William Wednesday

Ups and downs - that's how I'd describe this week! Last Wednesday night he was in his play area for awhile while we were watching wheel of fortune. I looked in on him and saw he was trying to build one of his big trains. It was too cute! So Austin went in to help him. Problem is - they finished at about 7:55 and at 8:00 I told him it was bedtime.

Disaster. What was to come was the worst temper tantrum he's ever had, and probably the worst I've ever seen! He was MAD! And nothing we did or Said made it better. We were both getting pretty worried with the severity of the tantrum, but we are assuming it is just a normal 2 year old reaction to the disappointment of a new toy being taken away. The next morning he woke up 30 minutes earlier than usual, all on his own, and the first thing he wanted was his train!



Friday is show and tell at school and last week he chose to take dada doll. He didn't know dada was going out of town soon, it was like foreshadowing. But he loved taking dada doll to school and Ms Rebecca said he loved showing it at circle time!



We had a fun weekend and spent most of our time playing at home. We went to the park a few times, went on a few walks and into Monterey Sunday for lunch and shopping. We had hoped to go to the aquarium but it was terrifyingly crowded so we will try again another day. I loved watching William play though! He loves to make car noises now and he has started to make dialogue between his cars. Last night he was playing with 2 trains and I heard him say 'hi Thomas, hi Percy, come on Thomas...' The conversation didn't always make perfect sense but it was precious!

Monday night and Wednesday night William woke up around 1am with a nasty cough. He never wakes up at night unless he's sick, so I feel bad that his cough is bad enough to awaken him. Hopefully it goes away soon.

We are spending the next 8-9 days reliving our 2011 life while dada is out of town. Lots of cuddle time and everything revolving around William - what a life! But we miss dada. William knows he is gone and knows he is coming back, and he really enjoys talking to him before bedtime every night! We are having fun but he's still best buds with dada...he even made me buckle him up in Melvin after I dropped him off at school :)






Hopefully this next week has no tantrums and no coughs and just lots of fun playing :)

- manda

A Transient Life

I think the biggest generic goal of parenting is to give your children a better life than you had.  That is not to say that your life was bad (though in some cases it may have been) it's just that you hope you learn from some of your own mistakes, some of your parents mistakes, and all you could ever want is to give them more than you've ever had.  The problem is, when you give them a completely different life than yours it is impossible to measure up and be sure that you've done your duty in ensuring theirs is better.

I graduated high school with a good majority of the kids with whom I graduated kindergarten.  I attended three schools prior to college with one pre-school before that.  I didn't move out of my first home until I was 16.  My parents were both home for dinner nearly every night, with a few exceptions when my mom was in college.  Maybe my dad missed a few too because of work, but if so they were so few I have no memory of them.

William has already had 2 preschools.  He has already had 2 homes.  My best guess is that he will attend a minimum of 5 schools before college.  He will most likely have at least 6 homes.  He has already eaten more dinners without his dad than with, and unfortunately many of the dinners he has shared with his dad have been without his mom.

Our lives are so, so different.

I spend a lot of time aching over the transience we are giving him.  I worry about the confusion he must feel over all of the recent changes and if he will ever feel stable.  In the last five months his dad has come home, we've gone on a long, extended vacation, we've packed up our entire house, lived with his uncle, then moved into a new house that looks very different than our old house.  Sure, we have the same couch and table and wall hangings, but that's about it.  He doesn't have a blue room.  He doesn't have a crib.  We have new furniture.  Our walls are all white.  Does he wonder what this place is that mommy and dada keep calling home? 

And, he unfortunately has to spend the next two weeks without dada again.  Sunday night as Austin was putting him to bed he asked for mommy at the very end.  He usually sends Dada to bring me in when he's about 5 minutes from falling asleep and Sunday was no different, except the first thing he told me was "dada is leaving".

Break.  My.  Heart.

I assured him that dada was just going to work and he'd be back and we would talk everyday.  He was fine - he wasn't sad or angry or upset, that was my job.  He was just matter of fact.  That's just how life is I guess.  He spent the entire day yesterday lugging dada doll around with him.  Dada doll upstairs, dada doll downstairs.  Dada doll watching Cars, dada doll playing cars.  Dada doll riding in the boss and the stroller and everything in between.  But he wasn't sad.  It was just what he needs while dada is away.

I found myself very sad about the life we're offering him when I realized - just because his life is different from mine, as different as they could be, doesn't mean his life is worse than mine.

