A MONTH IN ORLANDO

I’m essentially starting this blog over since I haven’t posted anything in what seems like a lifetime haha If you didn’t know, the Hoopers finally made s*** happen and we moved to Orlando, Florida last month! One month ago, today, to be exact!

Jacob accepted a position at Advent Health in April and a month later we we pulled out of the driveway at 7:00 in the morning and spent the following 20 hours trudging our way South in search of some sunshine! And so far…it has been the best decision we’ve ever made and we’ve learned SO much! Since I had taken a couple of days prior to us moving to fly down here and check out the area, we already had an apartment lined up but it wasn’t ready to move in until a few days after we arrived, so we spent the first three nights at a hotel near Universal Studios (which is now only 10 minutes from us! Holy wow!) while we were waiting.

That brings us to the first lesson we learned, that is: you never really know. haha When we showed up to the apartment complex on Friday to move in, the administrator walked us over to our new place to show it to us since it hadn’t been ready previously. This also happened to be the first time that she had seen it since the previous tenant moved out and….in the wise words of Simon Cowell…it was a no, from me. I was SHOCKED! When we walked the model apartment, it was nice!! The complex was clean and seemed quiet, but the apartment was far from clean and there were neighbors in the office that morning making complaints about neighbors….it was not good.

Thankfully, the administrator seemed just as appalled as we were and they let us out of the lease and gave us our deposit back; but at this point, we had no idea what we were going to do. We couldn’t afford to keep staying in hotels and we were supposed to have the U-Haul back that afternoon. Thankfully, I still had the list that Jacob made with all the apartments that I looked at while I was here and I checked our second choice on the list. When we arrived at the second complex, they were so helpful and it worked out perfectly because they had only ONE model that was available SAME DAY! (talk about a miracle)

The second lesson we’ve learned is: Florida drivers are crazy!! We’ve heard this about Florida before, but never really experienced it prior to moving here; and if anyone reading this is a Florida local –ya’ll are CRAZY! Everyone leaves about two car lengths in between while stopped at a red light, NOBODY PARKS IN THE LINES and god forbid you don’t slam your foot to the gas as soon as a light turns green haha Jacob and I have started to play a game where we count how many honks we hear from point A to point B. It’s so funny to see how something as simple as driving mannerisms can vary from place to place.

Also, if you’re becoming a Florida resident and you purchase a Disney Annual Pass, I would highly recommend you wait to purchase your pass until AFTER you have all the documents required to pick them up! They are SUPER strict on what is and is not accepted. Although, I’ve also heard it depends on who you get at the ticket window. I’m sure there are still many lessons to come on this adventure and it’s all worth it! We haven’t spent many evenings indoors. Most nights we go for an evening walk around the Universal Citywalk (which is so much fun–pictured below), and Tuesday and Friday nights are usually spent watching Fireworks at one of the Disney parks. Yesterday we took our first ever trip to a Disney waterpark (Blizzard Beach) and it was amazing! Literally the most fun I’ve had in a body of water in a really long time! And have I mentioned the beach? Um, hello…does it get any better?

It’s still feeling so surreal! Every time I see a palm tree or walk into a Disney park or see a little lizard on the sidewalk, I have to pinch myself! After five years of dreaming, it almost happening last year and then not happening (which was for the best), the Florida life is finally a reality at the perfect time! We are just feeling so damn grateful.