Adventures in a new land

 

Our first month here was filled with adventures exploring the local fun places. I’m sure it will take us forever before we see all of it, but we got a good start.

Our first big thing was a trip to one of the Zoos nearby.

These otters were a big hit!

I promise she was enjoying herself

Their enclosures were really cool. They usually had a couple different animals in each of them.

Kaylee had her first ever camel ride

We went to the big Seattle Zoo with my sister and niece, but I didn’t get as many pictures as I would have liked.

This bear was amazing! He jumped in the water right in front of us, and came right up to the window.

As a family, we went to the famous Pike Place Market, and spent a day exploring.

Thanks to wrapping, both girls got naps while we walked

Kaylee got a henna design on her hand and was trying to show everyone we passed for the rest of the day

We went on a ferry, and view of the city was amazing

A Big Move

The week after the 4th we MOVED to Washington!! Robert got a new job with a company there and we dropped everything and left. We put the house up for sale, and rented a house here in Auburn. I love almost everything about the house we are in. My only complaints'? Lots of stairs, and no AC. The stairs thing really isn’t a problem. My muscles adjusted. The AC thing? It was a problem during the summer. Almost every day for almost two months after we moved it was over 80 degrees, and the house was just as hot. Big change from keeping the house at 72 in Utah. It didn’t last long, and I can see how people here forget during the winter and why no one has AC in their homes.


Things were eventful the first week we were here. Courtney pulled a bar stool down on herself and broke a finger. It was a blessing in disguise because it forced me to step outside my comfort zone and get help from some of the ladies in the ward. Now I feel more comfortable reaching out to them for things that I need. Courtney’s finger is healing well, and she seems to have learned that the bar stools are not to be messed with.
The first day:




The second day:



Finger splint and wrapped hand after the visit with the Dr.

Having my sister, brother-in-law, and niece close has been fun! It’s wonderful to see them much more than I have in a long time. I am so excited for Kaylee to have a cousin close by to be friends with. She had a cousin in Utah, but he is a year younger than the twins, so not much fun for her.

Playing in the yard

At a “Music in the Park” event

Some More Tough Courses

I am so happy to be in the agility class I am in. All the people in that class have been there for over a year now, and we are all to the point where we are trialling regularly. It is great to see all of us improving so much so quickly. It is getting harder to run my best in class, which is frustrating, but Hobbs makes up for my weaknesses so often!

The barn we practice in is pretty small, so we usually have to break these courses down into two parts because the whole thing wont fit.

I can't remember which parts of this we did, but it is an awesome course

This one, we did 1-15. It was amazing that I felt confident that Hobbs and I could handle this course and then we ran it clean! I just need to remember that confidence at the agility trials.

We have another trial the first weekend in May. It will be our first outdoor trial this year, and it is usually a pretty wet weekend. So if it rains it will be our first trial in the rain.....or the first one we withdraw from. It will also be our first 3 day trial! The best part? I will be 22 weeks pregnant!

In other news, we are moving again, on Saturday! Yes, I know we just did that like 9 times, but this time we bought a house so I am hoping we will be staying there for a good long while. If you hop over to my family blog and scroll past the easter posts, you can see the house we have decided to buy.

It looks like it's really going to happen!

I haven't posted anything about this subject because I didn't want to jinx us.

Robert and I are BUYING A HOUSE!!! Oh, it is so nice to be able to type that!

We have been frantically looking for just over a month now, and have finally found the one that will be ours. This journey has come with a lot of heartache, stress, and frustration. We actually found the first house we wanted only two weeks into our search.

House #1:

This one had a great back yard that was up against several people's horse pastures. That made it seem like there weren't really any neighbors back there, and there were horses that Kaylee (and I) would have loved visiting with all day long. Unfortunately, we ended up walking away from this one because of some repair issues.

The next one we found was AMAZING! It still breaks my heart that we didn't get it.

House #2:

We made an offer on this one the second day it was on the market. It turned out that there were already a bunch more offers in out that house. The owner/agent decided to do a multiple offer "war" where everyone put in their highest and best offer and whoever offered the most won. It was the longest 5 days of my life!! We offered the absolute MOST we could possibly afford.....and we didn't get it. Actually, we came in second. I was crushed. It took me a few days to even want to think about looking at more houses.

Fortunately, we had seen several nice houses the same day that we found the house above. We decided that we would make an offer on one of them that was kind of similar to the one we didn't get.

House #3:

We are buying this one!!!

It is all new inside, has 5 bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a great little workshop in back of the garage. Robert is really excited about that part. The yard needs a lot of work, but that will come over time. I would much rather do yard updates than house updates. It will be so nice to be able to do whatever I want with this house! I can hang up my pictures!!! They have been in boxes for the whole year we have lived here because I just didn't feel like I should/could hang them up here. In this new house we can paint, and do WHATEVER WE WANT!! I am so excited!

So far, it has passed inspection, appraisal, and our loan has been approved. Now it is just paperwork, and we are hoping to close early next week! I still can't believe it is actually happening! I probably wont believe it until we get the keys and get to walk into our house for the first time :)

We started packing last Saturday, and I am almost done with the house! The garage is our project for today, and then my fingers are crossed that we will be moving the next Saturday.

