July wrap up

What a whirlwind this month has been. And we are still not completely unpacked. Nothing hung up on walls. I can't remember where I put things. And we are still missing a couple things. The garage is still half filled with cardboard and paper. So July went something like this...we feverishly unpacked as much as we could for a few days, my parents came in town on the 1st, I went to work on the 2nd, Shawn went back home to be with his family on the 2nd. We received some startling news that Shawn's step-father has cancer. Though the diagnosis is still serious, it is much better than what was originally said by the hospital. Either way, it is still cancer. But Shawn got to go back home for about 5 days and help and just be there to comfort. But with our family constantly on our minds, we push on and pray. Shawn was off work on the 7th, but I worked. So by Tuesday, the 8th, I had worked more than Shawn in the past 2 months! (2days) I just worked 2 weeks and my mom watched Nick and Stella. They had a ball. Those kids were worn out every night. My dad was here when he wasn't working. Nicholas loved all of Grandad's teasing- and squirting with the water hose! Now I have this week off...oh yeah, I am back to the good ol A.F. Just working what I have to this year. I enjoyed the first week but by the start of the second I was really scrounging for things to do there. Thankfully, by Wed things picked up and I had plenty to work on. Everyone was happy that I was back, and back for good this time. They are making arrangements (if I want them) for me to be on more regularly this year. But I go back on Monday and then for another 2 weeks in Aug. My sister Martha is coming for the first week to watch the kids and then we found a nice lady (ironically who also just moved here from AK!!) to watch the kids for that second week.

So what have we been doing on my week "off" (HA!)
ME-laundry, restocked craft supplies, joined the library, and tirelessly searched for a pre-school. Calling, driving, touring. I want 2 days a week, close to home, church-based, and affordable. Well, three out of four is going to have to be ok. Since we got here so late...everything is full. FINALLY, I got him in St. John's Lutheran School just right around the corner- a block and a half away!

Scurrying to get my etsy shop open on Aug 1st . I gave myself a deadline and I am sticking to it. I have sewn so many things this year already and LOVE doing it that I decided to make it a little side business. I want to get the shop open and then start marketing my goods!! I will post the link later on this week when I start stocking up the store.

Shawn- working, working, working. He needs to cut the grass soon, too.

Stella- book obsessed right now! Hmm, who does THAT sound like? She even must sleep with one. So you can imagine how much she like the trip to the library yesterday. She's taller and leaner. No more chunky lunkys (that's what I called her big legs). She is tripping a lot this week, and yep, time for new shoes! She's attempting more words- Ne-ne-ne is Nicholas, Bu bu is bubbles, Buh is book, Puh is up, and she still smacks her lips if she wants to eat! Also, when she knows there is a sign for what she is trying to say, but when she can't remember, she just makes one up. Oh and then there is her new "chicken dance." Lovely.

Nicholas- When he gets to play with his Leapster, he enters his friends names into the game. He is always asking how to spell Rory, Toby, and Evelyn. I think he has "Toby" memorized now. He read the "exit" sign at the store yesterday by sounding it all out. Since yesterday, he is getting ready for preschool. He picked out a lunch box and filled it up with his little football, soccer ball, and basketball. I can only imagine what he will fill his backpack with- once I get him one. He seems excited about school.

He will go Tues and Thurs 8:45 to 3:00. Or was that 3:15? Anyway. I am very anxious to see how he will do. I have my predictions. But I didn't realize how expensive preschool is. Holy moly. I know some of the other places which are full cost less and have shorter hours. These hours are longer than I had planned. But I am out of options at this point. So it is costing us (with a 5% discount...185.25 per month!!!) Don't even multiply that by the 10 month school year, I will choke! And don't remind me that we have to pay a full month price for August, when class doesn't begin until mid month. Same with May. If I wasn't so certain that he needs this I wouldn't send him. Unfortunately, I am still going to have to teach him on his off days. They don't start phonics and pre-reading until 4 and 5, and right now that is his thing. But he is going to learn TONS more at shcool. He better, for the cost! And this might be the cost of preschool- I really have no clue. Shawn said he won't eat lunch anymore to save money. And last night he had an even better idea...he said he won't eat dinner anymore- he'll go straight from work to a second job at IHOP where he will smell the pancakes until his belly is full- and earn $$ at the same time. I always knew that boy was smart!!

It is super hot here. We are all melting. Here are some pictures from the past month. Just look at Nick's red face..that is at 7pm, too.

Two nights in our own beds!!

