Welcome to Mauldin!

Hello friends and family! We had so many people suggest that we record our lives in the Upstate through a blog that we decided to do just that. So here it is. We have been in Mauldin (a suburb of Greenville, SC) for just a week now. For any of you who don't have the background story, Jalal got a great job with the Marriott in Spartanburg, and after a whirlwind few weeks, here we are in the G-ville area. We weren't too crazy about Sparkle City since we really aren't used to living in a small town.

Jalal has been with Marriott for three weeks, and he loves it. Well, mostly. He is having some staffing issues, but don't worry. He'll straighten them out! Everyone there is really nice and friendly, and of course, they all love Quinn. Big surprise. The little ham knows how to turn on the charm for the ladies. I am officially a WAHM (work at home Mom). I am freelance editing for Arcadia, my old job, for now and getting ready to develop some local contacts. I basically work during naps, which some days means lots of work and some days means not so much. The first few days sucked. There is no other way to say it. Quinn was very messed up with the moving, losing his routine, not having Daddy around for two weeks, and having Mommy in his face every minute. He didn't sleep well and wasn't too nice most of his awake time. Things are much better now. He is in such a good mood most of the time, and we love playing together. I spend tons of time just playing with him, rolling around on the floor, trying to teach him to clap, tickling him, teaching him to eat Cheerios, etc. I can't believe I missed this for the last four months!!! This is awesome. Okay, so I'm still exhausted, and I still don't have enough time for everything, but it is so very worth it. (PC Note: I admire working moms, stay-at-home moms, and everything in between, especially since I've now seen many sides of the role. All moms are incredible and overworked. I respect all of your choices and don't judge anyone.) There. Lest I be attacked by working moms who wouldn't stay at home if you paid them a million bucks, I wanted to get that out of the way. Anyway, between battles of cable hookups, misplaced phone lines, missing cookware, an empty fridge, too much emotional eating, and wearing the same (clean) clothes every other day, this has been one crazy ride. Welcome to our world. The sleeping giant stirs, so I must adjourn. Until later. Love, Us.