Pros & Cons

I thought the easiest way to do this would be a bullet style post...  these are random thoughts flying out of my head about moving/living here :)

Things I LOVE about our new home:

• obviously the location.  The beach is 10 minutes away and we have a community salt water pool about 3 blocks from our condo.  We've only been down here for a few weeks, but in these few weeks, we've been more active than ever before.  Ryan gets home from work around 5 and the only question is "Where are we going?  The beach?  Or the pool?"  It's AWESOME.
• the food :)  This is so bad- but St. Augustine is a very touristy town- which means there are some awesome places to eat!  It is NOT a good thing that there are TWO (yes- not one, but TWO) Kilwins down the street from us.  I've had more caramel apples in the past 3 weeks than I've ever had in my life!  And of course the south is known for its BBQ, sweet tea & shrimp- all of which, I've enjoyed way too much lately ;)
• the weather.  So yes- its hot.  I mean, really, really hot.  But we're in the rainy/hurricane season right now which means more often than not, we get a great afternoon thunderstorm that cools everything off.  It's pretty nice to be able to count on good weather- all the time.  :)
• Having my parents here- of course that's a major perk (pro) of living here.  They've been lifesavers for us- in fact, they've either made us dinner or taken us out for dinner every single night we've been here.  I have gone grocery shopping and all that good stuff, but having meals brought over or made has helped us out tremendously!!!
• Speaking of grocery shopping- one word- PUBLIX.  I am in love with Publix.  I love Publix more than Meijers and Kroger combined.  Unfortunately they do not double coupons (which is pretty sad) but they have tons of store coupons which can be stacked with a manu- so I'm happy!  The Publix bakery and deli are out of this world.  I used to go to Polly's (in Jackson) just for the Boars head meats & cheeses... luckily, Publix sells ALL Boars head :)  YAY! 
• the laid back lifestyle- I am telling you- it is sooo different down here.  In most places, shoes and shirts are options- which yeah, is kind of gross, but on the other hand, when you need to run into the store to get a water and you've been on the beach all day, its kind of nice to not have to get all done up ;)  I don't know how long it will take for us to feel like we are not on a permanent vacation!
• Wednesday nights- Every Wednesday night during the summer, there is a party at the pier.  We've only gone once but we're planning on going again tonight (and hopefully many more times before the summer is over).  Live music, food and a splash park for the kids- oh and the beach is right there too :)  SUCH fun!
• Living in a condo- our yard is taken care of- HA!  We're not good lawn people.  Our house in Michigan always had dying, yellow grass.  Down here, we've got a company that does it for us- its nice to finally have a good looking yard (even if our "yard" is the size of our garage...)
• the salty air.  I love the thickness of the air down here.  It curls Henry's hair and makes my skin feel awesome :)

Things I could live without down here:

• the bugs.  OH MY GOSH THE BUGS.  They're awful.  Especially in the evenings. 
• the weather ;).. yes the weather was listed as one of my fave. things about living here, but it also has a place on my con list.  The thing is, the heat is outrageous.  Ya know how in Michigan you have to wait until it warms up to go to a park with the kids?  Down here, you have to wait for it to cool down.  We only go to parks early in the morning (before 9) or later in the evening (after 6).  During Maeve's VBS camp last week I tried taking Henry to the park around 10:30ish (or so), and the slides were so hot, they literally left red spots on his little thighs. 
• umm... no social life ;)- at the moment anyway!  Not that I had this crazy social life up in Michigan, but I did have a great group of mama friends that were at times, my saving grace!  I miss having some young mom friends!  Just today at Chick-Fil-A there was a little group of 2 or 3 moms, with kids- the kids were insane and the moms were running around trying to keep order- it reminded me of the play dates I had at McDonalds up in Michigan.  (Angie... High chairs racing?)
• no TOY HOUSE!  haha :)  For real- I miss it!  St. Augustine needs a huge local toy store...  I also miss The Dog House, Cascades Ice Cream and Hinkleys... yes, pretty pathetic that I actually miss food places, but I do... yes, I do.
• our condo- again, this made the pro list as well- but I do have some cons with it.  It's very hard to go from living in a house that you own, to living in a condo that you rent.  We only have one neighbor on our right side, (and they happen to be gone over the summers..) but its still very different.  Our dogs have to be on leashes 24/7 and we have to pick up their poop.  Okay- RYAN has to pick up their poop... ;)  I don't do the poo picking up.  The condo is also laid out not so great-  its very long... Maeve's room is at the opposite end of the place- which makes her feel like 10 miles away.  I loved the set up of our old house- I was actually able to lie in bed, and look into Maeve's room.  We do have a tiny little back yard- but nothing like we had.  It's just an adjustment I guess.

And that's it folks!  My official list of pros and cons to living in Florida :) 

I'm also going to submit this photo of my darling little bug, with SPARKLING eyes, into The Paper Mama's photo challenge.  (remember those???  I am SO excited to get back into all the fun photo stuff!)

The theme of the week is "SpArKLe."  Don't her eyes just... sparkkkkle? :)  yeah, its stretching it a bit...