I saw this on another blog and thought it looked fun, so I stole it! :-)
You are supposed to bold the ones you have done.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (I'm in the process right now, does that count?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own. (Just this one!)
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Poison Control
So the other night, I had to call Poison Control for the first time with child number 4. I've had to call them so much over the last 10 years that it doesn't even phase me anymore when they ask for my name and zip code.
When my oldest was our only there was a span of time that I called them A LOT. I was so scared that there was some type of "Poison Control Quota" and if you called more than the quota Social Services would make a visit. I was certain Blake would be taken away after I had to call about him pouring gasoline all over himself in the same month he drank mouthwash (and two other things I've since forgotten).
Anyway, back to the other night.
I cleaned the kitchen after dinner. I even started the dishwasher and mopped the floor! Ok, Swiffered, but whatever. I forgot to re-lock the cleaner's cabinet. About 15 minutes later, I was in the school room, and I heard that oh, so, familiar sound. That gagging, sputtering, choking sound. I jumped up, hurdled the gate, and saw Luke in the hallway with the remnants of a dishwasher pack*, clearly gagging, and, uh, stuff coming out his mouth.
I realized what it was immediately. I jerked him up and ran to the kitchen, making sure there wasn't any left in his mouth. I started reading the label on the package and calling out orders at the same time "bring me the phone, I need to call poison control", "he needs milk, get me some milk", and "DO NOT INDUCE VOMITING" as he vomits (I'm so glad I mopped the floor!).
He's fine, just gave us a scare. The poison control guy gave me some instructions and things to look for, and then he called me back in 1/2 an hour to make sure Luke was ok.
In related? news, he went to bed great that night and slept until 7 am the next morning. It was the first time Luke has slept through the night since we left California.
Jerry says maybe we should feed him a dishwasher pack every night! He's kidding, right? :-)
*These
When my oldest was our only there was a span of time that I called them A LOT. I was so scared that there was some type of "Poison Control Quota" and if you called more than the quota Social Services would make a visit. I was certain Blake would be taken away after I had to call about him pouring gasoline all over himself in the same month he drank mouthwash (and two other things I've since forgotten).
Anyway, back to the other night.
I cleaned the kitchen after dinner. I even started the dishwasher and mopped the floor! Ok, Swiffered, but whatever. I forgot to re-lock the cleaner's cabinet. About 15 minutes later, I was in the school room, and I heard that oh, so, familiar sound. That gagging, sputtering, choking sound. I jumped up, hurdled the gate, and saw Luke in the hallway with the remnants of a dishwasher pack*, clearly gagging, and, uh, stuff coming out his mouth.
I realized what it was immediately. I jerked him up and ran to the kitchen, making sure there wasn't any left in his mouth. I started reading the label on the package and calling out orders at the same time "bring me the phone, I need to call poison control", "he needs milk, get me some milk", and "DO NOT INDUCE VOMITING" as he vomits (I'm so glad I mopped the floor!).
He's fine, just gave us a scare. The poison control guy gave me some instructions and things to look for, and then he called me back in 1/2 an hour to make sure Luke was ok.
In related? news, he went to bed great that night and slept until 7 am the next morning. It was the first time Luke has slept through the night since we left California.
Jerry says maybe we should feed him a dishwasher pack every night! He's kidding, right? :-)
*These
Monday, December 15, 2008
The Great Church Hunt, Parts 2 and 3
I'll have to lump Part 2 and Part 3 together, but it's ok because it's the same church.
When we were searching for churches while still in California, this one was the second of two that we really wanted to try.
Our first Sunday there was so much better than the first church we tried. The people were very friendly, and the Children's Church was in a different building and totally kid-approved. The check in for both the kids and the nursery was a little unorganized and took forever, though.
We enjoyed the music (even if it did get a little 7-11* once in a while), but soon it started to go downhill for me. Not very fast downhill, but downhill. A lot of it is petty, and I'm not sure that I want to even type it out. Ok, I will. I do not like when the Pastor and his wife sit/stand/worship on the platform/stage. I think it's tacky, and self-serving. Top that with a Pastor that doesn't really worship and a wife that doesn't either, and it goes beyond tacky. Now I know what some of you are thinking. You're wondering how I know what they were doing if I was worshipping. :-). Well, you see, well, you got me. But they were such an eye-sore. Like a train-wreck from which you couldn't peel your eyes!
Then came announcements, two different offerings, two special songs, and before you knew it, it was noon and he was just beginning to preach (church started at 10:30). I know this happens sometimes, and he was apologizing profusely for the time. The sermon was great, but I just wish he'd had the whole hour or more to preach it instead of rushing through it.
Luke was crying when we picked him up (surprise, surprise), and Blake made like 5 friends (surprise, surprise). We enjoyed it enough to give it another shot.
Yesterday, we tried it again. The timing was much smoother than before, and the songs were not as 7-11'y as before which was nice. Jerry doesn't like his preaching style; I think I could get used to it. We don't like how the nursery pretends to be secured (with a locked door and only one way in and out), but really isn't, because when the door is opened people just run in before it closes, throwing their pagers on the counter. There aren't nearly enough workers for the amount of children or the space (the check in counter typically has nobody working it, allowing all the said people to run through the open door).
I still can't get over the Pastor and his wife being up there during worship. I just don't like it.
We're going to pray about it. I feel like I'm being overly critical about the church, and I probably am, but at the same time I really don't feel like this church is where we belong.
So...The Great Church Hunt continues...
