Before the home buying process started I was so excited to look at homes, but as it ended I was not at all excited. Two of the homes we put offers on fell through for different reasons, and we felt like we would never find a home we loved. We wanted something for a good price but had everything we needed with out having to do some major work. In the end we found a Short Sale: 2100SQ ft,4BR, 2.5 B, yard, wood floors- everything we really wanted. It’s in a great neighborhood in the desired area on the 210 corridor. We will be leaving the city of Jacksonville and moving just 5 mi south of us to St. Augustine, FL.

We will be doing some work to it inside so will have before and after pictures coming soon!! I’m so excited to be a homeowner!!

We have been discussing getting another dog to give some company to Lacy, but I wasn’t excited about the idea of getting a puppy. I did NOT feel like going through the whole potty training fiasco. Buster is completely trained so it works out perfectly, and he is such a sweet dog!

1. More K-Cup options: There are dozens more options of coffee’s for the Keurig than the Tassimo. Yes, the Tassimo has Starbucks under its name but lacks the variety and easy to find k-cups the Keurig offers. True, the Tassimo offers lattes and cappuccinos but the process to makings these treats are far more complicated and I wanted simplicity.
2. Customer Service: Keurig’s customer service got better ratings hands down.
3. The New Model: Keurig’s newest model, The Keurig Platinum B-70, makes 5 different cups sizes. This solved my issue with my liking stronger coffee. The different cup sizes allow you adjust  how strong the coffee tastes, or simply give you a bigger cup. (Bigger cup, weaker coffee) This model also has an iced coffee option which is among my favorite.

So I went with the Keurig Platinum B-70, and in a matter of weeks I had the model on my kitchen counter. I am so excited! Here is my new Keurig: 

and the carousel K-cup holder: 

I love waking up in the morning and picking which kind of coffee I would like that day. It’s so simple to pop the cup into the machine, place my mug on the platform, and watch it brew the perfect cup of coffee in under a minute. No more wasted coffee, and no more making coffee to strong or too weak. Yes it will be more expensive in the long run (you get 24 K-cups for about $13.00 on the Keurig’s site) but it is so worth it! If you’re a coffee lover like me then it is defiantly worth the buy. It’s also great because before I would easily drink 3-5 cups a day. Now I live a healthier lifestyle and only drink one or two cups a day! The only downside I have found so far is that it is not ideal for drinking Tea. It has a good amount of options for teas but they are very small cup sizes. I personally enjoy a large cup a tea- far larger than any cup of coffee. So I will be sticking to the traditional kettle and tea bags for my tea cravings!

The above pictures are of her in her hiding spot under the bed

The brand “Hartz” kills, and I mean literally, kills. No, no, no, Lacy is fine. But unfortunately this is the brand I bought at the drugstore half asleep Friday morning. It didn’t take me long to research online (because the Internet has ALL the answers of course) that  the “Hartz” brand  has  dozens of websites dedicated to the deaths and illness of thousands of cats and dogs around the word. I panicked. I was SO glad I didn’t use the Hartz anti-flea medication on my Lacy yet. However, I used the flea killing shampoo. Now, take in mind that my dog, my loving pride and joy, that may as well be a child because I love her so much, is only 4 lbs. Of course I panicked,  anything too much will kill her. I panicked so much I gave her an oatmeal bath only hours after administrating the Frontline Plus Flea Killer & Prevention medicine I applied on her. Little did I know did that bath just counter acted the medicine I had just given her. Genious Jessica, way too go.

So here I am, vacumming every day and flea-combing her every hour. I can only hope that my home will not turn into a dirty flea infested area. Too bad I didn’t get the memo a month ago that Florida is the number one vacation spot for fleas, all year ’round… of course. Nothing is perfect.

In the meantime while Kesar is off bringing home the money I went a bought my first DSLR camera! I’ve been wanting one for awhile, and it’s fun to have something to play around with. It takes beautiful photos and I’ve really enjoyed snapping pictures of Lacy and taking it to the beach. My goal was to take it to the zoo last weekend, but since it was too hot I’m hoping this weekend or next I will be able to use my photography skills on the lucky animals at the zoo

I made a shutterfly site (I LOVE SHUTTERFLY) that will have all of our new photos uploaded to. The URL is: http://jessicaandkesar.shutterfly.com. I’ll make a note on here each time our shutterfly page is updated with new photos

XOXO Jessica

So yes, moving away is hard, especially when you move 13 hours away to a lifestyle that is new to you. But what makes it nice is that the place you are moving to is 100x friendlier, climate 100x warmer (snow and I are not friends), and 100x better than the life you have known before. The friends will be missed, but they can be called or facebooked (thank you technology) and the family will be missed, but they can always be called or facebooked, and with that…. the life you live now is not only better, but allows you to practice your communication skills. Also… who doesn’t want to visit someone who lives right near the beach?

ps- 3 beaches later, ponte vedra beach kicks butt compared to the others…. 15 minutes away, easy, free parking… I’m sold. Pictures coming soon.

There is public parking for $5 near the beach but right away we noticed locals finding other means for free parking. Still, I felt safer paying to park, which proves I’m no local just yet. The beach is very different than up north. The sand is super soft, practically white, (not quite as white as you will find in Miami or further south) and it was CLEAN! The water was soo warm and you can see your feet through the water- until you get 3/4 ft deep. You can definitely tell you are at a beach “down south”.  Jacksonville Beach seems to be the hang out for a lot of young people, which Kesar and I have heard before. And there were lots of bars and clubs along the beach. Not too many restaurants though.

Next weekend the weather is supposed to be a lot nicer so Kesar and I are going to go check out Ponte Vedra Beach. It’s about the same distance as Jax beach, but it’s a little bit more private. We are very interested in seeing this area though since Ponte Vedra is a city we are interested in buying a house in possibly next year.

Since this is the first blog I just wanted to take the time to share with everyone why we decided to take the time to start a Blog. As you all know, we recently got married August 7, 2010 in the DC Metropolitan area. Three months ago Kesar got a great job opportunity in Jacksonville, FL, which is where the headquarters to his job is located. We have always talked about one day moving somewhere warmer, and we knew JAX was the best option since this is where the most jobs are within his company. Out of the blue, Kesar got offered a job so we decided that shortly after our wedding we would move to FL! It was so sad to say goodbye to all of our family and friends but we are very excited to start our life down south near the beaches

Let me talk about the actual MOVE. It took us 13 hours (with few stops) to make it down to Jacksonville. We did end up staying overnight in Savannah because of Lacy (our little 3.5 lb daughter) was stressed out by the whole thing but we definitely could have driven the whole way otherwise. The first couple days have been rocky. My (Jessica’s) car started acting funny, the movers were late and on day 3 a swarm of ants were found all over the inside of our car. Talk about a warm welcoming! We have gotten pretty much everything unpacked, we just have to dump all of the empty boxes. All and all, it’s slowly starting to feel a little bit more “homey”. Yesterday we ordered a living room set, so once that comes in approx 2 weeks things will look and feel, even better!

On a side note- we just want to remind everybody that our wedding photos should be ready and uploaded  by August 28th. They will be viewable at http://proofs.softboxmediaphotography.com/ and the Password is: Florida

I’ll leave you with the most recent photos of our new apartment, mess and all from the unpacking!

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