He learned what mountains looked like before he knew how to say the word.  It snowed the day he was born and he got to explore all four seasons before he was one.  He met some incredible people who loved him dearly, some who always will, and they filled his days with love and laughter.

Now he knows the ocean!  He sees water every day.  He drives by boats in the bay on his way to school.  He has a new school where he is building new relationships and impressing new people.  He will soon get to go on a glass bottom boat ride and go to one of the world's most famous aquariums and see parts of the country I didn't see for 27 (or maybe 28 years...yikes).  And he's seen HIPPIES!  I don't think I saw a hippie until Forest Gump, but he has!

I don't know where the Army will send us next, but I know before we get there he will already have friends in Texas, Colorado, California and others scattered across the world who met him along their way.  I can't say that I am offering my child all the stability and comfort of never saying goodbye to his childhood home.  But I can say that I'm offering him so many other things.

Some better.  Some worse.  But overall, just different.  It's been a tough pill to swallow, but every day when I hear his excitement about the new place we are exploring I become a little more comfortable with the idea.

The things kids say

I'm writing this quick post rather than saving it for Wednesday cause I just don't want to forget!

Last night I was hanging some letters in William's room while dada was giving him a bath. I was enjoying listening to them play and talk back and forth, then when the bath was over I heard William say he needed to go potty. Austin offered for him to sit on the toilet and he said yes. Yay!

He had a few trickles then said he was done so they came in his room and I praised him for his trickles. He excitedly jumped on his bed which allowed me to see something dark on his little white heiny. I squealed and Austin rushed him back to the potty. He seemed very scared of the idea of going on the potty and didn't understand what to do.

So I asked, 'William do you know what it feels like when you go poo poo in your diaper?'

'yummmmmy!'

Annnnnnnnd Austin and I fell on the floor in laughter. Where do they come up with this stuff???

- manda

We should be thankful

There are people signing up today.

There are people retiring today.

There are people clinging their families tightly today in preparation for long separations, while others cling their families tightly as they are reunited after far too long.

There are people packing bags, cleaning guns, eating slop and writing home.

There are people promising their lives to defend the good of our country.

And There are people who already gave theirs.

Memorial day is about remembering those who signed their name, put on the boots, hugged their families and never came home. And while the story ends sadly and the ceremonies are somber, it truly is a day to be joyful.

There were people so selfless that they wanted to put your life before their own. There were people so brave that they chose to walk into danger so you wouldn't have to. There were people so great.

They deserve a joyful remembrance and they earned our gratitude. Thanks are in order for all the others who are willing to pay that price, but joyful remembrance is due to those who did.

Happy Memorial Day.


- manda

William wednesday

William is in his third week at school and doing very well! His first week was filled with VERY hard goodbyes. I expected it on the first day but when the following Monday was as painful I decided I needed to think of some sort of distraction.

I reached back in my brain and recalled that my mom has told me many times how much trouble she had getting me to be happy going to church nursery. She didn't understand why it was so hard because I was fine when I went to preschool. Someone suggested she give me a purse (the quickest way to my heart) and allow me to feel control and independence in going to nursery, rather than feeling like she was dumping me and leaving. And it worked! So, day two of week two I attempted the same thing with William.

I packed what I called his special breakfast bag (it happened to be a Quizno's reusable lunch bag) and when he started to cry in the car on our way to school I said 'do you want to carry your special breakfast bag today?' He wasn't sure how to react - it was as if he was analyzing the situation to be sure I wasn't trickin him - then he whispered 'yeah'. When we got to school he whimpered some but as I pulled him out of Melvin I put the bag on his shoulder and said 'what a BIG boy walking all by yourself carrying your bag!' He instantly beamed with pride and lead me to his classroom.

And the breakfast bag is still holding strong! He has started to dictate what he wants me to put in the bag, which usually includes Hershey kisses or marshmallows, but do far he's still excited about carrying his bag. Today he didn't want to walk though, he said 'William not a big boy mommy carry you'. But he still clinched onto his bag and happily sat down for breakfast.

Another one of our fun morning rituals is the hunt for his gummy vitamin. He didn't understand why he was only allowed one gummy bear and the excitement was too short lived so I started hiding his gummies. Now every morning when he's attempting to stay asleep in bed I remind him that we have to go on our vitamin hunt. The vitamin moves hiding places every day but is always in one of his trucks/cars/buses/other toy transportation devices. Today it was In the ice cream truck, tomorrow it may be the dump truck, who knows. Gotta keep him on his toes!

