To do lists!

I am the queen of organization, according to my husband and most of my friends/family! I realize that I am hardcore type A and wear it proudly. I always tell Stephen that this will come in handy for whatever circumstance needs extreme (and who am I kidding, overplanned) organization. This personality trait came in handy this past week (thank god one of us knows how to write down what we need to accomplish ;). I love my husband, but he is male and not focused on the details!!! Thats why opposites attract, right? Anyways, I digress...
Well, after our 4 days in Auburn, it definitely came in handy and I am pretty sure, he will not be poking fun at me again (realistically, that will not happen ;). We left for Auburn on Sunday, after leaving about 4 hours later than planned, cause someone forgot to set the clock forward! We got there late that night, went straight to sleep with the intentions of hitting the pavement bright and early with a very LARGE to do list to conquer.

Here was our to do list:
Look at 3 different daycares
Stop at all the realty companies for listings of houses
Go by all the rental companies for their house listings
Find me a job at the following options: law offices, boutiques, AU, WAGS, staffing companies, banks, department stores, whole foods store, apartment complexes and a few others (you get the idea, A LOT of places)
Figure out where the decent elementary schools are (oh, how things change when you have kids)
Figure out what all we were responsible for paying for as far as Stephen's grad school went
Find out where the CVS, WAGS and Rite Aid (these are VERY important to a couponer ;)
Find the following doctors: pediatrician, dentist, pediatric dentist, chiropractor, ENT, gynecologist
Find a decent hair salon and photographer in town
Check out the daycare on Auburns campus and consult with the director about our application
Go onto campus and see what all has changed (that one was more for me)
Get a list of all the utility companies to start calling about deposits and notice of service
Set up house appointments to maybe, possibly view some houses while in town
Try and get a few job interviews while in town, if possible....

-Well, you get the picture, we had quite the to do list (and these are just the ones I remember off the top of my head)! I was determined to get as much of this done as possible. This was going to be our only opportunity to make this trip before we move and we only had 3 days to do it! We (I) were on a mission. This was definitely the longest to do list (with a deadline) that I had ever compiled. After making it and looking it over, it gave me great anxiety and great excitement!! So we got started...
On Monday, we woke up, got ready and hit the town. We went to all the realty companies and rental companies for lists. I made contact with some old employers for their help and any ideas, as far as jobs for me were concerned. I went job knocking at different businesses around town and got some great leads! We went and looked at different housing options (all of which were beyond disappointing), we knocked out all the minor details (utility companies, set up housing appts. for the next 2 days, doctor recommendations etc.). We went and looked at the 3 daycares on our list and fell in love with 2 of them! All in all, Monday was successful (aside from us finding a place to call home, which of course could be a problem).
On Tuesday, we got up early, got ready and hit the town again. This time, our mission, FIND A HOUSE! Up until this point, the houses were either ridiculously expensive and way over priced, in the wrong neighborhood for a good school option for the kids, they were not big enough, they were not on the tiger transit route (which is how stephen will be getting to and from school FOR FREE), they didn't give us that 'homey' feeling or they were not going to be available in August. We were both becoming very concerned and starting to wonder if we were making the right decision. If we couldn't find a house, we couldn't move. Well, as soon as we were about to call it a day and head back to my friends, I told Stephen to go down the road I used to live off of. I knew there were houses down at the end and we could atleast look at them (there was NO way they could be worse than what we had seen so far). Well, what do you know, they were AWESOME and PERFECT!!! **Go figure** We got an immediate showing appt. and immediately loved them. We were beyond relieved and reassured that this was where we were meant to be and that everything was going to work out. Well, after that, we ended our day (we were exhausted in every meaning of the word).
On Wednesday, we got up early again, got ready, packed up and packed the car and headed to town for 3 more house showings (all with the same rental company that came through for us), in different parts of towns with different sized houses and different options. We looked at all 3 houses and then went and looked at them again to decide which one was going to work for us. We bid farewell to the rental company manager and told him we would be in touch! We talked almost the whole way home (all 9.5 hours) about which one would work best for us and still haven't decided. I think a Pros/Cons list (a glorified, goal oriented 'to do list' ;) is in order to determine our housing and which daycare we want to go with! So with that being said...
This is what we have available to us as far as housing goes: a 3/3, 3/2 and 4/4 triple wide trailer (across the street from my BFF-this is the big selling point to this one; negative selling point on this one-the school district the kids would be zoned for)!!
As far  as daycare is concerned: 2 of 3 places we looked at are absolutely AMAZING and we LOVE either one of them! There is also a daycare on Auburn's campus and we would love for Kinleigh to go there (and we found out yesterday that she got in :), however, their day ends at 3:30pm (here in lies the problem, our days end at 5pm)...So again, I am thinking a Pros/Cons list is in order here!
All in all, our trip was HIGHLY successful. The only thing that we didn't get done, was getting me some interviews (but that was a stretch and we knew it). We feel much better now (aside from choosing where to live and which daycare to send the kiddos to) and are ready for July 31st, when we pack up the truck and pull away from Nacogdoches (the place where we became a family, where the kids were born, where we made our life long friends and where we decided what to do with our lives) and drive towards our future in Auburn (where I went to undergrad, where our kids will be raised, where my husband will become an alum of (which means we will be a hardcore alum family), where I will continue my grad program and where we will grow as individuals and as a family)!!
This is all very exciting and surreal. I never thought I would be going back, let alone, going back with my husband and taking my kids there to raise them, in one of the most positive atmospheres that I had growing up myself! We have been talking about this day for years and are really very excited about it being here and knowing where, what, who, when, why, how etc.!!!

WAR EAGLE