*7 words 11 times,
meaning the same verse or chorus is sung
over and over and over and over again
When we were searching for churches while still in California, this one was the second of two that we really wanted to try.
Our first Sunday there was so much better than the first church we tried. The people were very friendly, and the Children's Church was in a different building and totally kid-approved. The check in for both the kids and the nursery was a little unorganized and took forever, though.
We enjoyed the music (even if it did get a little 7-11* once in a while), but soon it started to go downhill for me. Not very fast downhill, but downhill. A lot of it is petty, and I'm not sure that I want to even type it out. Ok, I will. I do not like when the Pastor and his wife sit/stand/worship on the platform/stage. I think it's tacky, and self-serving. Top that with a Pastor that doesn't really worship and a wife that doesn't either, and it goes beyond tacky. Now I know what some of you are thinking. You're wondering how I know what they were doing if I was worshipping. :-). Well, you see, well, you got me. But they were such an eye-sore. Like a train-wreck from which you couldn't peel your eyes!
Then came announcements, two different offerings, two special songs, and before you knew it, it was noon and he was just beginning to preach (church started at 10:30). I know this happens sometimes, and he was apologizing profusely for the time. The sermon was great, but I just wish he'd had the whole hour or more to preach it instead of rushing through it.
Luke was crying when we picked him up (surprise, surprise), and Blake made like 5 friends (surprise, surprise). We enjoyed it enough to give it another shot.
Yesterday, we tried it again. The timing was much smoother than before, and the songs were not as 7-11'y as before which was nice. Jerry doesn't like his preaching style; I think I could get used to it. We don't like how the nursery pretends to be secured (with a locked door and only one way in and out), but really isn't, because when the door is opened people just run in before it closes, throwing their pagers on the counter. There aren't nearly enough workers for the amount of children or the space (the check in counter typically has nobody working it, allowing all the said people to run through the open door).
I still can't get over the Pastor and his wife being up there during worship. I just don't like it.
We're going to pray about it. I feel like I'm being overly critical about the church, and I probably am, but at the same time I really don't feel like this church is where we belong.
So...The Great Church Hunt continues...
*7 words 11 times,
meaning the same verse or chorus is sung
over and over and over and over again
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
You wanna tour my house?
Well, this is the best I can do. These are the pictures I took during the chaos of moving in! Well, except for the picture of the outside of the house. I took that this morning.
Please excuse our mess!
This picture is taken with my back to the front door.
That's a screened-in porch back there.
(that's the front door) :-)
Walking in the living room a bit further, you can see the kitchen to the left
(more on that later, of course).
(more on that later, of course).
If you take a right at the front door,
there is a hallway that leads to our "Master Suite".
there is a hallway that leads to our "Master Suite".
We have a double vanity and more cabinet space than we could ever need.
Don't be jealous :-)
There is a separate shower, but I failed to get a picture of that,
or the walk in closet that is to the right of the tub
If you go back out to the living room, and through the kitchen, to your left is a hallway that leads to the stairs and Luke's room...which is also the playroom
This is the school room.
They meant it to be a formal dining room. We don't need one of those :-)
Looking right through it, that's all the crap in front of the front door.
Upstairs and to the left is Olivia and Rebekah's room.
Looking right through it, that's all the crap in front of the front door.
Upstairs and to the left is Olivia and Rebekah's room.
There is a Jack-n-Jill bathroom upstairs. This is the girls' entrance to it.
Froggies!
Well, hello there Blake!
We're not getting out his door!
After kicking my way through the door to Blake's room,
I was able to take a picture of the living room from the "loft" area.
I was able to take a picture of the living room from the "loft" area.
Oh, look!
There's Jerry using my Dyson!
Going back down the stairs
This is the beautiful window glass in the dining room.
There's Jerry using my Dyson!
Going back down the stairs
This is the beautiful window glass in the dining room.
And, my favorite room in the house...the Kitchen!
I don't know what we'll do with all those cabinets, but they sure are nice to have!
I don't know what we'll do with all those cabinets, but they sure are nice to have!
The bar overlooking the dining room
I don't know if you can see it, but on the refrigerator is a San Diego flip flop magnet
I bought a few days before we left California.
This is a little nook beside the refrigerator
These are all the pictures we have of the house. I'll take more eventually. Maybe. :-)Sunday, December 7, 2008
It's all about the perspective
I haven't updated in a long while, and I'm not sure I'll be able to catch everyone up. I can blog things as I remember them, and that's all I can promise :-).
We're still on the great search for a church and we're getting discouraged. We wish there was a church closer to us where we feel we belong, but there just isn't. Yesterday Jerry had me googlemap the distance between our house we lived in in Tennessee and our church there. I humored him, certain that it was a 30 minute drive. Maybe even less. Turns out, we lived 32 miles from our church there. Almost a 45 minute drive, because we didn't live close to the interstate. Only 2 or 3 miles shorter than the churches we're talking about here. You know, the drive we're dreading? The drive we did every Sunday and Wednesday in TN didn't seem that long.
Why is that? Perspective.
We lived closer to that church when we got connected and then we moved further away. We didn't mind it because we were already plugged in and had friends there, and my parents were there. This gives us new perspective on the churches here. We're not as discouraged as we were. More on our church hunt in another post.
In other news:
Our house is starting to feel like a home. I've cleaned, I've taught school, Jerry has had normal working days, I've had dinner cooking when gets home, the kids have had normal bedtimes...we have a sense of normalcy! I miss our lives in California, but it is so nice to feel settled again, to relax, to exhale.