He recently swindled us to push his bath time from 7:00 to 8:00. After a few weeks of spending 2 hours trying to get him to sleep we decided we were fools. We tried starting at 8 and he was still asleep by 9, and everything was much less of a fight. This also reduces the stress of having dinner at 6:00 on the dot and allows for more evening play time. Better all around!

He hasn't really learned anything new lately but his grammar and speech continue to improve and amaze us. A few days ago he blurted put this sentence:
There's a American flag on top of the man store.
(man store = home depot)
None of those words were new or surprising but the proper structure and complexity of the sentence was incredible. And he just said it as if he's been speaking this way his whole life. Amazing!

He really seems to like our new home/life. Still enthralled with the tunnel and boats, loves seein the water, and loves being able to walk to the park regularly. Correction: we walk, he drives baby jackl!

A few pictures from this week:






Not sure why the frown, he was actually super excited for his haircut in lightening McQueen!



I was trying to get a picture of the rug, he clearly thinks he's my only subject.




He grabbed this little magnet and said 'it fits William!'...I guess he doesn't know about his Blair head yet. Sshhh don't tell!

Today is picture day at school do I bribed him with a Hershey kiss to let me put this shirt on him. Hey, don't judge. At least I didn't force him to wear an argyle sweater vest like his poor friend Roman! (and at least he has an awesome name unlike his poor friend...oh wait, that's mean...)

Here he is, ready for action


- manda

Employment

Well, the party days are over people. I'm employed again! I couldn't be happier about it.

Yesterday was my first day and I think it was one of the best first days I've had. It's hard to really remember the rest, but I do think this one was the least stressful, most relaxed and enjoyable. Either I'm getting good at starting new jobs (5 first-days in 7 years may do that...) or this job is gonna be awesome!

The firm, Hayashi & Wayland, is one of the most well known and respected firms in the Monterey area. Being a smaller area there aren't any large firms, and we are one of the biggest with just about 100 employees. It was started in the 70's and has merged with and acquired I believe 6 small firms over the years.

The first few hours of my day were spent getting set up on my computer and getting to know one of my peers a little bit. Kiely was one of the girls I had gone to lunch with two weeks ago and she seems so fun. When I was introduced to most welcoming, sincerest older man and then later told that he is Warren Wayland (retired but still always around) I became even more excited about the culture and environment. If she hadn't told me who he was I would not have guessed. He was so friendly and warm and really made me feel welcome. He even said 'is this the one I read about with all that amazing tax experience?' awe, make me blush :)

Early on in the day another girl, Casey, excitedly came by to introduce herself. She had been anxiously waiting to come meet the new Aggie in town. She didn't go to A&M but has been a fan her whole life. She went to Abilene Christian and she just moved from the Dallas area in December. She grew up in the same city where my dad lived! She invited me to lunch with herself and the 2 other girls from my interview lunch and we had a nice time. We also agreed its time Texas infiltrate and conquer the firm - the other two didn't quite understand :)

The rest of the day was as relaxed as it started; my boss Gina gave me some small projects to keep me busy while she is out today but nothing too stressful and...best part...I signed up for my 15% 401(k) match! I am SO SO SO excited for that. Not only am I amazed at their contribution level but I'm excited that it is forcing me to contribute more to my retirement. I should have all along, and now I am!

But, as with all good things there is one downfall: Internet is frowned upon. It isn't impossible and can definitely be used on breaks...but is frowned upon throughout the day. So I won't be as available by email as I have been, but I'm sure I'll still find my ways. And I think it's probably worth the trade :)

Here goes day #2!


- manda

I live Here

I live here?!?! I live here!!! Sometimes I have to remind myself that I live here.



First, I have to remind myself because it doesn't quite feel like home. Actually, scratch the 'quite'. It just doesn't. I don't know how or when a new place makes the transition into feeling like home, but I don't ever remember this odd feeling in College Station or Colorado. I just feel like we are wandering around in this beautiful place and soon we will go back home.

But I also have to remind myself constantly that I live here because it's just so dang beautiful! It's gorgeous. I remember people telling me how wonderful it'd be but no one really came up with a long list of things to do...so I couldn't quite figure out why it was so great. As Jodi put it: mountains you can't ski in, water you can't swim in...yeah, sounds fantastic.

But it is! It's just breath taking. Austin has actually missed the exit to pick William up from school 3 of the 5 days this week...and it's the same exit he takes for work! But he misses it cause we are staring off into the water, captivated by the waves.

