finding my inner {outdoorsy-ness}

We've been spending lots of time working in the yard.  Here's a little peek into what we're up against!

What I {never, ever, in my entire life} want to hear when working in the yard...
"Hey honey, wanna see a snake?" -Matt
No. Never. Absolutely not. Nope. No way.
This happened last evening, and I hope it never happens again.  I'm already struggling with the midget lizards, obese beetles & feral cats...

Side note: there was a feral cat laying on top of Matt's truck last night...such odd creatures.

The previous owners/tenants seemed to collect (think hoarding) "outdoor trinkets" - Among these treasures:

• flower pots and planters
• hoses of every length and color
• nozzles of every kind...found throughout the yard, garden beds and {yes!} inside the flower pots.
• safety goggles
• a very large wheel
• cat food
• old, dried-out mulch 
• horse trough (we actually are excited to do something with this!)
• a lone, narrow door
• broken garden shovels
• a large trash can...complete with a hole in the bottom
• several types of hose reels (however, only one is in use - though! why do you need a hose reel when you can wrap the hose around a planter?)
• bricks, bricks, and more bricks.

The good news? We've "organized" all of the lovely trinkets to mostly one corner of the patio! And the pathway and herb garden are weedless now :-) Underneath it all, the backyard is actually very beautiful.

With a little TLC (okay, a lot of...) it's going to be a fun area to entertain and spend our time!

-j

What I'm Loving {1}

Digz gardening gloves: because I love yard work, but hate the creepy crawlers, rough & thorny patches and the dirt. I got two pairs (one cotton canvas and one with grippers) at Home Depot's end-of-the-season sale. 

i scored each pair for {$1.88}
photo credit: amazon.com

HGTV magazine: I stumbled upon this gem in the airport last weekend! It is so {fabulous} for so many reasons... 

• It has so many great {DIY} projects & provides the list of products & step-by-step instructions.
• There is a {Paint Index} in the back of each issue.  This may just be my new favorite thing! It has a swatch of the paint color, name, number, brand and where it appeared in the magazine. Seriously awesome.
• The {in the yard} section - in this month's issue, it lists flowers that will last through the fall as well as expert secrets.

I am definitely considering springing for the $18 subscription for 10 issues.

HomeGoods: just opened a new store near us! We've already been and got this amazing rug!

{Rugs by Raj} 5'x8' for $99

Orla Kiely for Target: because cleaning products should look good and smell good!

{Vanilla Chai} hand soap
photo credit: target.com

{Pear Ginger} all purpose cleaner
photo credit: target.com

I am hopeful that this could evolve into a weekly {love post} of my favorite products, stores, happenings, people, etc. What do you think? Are there any things you're loving on right now??

-j

lately in the life of {j&m}...

Matt & I have been rather busy as of lately: work, travel, weddings and just life in general.  Hence, the lack of posting... Where we've been: St. Louis → Why: Andrew & Laura got married!

{Matt} & Me 

The bride & groom
photo credit: {Alix}

{Emily} & Me

Me & {Andrew }

The bride, groom & MOH getting down on the dance floor!
photo credit: {Alix}

It was a beautiful ceremony and reception! Cheers to the newlyweds!  Enjoy your honeymoon!

The lack of posting is about to change, {lucky for you!}  I have lots of ideas for upcoming posts and {DIY} projects, as well as many blog drafts waiting on the finishing touches to be published. So hang in there!

-j

Case Closed!

Having lived in two separate cities for 1 year, Matt and I often debated about which city is hotter.  My argument is that St. Louis has heat and {humidity!} His argument "It's Texas, triple digits are normal."

So after a {VERY} hot summer with many 100+ temperatures in St. Louis, I thought I knew what I was up against in Texas...I don't say this very often, but... {I was wrong.}

9 years of driving and parking in the St. Louis heat and the Jetta's rearview mirror {never, ever} fell off.  However, less than 24 hours after arriving in Texas, we found it laying in the center console.  

So. Matt is right. Texas is hotter...WAY hotter.

Lesson {Almost} Learned

Please recall how {Brian's} car battery died on Friday night...

Got it? Okay. 

Now look at this...

Yepp....the Jetta's car battery died too.  I'm pretty sure Matt is thinking {is this real life?}... 

And what am I doing? Chuckling, of course - and asking him to pose while I snap a picture of this incredible moment, obviously.  Thank you, Matty, for being such a good sport :-) 

I forgot to mention that this was after Matt had spent 30+ minutes trying to undo the ratchets and decided to just cut them off.  No, this couldn't be problem free, but what fun would that be!? And no, we hadn't learned our lesson from 2 nights ago and bought jumper cables... 