The kids are adjusting well, except for Luke. He hasn't slept through the night since we left Cali. Some of it could be the lack of a crib (no we never found the hardware to put it together...more on that later), and some of it could be molars coming in, but I think most of it is the move. He has become so incredibly clingy and has separation anxiety more than any of other 3 did. Probably more than the other 3 combined. We can't put him down! Well, I guess technically we CAN put him down, but the poor baby just cries and cries and cries. He'll cling to my legs and I end up tripping on him, which you know only makes things worse. Things are starting to get easier, but you can tell he doesn't feel totally secure in his surroundings yet.
I joined a homeschool group, and signed the kids up for a Spelling Bee they're having in January. They're really excited about that, my weird kids :-). They invited me to the Christmas party, and I think we'll go.
Now that things have calmed down and life isn't as chaotic, I will keep in better touch with all of you!
We're still on the great search for a church and we're getting discouraged. We wish there was a church closer to us where we feel we belong, but there just isn't. Yesterday Jerry had me googlemap the distance between our house we lived in in Tennessee and our church there. I humored him, certain that it was a 30 minute drive. Maybe even less. Turns out, we lived 32 miles from our church there. Almost a 45 minute drive, because we didn't live close to the interstate. Only 2 or 3 miles shorter than the churches we're talking about here. You know, the drive we're dreading? The drive we did every Sunday and Wednesday in TN didn't seem that long.
Why is that? Perspective.
We lived closer to that church when we got connected and then we moved further away. We didn't mind it because we were already plugged in and had friends there, and my parents were there. This gives us new perspective on the churches here. We're not as discouraged as we were. More on our church hunt in another post.
In other news:
Our house is starting to feel like a home. I've cleaned, I've taught school, Jerry has had normal working days, I've had dinner cooking when gets home, the kids have had normal bedtimes...we have a sense of normalcy! I miss our lives in California, but it is so nice to feel settled again, to relax, to exhale.
The kids are adjusting well, except for Luke. He hasn't slept through the night since we left Cali. Some of it could be the lack of a crib (no we never found the hardware to put it together...more on that later), and some of it could be molars coming in, but I think most of it is the move. He has become so incredibly clingy and has separation anxiety more than any of other 3 did. Probably more than the other 3 combined. We can't put him down! Well, I guess technically we CAN put him down, but the poor baby just cries and cries and cries. He'll cling to my legs and I end up tripping on him, which you know only makes things worse. Things are starting to get easier, but you can tell he doesn't feel totally secure in his surroundings yet.
I joined a homeschool group, and signed the kids up for a Spelling Bee they're having in January. They're really excited about that, my weird kids :-). They invited me to the Christmas party, and I think we'll go.
Now that things have calmed down and life isn't as chaotic, I will keep in better touch with all of you!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The Great Church Hunt, Part 1
Before we left California, I started looking up churches. We're Assembly of God (AG), so I looked on their national website, I searched with google, and I looked at the yellowpages online. When we thought we were going to live on the Florida side of the state line, I found a couple of churches I wanted to try out, and then really didn't look again.
Now that we're here, reality has set in.
We not living in Florida, so the churches that I found to try out are ~40 minutes away. But if the church is a good church, the drive won't bother me. We've done it before. When we lived in TN, we lived about 30-40 minutes way from our church, and we happily drove it twice a week. There aren't any AG churches near us. Well, there's one, but it's tiny and I don't really care for tiny churches.
That being said, we tried one of the churches last weekend.
The kids all went to their classes well enough (Luke has a bit of separation anxiety, so we expected him to be a little hesitant). Everything seemed ok until we got to the sanctuary and they started the worship service. Every. Single. Song. was all kick drum and electric guitar. And it was loud. So loud that my insides were vibrating...and I'm not a wimp when it comes to the sound during worship service (and those reading from SDFA, trust me when I tell you that it was AT LEAST 15-20 decibels louder than a typical Sunday there.). I didn't recognize any of the songs, and was a bit too distracted by the guitarists banging their heads to pay attention to the words on the screen. It was like a rock concert, and a rock concert is not where I want to be on Sunday morning.
All I kept telling myself was "just wait for the pastor. Don't make any judgments until you hear the pastor speak."
Well, I was a little disappointed, because I don't like being yelled at. I don't really mind you raising your voice for added emphasis, but if you want to yell the entire sermon at me, I'm tuning out. His analogies didn't make any sense, and he was all over the place. I couldn't keep up with his train of thought for anything! But even worse, I couldn't follow along in my bible, because the sanctuary lights never came back on.
After the service we went to pick the kids up and they had a FABULOUS time. One of the guys working in Children's Church is from San Diego (he's here for Master's Commission, for those that know what that is).
I think the worst part for me, though, was how hard Luke was crying when we picked him up from the nursery. He was snubbing he was crying so hard, so I didn't believe the lady when she said that he just started crying. I'm his mom, I know him better than that. You know that cry they do when their head jerks a little to the side, in hiccup fashion? Yeah, that's what he was doing.
On our way out, the pastor walks up to us and introduces himself. Nice, right? We thought so too, really. But, he'd already gotten relaxed for the afternoon with his tie off and his top two buttons unbuttoned. There are several things in my life I'm better off not knowing, and how much hair my pastor has on his chest is one of those things :-). He was very nice though, and made us feel welcome. And he told us that that the 9 am service was completely different. He said it was "more traditional, with some contemporary music. It's not all hymns." He admitted the later service was a little much for some people. Ya think?
For the sake of fairness, cause, well, San Diego First Assembly is a tough act to follow, we'll try again and try the 9 am service. Maybe.