He got off work early yesterday (graduated a course to become certified in urine test administration - he's so over joyed) so we decided to go for a bike ride down Hwy 1 to Carmel. Yup, 8 months after I bought the bike I FINALLY got to ride it! We had a great time.

We stopped at the first beach we passed and walked around. The beach wasn't sandy, but it looked like sand from a distance. It was made up of tiny tiny rocks. Not easy to walk up and downhill! We navigated over to the rocky boulder things (I should really learn the lingo so I SOUND like I live here) and climbed up the rocks. The water was just beautiful.









Never in a million years would I have chosen to live in California. And once our army days are done we'll never choose it again. But I sure am thankful we were blessed with the opportunity to experience it for awhile. I love the opportunity to immerse ourselves in different cultures for brief periods of time. And I - dare I admit it - love the farmers markets!!! The produce is so cheap and delicious...the people are a little odd but thats ok. Im having so much fun! Denver was so different than Houston, and Monterey is so different than both. It's truly a blessing to be able to experience the differences for more than just a vacation.

I don't know if it will ever feel as much like home as any of the three other places I've lived do, but I know I'll enjoy the time either way. How could I not?



Strawberry fields 15 minutes north of our house in Watsonville (where the biggest, juiciest, tastiest strawberries ever are grown)



Winding up through the tall trees on the way to San Francisco



Mountains near San Jose



Whoops, how'd he sneak in here?

- manda

Everyone has a story

A few days ago we went out to dinner to a local Italian restaurant. One of my favorite things about this area is the lack of chain restaurants. There is a chili's, a handful of McDonald's, and a bubba gump shrimp, but for the most part every restaurant is a mom and pop type place.

We found this Italian restaurant on our first night here and went back for seconds a couple weeks later. We were sitting at a table by the window and I couldn't help but notice an elderly couple outside trying diligently to get the perfect photo by the restaurant's sign. After a few minutes of them changing angles and handing the camera back and forth I decided to go offer to help. I thought maybe they'd want a picture together, assuming they were tourists documenting their vacation.

When I offered to take a picture of the two of them together the wife's eyes teared up. She explained that when her husband was in the service during the war he ate at that very restaurant. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a matchbook that was obviously aged, but held the same Caruso's logo that I saw above us on the sign. He told me that there used to be a very large military presence here and that he had such fond memories of the Monterey area but that it is a different place now. He was
Happy to see Caruso's was still there but sad to know that the military life had diminished in the area.

I told them that Austin is in the army and we are new to the area. I thanked him for his service and for sharing his story and once the picture was taken I went back inside. But his sweet demeanor and story stayed with me.

Everyone has a story to tell if we will take the time to listen. Some may not be so moving, but sweet stories will come in the most unexpected ways.

- manda

Now that it's all said and done...

If I were a less stubborn person, now that it's all said and done, I'd shout from the rooftops that I was wrong. God was right. His plan is more perfect than my own. Again.

But, there's still that little ounce of stubbornness so I guess I will just declare my defeat through my quiet little blog.

My prayer for the last month has been for myself to let go of the notion that I know best and follow the path laid before me. I've had to pray this progressively more as the days have passed, and the last couple of days were spent in a constant state of pleading: please help me to remember that You have the whole picture laid out while all I see is a muddled piece of the puzzle. It hasn't been easy, and I haven't always succeeded. But That has been my focus.

I didn't understand why the housing situation was such a headache. I didn't understand why the leasing office wouldn't just give us the house we wanted rather than make us live in limbo for a week. But do you know what? Now that it's all said and done, it was better that way. We had William with us during the first week and were able to spend time playing with him and enjoying our new surroundings while doing our best to ignore the boxes. Then, just in time for him to start day care we were given the green light. We had a week to move which made it a perfect transition for William and us. We didn't have to force ourselves to work 12 hours/day on the house and William didn't have to witness any of it; one day he went to school and left one house then came home to another...toys, bed, everything he cared about just as he had left it. It also made the unpacking and sorting much easier - I could go at the pace of the boxes rather than in a pile of mess.

Yes, it was better this way.

I didn't understand why finding a job wasn't going according to my plan. Or even following the general direction of my plan. I remember laying in bed about a month ago telling Austin 'I don't understand how things just fall into place for some people...people who seemingly put forth no effort...yet here I am trying and focused and determined and damn it...DESERVING...why not me? Why can't it fall into place for me?' Now that it's all said and done, I see it a little more clearly.

