Internet is up, toilets are flushing, pictures are hung, and garage is unpacked. Been 5 days and doing well.
I think this time around was not as stressful as other moves we have had. I guess I need to be counting my blessings (and good friends the Boley's, Darbie and Ashton's) for the smooth transition that this whole process was. Looking at the facts, you would think that I would've gone crazy:
*Carrying out mom duties with 3 little kids; 5,4,9 months
*1 week to pack up our 3200 sq ft home, Jared was in California so I did it by myself
*2 days of cleaning the custom home (blinds, floors, windows, etc)
*PURGE PURGE PURGE more "stuff"
*2 days to unload large furniture into a 1500 sq ft home, Jared goes back to Cali
*5 days of straight unpacking, deep cleaning everything (thanks Leslie! You are so good to me for scubbing out the nasties of the people before me in those bathrooms!), and organizing the closets and pantry.
*2 days of more "throwing out" as we go from a 3 car oversized garage to our humble 2 car smaller garage, Jared is here to help with his great skills and cousin Tim's generous time.
It feels great to be connected again on-line, we all have allergies and coughs, and we are doing just fine. I cried this morning as Jared left once again for California. I miss him so much, especially as we are trying once again to have a "home" and make the transition smooth. I want to share this place with him and not feel like he is missing out on our lives here as a family.
Isaac is crawling everywhere and pulling himself up onto things and has started sticking out his tonuge. Austin is loving the movie, "Mr. Mom," is finding matching words with sounds, "Leslie/Wesley, or Snake/Sryup" and has a nasty dry cough that wakes him up at night time. Wesley can tie his shoes, is learning how to ride a bike without training wheels, won 3rd place in a coloring contest, and starts up his first season of t-ball tonight!
This house is simple, clean and feels safe. I am getting used to a two story house once again (it's been 3 years since we last had one). It's hard to catch my cell phone when it is downstairs and I am upstairs. Everytime I go upstairs, I try to take something with me so I don't have to make any extra trips up and down. It is a work out! I can already see myself piling things at the bottom of the stairs, and laundry better get upstairs right away or it may stay forever on my sofa.
Isaac is loving those stairs and I have to be vigilant with the gate or he will fall down! The heat sure does rise in the second story as well, especially b/c the highs are still in the 90's here (makes it HOT for bike rides in the afternoon!). I am not used to having neighbor's or homes nearby. I would love for my boys to make some friends nearby, so I guess we'll just wait and see. We are in the same church ward and school, so that was an easy switch.
We are very happy to have a little grass in the backyard for Wrangler, and I am 5 minutes closer to the gym and Wesley's school. There's definitely less room for storing food and places for Grandpa Lowe to sleep, but I have simplified a lot so that most of my kitchen items are still in boxes in the garage until our rent is up and we move again.
Not sure how long we will be here, when we can make a career move, or where I will be in a year from now...but, I do have a roof over my head and I know that my role is very important as supportive wife and loving mama. Gotta keep a good attitude!
