Alrighty, it has been a very long time since I have posted. A very long time indeed.

Update:
Sean, the boys (Lars and Beau), and I are now in Texas. Currently, we're living with the mother in law, who has graciously allowed us to share her home until we find one of our own. I started the home search almost as soon as I knew that we were planning on moving back to Texas. I went through hundreds of homes, narrowed it down to 20 or less, and selected a top four. Over the last couple of weeks,  Sean and I have been  house hunting, job searching, and doing whatever we can to take this next step forward to begin this next stage of our lives. Settling down...finally. I've been on the move for the last six years. I'm ready to grow roots, have a real schedule, and a real home.

Well, for better or worse, we found a home before I found a job. Sean is going to substitute at a private school in the area starting in August, and I have a few job options open to me, though I'm uncertain as to which one will pan out. I'm not a very willing or patient participant in the waiting game. All this being an adult business has been difficult. We want a house, but we can't get one until we have proof of employment, but it's hard to decide on a job until you know where you're going to live. It reminds me of being a teenager -- couldn't get a job unless I had a car, couldn't get a car without a job. And here we are again...only bigger "car."
Sean's favorite is the one we're hoping to put an offer on (hopefully within the next week), but it's hard not to feel like it's going to be snatched out from underneath us. And yet, I need to trust that everything will work out as it should. If only I can do that...

The job I really was interested in (at the school district) is no longer available. Well, technically, it was never available. It was an erroneous posting made by the head of the department, and she failed to mention that it wasn't actually an available position until myself, as well as other applicants had waited almost two months to hear whether we would be considered for it or not. Jerk face.
I've applied for a few other positions in the school district, though I'm not sure what will come of them. I don't know if I can wait for them to get back to me before I need to take a job (so we can get our mortgage in order, and get this house thing rolling).
There's another position that I'm being considered for that is through the temp agency I'm employed by. I'm very interested in it...I just haven't heard an update about it. Maybe tomorrow...or at least, maybe soon...I hope.

It has been really nice being back. Being so close to family has been fantastic. I got a pedicure with my MIL today, have gotten to see my SIL, BIL, niece, and nephews a few times, and have actually eaten meals with my folks on multiple occasions! The dogs have been so happy to have a backyard, and know how to use the doggy door -- we'll definitely be needing those when we get a house! Overall, Texas is just a real nice place. I really miss my friends in South Carolina, though; that has been hard.

So, I think that's it for now! I'll try to be better about updating from here on out, and you can be sure to expect some pictures of our house, whenever we get one! Prayers would be appreciated, as there is a lot going on right now. Plus, there's a stomach bug that is going around, and it has struck the family. I've been feeling under the weather lately, and I would prefer not to have something else on top of that...I'm ready to feel well, and normal, and good. I'm hoping that will happen soon.

I cut my hair all off. It's a bit of a shock. I think it's slightly shorter than what I had in mind (definitely the shortest I've ever had it), but what can you do, right?  I think I like it. I'm just adjusting.
I got highlights too. I think I like those as well.
I'm not looking so fabulous right now, what with bedhead and all. Haha.
I suppose I'll post pictures later...as soon as I make sure I'm styling it properly

I've never been so mad at an animal in my entire life as I am this very moment with my dogs.

One of them (Beau) has been having numerous potty control problems in our house as of late, and so I was taking him outside to try to prevent further mishaps. While taking him out, I was on the phone with my mother, asking about how to make boiled eggs. When we started to come back in from outside, our sheltie (Lars) slipped past me, and bolted down the breezeway toward the parking lot. As I lunged for him, Beau's leash slipped from my fingers, and he ran after Lars. I didn't have any time to think. I just ran. I'm not typically much of a runner. I used to be, until it was required in class, and it was then that the love affair ended.

I didn't have shoes on...just socks. It rains here...all the time...or so it seems, as I'm used to the comparatively dehydrated state of Texas.

My point being, we live in an apartment complex. A brand new apartment complex. One without all the grass laid down, without the enclosing gate installed...and lots and I do mean lots of red Carolina mud/clay. The dogs ran across our parking lot, near the patios of another building. I'd get relatively close, and they would scamper off again. Nothing I said interested them, or enticed them to come near me. Our obedience trainer told me that, if ever in this situation, we should make a noise and run the opposite direction, and the dogs would follow. But, in the moment, that felt like the worst thing to do. I was terrified that, if I turned my back on them and ran, I'd never see them again. So I begged, and pleaded, and bribed, and coaxed...to no avail. They ran into the night like two streaks of greased lightning. My heart pounded as my feet felt heavy with fear of not catching them; my fear grew, and almost physically weighed me down.

I couldn't call Sean, he didn't know how fast or how far they had run, and I was alone...almost at the edge of the complex. The dogs started running up the road that led to the highway, and bordered a forest. Two of the worst things ever. In one, they'd be run over before my very eyes...the other, they would dive deep into saplings and poison ivy, somewhere I couldn't follow...never to be seen again.

The barking of dogs reached my ears, and I realized there were more dogs somewhere, off to the right, near a dilapidated old building that I can't remember seeing before (keep in mind, I'm still running at this point). In retrospect, it reminds me of a few fantasy books I read as a kid, where magic shops just mysteriously appeared on corners at the right moment. There was a solitary, harsh light on the front of the building. The dogs glinted under it for a brief second, and were lost in the foliage. I heard them bark. I remembered seeing a coyote (or a very brown fox) earlier on my way home, and worried that they'd find it, or another animal, and chase after it, deeper into the woods...that would inevitably lead up to a subdivision or shopping center. Whatever the outcome, I was certain they were gone for good. I picked my way over the stones, through the mud, around the corner of the building. I hoped no serial killers were lurking in the shadows, and stuck my head around the corner. I couldn't make out much but a slight reflection off of a chain-link fence, which was where the other dogs were. I flicked open my cell phone, and tried to use the dim blue glow to determine where my dogs were. I saw a swish of Lars' tail, squatted at the edge of the building, and called for him.

Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, he came to me. And Beau followed.
Unfortunately for them, as soon as the relief I felt at having a firm hold on both of their collars washed over me, the fear, frustration, and pain in my feet manifested itself into a rage. I looped the leash around Lars' collar, reattached it to Beau, and set off, hobbling for home. The leash slipped off of Lars briefly, but I noticed before he did, and I secured it more firmly.
Again with the hobbling. As we reached the turn in the road that led to our apartment, Sean appeared.
He was worried about us. The dogs had gotten out a few times, but they had never pulled anything like this before. So, when I said the dogs had gotten out, it wasn't anything to cause a state of panic. Until we didn't come back. And didn't come back. And didn't come back.
When he did look out the door, we were nowhere to be seen or heard. I was probably sloshing through the red muck at that point, or crying because I thought I'd lost our dogs.
He took the leashes from my hands, and scolded the dogs, marching them straight home and into their beds.
I went in the house, stripped off my socks and work pants, put some hot water and soap in a bin, and soaked my feet.
What. A. Night.