I must have applied to 100 jobs over the last few months and only heard back from a handful. Granted I was applying for jobs I wasn't qualified for sometimes, applying for a lot of jobs for which I was over qualified...I was willing to do anything.

Then there was this one job. A listing for a senior tax accountant at a CPA firm posted March 30. What CPA firm is interviewing for tax 2 weeks before April 15???

Turns out they weren't interviewing yet and weren't planning to really bring any candidates in until the end of the month. They posted the job to get their feelers out there and see what response they'd get. So I applied and we set up an interview.

Still I was persistent. I applied to jobs every day. But in the back of my head a little birdie kept saying 'what if that's your job? What if things CAN just perfectly align for you too, even though you're too weak to trust it? What if their timing and your timing are so perfectly in line? What if you are expending far more effort than necessary and could just sit back and let God show you His will?'

Well, I heard the birdie over and over but knew I'd kick myself later if I didn't keep looking for Jobs. But as the month dragged on I did find myself less and less interested in the job hunt. And about a week before my interview I finally told the birdie 'ok. I'm done applying until I see if this little what-if game plays out.'

Well you know what? It played out. I got the job! The managing partner at the firm called today to ell me how extremely impressed everyone was and how they feel I have a great skill set as well as a great personality for their firm.

The offer came one day before I am officially unemployed. The timing allows me a full week off with Austin at work, William at day care, and no other obligations besides settling into our new home. One full week to organize, set up, regroup, and soak in the beauty of the place we'll call home for awhile. The offer came, clearly, at the right time. The best time.

'and why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?'

That's me: ye of little faith. But I'm working. Now figuratively, soon literally too.


- manda

William Wednesday

William has been up to so much since I last wrote, so I think I'm going to do a bulleted style format rather than trying to creatively merge it all together :)