Stuff came Friday morning. The movers were "done" by noon. (what the?) And we started unpacking the 302 boxes and pieces that were dumped in our house.
- Believe it or not, we have everything unpacked except for two boxes and several picture boxes (flat). Oh wait! I forgot about the garage FULL of boxes and junk! But I don't see that because it is outside...so it seems all put away to me. I also have filled up a box to donate, a box of JUNK that we need to sift through, and two boxes of clothes that the kids have already grown out of.
- I just through stuff in kitchen drawers to get the boxes out of that room. Consequently, I am navigating a little slowly in that room.
- We put Nick and Stella in a bedroom together. This has been the best decision. The would-be-bedroom is now a toy room. The kids love it. It keeps them occupied and gives them their own space. I like keeping the toys somewhat contained to one area of the house. We got that room set up the first night. When the kids woke up on Saturday, it was like Christmas for them. They hadn't seen those toys for over a month. Perfect. This gave Shawn and I hours to get the rest of the boxes emptied. - - We still have lots to do, but I never thought we would have made THIS much progress in just three days. Whew.

- So we met some neighbors tonight. They are nice. They were quite curious about us.
- They have been talking- wondering what kind of people we were since we never saw this house before we bought it and wondering WHAT we have been doing in this house with no furniture for two weeks. If they didn't know we had an empty house before, they knew on Friday when that huge truck pulled up out front!
- They were interested in Alaska. We got to reminisce. It was nice. I was imagining what everyone up there was doing tonight with all the daylight!! Miss you all so much.

Another thing...I was telling my friend this tonight...I have been really surprised to see how many parents here do not hesitate to smack or spank their children out in public. (or yell and scream at them. Mean words, too.) I see this every time I am out. And these parents aren't hiding in an aisle, they are in the checkout lines (which are miles long here) and right out in the wide open. Yesterday I saw a family pushing the cart along the store and the mom stops walking to grab her kid and spank his butt. Lifted him right off the ground! Last week I watched this young "girl" smack her preschooler repeatedly until she cried. Mind you thar was at 10pm. My kids were in bed. I don't think my guys would be pleasant at that hour either. I wasn't. I'll admit, I have swatted Nick's hiney a few times out of complete frustration, but that's just it. It is my frustration and I know that. I am SO FORTUNATE to have been surrounded by and "raised" by some wonderful mothers back in Eagle River. Your children are joyful and loving and it is a reflection of your nurturing and patience and interest in them. Our children always played so well together and if they struggled, we encouraged sharing, taking turns, and politeness. My kids always had a safe environment in which to play. Thank you. Thank you for teaching me the ways of being a mom. (I miss you guys TONS, too! )

Happy Birthday Shawn! (tomorrow)

and Happy Moving In Day!
Both are reasons to celebrate...woohoo. We will have the real birthday celebration on Sunday. Nick and I did get a cake today. Oh and some ice cream and a couple other things. As soon as we got home he ran straight to Shawn to tell him about all of his surprises. That picture is from last Sunday. We went to Chuck E Cheese. We had to DO something and the heat just wouldn't let up. Thankfully our friends called and suggested it. It was great for the kids, too : )

Nick made this during his Quiet Time today. Popped right out of the room with this. He wrote "DAD", unprompted, unassisted, unbelievable!!! It went straight on the fridge.

He has been a spelling fool! And if we see a simple word he can read that, too. While brushing teeth he spelled "spit" and "shut". And he is quite intrigued by any of those signs that is just a picture and no words. So you are probably thinking of those crosswalk signs or those "no" signs with the red diagonal line. But they are more like warning signs. These are more like the ones that seem to catch his eye:

And of course a slue of questions follow, like, "mommy, why does that man have fire on him?" "is he swimming in a fire pit?" "why are his hands up?" "why is the man all black?" "where's the man's legs?" (this is on our hot water tank) Other favorites are "men" falling down stairs on the doors at WalMart and anything that looks like fire. But this is CONSTANT because apparently warning signs are everywhere- even on your window blinds!!

Took these this morning at breakfast. You know, just a regular day for us in our new house at our new card table. Cereal in bowls from the $1 bin at Target and borrowed silverware.



Btw, did you see my new kitchen? Love it! I just had to take a picture because tomorrow we will have furniture! The house will suddenly seem small once it is all filled up. It has actually been great to stay in the house before our stuff got here. Don't know if two weeks was necessary, but... We have been able to *live* here and get an idea of how we want to use all the spaces. Now when they come tomorrow, we already have a good plan of where everything needs to go. We are hoping that Stella starts sleeping better when she gets her crib. That pack and play is getting too small and she just get all tangled up in it. And then...wakes up...at 3am.

My favorite quote from Nicholas this week: "I don't like hot, I like cold." Referring to the extreme heat and humidity we are trying to get used to. Ugh. Did I mention yet, that we accidentally melted a purple crayon in our new van? Right in the front console, which thankfully is plastic. A little WD-40 did the trick and it is good as new. The Crayola website has all the answers.