Oh, the New Visitor gift at this church was homemade chocolate chip cookies! They were very good, too.
Now that we're here, reality has set in.
We not living in Florida, so the churches that I found to try out are ~40 minutes away. But if the church is a good church, the drive won't bother me. We've done it before. When we lived in TN, we lived about 30-40 minutes way from our church, and we happily drove it twice a week. There aren't any AG churches near us. Well, there's one, but it's tiny and I don't really care for tiny churches.
That being said, we tried one of the churches last weekend.
The kids all went to their classes well enough (Luke has a bit of separation anxiety, so we expected him to be a little hesitant). Everything seemed ok until we got to the sanctuary and they started the worship service. Every. Single. Song. was all kick drum and electric guitar. And it was loud. So loud that my insides were vibrating...and I'm not a wimp when it comes to the sound during worship service (and those reading from SDFA, trust me when I tell you that it was AT LEAST 15-20 decibels louder than a typical Sunday there.). I didn't recognize any of the songs, and was a bit too distracted by the guitarists banging their heads to pay attention to the words on the screen. It was like a rock concert, and a rock concert is not where I want to be on Sunday morning.
All I kept telling myself was "just wait for the pastor. Don't make any judgments until you hear the pastor speak."
Well, I was a little disappointed, because I don't like being yelled at. I don't really mind you raising your voice for added emphasis, but if you want to yell the entire sermon at me, I'm tuning out. His analogies didn't make any sense, and he was all over the place. I couldn't keep up with his train of thought for anything! But even worse, I couldn't follow along in my bible, because the sanctuary lights never came back on.
After the service we went to pick the kids up and they had a FABULOUS time. One of the guys working in Children's Church is from San Diego (he's here for Master's Commission, for those that know what that is).
I think the worst part for me, though, was how hard Luke was crying when we picked him up from the nursery. He was snubbing he was crying so hard, so I didn't believe the lady when she said that he just started crying. I'm his mom, I know him better than that. You know that cry they do when their head jerks a little to the side, in hiccup fashion? Yeah, that's what he was doing.
On our way out, the pastor walks up to us and introduces himself. Nice, right? We thought so too, really. But, he'd already gotten relaxed for the afternoon with his tie off and his top two buttons unbuttoned. There are several things in my life I'm better off not knowing, and how much hair my pastor has on his chest is one of those things :-). He was very nice though, and made us feel welcome. And he told us that that the 9 am service was completely different. He said it was "more traditional, with some contemporary music. It's not all hymns." He admitted the later service was a little much for some people. Ya think?
For the sake of fairness, cause, well, San Diego First Assembly is a tough act to follow, we'll try again and try the 9 am service. Maybe.
Oh, the New Visitor gift at this church was homemade chocolate chip cookies! They were very good, too.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Oh dear
I have access to the outside world!! My phone turned on today! My internet turned on today! I still don't have cell phone service at my house, but I have internet!!
I would like to make a list of things I like and dislike about this place. Maybe I should just focus on the good, but the bad is so funny that I really think you'd enjoy reading it.
For example, gnats. Why did God create these tiny little good-for-nothing creatures? They swarm in huge blobs, they bite, and you must be careful when walking through your yard, because if you happen to walk through one of the swarms they'll fly in your nose and mouth, YUCK!
In my last couple of posts, I was telling you about how some of our things are missing and how things were packed. Well, it gets better. Our bed broke over the weekend. My 2 year old, nice, sturdy, expensive, first ever new "grown up" bed is broken. Apparently the movers that moved us in last week didn't put it together properly.
I have a (California) King, so there is a center board that goes down the middle and keeps the two twin size box springs up. Attached to this are supposed to be 3 'pedestal' type feet that go to the ground and help support that center beam, the box springs, and the mattress. The feet were not attached to the center beam. Not only that, but the slats they used under the box springs were not the ones that belonged with our bed. They were for Blake's bunkbed. The slats that go on our bed are supposed to be screwed in.
What is amazing to me is how these things just disappeared. There was supposed to be a "hardware" box. A box that all the screws and stuff from the taken apart beds. The packers didn't pack this stuff because our beds were taken apart on the move day by the driver and his crew.
I called the people that moved us in and told him what happened with my bed. He came out this morning to look at the bed and see if he could find the hardware box in the garage. He couldn't find it, either. He said he would call a furniture repair place and see if they could come and fix the bed and the crib (since we're still missing the screws for it as well). I'm sorry, but they already screwed up a lot. I'm not going to give them another shot at it, just to keep me from filing a claim, only to have it break again in a month or so. I'd rather just file the claim and get the reimbursement money then call the manufacturer and get the replacement parts through them and fix it ourselves. I can just see them saying "oh, this screw seems like it'll fit" and using that method to fix Luke's crib. Uh, no.
The good news is, the movers that moved our stuff here are locals. Hopefully this can be resolved before it gets ugly.
I would like to make a list of things I like and dislike about this place. Maybe I should just focus on the good, but the bad is so funny that I really think you'd enjoy reading it.
For example, gnats. Why did God create these tiny little good-for-nothing creatures? They swarm in huge blobs, they bite, and you must be careful when walking through your yard, because if you happen to walk through one of the swarms they'll fly in your nose and mouth, YUCK!
In my last couple of posts, I was telling you about how some of our things are missing and how things were packed. Well, it gets better. Our bed broke over the weekend. My 2 year old, nice, sturdy, expensive, first ever new "grown up" bed is broken. Apparently the movers that moved us in last week didn't put it together properly.