• William LOVES tunnels.  In Colorado we knew about a small tunnel as you enter the mountains and the Eisenhower tunnel which is longer and more well known.  After those two were gone we thought we were done, and WIlliam kept asking for tunnels so I felt bad.  Little did I know that we'd see a dozen tunnels on our westward journey.  And what a pleasant surprise when we found there's a tunnel in Monterey!  It is commonly used as a point of reference I've realized - like "oh just past the tunnel" or "right before the tunnel"...and we go through it every day.  William loves it!  As we enter he always says "hi tunnel" and then as we are leaving he says "boss(or melvin) get OUT of the tunnel.  bye tunnel!"  And THEN...we see...ALL THE BOOOOAAAATS!  Just as you exit the tunnel going into Monterey you pass where all the boats park (park???  stop???  halt???  what is boat terminology here?)  so William gets very excited for all the boats in the water.  Which brings us to...
• William LOVES the water!  He gets excited every day when we drive down Highway 1 and he can see the ocean out of his window.  He always exclaims "see the ocean!" or "see ALL the water!"  or "big waves in the water".  He is so happy when he can see the water.  And boats in the water - well that's just beyond heavenly for our little transportation-loving 2 year old.
• Along the lines of transportation, he becomes more and more enthralled with his cars and trucks and buses every day.  His favorite vehicle changes from day to day, and it is expected that Austin and I just automatically know which one he will want in the bath and which one he will want in bed.  Problem is - its never the same!  Orange bus had a nice long run, but now white truck is in the lead and Blue Trash Bus comes up every now and then too.  During the day, though, he loves all his buses.  We have the windows open all the time (no AC plus nice weather...new lifestyle) and William likes to push a chair up to the window and use the window frame as the road for his cars.  He will line as many cars up in the window frame as possible then yell "ALL THE CARS LINED UP ON THE WINDOW!!!!"  He gets very proud of this accomplishment.
• We have a park down the road from us that is very amusing for him.  I think we've been to the park probably 10 of the last 12 days...and I don't see that slowing down any time soon.  He loves to ride baby jackl to the park and park baby jackl in the grass.  Then we run from slide to slide, climbing and jumping and sliding...he LOVES the park.  He's such an active kid - I don't know where all the energy comes from or how it multiplies as it is exerted.  Seems to work the opposite for me.
• There is an explorer that is the same color as Melvin who lives at the house across from our first house here.  The first day we saw it William tried to walk up to it thinking it was Melvin, butever since then he has understood that it is not our Melvin it's another Melvin.  So anytime we see it he says "hi other melvin".  That has spilled over into parking lots too - anytime we see an explorer he says "hi blue melvin" (or whatever the color is).  He's always spot on with identifying explorers which amazes me.  If he sees another car similar he says "hi different Melvin" which means it isn't an explorer but it looks like Melvin.  He's such a genius!
• His behavior was slowly getting worse as our travels went on and I think we got into our house and re-established our routine just in the nick of time.  He was starting to act out and even bit us a few times, which I can only attribute to his confusion and lack of control over his environment.  The first day after we re-established a strict night time routine he was like a different child.  It's amazing what a little structure can do.  Are all kids like that or is ours just especially routine-oriented?
• He started school on Monday.  So far I think its going very well.  Drop offs have been very hard all week, and in fact Monday was probably the hardest drop off I have  ever had.  Harder than his first day at Goddard!  But his teacher called us midday to tell us how great he was doing - he was engaged in all the activities, a very happy and sweet boy, and he LOVED all the cars and trucks.  No surprise there!  He was thrilled to see us when we picked him up and he told us all the fun things he had done at school that day.  He still cries a lot when we pull up to the school, but I am sure once we are gone he adjusts well.  I just hope it isn't a long time before he gets excited to go to school again - he just has to get  comfortable and the new school has to feel like home.  All in time I assume.
• He has started to really enjoy rehashing books for us.  He says he's reading, and he does tell the story on each page but of course it's by memory and repetition.  he does GREAT though!  I am always interested to see what exactly he keys into on each page.  In his blue truck book there's a page where a dump truck says "thanks little brother" to the blue truck and I never would have keyed into that particular line, but once William gets to that page he says "thanks little brother" and then flips the page.  He likes to "read" Clifford, Blue Truck Book, his bicycle book (it's really an ABC book but there's a bike on the front) and the hungry caterpillar.  He's VERY good at the hungry caterpillar which tugs at my heart strings because it was the first book I ever read (actually read the words) when I was a kid.  Special book!
• When we were driving here and staying in hotels William asked for "mommy dada old house" a lot, but since we've been here he hasn't uttered the words.  I think that's a good sign that this feels like home now and he's comfortable here.  He does still ask for Oh Gosh and Katy, but I think that's going to be an on going thing.  I think it'll be hard for him to understand that we can't just get in the car and go see Oh Gosh, but hopefully we will get to see him regularly enough that the bond can still be there.  It's very special to see my baby building such a strong bond with my brother.
• He's still a dada's boy.  Mommy gets cuddles and hugs when dada isn't around, and on Monday he did run to me first...but besides that its all dada all the time.  He likes to play games with me, he loves for me to sing all of the wonderful songs I've written him ("William's favorite truck is the blue trash bus, William's favorite truck is the blue trash bus, William's favorite truck is the blue trash bus and he loves to take him in the bath."  then repeat with take him to bed, take him in Melvin, etc.  what's not to love about my musical talent???) and he LOVES to help mommy cook.  But besides our special little things between us, overall he just adores his dada.  It's such a precious adoration, but also makes me wonder...is dada ALWAYS the hero and mommy ALWAYS the shmuck???  Please chime in...

That about covers where he is I think.  He is enjoying exploring our new home and seems to really love that we're by the water, by the park, and the things he gets to see along the way.  Just keep praying that his adjustment at school goes well and that I find a job before the end of May so that we can keep him in school!  He really thrives there!!!

What a nuissance

Remember when I said some crack head broke into melvin?

Well crack head is an assumption but given the crime and the city, I think it's a safe bet.

It was annoying that someone broke in and didn't take anything, and we kept saying 'at least if they stole something it would make it more understandable. Now it's just a pain for nothing.'

I take it back. I'd rather have a broken window or two for no reason. But, once we got into our house we found that the Vegas bandits did in fact steal something.

My gym bag.

Gym bag??? Who steals a gym bag??? How random! I was upset enough about the bag because I loved that bag - it was awesome! It was a very functional and cute bag, plus it was one of the surprise presents Austin had delivered to our door step while he was gone. So I was sad it was gone!

The most annoying part, though, was the fact that when we left Colorado springs my gym bag became a catch-all bag full of randomness. It had one workout outfit and a jump rope but other than that it was all just random. So now anytime something hasn't been seen in a few days we wonder if it's in there. I do know for sure that one of my favorite shirts was in it and so was my camp Allen cross.

Yup, the one I've had since 8th grade. The charm replicated after the Cross where my dads ashes are. The one that can only be bought in Navasota, TX.

Yup.

So I hope the crack head at least looked through the bag and saw the cross, and maybe it spoke to him. Cause I'm guessing the bag and it's contents are of no other value to him.