Because the last couple moves were so disorganized and chaotic, I was determined to make this one easier. I got this idea from The Fly Lady. She suggests using different colored markers, but we decided that Tape would be better. I gave each room a color and made tags for each......which I can't seem to find.....I may have packed them :( I also made a "key" to hang on the front door to help our mover friends know where each box goes.

The color key

My packing station - Thanks Sandy for the zebra tape!

Luckily, we had an empty room to put all our boxes in so they aren't taking over the whole house. I think we are going to leave the boxes from the garage IN the garage though!

the boxes....all ready for the moving van

YAY! This is the 3rd time in our marriage that I am excited to move. This will be our 8th house/apartment we have lived in together and our 10th move.....hopefully we get to stay in this house for a few years.

"Can't we just throw it all in the truck this time?"

This is what I asked Robert at the beginning of last week. He said no............

For the beginning of this week, I am UN-packing everything back into the house in West Jordan. I am SO sick of packing and un-packing I could scream. I swear, when we buy a house I am going to splurge for the movers.....the ones that pack it all for you too.

The drive home was incredibly long and mentally difficult. Saturday wasn't bad until the evening when it started to snow, but luckily we were close to our hotel (yep I can't drive 15 hours in one go). The next morning there was almost a foot of snow where the night before there had been dry pavement. Not a good sign with a 7+ hour drive ahead of me. The drive Sunday was one of the worst I have ever been on. It took us almost 9 hours to make a 7 hour drive. The reason? There was enough snow on the freeway for 8 hours of it that I had my car in 4 wheel drive the entire way. Not until Ogden was I able to stop and take it out of 4wd.

We came about a prayer away from doing a nasty spin onto the side of the road about an hour from Ogden. We came down a hill on what was starting to be a clear road, but was apparently ice. I first noticed there was a car off the side to my left, then another on my right. Just as I realized there were 3-5 more cars off the side of the road, none overturned just stuck, I felt my wheels slipping. I let off the gas, didn't touch my breaks, and let up on the death grip I had on the car so the wheel could slide more easily in my hands. The last thing I wanted to do was jerk the wheel and kill us all. The car started to fishtail every so slightly (when all this started we were going about 50mph) and I thought we were going to join the party on the side of the road. Then I had the thought that the left lane had obvious snow on it and that I would have traction on that snow. I didn't even turn the wheel, just let the car drift by itself on to the snowier side of the road. We stopped fishtailing, and were able to drive through the scariest stretch of road I have ever seen. All the cars were going about 25 for almost half an hour, one of the many reasons it took us so long to get home.

Kaylee and I are safe here in West Jordan while Robert is staying for another two weeks in Oregon. Thankfully he is flying home for Thanksgiving and then back again the Sunday after. Then hopefully we will all be here together.

Robert's brother Jonathan is living in the basement of the house right now. There is an unfinished basement apartment (mother-in-law apartment) that he is supposed to be moved in to. We are hoping it is done in the next couple weeks because the idea of sharing my home with a single person in NOT on my bucket list. Robert and Kaylee are enough for me to worry about. Yeah, I am a bit frustrated by the whole situation, and am wondering if it is worth the money we are saving. It probably is since we will be out of debt and saving for a house by the middle of next year if not sooner. Is sooner even a word?

Ask me again if it is still worth it if this is still the situation by Christmas......I can already tell you my answer!

On a happier front, I got some NEW DIAPERS!! I know, I know, I was supposed to stop because we have a ton of them. But the place where I usually buy all my diapers had a deal where they doubled your points (you get a point for every dollar you spend) so I ordered 8 diapers with them and paid only the $10 in shipping! They are all a kind of diaper I haven't used before and I am excited to try them. Oh wait, that is a lie. I have used one of them before, but this one is a bigger size because Kaylee is outgrowing the one we have.

Ha! I just realized little Kaylee is 16 months old today. How is it possible when I haven't even gotten used to her being 15 months old yet? Happy 16 month-day little girl. I love you.

Hobbs is very happy to be home, Turtle is coming home at least by Thanksgiving, and Patriot will be here Wednesday night! I am excited to have all my animals back in my care, and especially have missed Patriot. I stupidly listened to Marley and Me on the drive home, and had to shut it off because my teary eyes were interfering with what was already a difficult situation. Have you read that book? If you own an older dog DON'T!! It will make you never want to leave their side, or tell them they are a bad dog.

My brain is in super cleaning mode today. I couldn't go to sleep last night because I wanted to clean the house. So today I have showered and gotten ready for the day, got Kaylee dressed, fed, unpacked all her toys, fed the dog, bathed said dog, done 3 loads of laundry, vacuumed/swept the floors and stairs, disinfected the laundry machines, and eaten breakfast.....and it is only noon. Hopefully I don't loose steam while Kaylee is napping. Bring on a clean house!! Next up, the KITCHEN..................ugh

Time to share the news

I don't know if anyone noticed my list of upcoming trials, but they are a bunch of Oregon trials. I live in Utah.

