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Categories: Sightseeing / Travel

Life in magnets

By Anna ⋅ September 11, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

I did it! After spinning my wheels in Memphis for 2+ years, I up and moved to San Antonio. I’m a firm believer in progress but nothing in my life remotely showed any indications of that. Over the last year, I worked two part-time jobs. I was in a holding pattern with Jeff. The unemployment rate in Memphis is 12% and the opening of Bass Pro Shops (and the obvious retail development around the immediate area) is scheduled for August 2013. When the Summer came around, I started applying for employment in other states, and even got a phone interview for a position in Portland, Oregon (where I’m hoping to move to one day).

It’s amazing how life can steer you in a different direction once you start actively making changes because next thing I know… someone I had grown close to asks me out and later convinces me to move-in with him in San Antonio. I couldn’t be happier how things turned out. For the first time in my life, this guy, Chip, really seems to understand me and my eccentricities. Perfect time to mention a couple of years ago I had drafted a contract–more or less a master plan–of how I’d ideally live my life with a significant other in the picture. Stuff like cooking frequency, entertainment, goals, legacy, holidays, travel destinations, religion/spirituality are covered. When I brought it up, he was totally cool with everything on it. The contract itself was more or less a pipe dream and someone actually giving me their two thumbs-up was beyond anything I could ever expect. The few specifics Chip added (as particulars he wanted/expected) are sooooo not an issue for me. Guys are waaaay less complicated. :p

In the few weeks of being together, we’ve already experienced some distressing moments. ‘Twas during our road trip out west to pick up my belongings from two separate storage units. I’ll just say there were several surprises along the way, like having to rent an additional mini van (I swear I didn’t think I had that much stuff, LOL), getting locked-in the 2nd storage unit complex, and the terrifying minutes we were caught in a dust storm while driving on an interstate. I will be posting the gory details and pics of our road trip adventure very soon, but lemme start with the very first thing I unpacked once we got back home: my magnet collection since 1999! Woohoo! After being stored in cookie tins for a few years (most of ’em, anyway), they’re all now beaming on our fridge.

I most definitely have lots of photos from Memphis to share so I’ll be spending the next few weeks (okay, month, maybe two :p) getting those posted too, as well as my last two dates with Jeff.

Without further ado, here are the recent additions to our magnet collection:

Clockwise from left: Tower of the Americas (San Antonio); San Diego; Lordsburg, New Mexico; The Alamo (San Antonio)
Silly me, I forgot to purchase one from Austin (during our first date)

On our freezer door

For a close-up view:

Left half of freezer door
From top: Amish Country (Lancaster, Pennsylvania); Oregon (bought from mall in Portland); Tower of the Americas (San Antonio); Horseshoe Casino (Tunica, Mississippi); Pink Palace (Memphis, Tennessee); Outer Banks, North Carolina; Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial (Washington D.C.); Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (North Carolina); The Blowing Rock (Blowing Rock, North Carolina); Wright Brothers National Memorial (Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina); Monticello (Charlottesville, Virginia); Kings Dominion (Doswell, Virginia); Hershey’s Chocolate World (Hershey, Pennsylvania); Biltmore (Asheville, North Carolina)

To view photo in Flickr, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/yummies4tummies/6137376504

Right half of freezer door
From top: San Diego (view of downtown); Lordsburg, New Mexico; Space Center (Houston, Texas); The Alamo (San Antonio, Texas); Space Needle (Seattle, Washington); Battleship North Carolina (Wilmington, North Carolina); Garden of the Gods (Colorado Springs, Colorado); Grandfather Mountain (Linville, North Carolina); Hot Springs National Park (Hot Springs, Arkansas); Bald Head Lighthouse (North Carolina); site where Martin Luther King was assassinated (National Civil Rights Museums, Memphis, Tennessee); Lincoln Memorial (Washington D.C.); Jefferson Memorial (Washington D.C.); International Spy Museum (Washington D.C.); The National Shrine (Washington D.C.); United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington D.C.); and Stone Mountain Park (Stone Mountain, Georgia)

Left half of refrigerator door
From top: Seattle (Washington); Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Washington D.C.); Korean War Veterans Memorial (Washington D.C.); The Museum and White House of the Confederacy (Richmond, Virginia); Ocracoke Lighthouse (North Carolina); Ash Lawn-Highland (Charlottesville, Virginia); and Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Washington D.C.)

Right half of refrigerator door
From top: Gettysburg Military National Park (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania); Venetian Hotel (Las Vegas, Nevada); Washington Monument (Washington D.C.); Winkler Bakery (Old Salem, North Carolina); The National Archive (Washington D.C.); Bodie Island Lighthouse (North Carolina); and Outer Banks (North Carolina).

There are a few magnets missing (namely Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, and two from Santa Fe: Loretto Chapel and San Miguel Church) and Chip has already said he’d love to go back to Grand Canyon.

Stay tuned. I’ll be posting up a storm soon.

UPDATE September 13, 2011: I found another magnet! Yippee!

This “latecomer” is Currituck Lighthouse in Outer Banks, North Carolina