- manda

What I've been waiting for

My favorite part of moving...unpacking!!!

I am starting to really like having two houses during this process. Don't get me wrong, I'd still rather we had moved into our final house a week ago and that it was already all done by now, but because that wasn't an option I'm enjoying the 7 days that we have 2!

If William weren't in the picture I would have worked endlessly until it was all done, would have moved all day and night and would be completely out of house #1. But we had to plan it out a little differently.

We decided we would spend most of the weekend moving boxes that we haven't been using, keeping house #1 as in tact as possible. This way William can sleep, eat and play in the same way he has for a week. Then on Monday when he is at his first day of school we will move as much furniture as we can with two people and one truck. Our goal is that by the end of the day Monday all that is left in house #1 is stuff in the garage. Then the rest of the week Austin can bring the remaining boxes/things from the garage while I finish unpacking and organizing at our new home.

Last night I said to Austin, 'man, you married smart - you have a wife who prefers you unpack as little as possible'. Without missing a beat he said, 'you married smart, you have a husband who is willing to make the sacrifice and let you do all the packing and unpacking to your heart's content.' hmm, he has a point...

Project #1: the kitchen! My favorite.

Our new kitchen is slightly smaller than our old one, but with our old kitchen being the definite high point of the house I fully expected that. I think it'd be hard to find a kitchen I like better than our old one. We have a nice kitchen but we have 6 upper cabinets to replace 10 in our old house and the same number of lower cabinets just smaller. So we lost a large amount of storage. I didn't think we had that much stuff though, so I hadn't really been concerned about getting it all in there.

Until I got into box #3. As I was unpacking I kept having these moments of 'oh crap - we have corningware!' and 'oh man, I forgot all about the waffle irons!'...and other revelations that worried me as the cabinets filled up. I came to the conclusion that Austin and I have somewhat of a kitchen obsession. He came to the conclusion that I have a kitchen obsession. You say tomato, I say tomAto...

Moving on.

I had hoped the spice cabinet would be my first one completed. I love spice cabinets and there was one small box labeled 'spices' so I thought it'd be easy to tackle. But the spice racks weren't included, so I had to deviate from the plan. It was second though, and I love it more than I thought I would!




While trying to find the spice racks I unpacked all of the dishes and discovered how much I LOVE our new dish cabinet. It's huge! It holds all the dishes, glasses, mugs, and baking dishes. It's awesome!!! And if it weren't for the random colored mugs I would almost say it belongs in a magazine.



I just realized I took this before adding the last bit of baking ware, but you get the idea :)

After I sighed from accomplishment I looked over into my dining-turned-box-storage room and saw 2 large boxes labeled 'plasticware'. I realized I was going to have to part with some of the odd ball plastic items (like the glad ware for starters) because I only had one more unallocated cabinet and still needed to store Williams dishes and Tupperware. I needed it all to fit into 2 where it used to be in 4. Mission accomplished!




I did box up most of Williams sippy cups since he is now a big boy who drinks from big cups, and the stack of plastic bowls and plates will be higher once we bring the plates over from our temporary home. So I already know I'll be revamping when/if God gives us another baby (we aren't asking God for that today, to quiet the questions) but for now I'm liking the simplicity of my plastic cabinet.

My lower cabinets need some work but they're doing their jobs for now. I have the pots/pans cabinet, baking cabinet, and small appliance/less used cabinet. They aren't picture worthy today...but hopefully someday!

I've never been a fan of things on the kitchen counter. In my perfect world there would be a knife block, a cooking utensil bucket, maybe some sort of decorative item, and a kitchen aid mixer on the cabinet. That's it. But I had to give up the fight a little and find a permanent home for the coffee pot. Austin is laughing inside as he won a fight without trying, but there's just not as much room. So I made it as pretty as I could - I used my Aggie jar to house the coffee contents and make it somewhat decorative.



That was a last minute decision at 10:00 last night so I might reposition it so it's not on the edge, but I just had to show Austin how he had effortlessly won a tiny battle. (maybe I'll use that as leverage to make him concede on the laundry battle)

So that's our kitchen for now! I have one more box of stemware that I haven't unpacked because our armoire that will become our alcoholic cabinet isn't at the house yet.

Uh oh ... Just realized there's no Booze cabinet ...

I may be back to the drawing board sooner than planned :) but for now it's time to tackle another space.

- manda

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Wow – Wow Wednesday it is!

