Oops!!

I am really bad at these blog things!  I try hard, I really do!

We are settling in here in North Carolina.  All of our boxes are unpacked and everything has a home.  Granted some of those homes are plastic bins in the garage, but a home is a home!

It has been interesting living in the country.  I've seen bugs I have never needed to know existed.  I saw a fox run across our back yard.  A perfect stranger invited us over to play.  The neighbor behind us baked me a cake (she's a baker for THE restaurant in our little town)!  And boy does it get DARK at night!!!  I've been cooking and cleaning more than normal because really...  there is nothing else to do.  About a week ago, we had a storm blow threw.  Goodness, it was a wild one.  It picked up the swing-set in our backyard, broke it into 20 pieces, and blew them all across the yard.  Freaky!!!

Josh's work is going REALLY well.  Fingers crossed the he is not going to have to spend any time in the Gulf.  Ugh.  The men and women of the CG are working quite hard down there.  Right now, deployments are 60 days!  No one has a clue whether he will be called or not.  The only thing we know right now is that it COULD happen and he'll have 48 hours to be ready and gone.  Blah, come on BP!!!

Another big accomplishment...  Troy if officially POTTY TRAINED!!  No more diapers in this house!!  Last Tuesday, we woke up and threw away all of the diapers.  I actually had him physically put them in the trash can.  We talked about being a big boy...  and I let him run around naked for FOUR days!  The first day was rough.  He had no idea what was going on.   Yeah for spot cleaner!  The second day, he held it almost all day long until finally he gave in and went to the potty AFTER nap!  Giving him candy didn't work.  He didn't care about it.  So, I grabbed an old packing box and grabbed some cars that I had bought him from the dollar store ..  Walla, Troy liked to go the treasure box! The third day, he was an old pro and he hasn't had an accident since.  On the fifth day, I put clothes back on him and we ran to WalMart in town.  No accidents.  He is not a fan of public bathrooms, so we just keep his frog potty in the car.  He even sleeps with his big boy underwear..  NO ACCIDENTS!  I'm so proud of him.  Josh was in Indiana this whole time!  So, I will take all the credit for this some day down the road :-)

Other than that...  nothing is really going on.  Troy and I are going to join the YMCA next week.  There is a HUGE one about 20 minutes away from our house.  And it is SOOO nice!  They have a good discount for military.  Hopefully we'll be able to meet new friends soon.

I will add pictures to this entry at another time.  My camera is not liking my computer at the moment!!

So long from the NC!

Virginia..

So, after too much DRIVING..

We are in VIRGINIA!!!

So far the area has surprised me. SO many people told me that this place was AMAZING. I am not sure about this. For one, the road system is CRAZY. I don't understand it at all! Every city, town, area where humans live, is behind tons of trees. And to get anywhere, you have to go threw tunnels. Imagine, putting a tunnel in place of the beltway in Houston. And with that sort of traffic. WEIRD! You can be in a VERY nice area for three seconds and then be in a scary area! There are HUGE BEUTIFUL homes on streets with homes that have been condimmed by the state. Just odd to me. This are is just our temporary home while Josh works a few days and our home is getting ready. But so far on a scale of 1 to 10.. I give this place a 4. Although, today I saw a Ritas Ice... Maybe tomorrow I'll give this place a 4.5!!!

This morning Troy and I headed out to the Norfolk Zoo. Thank you GPS on my iphone for getting us to our destination! We had a great time. Although, I need to check weather bug before I make plans... Today was the HOTTEST day of the year... The high today was actually 100! Oops!

That sign reads....
Dangerous Animal Wild and Unpredictable Prone to Erratic Behavior and Mood Swings Extremely Cranky! Easly Aggitated CAUTION: Keep Fingers and Limbs away Given an Inch, will take a MILE!

And what's a zoo without a train ride??? Well, at least for our family!!



Enjoy!!!

Our time in Iowa!

Almost every summer since I have MET Josh, we have spent some sort of time in Iowa! Josh has 30 something cousins so it takes some time to make the rounds!! There is also a LOT to do in the area where Josh's family lives!

