It’s been exactly one year since we left the flat red dirt roads of Enid, Oklahoma and moved to the white sandy beaches of the Emerald Coast.  It has been quite the eventful year, to say the least.

Though we loved the experiences we had and the people we met at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma, we were beyond ready, and excited, for the change coming our way. We both grew up around the water, loved being at the beach, and were so excited just to be back on the East Coast (though we still are in a different time zone…) – we knew this move to Florida would be the best thing for us.

When we arrived here last year, we really had no idea what was in store for us. We were living in temporary housing, Conor was about to start a whole new round of pilot training in a brand new aircraft, and I had yet to even begin looking for a new job. We were in a bit of a limbo period. The next few months would consist of job searching, house hunting, celebrating birthdays, and LOTS of visits from family.

It seemed that now that we lived right on the beach instead of in Oklahoma, people actually wanted to come visit? Hmmm…. 🙂    But we LOVE it. We love having visitors, and opening up our home to people- though at that time, our home was a tiny little 2 bedroom apartment in Fort Walton, which required guests to sleep on an air mattress or couch, but that was OK! Those few months also consisted of frequent visits home for wedding planning. Trying to plan your wedding from another state is no joke folks!

Finally, come summer time, we found a house to buy- one that exceeded all our needs and was perfect for our family of three! We closed on our house in Navarre, Florida on June 30th! We closed in the afternoon, drove over to take a picture in front, and then drove the 30 minutes back to our apartment to grab our mattress and the dog. We then made a quick turn around to head back to the new house just so we could sleep in our home on the very first day. I’ve made quite a few changes to this place, which I cant wait to debut on here, but am waiting to do so until I feel like it’s finished! Check out the first home tour HERE

 Most weekends of our summer here were spent at the beach, or on a boat at Crab Island. We were really starting to love it here.

Finally, after months and months of applying and searching, I accepted a job as a Registered Nurse at Gulf Breeze Hospital. I was nervous and hesitant at first to accept the position, as it reminded me of the hospital I worked at in Enid and I knew I needed a change from that- but so far it has been absolutely wonderful. I work a PRN (“as needed”) contract- meaning that per my contract I’m only required to work one shift per week, and two weekend days every 6 weeks. However, I work full time (three 12 hour shifts in nurse world) because in reality I have nothing else to do… also, we’re in our mid 20s with plenty of bills to pay 🙂  However, the flexibility of it is wonderful to have. The hospital is great, the staff I work with are awesome, and the doctors are all so friendly and treat nurses as equals, not staff below them. I accepted the position in July, and began in September- But… not before a little GIRL TIME!!!

We celebrated my Bachelorette party labor day weekend before I began working- not so much “Last Fling Before the Ring”, but more like “Last Fling Before Funemployment Ends.” It was a wonderful weekend spent in the sun and sand with just a few of my favorite ladies.

The Fall and Winter brought busy times for Conor and I. He was in the full swing of learning to fly his plane, I was working full time, wedding planning took up all of my days off, and we also had to find time in there to take full advantage of living where we do. We were lucky enough to make it home for Thanksgiving to spend time with family as well as celebrate my Bridal Shower!

Come Christmas we were gear up, full speed ahead- we stayed in Florida for the holidays because I was working both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We were finishing up wedding planning details, somehow ended up becoming Higgins Doggy Daycare for a while and had four dogs in our home, and took time to celebrate the New Year before our long trip home to get hitched!

In January we did this little thing… we got married

After the wedding, it was so nice to be leaving the ice cold of Vermont and coming back to Florida. We were so incredibly grateful to come back to the house that we now consider Home, also a front door filled with packages (thank you all, and to our neighbor for keeping them in his house while we were gone), and to start a life as husband and wife in this beautiful state.

Since then, we’ve been adjusting to life post wedding planning (past brides know exactly what I’m talking about), and simply enjoying a calmer day to day life.

We’ve got a little surprise coming this weekend to get ready and gear up for summer season and we’re pretty excited!!

This last year has been an incredible adventure- we are loving this move to Florida and the life we’ve built here. We love our home, our friends and the family we now have. So often I find myself coming across little reminders of just simply how blessed we are – and I’m so grateful of that. I think we’re going to be juuuust fine here 🙂

P.S. COME VISIT!! We actually have way too much space for guests in our new home, including the most comfortable guest bed you’ll ever sleep in! We’re five minutes from the beautiful white sandy beaches here on the Emerald Coast, you won’t regret it!