2 Weeks and Counting

As of yesterday, Monday the 2nd, we (I, Amy) have been in Houston for 2 weeks.  There has been so much to see and do including about 5 days of new hire training for my new teaching job.  The first week Jarrod was here so we attempted to get things as settled as possible, while the 2nd week was really full of errands and training and a nice visit out to Tomball for the weekend.  While Houston will never hold a candle to the love of my life... New York (yes Jarrod is the love of my life in most other senses of the word) it does have some interesting features I am coming to enjoy.

Our first week here flew by in the blink of an eye.  We made several trips to IKEA, adopted a puppy, walked around many blocks and enjoyed PF Changs for the first time.  We lived out of boxes and bags for most of the week because getting out into the city seemed a little more important than unpacking and Jarrod and I both knew that I'd have plenty of time to unpack once he had left.  We tried to see as much as we could at night because the days are simply too hot to enjoy a stroll...anywhere!  All in all we did a lot of errands, a lot of walking the pup, and a lot of ignoring the fact that Jarrod was heading back to Maine very soon.

My second week here has been tough to say the least.  Jarrod left on Monday, which was nice because he was suppose to leave Sunday but his plane was delayed so much they had to bump everything to Monday.  It has been very surreal to have Jarrod gone.  I would never recommend to anyone to get married, spend about 3 weeks together and then separate for what could potentially be several months.  Tough, tough, tough!  Jarrod is doing everything he can to get down here, including checking into temping agencies, but everyday seems to drag on knowing it will be awhile until our little family is whole again.

On the plus side I have had a ton of training to keep me busy!  I believe it's been about 5 days total, including a Saturday :P  Houston's Independent School District, or HISD, is very particular about how they're employees are trained and I have learned some new things as well as listened to some old news.  Plus and minuses aside, I am looking forward to starting the school year with mostly freshmen and working with several athletic teams.  I am not looking forward to the 6:30am daily cross country runs....but it will be a good refreshing start to my day to say the least!

I wish I had more photos of our new neighborhood or things I've done, but carrying a camera has been the last thing on my mind.  We are in a pretty good area known as Montrose (or 4th Ward as it used to be called I believe) and there are lots of restaurants and shops near by.  The University of St. Thomas is about a 2 min walk from our apartment and most of the major museums are about a 15-20 minute walk(depending on how hot it is...).  There is an awesome art supply store as well as a strip mall that includes not only a Marshalls with a Home Goods inside of it, but a TJ Maxx as well!  It's like I've died and gone to bargain shopping heaven!

We definitely like the area we're in, but we are already looking to switch apartments and we're glad we only signed a 6 month lease.  It was great to have a place to show up to when we arrived in Houston (Thanks to Amanda and Drew!!) but each day I realize that complex living really is not for me.  I greatly dislike when other people do not clean up after their dogs, especially with the way the heat allows for smells to... grow, shall we say.  The locks on the door also sketch me out and being a lone, something more secure would be nice.  I do have to say that one nice thing about this apartment is that not all the walls are white.  Makes it less obvious that I haven't hung anything on them.

All in all the transition to Houston has been rocky... up and down, with extremes of both.  I just keep reminding myself that things will get better once Jarrod arrives and we never have to live somewhere for the rest of our lives.  This is the current adventure, and it's best to enjoy it while it lasts :)