Settling In

Most of the boxes are unpacked and the house is coming together rather quickly, actually.

And now I find that I don't have a clue what to do with myself. I want to be able to hop in the car and drive to my friend Trish's house and spend another evening there, just hanging out. But obviously that can't happen. Sigh.

Damon still hasn't started school... because schools have been closed all but one day since we've been here. It snows a lot in the mountains. We were actually looking FORWARD to the snow before we got here... and now, I'm ready for Spring already!

The kids are loving it, of course. We had to go buy Damon a little sled the other night, and he's spent a lot of time on it. There's no shortage of snow or hills around here... so he's a happy kid. Grandma and I are tired of bundling the kids up to go out in the snow several times a day... that is quite a chore!!

I finally got some pics uploaded, so I thought I'd share a few (I noticed earlier that my blog has been photo-less for far too long!!).

The house...

The view from the house...

Avery watching the snow fall from the living room window...

And, the kids playing in the snow...

Needed a fix...

of the Internet, that is.

The good news is that we arrived safe and sound at our new home... and we're already more than halfway unpacked/organized. The move was pretty much a nightmare, and tonight I'm beyond thrilled that it's behind us! I would say the infamous words ("I'm never moving again!"), but I know that would be a lie...

Anyway... TUESDAY we're getting cable/Internet/phone! It's so awful to feel "disconnected" from the world in every way possible. So, I've been moving around every square inch of the house today, trying to find just the right spot to steal an unassuming neighbor's wireless Internet connection. And tonight, I've finally found it! YAY!

We're all adjusting pretty well to the new place, I think. The kids found friends across the street to play with... so they've been on Cloud Nine for the past 2 days. Damon is a little nervous about starting school this week... But I'm sure he'll be okay once he gets there and everyone loves him (who wouldn't love him?? lol).

It's a little strange being in a new town and knowing NOTHING about it. Nick is the most familiar with where we are (since he's been over here for a couple of months already). But, unfortunately, he had just enough time to drop us off here and then he headed back out on the road. He was nice enough to show me the way to WalMart before he left, though. Thank GOODNESS. We've already made several trips there, of course.

The town we're living in is MUCH bigger than I thought it was going to be... it's really a booming metropolis compared to where we came from. We've spent the past 3 years living in the middle of a cornfield... and now we live in a very congested neighborhood (and park our cars on the street, eeegads!), "in town," on the side of a mountain. It's interesting, to say the least!

I love my cute little house. Nick did a good job finding it for us (I always had faith in him!). It's a small house... maybe even smaller than the one we just left. But I really love the way it's laid out, and it's a NICE house. I've taken oodles of pics already... and one of these days, hopefully, I'll get around to sharing them.

Okay, enough rambling for now. I'm actually surprised that this poor Internet connection that I'm stealing has lasted long enough for me to make this post! I just wanted to pop on and let everyone know that we're alive and well. And missing our old home and the friends there tremendously (but I'm not gonna think about that right now or else I'll be a blubbering mess!).

ONE DAY 'til Moving Day

And I'm seriously about to lose my mind!

This house is an absolute disaster area. Two rooms are floor-to-ceiling boxes... furniture is haphazardly thrown all over the house. You honestly can't walk through the living area. It's just scary.

And, of course, there's still sooooooooo much left to do. I keep telling myself that it'll all come together, and somehow the house will be empty by tomorrow evening. I'm telling myself that, but I'm not sure if I believe it...

The good news is that Nick was able to catch an earlier flight home today... so he'll arrive 3 hours earlier than expected, around 9:30pm. I think just having him here and knowing that he's awesome at getting things done (especially when I'm spazzing out!) will ease my mind quite a bit.

I'm thinking a magic wand would come in handy right about now!

Life Lessons from "It's A Wonderful Life"

To quote one of my favorite movies: "No man [or woman, in this case] is a failure who has friends."

And do I ever have friends... the MOST wonderful friends a girl could ask for. *sniff, sniff*

Friday night, my Mom's Group friends had a going away party for me at our favorite restaurant/karaoke bar. And it was perfect.

We had a nice meal, I shared a fabulous bottle of wine with Angie, and they showered me with gifts, balloons, and cake! Oh, and my favorite singing bartender that I've drooled over for years was even our waiter... our own private waiter for the evening. What could possibly be better than that? (He was even better than a stripper, Angie! lol)

I've been trying to come up with a "goodbye speech" for these ladies for a week now... you know, "just the right thing" to say to each and every one of them, to let them know just how much I love them and how I can't imagine my life without them... all that sappy stuff. But, for probably the first time in my life, words escape me. Shocking, I know!

When I moved here 3 years ago, I joined a little, local Mom's Group so that the kids and I would have instant friends and things to do. Well, over the past 3 years, that "little group" has undergone some major changes... all for the better, I might add! And now it's a not-so-little group of 40-some women and oodles of precious children that I've come to love as my own.