I have a (California) King, so there is a center board that goes down the middle and keeps the two twin size box springs up. Attached to this are supposed to be 3 'pedestal' type feet that go to the ground and help support that center beam, the box springs, and the mattress. The feet were not attached to the center beam. Not only that, but the slats they used under the box springs were not the ones that belonged with our bed. They were for Blake's bunkbed. The slats that go on our bed are supposed to be screwed in.
What is amazing to me is how these things just disappeared. There was supposed to be a "hardware" box. A box that all the screws and stuff from the taken apart beds. The packers didn't pack this stuff because our beds were taken apart on the move day by the driver and his crew.
I called the people that moved us in and told him what happened with my bed. He came out this morning to look at the bed and see if he could find the hardware box in the garage. He couldn't find it, either. He said he would call a furniture repair place and see if they could come and fix the bed and the crib (since we're still missing the screws for it as well). I'm sorry, but they already screwed up a lot. I'm not going to give them another shot at it, just to keep me from filing a claim, only to have it break again in a month or so. I'd rather just file the claim and get the reimbursement money then call the manufacturer and get the replacement parts through them and fix it ourselves. I can just see them saying "oh, this screw seems like it'll fit" and using that method to fix Luke's crib. Uh, no.
The good news is, the movers that moved our stuff here are locals. Hopefully this can be resolved before it gets ugly.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Family Traditions and Life in the Boonies
The very first meal I cooked for Jerry as his new bride was spaghetti. I make my own sauce, which is pretty hard to screw up, so it’s something simple, yet with a tiny level of difficulty to make me think I’m accomplishing something.
When we moved a year later, I made spaghetti that first night. It was something easy and quick, which is what we wanted after spending all day moving. Cause, well you know, it’s hard work moving 600 sq ft worth of stuff.
When Jerry re-enlisted and we moved to South Carolina, I made spaghetti the first night.
It wasn’t until then that we recognized the pattern, and we adopted it as our Family Tradition. I cook spaghetti for dinner in every new house we move into. We’ve moved a total of 8 times since we’ve been married (12 years). I guess It helps that everyone loves my spaghetti. I think I’ve perfected the recipe over the years.
All that to say…well you know what we had for dinner last Monday
Have I mentioned yet how far away from civilization we live? I’m used to living in a city, where I can get to anywhere I need to go in a matter of minutes. This is culture shock to me. Yes, I’m back in the land where people talk right (that totally doesn’t have the effect I’m looking for since you can’t hear me say it), but I’m out here in the middle of nowhere! We can’t even get cable at our house!! Couple that with it taking a week to get my phone and internet turned on, and absolutely no cell service, I feel cut off from the world! I’m making a list and going in to town this weekend (yeah, this one isn’t the same without hearing it either…) for things we need. Seriously, though, I do have to go to Jacksonville and get a dress. We have a family wedding the week before Thanksgiving (yes, I know I’m waiting until the last minute, don’t remind me!)
We do have a really nice house though. I feel spoiled rotten living here. We enacted the No Shoes On The Carpet Rule. So far, so good. Hopefully it lasts the whole time we’re here. We even went as far as buying everyone in the family “house” shoes. I got fluffy, furry pink flip flops.
I know many of you want pictures, and they’re coming soon.
When we moved a year later, I made spaghetti that first night. It was something easy and quick, which is what we wanted after spending all day moving. Cause, well you know, it’s hard work moving 600 sq ft worth of stuff.
When Jerry re-enlisted and we moved to South Carolina, I made spaghetti the first night.
It wasn’t until then that we recognized the pattern, and we adopted it as our Family Tradition. I cook spaghetti for dinner in every new house we move into. We’ve moved a total of 8 times since we’ve been married (12 years). I guess It helps that everyone loves my spaghetti. I think I’ve perfected the recipe over the years.
All that to say…well you know what we had for dinner last Monday
Have I mentioned yet how far away from civilization we live? I’m used to living in a city, where I can get to anywhere I need to go in a matter of minutes. This is culture shock to me. Yes, I’m back in the land where people talk right (that totally doesn’t have the effect I’m looking for since you can’t hear me say it), but I’m out here in the middle of nowhere! We can’t even get cable at our house!! Couple that with it taking a week to get my phone and internet turned on, and absolutely no cell service, I feel cut off from the world! I’m making a list and going in to town this weekend (yeah, this one isn’t the same without hearing it either…) for things we need. Seriously, though, I do have to go to Jacksonville and get a dress. We have a family wedding the week before Thanksgiving (yes, I know I’m waiting until the last minute, don’t remind me!)
We do have a really nice house though. I feel spoiled rotten living here. We enacted the No Shoes On The Carpet Rule. So far, so good. Hopefully it lasts the whole time we’re here. We even went as far as buying everyone in the family “house” shoes. I got fluffy, furry pink flip flops.
I know many of you want pictures, and they’re coming soon.
We're moved in!
We still don't have internet, and won't until Monday. We're in a wifi hotspot right now. I typed this up yesterday.
We moved into our house this past Monday, and for 5 days we’ve been learning what Grade A Jerks our packers were. I’ve got a few Navy Moves under my belt now, so I’m used to their craptastic way of packing, but nothing could have prepared either one of us for what we’ve been finding since moving in here. I’ll just share some highlights. When we moved to
On Tuesday night, Jerry is opening a box with a High Value label on it, which means the contents are high in value, how ingenious right? We knew that it was one of our computers because of the serial number markings on the outside. What we didn’t expect to find were our pot and pan lids, bottles of vinegar (yes you read that right), cooking oil, and various other liquids along with each component of the computer (printer, monitor, mouse and keyboard, and cpu) all wrapped in paper, individually for safety I should sarcastically add, shoved into one big box. Thankfully, there was no harm to the computer, that we can tell externally anyway; we haven’t hooked it up yet.