Day 15: Albuquerque, NM to Oklahoma City, OK (500+ miles)

We made it to the finish line!

Happy Father’s Day! I asked Shawn if he enjoyed his Father’s Day breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express this morning. He had one of their buttery cinnamon rolls fresh out of the plastic tray, a real banana, and a piece of their gourmet sausage which he put on a previously frozen biscuit. Oh and two plastic cups of water. Then he grabbed a cup of freshly brewed “weak sauce” coffee. Mmmm. A meal to remember, I am sure. And I bet the coffee was just fine. Somehow we just grew used to a strong cup of coffee.

So we have been on the road today- all day. We have been meeting our goal today of fast stops and fast driving. We should get to Oklahoma City around 6pm. I am typing from the road right now and I will just post it tonight (hopefully). It already feels strange to be back. I really feel far away now (from Alaska, that is). I miss the mountains and the cooler temps. Today it was 100 degrees as we left Amarillo, TX. Now it is 4:30pm and it is 94. The wind is just whipping our car as we drive on the highway, too. I forgot about the wind. You know what else I had forgotten all about? Those sun shades you put in your car windshield. I saw one today. I forgot about those!

We just pit-stopped and as Nicholas was getting back in the car he said, “I am burning my back!” He’s right. It is hot hot hot. OH, Another cute little Nick-ism from today, as he was playing with his ears…”I can make it into a hot dog bun.” Even on the last day of the trip, he is learning something new.

So we got a call when we were in Vegas that our household goods will not be arriving this week like we were planning. Nope. We should have them by the 28th, maybe sooner. It didn’t take us long to come up with our new plan. We already have a house in OKC, but even though it will be empty we are going to just camp in the house until our stuff arrives. We just can’t take living in a hotel for another two nights, let alone two weeks. We might have to do it for two nights though to get our bearings and some groceries, etc. Dan and Katie are going to lend us air mattresses. Our new house has a fridge and a washer and dryer. Honestly, the W&D is probably what we need most! Stella’s piggy is really gross. I washed it- twice- at Jay and Mindi’s. But you know, that was a week ago. W each have one or two more clean outfits left. Then all we will need are some small items that I think we can get on loan. If not…Target, here we come! We will probably look there for a card table to use as our kitchen table. We have wanted one for years. Might as well get it now. So I will most likely be taking a blogging break. Just know we are here and all doing great. Things will start to get “normal” again soon. I wonder how many days it will take to be standing still and not feel like I am still moving. I have had this sensation every night since we got off the ferry!

In case you were wondering, we wouldn’t have traded this experience of driving for a quick flight home. We have see so much.
Alaska- glaciers, mountains, bears
Ferry ride- remote locations of Alaska and Canada, orkas, whales, eagles soaring
Pacific NW- green, mountains, traces of logging industry
West Coast- from Oregon to LA it is a different landscape every couple of hours
California- agriculture in every form: cattle, rice, nut and fruit orchards; yellow dry grass
Vegas- grandiose hotels, lights,
Sedona- Red rocks, natural beauty
Grand Canyon- truly a “wonder” of the natural world
Hoover Dam- easily a “wonder” of the industrial world
Southwest- desert land of AZ and NM
Northern panhandle of TX- flat lands, heat, agriculture
Oklahoma- windy, hot, Braum’s ice cream, and gas at $3.89/gal

Day 14: Flagstaff, AZ to Albuquerque, NM

We started today just thinking that it was going to be a day of only driving. After Shawn talked to Dan this morning he was reminded to stop by the Meteor Crater just east of Flagstaff. Hmmm, that was just the way we were traveling! In the middle of nowhere, six miles from I-40 is the most preserved crater in the world formed by a meteor. It is also the most recent meteor crater. It is 4/5 mile wide and as deep as the Washington Monument is tall (whatever that is). To walk around the perimeter of the crater is about two miles long. It was pretty impressive for a hole in the ground. I was pretty surprised, too that you had to pay an admission ($15 ea) to see it. However, we got in for free because we were moving. We walked down to a couple platforms to see the crater. Nick loved looking through the different scopes to see things in the bottom of the crater.

In addition to a hole in the ground, there is also a museum, a gift shop, and a Subway. It is almost humorous, until you realize how rare this occurrence is. So you understand why we just had to stop. Plus, Dan wasn’t going to let us into his house on Sunday if we didn’t bring back proof of the crater. Dan, is this proof enough?


So we got in for free and bought our standard souvenir Christmas ornament. Then we got back on course for Albuquerque. That’s where we are tonight. We didn’t have a very long drive today but we lost an hour in the time zone change. We’ll lose an hour tomorrow, too. And it is a long day of driving.

