Personally, there are few things that I despise more than the HOA in my neighborhood. For those of you lucky to not know, most homes built in subdivisions today have a Homeowners Association that you can’t opt out of. My biggest gripe is that the HOA isn’t run by the actual homeowners, but instead run by an outsourced community management company that’s usually far removed from the neighborhood itself.

I used to be a leave everything in my suitcase and just rumble around for things I need girl, but I unpacked during this trip just to see how it was and I liked that method waaaaaay better. And it makes it incredibly easier to pack when leaving. I used the hour of free time we needed to burn to unpack all of our clothes and set up the bathroom with our hygiene stuff since I seriously didn’t want to do it when I was tired later that night.

My options for the replacement car came down to a Lexus RX 350 and a Honda CR-V. I was initially drawn to the CR-V, but when I thought about what I wanted most in a car, the RX 350 fit the bill better at my budget. The first couple we went to see in person were a bust. The very first one wasn’t well maintained, didn’t have a backup camera, and needed more repairs than we were willing to take on. The second one ended up being over budget once taxes, tag, and title were taken into account and it had more miles than we necessarily liked. The third one was unconventional and maybe a little risky, but it ended up being the best option and the one I’m driving today.

I enjoy putting together furniture. In fact, I’ve put together every piece of furniture that’s arrived from Amazon. It might take me a while (and I might have to unscrew, flip a piece around, and re-screw) but I stick with the task until the very end. For some reason, I enjoy the challenge of figuring out the super obtuse and poorly written instruction manual to produce a complete piece of furniture.