The next day I found our canned food! Yeah, they were in a box labeled “Bath Items” along with liquid medicines, the girls’ hair ties, and a container of carpet powder deodorizer (you know what I’m talking about, right? That stuff you sprinkle on your carpet before you vacuum.) Well, wouldn’t you guess, it busted open during the move. Now our pantry smells all nice and linen fresh.
I’ll stop complaining, but I will tell you that we still haven’t found the crib screws, and almost all the boxes have been opened. Luke has been sleeping in the pack-n-play. He’s not complaining.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Almost over
We arrived in Georgia, our final destination, this passed Sunday night. The next morning we immediately started looking for houses to rent. We had some print-outs of houses we wanted to look at, as well as a list of ones we found on the internet but were unable to print.
The first day we saw a couple of nice houses and a few 'ehn' houses. One that we were the most excited about was a 5 bdrm 3 bath (can you imagine all that room?!), for a lot less a month than you might expect. We had an appointment at 10 am to see what we thought was an empty house. After all, the listing did say Available Oct 1st. The agent calls us and says that the carpet cleaner is coming that same day so we'd have to take our shoes off. No problem.
We get there and not only is the carpet cleaner there, but so is the family that still lives there! Can you say "awkward?" The family stayed on the porch, though, so it wasn't that bad. The house was nice, but they couldn't be out of it for 2 weeks! We did not like the prospect of living in a hotel for that long, so we passed.
The next day, we had a longer list of houses to look at. We called the agent we were working with early that morning, and we spent the better part of the day looking. As we left each house, we noted key things we liked and disliked about the house, the neighborhood, and our first impressions on the print out the agent gave us for each house. We wrote pros and cons, things we just didn't like for whatever reason, and things we did, etc. All told, we got it narrowed down from 13 houses to 2.
Ya'll that know me know that I was very diplomatic and Type A about the whole thing. :-)
We have been praying since we left San Diego that God had the perfect house set aside for us here and could He direct us to that house. We prayed that prayer several times throughout the two days we spent looking at houses as well. With some of the houses, we knew as soon as we walked in that it wasn't our house. There were several houses, though, that the 'niceness' of the house was clouding our judgment.
At one point, my emotions were clouding my judgment. We went to the park to let the kids play while we could talk and make our decision. One house is everything we've ever wanted in a house. It's a 4 bdrm 3 bath. It's beautiful. It's functional. It's plenty big. It has a HUGE kitchen and a screened in porch, and a JETTED TUB! [oops, did I say that outloud? :-D ] It has a room I can dedicate to be a school room, even! BUT (you knew there was one LOL) it's in a secluded neighborhood and the backyard isn't fenced. There are woods on three sides of the house, and there didn't seem to be kids living anywhere near us.
The other house is really nice, though not nearly as nice as the first house. It's a 4 bdrm 3 bath also, with a huge loft that we could do school in. It has a huge fenced in backyard, and it's in a great neighborhood with kids everywhere!
So you may be asking yourself "so how did your emotions get in the way?" Well, I was having a real tough time choosing which house to get because of the prospect of friends for the kids and myself. We'd been looking for churches the night before and it looked like the places we really wanted to try out are all the way in Jacksonville. Granted that's not that far, but it's not down the street either. We haven't plugged in to any homeschool groups yet, which is another place we could make friends. In my mind I was thinking "take the lesser house in the kid-rich neighborhood just so life can become normal again quickly."
After some tears and talking it through, I realized that in the grand scheme of things, the neighborhood really doesn't matter. Other than The Best Neighbor Ever (Hi Jen!), I don't really talk to my neighbors. I haven't liked the neighborhood kids and their influence on my kids anywhere we've lived (except for TBNE's kids, of course.) Our friends come from church and families from Jerry's command.
I was struggling because I'm just sad. I miss California. I miss our friends there. I miss our church. This is every bit as hard as I thought it would be. It helps that I can still keep in touch via computer (I love my computer, it's where my friends live! LOL), but it's totally not the same thing as walking over to their house, seeing them and chatting at church, going out to eat, or playing 'kid swap'. I'm very thankful that Jerry isn't going out to sea for a while, because then I'd really be lonely!
My heart hurts for the kids, because they don't have anyone to play with and until we find a church, or homeschool group, or meet some families from Jerry's command, they really won't. Honestly, though, I really don't think they're as sad as I think they are. It's probably me just projecting :-)
Anyway, long story short, we chose the first house :-)
We went through several hurdles with the property management company for the house, the criminal background check from CA, and the personal property company that has our household in storage. We were looking at not being able to move into our house until right before or after Thanksgiving. But I believe that God's hand was on the whole situation, and by His grace we're moving in on MONDAY!
We go tomorrow to sign the lease, get the keys, and get all the utilities turned on.
I'll upload some pictures when I get them. I plan on taking some tomorrow while it's still empty.
You know what the best part is? This is our last night in a hotel!!
WE'RE NOT HOMELESS ANYMORE!!
The first day we saw a couple of nice houses and a few 'ehn' houses. One that we were the most excited about was a 5 bdrm 3 bath (can you imagine all that room?!), for a lot less a month than you might expect. We had an appointment at 10 am to see what we thought was an empty house. After all, the listing did say Available Oct 1st. The agent calls us and says that the carpet cleaner is coming that same day so we'd have to take our shoes off. No problem.