Lucky for us, Matt's dad {Papa John} came to the rescue! Finally the Jetta was off the tow and the truck was ready to be unloaded! Thank you, Papa John - oh! & he surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of yellow flowers ♥ 

Lesson {almost} learned - we still need to purchase jumper cables. 

-j

Moving Day, Part 2

Ready to hit the road and head to {our new home}!!!

I couldn't back up far enough to get the whole image!

{Henrietta the Jetta} & I are moving to Texas!

The drive to Texas was pretty uneventful and easy - I say this having been the person riding shotgun the entire time :-) but I think Matt would agree that it wasn't too bad! We had great weather and didn't run into any traffic.  The only {OMG} moments were the Oklahoma tollways.  $9.75 for one toll, 75¢ just to exit and make a bathroom stop and $9.25 for the second toll...c-r-a-z-y. We'll add that to the total moving bill! 

1st Captain in Command

{The largest squeegee in the world!? I think so.}

Texas, baby!! Woo-hoo!!

4 stops and 11.5 hours later, we pulled up to our house! & I got to unlock the door - YES!

  

{Please ignore the spotlight - we're still honing Matt's camera skills}

Up next: see inside our humble abode!...

Moving Day, Part 1

Let's start this post with a declaration of awesomeness: It's rare that you find a company that works so well with you and makes your life run much more smoothly. If you are moving in the St. Louis area and need help with loading, unloading and/or driving a {monster-sized} truck, I have the connection for you.  Found through Uhaul's website, the company is called All the Right Moves and seriously...they rock!

Very easy communication with office manager to set up.  Tommy {the owner} and Mike arrived early and checked everything out.  They were super friendly, professional and hard working...not to mention, insanely efficient with meticulous attention to detail! I scheduled them for 4 hours to load my belongings from a 2nd-floor apartment, retrieve several items at a storage unit (including a piano at no extra charge!) and load more {heavy} items at my parents' old house - all at the inexpensive price $180.

Impressively, Tommy and Mike finished in 3 hours!  Our hats go off to y'all - and I recommend these superstars with my stamp of approval :-)

Matt helping Tommy and Mike load the last piece of furniture - the heavy sleeper sofa!

The 20-foot moving truck was packed to the edge with no extra room!  Thankfully, all of Matt's claimed furniture made it in there (minus the entertainment center that we decided wouldn't be a perfect fit in our home) - phew!  We were able to enjoy a lovely family dinner that night before tucking in for the night.

Do you really think everything went that smoothly without any hiccups!? Never in my life...what fun would that be!? :-) Here's what happened...

My brother {Brian} followed us out to my parents' old house that night where we were staying and parking the truck.  He helped bring a few more items that would eventually be packed into my car that was being towed, and Brian also wanted to help Matt hook up the tow and lock down my car.  Matt parked the truck and tow in front of Brian's van so we could use the headlights - being as it was after 11pm.  Problems ensued with the tie-downs and ratchets, so I kept re-turning on the headlights (that's about as helpful as I could be).

Finally, my car is tied down and secured - we're finished and ready to go for the morning.  Brian is ready to head home...except remember how I kept those headlights turned on? Well, Brian's van is equipped with 10 computers for proper function and his car battery had died. Bummer, but we'll jumpstart it with some cables. Well, neither Brian nor I have jumper cables and since we were at my parents' old house, there weren't any cables there either! We would have run out to a store...but my car is attached to the tow. Thank goodness for AAA!  Eventually {around 2:30 am}, Brian's van had started up again and he was on his way home - later than planned, but we got to hang out that much longer :-)

Favorite moment from this night: When Brian's van battery dies, the computers get kooky.  Each time he tried turning the engine on, the car horn beeped - apparently the universal signal for computer-smart cars when something is off... HA!

Even better was this quote from Brian: "I mean I'm already in a wheelchair, why not draw more attention to myself when my van isn't working and honk my horn!?"

Birthday Love

Thursday started out just like any other ordinary day...besides the 70+ Facebook notifications, phone calls, texts and status updates wishing me a happy birthday!  I felt so much love & support from my family and friends, both near and far :-) Y'all are the best!!!

After picking up the Uhaul truck and tow with my dad, my anxiety level was rising at a rapid pace!  How is all of this furniture (that Matt claimed, remember?) going to fit in a 20 foot truck along with the rest of my life!?? My sweet dad kept reassuring me that "everything is going to be fine" and "it's all going to work out."  And all that was going with my mind {I wish Matt was here with me}....

Let's pause for a minute and back up to my {somewhat unusual} conversations with Matt that day.