Highlights....Troy has grown to LOVE popcorn. He would ask for a bowl of it at night.. and don't be fooled.. He ate that ENTIRE thing!!

Joshs parents live about a mile away from an amusement park called Adventurland. In fact, Josh's dad (Papa) works for the hotel next door, Adventurland Inn. Troy is one lucky boy. He went to Adventurland TWICE during our stay in Iowa. As a kid, I only went to Six Flags ONCE in my childhood.. and we had to drive EIGHT hours to get there!!! Last year, Troy wouldn't ride any of these rides.. This year, he was ALL OVER them!

Josh's parents have a pound in their backyard. Once we explained to Troy that it really wasn't a swimming pool, he and his cousins liked to FISH in it! My nephew actually caught one of those fish! They all did this daily!!!

And last but not least, Troy was able to ride a REAL train. A two hour ride threw the Iowa countryside, Troy was in HEAVEN!!! He still talks about it. I am pretty sure this is going to be one of his first TRUE memories!! And what a great memory to have!!

Greetings from Virginia...

Well, we are finally here!!! It has been 20 days since we have left Texas! At times it has felt like a YEAR! Other times it has been so much fun road tripping with the family!! Here are some highlights!!

Texas to Iowa

For our Southeast Friends, Jana, Jared, Zeke, and Silus are going to a GREAT place. We spent two days in Broken Arrow. Josh and I truly LOVED it! It's just enough "city" life to wet your whistle but good ol' Oklahoma landscape. It was GREAT spending time with Josh's grandma.

Troy likes the hotel life!!!

On the second day of our trip, Josh's parents met us! And from that point on... This is what was going on in the hotel!!
We then hit the road again for a short (eight hours) drive to Iowa!!!

Moving Day... Officially!

So, this morning a new crew of people came to our house and are going to put all of our precious belongings in their truck and drive it across the country.


While I laugh on the pack out days, I DO NOT like the move out days. Every single time, these people make me nervous. They are not friendly, they pick up our stuff like it's a bag of potatoes and not the precious cargo that is inside of it..

And today has been a mess. About an hour after this crew arrived, one of the guys said that he was "done" and had to go home. Upon talking to him, he said he has congestive heart failure and had a stroke a couple of weeks ago. I have my doubts about all of that, but whatever. About an hour and a half into this morning, a man from the AirForce came out to inspect the move. He then proceeded to tell us that the box's where not packed correctly, they were not labeled correctly, the inventory sheet was not legable, and that many of the things done yesterday needed to be re-done. So, after a few phone calls, many people have had to come back out! We have had supervisors call us and all sorts of people apologizing for what has happened today. Of course, we didn't' pay for any of this so I guess we won't be getting anything really out of the deal, except for an apology! LOL Just when I thought things were going well!!!

Good news is.. Tomorrow we will be at my parents and Saturday I am getting a pedicure, my hair done, and just enjoying the next couple of days.. If I can get threw today........

Pack up day!!!

The time has finally come for the movers to pack up all of our things.



I laugh so much on this day. It really is funny to watch total strangers pack all of our things. They are like fine oiled machines, packing boxes with no cares in the world as to what it is or its meaning. We have had them pack our ENTIRE house within hours. Shoot, it takes me HOURS just to pack an overnight suitcase!!!



So, bye bye all of our stuff!!! See you in a month!!!!

????

After many many many people telling me that I really need to start blogging (again) I am going to give this another try.

Our life is about to take us on a great journey. One week from tomorrow, our family will be in route to a new adventure. This time..... Camden, North Carolina.


The jury is still out on this move being by far the calmest we have ever done AND being the most emotional we have ever done.

We have made some wonderful friends here in Friendswood, Texas. Troy is going to be sad to not see his friends on a daily basis. He will miss his older girlfriends just as much as his same age friends. We will miss our family very much!

On the plus side, we will be together as a family. We will be living on a HUGE acre of land. We will be in an area where the weather is a little cooler and we can do more things outside. And this part of the country, MOST of our family has NEVER been! So, when they VISIT, it will be an exciting time for everyone!

Sooo, here is to fun times in North Carolina and southern Virginia!!! 375 days until the next move!