We get there and not only is the carpet cleaner there, but so is the family that still lives there! Can you say "awkward?" The family stayed on the porch, though, so it wasn't that bad. The house was nice, but they couldn't be out of it for 2 weeks! We did not like the prospect of living in a hotel for that long, so we passed.
The next day, we had a longer list of houses to look at. We called the agent we were working with early that morning, and we spent the better part of the day looking. As we left each house, we noted key things we liked and disliked about the house, the neighborhood, and our first impressions on the print out the agent gave us for each house. We wrote pros and cons, things we just didn't like for whatever reason, and things we did, etc. All told, we got it narrowed down from 13 houses to 2.
Ya'll that know me know that I was very diplomatic and Type A about the whole thing. :-)
We have been praying since we left San Diego that God had the perfect house set aside for us here and could He direct us to that house. We prayed that prayer several times throughout the two days we spent looking at houses as well. With some of the houses, we knew as soon as we walked in that it wasn't our house. There were several houses, though, that the 'niceness' of the house was clouding our judgment.
At one point, my emotions were clouding my judgment. We went to the park to let the kids play while we could talk and make our decision. One house is everything we've ever wanted in a house. It's a 4 bdrm 3 bath. It's beautiful. It's functional. It's plenty big. It has a HUGE kitchen and a screened in porch, and a JETTED TUB! [oops, did I say that outloud? :-D ] It has a room I can dedicate to be a school room, even! BUT (you knew there was one LOL) it's in a secluded neighborhood and the backyard isn't fenced. There are woods on three sides of the house, and there didn't seem to be kids living anywhere near us.
The other house is really nice, though not nearly as nice as the first house. It's a 4 bdrm 3 bath also, with a huge loft that we could do school in. It has a huge fenced in backyard, and it's in a great neighborhood with kids everywhere!
So you may be asking yourself "so how did your emotions get in the way?" Well, I was having a real tough time choosing which house to get because of the prospect of friends for the kids and myself. We'd been looking for churches the night before and it looked like the places we really wanted to try out are all the way in Jacksonville. Granted that's not that far, but it's not down the street either. We haven't plugged in to any homeschool groups yet, which is another place we could make friends. In my mind I was thinking "take the lesser house in the kid-rich neighborhood just so life can become normal again quickly."
After some tears and talking it through, I realized that in the grand scheme of things, the neighborhood really doesn't matter. Other than The Best Neighbor Ever (Hi Jen!), I don't really talk to my neighbors. I haven't liked the neighborhood kids and their influence on my kids anywhere we've lived (except for TBNE's kids, of course.) Our friends come from church and families from Jerry's command.
I was struggling because I'm just sad. I miss California. I miss our friends there. I miss our church. This is every bit as hard as I thought it would be. It helps that I can still keep in touch via computer (I love my computer, it's where my friends live! LOL), but it's totally not the same thing as walking over to their house, seeing them and chatting at church, going out to eat, or playing 'kid swap'. I'm very thankful that Jerry isn't going out to sea for a while, because then I'd really be lonely!
My heart hurts for the kids, because they don't have anyone to play with and until we find a church, or homeschool group, or meet some families from Jerry's command, they really won't. Honestly, though, I really don't think they're as sad as I think they are. It's probably me just projecting :-)
Anyway, long story short, we chose the first house :-)
We went through several hurdles with the property management company for the house, the criminal background check from CA, and the personal property company that has our household in storage. We were looking at not being able to move into our house until right before or after Thanksgiving. But I believe that God's hand was on the whole situation, and by His grace we're moving in on MONDAY!
We go tomorrow to sign the lease, get the keys, and get all the utilities turned on.
I'll upload some pictures when I get them. I plan on taking some tomorrow while it's still empty.
You know what the best part is? This is our last night in a hotel!!
WE'RE NOT HOMELESS ANYMORE!!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
...and the angels sang
Olivia lost a tooth!
She has been waiting not-so-patiently for a loose tooth for at least 2 years.
The GLORIOUS day is finally here!
The GLORIOUS day is finally here!
*Yes, she is still wearing her Halloween costume. She hasn't taken it off since she put it on. Literally. It was her pajamas last night, too.
A hippie, a pirate, and Dora, Oh my!
We took the kids to the Fall Fest last night and they had a blast!
Luke had so much fun last night. He slept for the first hour, but when he woke up we let him get out of the stroller to play some of the games. Then Mema fed him the little miniature candy bars, which he just LOVED, don't you know.
The biggest hit of the night was Dora :-) We heard so many comments about it. Little kids saying "mommy, mommy, it's Dora!", adults telling me it's the best costume they've seen all night. I had one dad ask me if I would mind his daughter taking a picture with Dora. Rebekah loved it. I wish I had a better picture of her in the costume. She's gotten to be the least cooperative with pictures lately.
Olivia got some great comments too. A few people stopped her and said they used to have an outfit just like it when they were teenagers :-).
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Fun filled weekend...
Today I get to meet my new nephew! He is 6 months younger than Luke (so almost 9 months old now, wow!). I hear he's sweet and cuddly. I'll be sure to upload some pictures soon. :-)
Tomorrow, Jerry gets here! YAY! He graduates school in CT at some point tomorrow and he has a friend driving him to Providence, RI to catch a plane here. Hopefully he will be able to get an earlier flight than the one he has now. He had to get the latest flight out of there, because he didn't know what time he would graduate.