I don't think I ever imagined that one day I'd have to say goodbye to them. And that's proving very difficult, as I sit here 3 days away from Moving Day.

All I can say is that I'm truly blessed to know each and every one of them. I can only hope that they know how much I love them and their little ones, and I'll carry them in my heart always, no matter where in the world I am.

I haven't even left yet, but I already miss my Moms terribly. The only thought that comforts me is that I'll only be a mouse-click away from them (gotta love technology)!

Thanks, Ladies, for everything! Super duper hugs to all of you.

Oh, and Maria... if Delilah just happens to turn up missing later this week... try not to worry. I promise I'll take good care of her. lolol

Happy Valentine's Day!

Although I'm missing my Valentine oodles, I'm trying to stay positive here... I spent the afternoon/evening with my friend Trish and her family. And we always have a great time together.

Trish was even nice enough to fix me a scrumptuous dinner... AND she shared her 3-lb. chocolate heart with me. Yumm-O!

I'm still counting the days until I see Nick again (we're down to five!)... and I'm sure we'll have a belated Valentine's celebration then.

I hope everyone else had a love-filled day! Hugs from me to you.

One Week 'Til Moving Day!

Oh boy. One week. SO much still to do.

I've reached the point where I think we're just going to be running around at the last minute, chucking stuff in random boxes to get out of here. And I'm almost okay with that.

Nick is also going to need to make several runs to the dump, I think. I'm finding it's much easier to add stuff to the trash pile than to actually organize and pack it.

So, the countdown is officially on... God help me.

I might live after all

Today, for the first time in almost a week, I feel halfway human again! Still pretty far from 100%, but definitely an improvement... thank goodness.

I even ventured out of the house, which was uber-exciting! Mom and I took the kids to the mall today and met my sister-in-law and three nieces for the afternoon. My oldest niece, Sarah, and a friend of hers went to the library at the mall, where they had Dance Dance Revolution set up for the kids to play... it was so fun to watch them jump around like lunatics (just observing made me feel dizzy!). I have a feeling it won't be too terribly long before we add DDR to our collection of PS2 games (although I'm still gunning for a karaoke game first!).

So, we only have a little over a week before Nick shows up here to pack us up! I'm getting excited... mostly excited to SEE my husband again and know that we'll see him fairly regularly once we get moved. I'm also looking forward to getting settled in our new place and then setting out to discover our new town! I have to keep all of the positives in mind because I'm also getting really sad, knowing that we have a lot of goodbyes ahead of us here. I hate goodbyes.

A new house and pneumonia

Those are the things I acquired this week.

Nick found a perfect house for us to rent for the next year. It's in a nice neighborhood, not too far from his work, and has a nice big yard for the kids and canines (which we get to keep!). Our lease starts February 15th... yikes! only 1 week from today! I think our official move date is going to be February 20th.

Of course, there's LOTS of work to do here to get ready for the move. Which makes this whole pneumonia thing THAT much more annoying.

I started feeling bad Monday afternoon and by that night I couldn't lift my head off the couch. After two days of horrible fevers and chills and sweats and praying for death, my mother insisted that I go to the doctor.

I haven't had pneumonia since I was a kid, and if I survive this episode of it, I pray that I'll never have it again! It's been really, really bad. And with a little over a week 'til Moving Day, I'm in super panic mode here.

She Did It Again!

My friend Melissa is SO amazing with her camera!

Today she had a photo shoot with my favorite princess... You can see a preview here.

Say it with me: 1... 2... 3... awwwwwwwwww! Isn't she too cute?!?!?

Thanks, Meliss! :)

House-Hunting

Well, we've officially given our landlord notice... and we have to be out of here by the end of this month. Exciting and scary at the same time... it doesn't give us a whole lot of time to find a new house. And since I'm 500 miles away from our destination, I'm feeling kinda helpless at the moment.

I'm leaving the house-hunting in Nick's capable hands, since he's already over there. I have faith that he'll find something that won't totally scare me... after all, he was the one who found the house we've been living in for the past 3 years, and he did a pretty great job with this one!

I think the hardest part is going to be finding a dog-friendly rental. And I actually had "the talk" with Nick last weekend and made sure he realized that if it came down to it, we MIGHT have to say goodbye to the beasts. We're both hoping it doesn't come to that, but we realize it's a possibility. As crazy as the dogs make me most days, I can't really imagine giving them up, though. Comet is huge and wild and smelly... but he's my baby. Lizzie is little and rat-like and evil, but she loves her peeps and it's hard to imagine a night without her nestled under my covers.

Nick is actually on his way, as I post this, to look at a rental that was just posted a couple of days ago (I've been stalking the online classifieds for weeks!). It's a 3-bedroom home in a great location (about 15 minutes from Nick's terminal), and the rent is about HALF of what we're paying now. AND... they allow dogs/beasts/evil rats.

I've got my fingers crossed big time that it works out. Knowing that we won't be homeless in a few weeks would be a HUGE relief right about now!! I'll keep you posted on the search...