It is hard to believe the trip is almost at an end. It is hard to believe that we have been living like gypsies for two weeks (or more if you consider that our house was packed up on May 21st!). We are partly ready to be done. And partly not ready for the vacation to end. We are ready to be done driving, but not ready to get back to reality.

Day 13: Sedona to Grand Canyon

It was hard to leave Sedona. I would have loved one more day to take a jeep tour to see the vortex sights (strong energy spots) and maybe even get my chakras aligned! : ) But our departure was highly worth it. We journeyed to the Grand Canyon! Last time I was there was, woah, back in 1999. I was road-tripping by myself and I detoured to see it. Today we spent several hours there, walking along the south rim, admiring the sight. And oh what a sight! Each spot gave a different perspective of the canyon- different colors, rock formations, views of the Colorado River down below. There are a few spots that are built up for visitors to walk out on the edges and take pictures. These have railings and fences to help protect you from falling. But clearly you still have to be very, very careful. We didn’t take Stella out on any of these and Nicholas had a tight grip of my hand and we stood back from the edge. That was IF he went out. The rest of the rim was just open to the edges. It is so easy to see how people fall. There is barely any space between the trail and the canyon. And it is straight down. It was great to see people acknowledging the danger and staying back. I was so glad to see so many parents being protective of their children by keeping them far away from the edge. Stella wasn’t the only kid who had to see the Grand Canyon from her stroller. Thank goodness. But, of course, we did see people, mostly adults, pushing the limits and walking out (too far in my opinion) to get just the right picture. I mean, come on people, the thing is 7-16 miles wide and standing two feet closer really isn’t going to improve your view!! Just please keep that in mind if you go. The danger is real and it does happen to adults and unfortunately to children. So this is the ONLY picture of all four of us at the Grand Canyon.


We got a zillion pictures. Here is just a few.









The day was really hot for us. The temps soared into the 90s. We baked. But we didn’t burn. Thanks to the SPF 50 we slathered on. That was the first really HOT day for us. We drug a bit because of it. But we got a hotel back in Flagstaff with a pool and the kids perked right up. Oh and how can I forget our dinner at Cracker Barrel! It is the first one we have seen on our way. I couldn’t wait for some hashbrown casserole-mmmm. Finally the kids ate here. They are obviously sick of food on the road. Stella chowed down on her carrots and we all scarfed down plenty of green beans. I hope we find another Cracker Barrel tomorrow. It was a nice change.

Day 12: Vegas to Sedona, AZ

Leaving Las Vegas….so I already told you about the lions and driving the strip. We got a late start to our drive this day. We were out *late* remember! We were just all wiped out. In fact when Stella fell asleep in her stroller during our walk, she didn’t really wake up until the next morning. We just changed her into her pjs and she just went right to sleep in her pack and play. And she didn’t wake up until 8am! We all didn’t get up until 8. It was really nice. Then, on the road again.

In no time we were at Hoover Dam. It was pretty close to Vegas. I can’t believe I hadn’t been there before. There really isn’t much to do there. We just drove over the dam and stopped and took some pictures. Which was just enough excitement for us. It was a beautiful sight. Lake Mead is really pretty- filled with green-blue water. I was really surprised at how many people were at the dam that day, too. Which probably explains the new road that is being constructed over the dam. My guess is that when the Hoover Dam was originally built they didn’t anticipate the volume of vehicle traffic that the dam sees today. That new road still has a long way to go but it is already quite impressive. It is so high up and massive. Gave me a queasy feeling just looking up at it. Wait, I just realized I have been going on and on about the new road instead of the landmark! (Can you tell what my major was in college? Ha) So, the dam was great. It is a beautiful construction. Here, see for yourself.







Our destination this day ended up being the highlight of our day. We drove down to Sedona, AZ which is only 30min from Flagstaff. We were going on a suggestion from Melissa and it was incredible! It is hands down, one of the prettiest drives I have ever done. My pictures just didn’t do it justice. As we drove down into the town I was just in awe of the red rock formations. It was a twisty turny road. One of the turniest. (I know ‘turniest’ is not a word. Neither is ‘turny.’) It kept us on the edges of our seats…on the edges of cliffs. But it was all worth it. Supposedly, Sedona is a strong source of healing and psychic energies. Oooh. I didn’t get my auras cleansed nor did I get a past-life reading. Could have. We just got dinner, took a walk, and got a good night’s rest.

We splurged on a room with a view.


I wouldn’t mind coming back here one day. As soon as we drove into the little town, Sedona just impressed me as a perfect town for two things: a wedding and a yoga retreat. Anyone agree?