1. House hunting. 
I could talk for hours about the insanity that finding a home to rent in western Massachusetts has been, but we’ve applied to 5 different places to live and are juggling all the various deposits and credit checks and landlord references and income verifications. It’s competitive and we’re working with three different realtors.
Renting is a whole different world there, it seems! (And, no, we’re not looking to buy for a number of reasons).
It feels like applying to colleges or juggling a number of job applications. We have our safety rental and our reach rental and already got one letter of rejection.
2. Road tripping. 
We’ve been on the road for 8 days. We left from Ohio to drive to Massachusetts at 4:45 am and it was so much better than leaving any other time. We both get super tired if we try to drive through the night (or past, like, 10 pm), so we figured waking up ungodly early might be the answer.
And it went really well – both kids slept a lot and by the time we hit the third state, it was not even 7 am! Amazing.
Not that driving with 2 kids for 2,000 miles is super fun, but I’m officially on Team Leave Early.
3. Moving.
Visiting Springfield and the surrounding area made me more excited and less excited about moving there, strangely. Everyone there (and everyone who’s lived there in past) seems to be really fond of the area. We found a great coffee shop and tons of parks.
The drivers and the roads were a little more…intense than I’m used to, so I told Mike I’ll just be hibernating for the first year*. I’m really good at adapting, guys.
4. Coffee sadness.
A few days ago, I noticed my heart starting getting all fluttery and skipping a beat. And then I realized it was after I drank multiple cups coffee. I’m going to look into it (doctor, etc) but this is kinda scary for one of two reasons: something is wrong with my heart, or, and this is equally terrifying*, I might have to cut back or cut out coffee. Morning without coffee are just not worth waking up for.
5. Beaching. 
We’ve been at the beach for four nights for a huge family reunion in North Carolina. We’re not going in the water much because sharks* and being salty and sandy is just more than I can handle.
Gabe and Theo are both loving their time in the sun and sand. Theo is a sandy, salty, sobbing mess by the time we remove him from the beach.
*This is all hyperbole. Please take as tongue in cheek.
I had the same thing with my heart when I was 19. It turned out I was basically allergic to caffeine. Haven’t had it since and am now naturally way more awake and don’t miss it at all. As soon as you train your body out of the caffeine (for a few weeks it’s hard) then you’ll probably feel much better overall! Don’t worry :)
I sometimes get jittery when I have too much caffeine, but as long as I keep myself *somewhat* regulated in the DRINK ALL THE CAFFEINE department I do okay.
xox
I just drank half an iced americano today and I feel fine. WOO.
I’ve had that weird heart feeling from caffeine when I’m unusually anxious.
And then the heart palpitations increase my anxiety because I’m all freaked out over what’s happening and it’s an ugly cycle. Cutting back does help.
But I’ve never had to stop completely thank goodness. Hope it clears up for you soon.
You know, a couple of people have said anxiety contributes to their heart and caffeine issues. I bet moving stress is contributing!
2000 miles with littles is intense! We’ve had our fair share of super long road trips with only one baby and it was rough. Im not sure if this is reassuring but I’ve had the same fluttery. beat skipping heart after more coffee than usual and Im still alive without having to give up coffee. im curious to hear what the doc says about though :)
It does make me feel better! (She says as she sips her second cup of coffee… :))
Let me wish you an early welcome to New England! I live just south in the suburbs of Hartford and yes, you are right, the traffic around these parts is horrendous. But you’ll uncover some “safe” roads and if you avoid the highways at rush hour you *should* be ok (then again there are no guarantees around here.)
I moved here from Upstate NY 10 years ago for my husband’s job and it was hard. This is certainly not my most favorite part of the world, but my husband and I have found real gems in the rough as far as people and places are concerned. :) We are happy enough here, but hope to move to a more family-friendly and wallet-friendly part of the country in a few years. Good luck with your transition!
You’ve been in the area 10 years? You’re an expert!
Thanks for the encouragement. I’m looking forward to the challenge of transition, but it’s overwhelming, too. I’ll take this to heart!
We just did a 13 hour road trip with the kiddos and it went *way* better than I thought it would! I brought lots of toys and games to keep them entertained but they really didn’t even need them – they were more into singing (I am SO sick of the “Fro Yo” song!) and playing games like “I Spy”. Shockingly.
My husband went through similar issues with caffeine – he actually quit, cold turkey, for an entire year, and had withdrawal symptoms (shakes, jitters, lightheadeness, etc.) for the first six months. When he finally tried it again he took one sip of a bottle of coke – and threw it in the garbage. He’s totally back on caffeine now (I blame the kids, lol) but hasn’t had any real issues as long as he drinks it in moderation.
They send rejection letters for rentals? This is a whole new world to me.
Just wow! A beach vacation (minus sharks, real or otherwise) sounds lovely.
Growing up my parents were on team leave early as well and I loved it because we slept through the most boring parts of the drive and my parents loved it because they weren’t asked 100 times before 8am if we “are there yet?”. Fingers crossed on the house hunting- hope it goes well and comes to a close soon!
But seriously, driving in New England is horrifying.
WHY ARE THEY SO TERRIBLE.
I remember when you lived somewhere out there and wrote about the Boston left. I kept thinking about that post while we were there!
The beach is so pretty to look at it. I, rarely enter the water, because of sharks. I’m a really big wuss.
And good luck on the house hunt/new town!!
8 days on the road and 2000 miles of travel. Wow! That was quite a travel! Hope you guys can get the best house for rent at your chosen state!
Driving in MA is easy once you learn the one rule of the road. Nothing that you do should cause someone around you to have to alter their driving. So, jump in front of me when getting on the highway? Go for it! Just make sure I don’t have to break. Drive with authority and confidence. Having lived in other areas of the country where drivers are so timid that they are unpredictable was much more frustrating and scary.
You are a true East Coast driver, it sounds like! ;)
bless your family
such Happy family , you are so lucky !
Thank you
Hi Ashley
I am curious, are you limited your caffeine still, or you are you better now?
Nope, my coffee intake is back to normal – a cup or two a day. :) No heart issues!