We have been in limbo for roughly 2.5 weeks now. We had a week of living at Brian’s house, driving back and forth to Denver, then a week of being homeless, and then we arrived in Monterey to a less than desirable housing situation. Don’t let me fool you – the house we have right now is beautiful and it is much nicer than I ever would have thought military housing would be. But knowing that just down the street is a house that we are qualified for has tainted the current house. So, as I mentioned last week, we decided to wait on unpacking and live amongst boxes until the leasing office got their paperwork in order and granted us the single family home that we wanted.

Me. Living amongst boxes. Can you picture it?

Brittany and her daughter had so kindly (and truly without my permission yes or no) decided they wanted to give their time to help us unpack. So a month ago she bought her tickets according to the plan that our furniture and boxes would be delivered Friday, she would fly in Saturday, and by the time they left Tuesday we would be settled. Clearly that plan went awry because we didn’t unpack a single box this weekend. BUT – had Brittany not been here to be a neutralizer and source of enjoyment, I may have killed someone. THE BOXES DRIVE ME INSANE. I just want to unpack them all and I’d pull an all nighter to do it if I had to. Brittany felt bad flying home Tuesday having not helped set our house up, but she did much MUCH more than that.

It is ironic though that today we were given the green light on the new house!!!

So, we went to the leasing office approximately 5 minutes after they called and we selected our house. The man helping us was going to start going through the list of available E7 houses but I cut him off saying, “don’t worry, we’ve been stalking the list outside the office for 4 days so we already know which house we want”. We made his job pretty easy! He told us we have 7 days to vacate our current house from the time we are given keys to the new house, so we decided to take the keys on Friday afternoon so that I can work all day tomorrow (working for 1.5 more weeks for my Denver company) and then we have the weekend to get the bulk of the moving done.

Item number one checked off for the day.

Item number 2: internet! We are no longer in the stone age, we now have internet. Cell service seems to be unavailable in this house but I have hopes that a few doors down it will be a little better. I seem to have decent service all throughout the neighborhood but when I pull up to our house I lose calls, don’t always get texts, and 3G service isn’t what you’d expect either. I have felt like I’ve been in the stone age (don’t forget, surrounded by boxes) for 4 days. But – that ended today with the arrival of subpar internet. Welcome to the new millennium!

Item number 3: day care! We had our tour today of a day care in Monterey that I had found a few weeks ago. Monday we had found another day care, through word of mouth, and when we went to see it we were both sold. But, they do not have any spots until the fall. So we still needed a place for William in the meantime. William liked the school today and actually walked right up to the kids on the playground and tried to join in on play. He was actually throwing a fit about leaving! So we have him scheduled to start school there on Monday. It is a good school and we would just keep him there for the duration of our time here (assuming I end up finding a job, of course) but it is about 20 minutes southwest of our house near Austin’s work. Most of the jobs I have applied to are about 20 minutes north east of our house. So a more central location for child care would be ideal. We have his name on the wait list at the place we visited Monday and will move him once it opens up.

I don’t have a job yet, but we had committed ourselves to paying for day care through the month of May for William. We thought it would be the best way to make his life feel more normal and routine for him, and would hopefully make the transition as smooth as possible. We also felt like it would give me plenty of time to search for a job, interview for jobs, and get the house set up. William has really been as wonderful as I could have expected a 2 year old to be through all of this, but he is definitely missing the structure in his days and I think he will really enjoy being back in a school setting. My hope is that I have a job lined up by the end of the month so that he can continue going to school.

I did have my interview on Monday with a local CPA firm and I think it went very well! I met with 3 partners, one senior manager, the HR representative, and had lunch with 3 staff. One of the partners was very hard to read, but I can definitely say the rest of the people liked me and I think they all felt I’d be a great fit on the personality factor. I think one partner has reservations about my experience because I have primarily done large corporation taxes whereas most of their clients are small businesses, partnerships and individuals – but everyone else seemed to think it’d be a gap easily bridged. They called me back yesterday and want me to go back in on Monday for a second interview. They are going to have me do a mock tax return of some sort, which I am pretty nervous about. They didn’t indicate what kind of return they would have me do, how complicated it would be, or if I’d do it in a software or by hand – but the idea of a test makes me very nervous. Especially a test for which I don’t know how to study! So please pray for me leading up to and during my test-interview!

So that’s where we are. Still in limbo, still hectic, but getting things settled in. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have time to write about the fun stuff – like our favorite hippie who we were able to share with Brittany! Until then here are some pictures of the beautiful water!






- manda