• "My phone isn't gonna make it much longer :( I miss you" -m
• My response: "Where's your {bleeping} charger!?" (for the record, it drives me absolutely crazy when people's phones die...so does Matt and he is really responsible about always charging it)
• I had been asking Matt for over a week to send him his flight info for Friday. Usually this is a quick exchange as he takes a screen shot of the info and texts it to me... he still had yet to do this. When I asked him again that day, his response: "I thought I already sent it to you."
• That furniture he claimed? My dad made a list of it and I wanted to go through the list with Matt before asking the movers to load all of it into the truck...
• "Can we go over the list really quickly?" -j
• "Just a minute, on a call." -m
• Then I start sending him pictures of the furniture and ask "do you still want this?"
• "If we have room yes :)" -m 
• Not thinking he's comprehending the level of my {freak-out}, I respond with "just please read over the list of things and tell me if you still want it..."
• "Sound goods baby, it's not worth stressing over" -m
• At which point I completely lost it (via text) and ask him about the list...again
• "Sorry baby, wish I was able to help, walking into a meeting" -m

So why was Matt being so {flaky}? Not because he forgot to charge his phone (he really did charge it).  Not because he couldn't find the time to send me his flight info (he'd already sent it to my brother). Not because he didn't care about my moving anxiety (he cares a lot)... 

Because Matt {loves me SO much} that he had already arranged to SURPRISE me a day early and be there for the entire moving process! Within seconds of seeing him in front of my apartment, all my anxiety disappeared...and we spent the rest of the day celebrating my birthday.  

Best surprise ever! Could I be any luckier!!? I have the most wonderful boyfriend and family :-)

-j

P.S. Thank you to my brother {Brian} for picking up Matt from the airport and keeping this whole thing a secret! Thank you to my sister {Allison} who suggested we have our nails done on my birthday and sacrificed one of her own nails to make the call to Brian when I left early and was on my way home to be surprised. Y'all are very, very sneaky... (like the butler in Mr. Deeds)

Birthday dinner at Cyrano's

Let's get updated!

The BIG move is {fast} approaching! In less than 72 hours the movers will be loading boxes, furniture and more boxes into the truck! Here's what has been happening...

About 3 weeks ago, Matt and I found the most perfect house for us to make our home. (Coming soon: the story of finding this house!)

So happy to have a place to call home!

• It's in Fort Worth, Texas.
• It has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
• It is a 2-story, single family home.
• It was built in 1928 and still has the original hardwood floors!
• There is a huge, fenced-in backyard with lots of garden beds.
• It has a red door.
• And lots of windows for natural light!
• The landlady is a dog lover {yes!} and would be so happy if a dog lived here.
• We will be living 2.8 miles from Matt's sister, brother-in-law, nephew and twin nieces!
• It is about 1 mile from TCU's campus.
• A very nice neighbor comes with it! (Look forward to hearing more about her, she gives us wine!!)

After finding the house, everything went really quickly! We found the house on a Saturday, submitted our applications and security deposit that same day and crossed our fingers.  Emails were flying back and forth between us and our landlady throughout Sunday and Monday - and finally the best email of all which welcomed us to our new home :-)  The contracts were faxed and filled out and more excitement ensued!

...Let me just take a moment to tell you that we have an awesome landlady who is married to an awesome man.  We definitely lucked out! And I think they'd say the same about us... Matt has already been over to mow the grass, clean up the yard and take out the garbage and recycling bins. 

The next couple of weeks flew by as we nailed down the logistics of this big move. 

• We figured out a plan that reduced our flights this month from 8 to 5.
• I rented a 20-foot UHAUL truck with tow dolly for the Jetta {oh yes, she is making the move too!}.  
• I hired 2 movers to help with the loading of furniture and boxes.  Since Matt and I {but mostly Matt} claimed some furniture and other miscellaneous items from my parents' house, the movers will begin in Wildwood and work their way down to Clayton.
• My sweet dad and I are picking up the truck on Thursday evening. 
• Movers arrive at 2pm on Friday.  
• Matt's flight gets in at 4pm {thank you in advance to Brian for picking him up!}
• And we begin the 12+ hour journey bright & early on Saturday morning.
• We have great friends and family lined up to help us unload the truck on Sunday!

I have been in the process of packing up my apartment {which looks like I'm making a mess more than anything else}.

As of today, I am nearly finished and thankful we have movers! I am so ready to see Matt on Friday and make this move with him :-)

-j

Jumpin' on the Blog Wagon

Welcome to my blog, For Better or Fort Worth! 

First order of business: Give credit where credit is due. I want to give a big shout-out & thanks to my future brother-in-law, Tyler, who coined this blog's name in November 2011. You have a way with words!

As I make the move from St. Louis to Fort Worth and build a life & home with Matt, I wanted to document our day-to-day happenings and keep my {BIG} family and friends in the know :-) and what better way to do that than through a blog!

So, please bear with me as this is my first time as a "blogger" - I am learning along the way!

Most importantly, enjoy!...as I take you on the trip of our life together.

Thanks for stopping by FBOFW!

-j

Matt & Me in St. Louis - April 2012