Tag Archives: New

Feb 20 2013
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Experiences, Florida, Moving

Moving Right Along!

Big news!  The Carter Clan is heading South!

Most of you have heard that Matt’s current job has been in a bit of limbo, and there has been uncertainty if the Atlanta Branch of his office would remain open past April.  Then, a few weeks ago, a contact of his in Oldsmar, FL (just northwest of Tampa) who works for a distributor of his company called out of the blue to offer him a job.  We had entertained the idea of moving to Florida for a while now, but the timing was never right, until now.  He is making the move to the new company, where he will be in essentially the same position, but with a nicer salary, better benefits and much more job security!

Of course this is exciting for us, as well as sad / overwhelming / bittersweet / nerve-wracking / scary…  This will be the first time that Matt has lived anywhere besides Atlanta, and this is the first time for me to move an entire house and also participate in the home buying experience.  For the first few months we will be renting a home while shopping for our (hopefully) forever home, so we want to make sure we are giving ourselves enough time to pick out the perfect one!

Now, you may be wondering, what is Kristie going to be doing in Florida? Well, I had a chance to sit down face to face with my bosses in Austin this past week to give them the news. And while the idea of a City Segway Tours Tampa / St. Pete sounds tempting, it just not may be in the cards, yet.  But, luckily the CST Family is a great one and I remain on good terms with them, so I am keeping my fingers crossed for a future project with them.  So, to start, my full time job will be finding a house, while working part time in Social Media / selling stuff on Craigslist / applying for jobs / and taking care of my Furkids.

Matt will be heading down to start work on March 4th.  I will follow him mid April.

So there you go, the news we have been teasing you about.  It is going to be so hard to say goodbye to all the wonderful friends we have here in Georgia.  Please know that once we are settled, you are welcome to come down to stay – we are looking a place near the water, so start planning your vacations!  In the meantime, if you want to come help me paint / pull up carpet / scrub floors in order to get the house ready…  🙂

To the next Big Adventure!!

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Apr 12 2012
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Experiences

April 11 – Off The Beaten Path

In high school, just after we got our driver’s licenses, my friends and I often liked to just get in the car and drive until we got lost.  This made for some very interesting adventures in South Atlanta, which is probably where some nice, young, Catholic girls didn’t want to be in 1990 (before the 1996 Olympics spruced everything up).

Fast forward 20 years, and with the 259 map and navigator apps available on my iPhone, not too many chances to get lost any more.

This day, however, there was horrifying traffic on I-20, and Siri refused to give me any directions that didn’t somehow involve the interstate, so I decided to take some back roads on the way home and rely purely on instinct.

What a great adventure!  I weaved my way through East Atlanta which is now where I want to live.  Similar to Little Five Points, but with less chances of tripping over a homeless person.  It reminded me more of the Village in NYC.

I wasn’t too lost, because Matt and I had come here before to Trader’s where we bought an awesome leather ottoman.  As I drove past all the shops and restaurants, though, I thought, “Why haven’t we come back?”

I guess I’ll have to remedy that soon!

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Apr 04 2012
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Goals

April 3 – It’s Pretty Easy Being Green

My husband has been on a wheatgrass kick for about a year and had been hounding me to try it.  After my MS diagnosis, he was adamant that I start the day off with 2 ounces of wheatgrass.  I’ll be honest, I was not a fan at first.  It took many tries, many brands and many different ways to deliver it to my body before we settled on the least icky option.

We came across the company Dynamic Greens who allows you to order packs of flash-frozen wheatgrass cubes in bulk.  You melt the cubes in some water and sip it down.  The taste is like a very weak iced tea (as opposed to the really nasty grassy taste of other brands and fresh pressed wheatgrass from a juice bar).

After a few months of morning consumption, yesterday I decided for my “New Thing” I’d bring some juice to work with me to drink before my lunch.

Despite some sideways looks at me as I drank my dark green juice, it was great.  I had really good energy through the rest of the day and wasn’t starving by the time I got home.

Chalk this one up as another thing I think I’ll keep doing!

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Apr 03 2012
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Goals

April 2 – Napping…

One of my earliest school memories was my preschool teacher complaining to my mother that I would not take a nap.  All this poor woman wanted was one hour of escape from 4 year old screams and cries – but I wouldn’t give it to her.  I would lie on my mat and talk, or sing, or sneak a book to read.  Why would I waste an hour of my day sleeping when there were so many more fun things to do?

Fast forward 30 some odd years, throw in a chronic illness and a hectic job and you have yourself a woman craving just 15 minutes where she could lay her head on her desk.

Unfortunately, my job does make it difficult to take a catnap midday. There is always someone calling, coming to the door or a tour out that needs some help.  However, I could feel my health suffering because of my fatigue.  I needed to find at least 20 minutes to carve out of my day to just unplug.

So yesterday, I did it!  My first midday nap while at work!  I know it seems simple, but it really did make all the difference.  I locked the door, put a sign out that said “Will return in 15 minutes”, turned off the ringer on the phone and let my guides know to call my cell if there was an emergency.  Then I stretched out on a cot in the back and closed my eyes for 15 blissful minutes.  I was helped out by a handy-dandy app on my phone called Power Nap with Andrew Johnson.  He is a hypnotist with a soothing Scottish accent that had me relaxed instantly and let me feel refreshed and energetic the rest of the day (good thing, since my day went to 8 pm!)

This was a “Thing I’ve Never Done” that is sure to turn into a “Thing I’ll Want to Do Everyday” for sure!  Maybe a move to Spain where the whole city shuts down mid-day is in the cards for me…

 

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Apr 02 2012
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Experiences, Goals

April 1st – Two Things I’ve never done…

I am sticking to my promise to do something new everyday in April – as long as I remember to do it!  I almost forgot to do something yesterday, but then realized I had inadvertently done two things I’d never done before!

1.  Record Breaking Day at CST Atlanta

Some of you may know that I run a tour operation of Downtown Atlanta – City Segway Tours Atlanta.  We had a spectacular day yesterday in which we got 115 riders up on Segways in one day! Our previous record was 66 (which we had only hit the day before!)

It was a bit of finagling to break that 100 mark – we only have 30 machines, and factoring in for the guides, the most we could realistically do on traditional tours would be 81 in one day.  We had 102 kids visiting from Minnesota (near and dear to my heart!) so we set up special 1 1/2 hour tours that went back to back.  Then we also had 13 folks on regular tours, so there was a lot of Segway swapping, nail biting, and prayers that all 30 machines would make it through the  day without any dead batteries.  Well, I’m happy to say, it was a success!!

2.  April Foolin’

Every year I try to get my mom on April Fools Day.  Epic “gets” include convincing her I had accidentally flooded my freshman dorm, and one year when I called and told her I had been hit in the face with a hockey puck during an Atlanta Thrashers game.  She has gotten so sly to me, however, that she refuses to believe anything I tell her on April 1 (heaven forbid I actually get into a real scrape!).  I’ve tried getting her a few days later, but she’s on to me.

With the craziness of yesterday – I completely forgot to try something (much to her relief, I’m sure).  I guess that just means I’ll have to come up with something extra special next year!

Now to come up with something I’ve never done before by the end of the day…  🙂

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Mar 26 2012
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Goals

Everyday in April I Will…

… do something new!

My goal for April is to do something new or fun everyday of the week.

Suggestions?  Can be something as simple as trying a new food or brushing my teeth with my non-dominant hand, or as wild as skydiving (check – April 28 with Brian David Rudd!!)

I’d love your help on this (cheap stuff, especially!)

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