can't change, change.

As much as I wish there were more obvious seasonal changes in this beachy shore town, other noteworthy changes are sailing on in. For the past few months, we've been staying with the Mr.'s family {who are just as much my family as they are his} but soon & very soon, we will have a home of our own - which excites me a little more than fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies - and for this "in love with chocolate woman," that's saying a whole heck of a lot.

As far as this little blog goes, Marie Tea will be going through some soon-to-come changes, too. In these next few weeks, I'll be debuting our first sponsors and their goodies exclusively for Marie Tea followers - so, if you're not already a member of our tea room, make sure to sign up and start following us so you can experience our sponsor's awesome discounts & treats!

And well, you already know how freakishly quick baby girl changes, so she's totally game for this whole change thing. She's probably thinking it's about time we all jumped aboard her "choo-choo change" train, especially her mommy who's been on a change strike since the day she was born.

But really, change is a funny thing. Some people welcome change with open arms, others absolutely loathe it's presence. Personally, I've had my ups & downs with the change phenomenon. In my more adventurous days, spontaneous change was exciting and peeked my interest with it's mysterious alluring qualities. Now, however, I find myself trying to be a little more grounded and tend to prefer change when I'm the one delegating it's duties and when it's working under my terms and conditions. You know what I mean? But, a wise man once told me that change is the only constant, so you either embrace it and learn how to adapt, grow, and deal...or cry, kick, and scream with your saddest face wishing things would chill out, stop changing, and just stay the same. Honestly, I've tried the whole crying, kicking, screaming bit {just a few times} but it's never really worked out in my favor - apparently, my sad puppy face isn't capable of reversing the natural occurrences of life, as difficult or as trivial as the circumstances of change may be. Change is just one of those things you can't even conquer by attacking it's source because let's face it - you can't change, change. It exists even outside of itself and has these fungal-like-qualities allowing it to rapidly reproduce, even when it's at its whit's end. Change just is and change will always be.

Life is progressive, so change is inevitable. As much as there are many changes we wish would stay away and never come knocking on our door, these types of changes are just as much a catalyst for our growth as the "so happy to be here" changes, if not more so. And in change's defense, at least it's reliable. I mean, you can always count on change, even in it's smallest existence...like your favorite cereal box getting a face lift every few months.

Well, I was in the car the other day and I just so happened to look down at my big baby mama bag and noticed it's newest accessory - baby girl's bling shoes. Shoes are a new thing for her, because I love her barefoot baby toes, but with her attempting to stand on any surface under those precious feet, we welcomed the change and put on some shoes. Regardless of our readiness, this day of shoe-wearing was coming whether we liked it or not...because the "choo-choo change" train is always chugging along, rain or shine, stopping at both your door and mine.

So, in honor of Friday, if it weren't for the location change from 11pm to 12am of Father Time's ticking hands, we'd never get to celebrate the end of the week and the coming of the weekend. Maybe that's one "change, I can't change," I'm okay with not changing.

::

crazy.

So, we did it. We moved. And I was correct in thinking it would be crazy. We packed up the remainder of our things (with the help of friends), dealt with some weird movers who complained about moving our stuff (is the definition of a mover not someone who moves things?), caravaned through the worst storm we've ever driven through (me with baby girl in the back seat and husband following behind driving a 26 foot UHaul -big kudos to Joseph), arrived at our family's house at almost 10 that evening (Thank you, God, for safe travels), where we will be staying till we find a place. Crazy. 

What's also crazy is the organization of our stuff. I'm an organized and neat person, or I like to think I am. But if I'm ever messy, it's usually a very organized mess. Well, this move has served me a slice of humble pie, in the nicest of ways. I attempted to pack in an organized fashion, packing boxes according to rooms and type of possession. But about half way through packing, I realized I had very limited time because my 4month old required constant attention, so instead of an organized and neat packing experience, we ended up with a chaotic shove whatever you can in whatever box it could fit in packing nightmare. Needless to say, your guess is as good as mine as to which box my shoes are currently lounging in. Maybe I can rock it out barefoot for a while? Yeah, maybe not.

And baby girl turned 4 months on Saturday, and you should know what I'm about to say...Crazy. She's babbling, discovering her feet, and almost rolling over. Everyone always says enjoy every minute because they grow up so fast. That lovely advice can become somewhat redundant, until you realize every bit of it is completely true. Not only did she turn 4 months, but with the move and her growth spurt, she said goodbye to her bassinet and hello to her big girl crib. Somewhat depressing, I'm not gonna lie. But, as emotional and reflective as I am about her Speedy Gonzalez growth, it never dismisses the fact that I am incredibly excited to journey with her and witness all the things she's yet to discover about herself and life. Like watching her find her feet the other day was the cutest thing ever...I mean, I wish adults could get a kick out of realizing we have feet we could play with, but that would be incredibly strange and grossly awkward.

I would love to post some 4 month pictures, not taken with my blackberry, but that would require me to have my camera usb in hand, and as you could only imagine from the rest of this post, I'm not entirely sure where it is at the moment. Surprising? Not so much, but completely and 100% crazy.

big girl crib.

babbling away.

:: victoria marie

here, there, & everywhere.

A few things...

We made a pretty big decision and we are moving very, very, soon...and not just across town. We're leaving Tallahassee and moving to the Palm Coast/Daytona Beach area of the East Coast. Hence, Goodbye: Part 2 is coming soon to a blog post near you.

We just got back from family vaca and we're totally exhausted. Naps don't come easy when you have a house to pack up and only a few days left to finish. We're boxing all of our things with an almost 4 month old who's in discovery mode...it's really fun, you should try it some time. But, in all seriousness, she's been an awesome trooper through it all and we really can't complain. She's such a blessing.

And speaking of baby girl, we find ourselves doing the craziest things simply to see her smile. And I mean crazy! Singing songs that don't make any sense, moving our arms, shaking our legs, making sounds that I'm sure would scare some people, and smiling from ear to ear so she knows how much she excites us.

So, with traveling in the middle of a major move, having a house that looks like a chaotic mess with some boxes fully loaded others not so much, and lingering vaca luggage that needs to be unpacked...on top of dancing and jumping like crazy people, hands in the air and feet bouncing all around just to see this smile through it all, means all of our stuff and all of our sanity is spread a little here, there, & everywhere. 

:: victoria marie