Mom Life Tee: Megan’s Pieces (affiliate link)
4 YEAR FLORIDA UPDATE
My oh my, how the time has flown. Unfortunately, I don’t think I ever wrote a 3 year update post last year, but I’m not going to be too hard on myself. I was a brand new mom (well I considered myself still brand new) and we were moving into our house so it was a bit hectic. How has it been four years already? It feels like just yesterday we were talking about moving and how this is the best time to do so. It was only us and the dogs. There was enough money saved up for us to be able to survive and pay our bills for at least a few months if the business didn’t pan out or if I couldn’t find a job. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified.
However, at the same time I was excited. I was excited to start a new chapter with my husband (well, at the time, fiance) and our pups. We were entering the unknown. It was hard at first. My remote job from Jersey ended much sooner than was originally stated and I was unable to qualify for unemployment. I did have some savings to pay for my medication and bills for a few months while I job hunted.
The first job I found I lasted a week because I was told it was a marketing job and very quickly found out I was going to be one of those annoying people in a resort area trying to sell you a time share. Then, I got what I thought was my dream job, but it turned into my worst nightmare. Everything fell into place after that job because I started working at our CBD store and we had also just purchased an auto shop.
By the end of 2020 we closed our CBD store due to a bunch of red tape and I went to work at our auto shop which was doing very well. A month into working there I found out I was pregnant. I worked until less than a week before bebe decided to make her early appearance. We also bought our house a few weeks before she was born too. I didn’t see it until she was already here, so her and I saw the house for the first time together.
My husband told me that the house was perfect and I trusted him with the decision. I’m so glad I did because it is perfect and I can’t wait to watch our family evolve in this home over the years. We still have our auto shop and I do some office work from home, but it’s very lenient because it’s our own business. Well, just as my past Florida update posts, I’m going to talk about the good and the bad from the past 4 years.
Related: Our New Life in Florida
THE GOOD
I want to start off with the good, because while I like to see both sides, which includes the bad, there are so many good things that have happened. In four years we’ve made a life for ourselves here in Florida, and we definitely could not have done this in Jersey. I know I gave a breakdown in the intro of this post, so I might be repeating myself here, but I just want to elaborate.
Related: 2 Year Florida Update
WE HAD A BABY!
In October of 2021, we had a baby. She is the absolute best. It’s been so fun to watch her grow into her own little person, which is a free spirit to say the least haha. As y’all know, I don’t like to share too much about her because we are keeping her private, but just know she’s adorable and fun. If you’re new here, we are keeping her out of the public eye so to speak just for her own privacy. In the future, she can figure out if she wants to be on the internet. I’ve had some people give me such a hard time over this. Some have even unfollowed or unsubscribed because of it which is just so odd. Anyway, we had a baby, and she’s amazing. The rough pregnancy and pulling a Pam Beasley when I went into labor was definitely worth it.
Related: A year ago I found out I was pregnant.
WE BOUGHT A HOUSE
As I mentioned earlier my husband chose our house and we bought it before I ever even saw it. I trusted his judgment that he would find the perfect house for us. In my defense, I trusted his judgment with moving to Florida amongst so many other things and I think he’s made some goo decisions thus far. Bebe and I saw it for the first time together a few days after she was born. It wasn’t in really bad shape, if we had to move in right then and there we could, but oh my gosh there was so much work to be done.
The lighting made it look like it was a dungeon, so hubs rewired everything. The walls were mostly all the same color which was not very nice. There were a lot of weird things all over the walls, and an off center electric (or gas, I can’t remember 100%) fireplace that actually leaked and caused some mold to form. Which is why it’s a good thing we both agreed to not keep it because we wouldn’t have known that’s where that weird smell was coming from. The sun room that was built after the house was horrendous. OMG, we took that thing down this past summer. We weren’t able to finish the deck but it worked out in the end, because I was able to put my temporary green house on the deck. Next year I’ll have to find a different spot if my plants actually survive.
Every single inch of this house was re done, only to have flooding due to a burst pipe back in 2022. We are still recovering from that because it damaged so much. Even with all of that, it’s been such an experience being a home owner. This was one of my goals for so long, and it finally happened.
WE’RE SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
Even though we had to shut down our CBD store at the end of 2020, we have our auto shop. I plan to hopefully go back once bebe starts school. Either that or I’ll go to cosmo school. Hubs wants me to go to school because he knows I’ve always wanted to go, but if we aren’t in a financial position to do so, oh heck yea I’m going back to our shop. I loved working there. Even with all of the bad customers, the good ones made up for it 100000%. When we first left Jersey, I really thought we would be back within a year because I was worried the businesses wouldn’t do well. But here we are, still going.
I WAS ON DR. PHIL
Thanks to my Youtube channel, I was able to be on Dr. Phil back in October of 2022. I know I’ve talked about this so many times, but it’s still so crazy to me that this actually happened. How? Why was I able to go? Why did the universe decide to align all of the stars perfectly for me to be able to go? It’s still so surreal to think about.
Related: I was on the Dr. Phil show!
THE BAD
Of course, with good, also comes bad. However, this time around, the bad list isn’t that long. It’s almost non existent. The only complaint I have is the culture down here. I’ve said it in previous posts, but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to Florida. Growing up in New Jersey with so many different cultures in one tiny place is so special. I was introduced to so many different cultures in New Jersey.
Being a Polish American, and having a bit of an identity crisis (I’m planning on making a post about this in the future), at least I had some people that made me feel included or like I fit in, even if it was for a hot second. Where we live now, I feel like a complete outsider. I’ve met some people who are really southern where they hate northerners and won’t even talk to me, but then there are others who are nicer. What I’m very thankful for, is at least the life I live currently, I don’t have to interact with too many people nowadays besides a little tiny human that needs me to survive.
I’m very proud of how far we have come, and I did not imagine our life being what it is today. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but we made it.
Related: 1 Year Florida Update
LET’S MOVE ON TO THE LINKUP
I wanted to quickly apologize before we move on to the linkup. My blog has been on and off slow, and I’ve been trying to work on it and I haven’t been able to pin point the issue yet. So if you are experiencing this, I’m so very sorry, I’m hoping to have it fixed soon.