We are taking the kids to my old church here in Nashville for Halloween (it's my parent's church). The Fall Fest at Cornerstone Church is so much fun. Olivia is dressing up as a hippie. It wasn't her first, or even her second choice, but Party City was out of the other things she wanted to be. Rebekah is going to be Dora. I must remember to get her and Olivia both some sweats or long underwear to wear under their costumes. Dora wears shorts and a tshirt! Little Lukie will be a pirate. We're trying to teach him to say "aarrg", to no avail. Blake has decided that he's too old to dress up anymore. It's just as well. I paid $70 just for three of them, and I REFUSE to ever do that again. I told the girls that I'd make something, I'd piece something together, I'd wrap them in paper bags, but I was NOT going to pay $70 on costumes again!
Then on Saturday, we're leaving for Georgia.
I pray that this time next week we are moving into our new home!
Tomorrow, Jerry gets here! YAY! He graduates school in CT at some point tomorrow and he has a friend driving him to Providence, RI to catch a plane here. Hopefully he will be able to get an earlier flight than the one he has now. He had to get the latest flight out of there, because he didn't know what time he would graduate.
We are taking the kids to my old church here in Nashville for Halloween (it's my parent's church). The Fall Fest at Cornerstone Church is so much fun. Olivia is dressing up as a hippie. It wasn't her first, or even her second choice, but Party City was out of the other things she wanted to be. Rebekah is going to be Dora. I must remember to get her and Olivia both some sweats or long underwear to wear under their costumes. Dora wears shorts and a tshirt! Little Lukie will be a pirate. We're trying to teach him to say "aarrg", to no avail. Blake has decided that he's too old to dress up anymore. It's just as well. I paid $70 just for three of them, and I REFUSE to ever do that again. I told the girls that I'd make something, I'd piece something together, I'd wrap them in paper bags, but I was NOT going to pay $70 on costumes again!
Then on Saturday, we're leaving for Georgia.
I pray that this time next week we are moving into our new home!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
One Month Ago
One month ago, packers came to our house in San Diego to start packing up our house. It's been one month and we're still homeless :-).
We left California on October 4th and started our Movacation (that's a vacation during our move, by the way).
We saw the Grand Canyon which was just breathtaking. I will totally go back there when I'm not afraid of kids falling in it!
Rebekah is there, she's hidden in the shadow of the person taking the picture for us.
I love this picture, because it looks like Jerry was Photoshopped in!
Next we went to The Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ. It wasn't nearly as exciting as it could have been. If I'd scheduled us as a Field Trip, or we came during one of the night tours, we would have gotten to look through some of the telescopes. The kids enjoyed it, though.
After that, we were just making our way east for a few days. We ate lunch at Blake's Lotaburger in Tucumcari, NM (great burger, really!) which was fun.
Then the part the boys, big and little, were waiting for for weeks: The Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. They were in heaven, I tell ya.
The picture of the ring is a hologram. We had fun trying to put our finger in it. It looked real, and as if we could :-)
We left there and made our way to Hershey, PA, and all its chocolately goodness!
It was so hard to leave :-(
Before we got all the way to Connecticut, we stopped in NJ to visit our friend Leslie. She was in town from San Diego visiting family. It was so great to see her again, even if it had only been a few days since I'd seen her last. :-).
All told, we drove 3500 miles and it took us 9 days.
We left California on October 4th and started our Movacation (that's a vacation during our move, by the way).
We saw the Grand Canyon which was just breathtaking. I will totally go back there when I'm not afraid of kids falling in it!
Rebekah is there, she's hidden in the shadow of the person taking the picture for us.
I love this picture, because it looks like Jerry was Photoshopped in!
Next we went to The Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ. It wasn't nearly as exciting as it could have been. If I'd scheduled us as a Field Trip, or we came during one of the night tours, we would have gotten to look through some of the telescopes. The kids enjoyed it, though.
After that, we were just making our way east for a few days. We ate lunch at Blake's Lotaburger in Tucumcari, NM (great burger, really!) which was fun.
Then the part the boys, big and little, were waiting for for weeks: The Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. They were in heaven, I tell ya.
The picture of the ring is a hologram. We had fun trying to put our finger in it. It looked real, and as if we could :-)
We left there and made our way to Hershey, PA, and all its chocolately goodness!
It was so hard to leave :-(
Before we got all the way to Connecticut, we stopped in NJ to visit our friend Leslie. She was in town from San Diego visiting family. It was so great to see her again, even if it had only been a few days since I'd seen her last. :-).
All told, we drove 3500 miles and it took us 9 days.
Bloomin' where we're planted
We are a military family and we move around. The longest we've lived in one place is just over 3 years. A long time ago, someone told me to always 'bloom where you're planted'. Meaning, you should live your life to the fullest no matter where you are or, in our case especially, no matter how long you'll be there . God puts you where you are for a season and a reason.
It was so hard to leave all our friends and our church family in San Diego. We miss them so much it hurts. But I have to believe that there was a reason for our being there, a reason for our untimely move, and a reason we're to be in the southeast now.
I will make the best of this, and I will bloom wherever it is my new home will be.
I'm creating this blog so that friends and family from all over can keep better connected to us, no matter where the Navy sends us.
It was so hard to leave all our friends and our church family in San Diego. We miss them so much it hurts. But I have to believe that there was a reason for our being there, a reason for our untimely move, and a reason we're to be in the southeast now.
I will make the best of this, and I will bloom wherever it is my new home will be.
I'm creating this blog so that friends and family from all over can keep better connected to us, no matter where the Navy sends us.
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