outside. I may go back to shaving in the sink. But I'll never shave before my bower. That's just asking for it.

May your water always be warm,

Ray

Why, oh why?!

It's simple really. Money. Bills. Bucks. Benjamins. Cash. Change. Clams. Coin. Paper. Stacks. Things with which to make it rain...

Here's the back story: there I was living a happy life in a cute apartment in Dallas, Texas. My apartment complex was perfectly situated between all of my friends so that it became the gathering place. I had a nice pool. I had furniture, dishes, decor, all the good stuff. It didn't matter that I was basically living paycheck to paycheck; I had a great life.Then, what do you know, my boyfriend proposes on December 14th! Two weeks later, my lease ends. Well, instead of finding another apartment, or staying at the one I had (those jerks were raising my rent...again), my future in-laws offer me their RV to live in. Seeing as how I had never set foot in an RV, and all I knew about them were the stories of great family vacations Ross and his family went on, I thought, "well, why not?" I knew it would be small. I knew I wouldn't be able to take all of my shoes (that's the worst). I knew I wouldn't be the meeting place for all of my friends, and I knew they wouldn't come see me in a traveling trailer anyway. But I am an adventurous sort, and I saw this as an adventure! It's only until September when Ross and I move into some other wonderful place where I can have furniture and decorations. What's 9 months?

Since Ross is an expert online researcher (he once spent two days looking at and deciding on the perfect printer), he set to work to find me a cheap, clean RV park close to my work. And he found it. Shady Grove RV Park in The-Middle-of-Nowhere, North Texas. The pictures made it look incredibly cute. Quaint, but with a touch of homey-ness. Upon further inspection, I learned that it's basically a retirement village. Most of the residents are permanent. A lot people had built decks around their steps. How cute, right? They also have mandatory quiet time from 10pm to 6am. Being an old fogey at heart, this was incredibly appealing. I had found my temporary home. The rent was low. They have a laundry facility, full hook-ups (at the time, I had no idea what this meant. Now that I know, it. is. the. best. thing.), cable, a pool, and even a dog park. I would be saving so much money, I wouldn't know what to do with it (yeah, right. I'm trying to pay for a wedding. ALL my savings goes straight to vendors, but more on that later), and I'd save a ton on gas because it's closer to work than my apartment was. No more living paycheck to paycheck. No bills bearing down on me from 2 days before payday. I would have the money to pay all my bills (which were significantly less), and put a bunch in savings for our wedding. It was like a dream come true!

Was. It's not so much a dream anymore, but boy, is it an adventure! From day (more like middle of the night) one, RV living has been a bit rough. I've had some big learning experiences, and I've learned to appreciate the little things in life. Like water coming out of the faucet. Or heat. That being said, the adventure has been worth it. I'm having the wedding of my dreams, and I'm able to afford it. Plus, I'll have some amazing stories to tell my kids one day. But you'll get to hear them first! I hope you enjoy my stories of all I've learned in Adventures in Trailer Parking: Tales from the Broke Bride.

Here's to the beginning,
Ray