Robert, Kaylee, Hobbs, and I are headed to live in Oregon for 3 months, and I am planning to run in a few trials while we are up there. We are going because Robert is going there for work, and I didn't feel like being a single mom for that long. He will still be working a ton while we are there, but it will be better than being alone.

The really sad part about this trip is that Patriot isn't coming with us. No, I don't love Hobbs more than I love Patriot. Patriot is just a really big dog, and he isn't very happy living in a 2 bedroom apartment. Plus, we barely we able to get permission to bring Hobbs because he is over the apartment complex's 40lb dog weight limit. They were lenient though because we will only be there for 3 months. Patriot will be staying with my parents which is where he lived for years before coming to live with Robert and me. He will be a mostly outside dog again, but he will be fine with that.....as long as there is horse manure to eat lol.

Until about a few weeks ago we thought Hobbs was staying there too, and I was worried about him. He doesn't have the temperament to suddenly have to live outside. My parents promised to give him cuddles and loves, but I don't think that would be enough. Plus, I didn't want to take a 3 month break from agility just when we got started competing.

On Friday this week Kaylee, Hobbs, my mom, and I will head out for the looooong drive to Oregon. Patriot is at my parent's house and having a great time being an only dog, and my parent's like having a dog to fill Cody's hole in the family.

Our kitty Turtle was supposed to stay at Robert's parents house, but it has been 3 days since they have seen her. I am really sad that she may be gone forever.

I probably wont be posting until I get internet there, so probably a week, but then expect a lot of new about the new home, agility group, figuring out CPE, and hopefully getting our first AKC title before we come home.

I did it wrong this time.

Our move this time was SO unorganized. It made it much more stressful than it needed to be, and I was kicking myself constantly that I hadn't organized more. Some of the things I wish I had done are:

* De-junking BEFORE packing! - Yeah, I just packed everything :-/

* Pack with thought. - We kind of just threw things in boxes. It made unpacking a bit more difficult.

* Labeling Boxes - I just didn't do it! NOT the thing to do.

I am sure there are more, and I am making a list as I think of them so that next time will be better.

Moving is almost over. We are mostly finished unpacking, things are becoming more normal, and everyone is adjusting to the new house. It doesn't feel like home yet. Last week seemed SO long because part of me was expecting to go "home" soon. I am hoping this week is better. I feel lost in this big house. There is just too much room. Especially in the kitchen....I feel like I could put one dish on each shelf and still have empty spaces.

Kaylee moved fairly well! I was expecting sleep problems and all sorts of other problems, but she didn't seem to have any problems. Now, a week later she is having some night issues, but I thing it has to do with something else. Not sure what yet though.

The dogs took everything in stride, and slept through the first couple days in the house. Now they are getting adjusted to walking in a new area, and enjoying having a few dog parks close by.

Hopefully we can stay here for at least a year, and then have the money to buy a house! I really don't want to move again any time soon.

Did you catch it?

I made a tiny, brief mention, in a recent post, of our plans for the future. Robert, Kaylee, and I are moving.....again.

You would think that we LOVE to move. Quite the opposite. This move is a step towards us being more financially secure and free. We need to get out of debt, and be able to save some money towards buying our own house. Then we can find a place to stay for good!

Robert's parents still own their old house in West Valley where Robert and I stayed when we first moved up from Bakersfield. Lol, I was going to link to a post about it, but it was one of the posts that never got recovered after my BIG blunder. Anyways, we are going to be renting it from them, and they were nice enough to give us a discount. We will be paying about half of what we pay now. Any extra will go towards paying off debts, but we will be spending the first month of extra money on stuff we have been going without....like more age-appropriate toys for Kaylee and vet visits for the dogs.

For some reason, it is really odd to me to be living in the house where he did a lot of his growing up. I don't know why it bothers me, but it does. It is a really nice house, neighborhood, yard, and everything, but something about living there is just odd to me. I am sure I will get over it quickly though.

I am excited to have more garden space than we have here. Hopefully I will have the time to plant some things. I am sure we can use an evening of Family Home Evening to get a lot of it done.

Another thing that will be really nice about being back in SLC is that Robert still works down there! He will have a 5-15 minute commute rather than a 45-60 minute one. It will also be nice to be closer to friends and both families.

Time Flies

Kaylee is growing up so fast it is unbelievable. I am excited and sad all at the same time. I can't wait to see what new things she learns and does. This past couple weeks she has been pulling herself up on everything she can, and in turn falling and bumping her head a lot. That part isn't so fun, but hopefully soon she will learn to fall on her bum.

Today I heard her talking to herself in her room, and when I walked to the door, I saw this:

She was standing there looking at the books on the shelf and talking to herself.

I was really quiet as to not catch her attention at first

But when she noticed me watching, she was really happy

She looked back at the book a few times

kept looking back at me,

Then went back to what she was doing.

We are packing to move once again, and Kaylee loves to pull herself up on the boxes.....

...and suck on the edge

sometimes she gets really into it lol.