Catching Up Part 2, the Road Trip

After the July 4th weekend, we finished packing up our stuff from Alabama and got on the road to head cross-country to our new home in Boise.  We planned on taking three full days to get there, which would equate to 9 hours of driving each day.  That's a pretty monumental undertaking with three kids age six and under!  But we've driven long distances before to and from Mimi and Poppie's house when we lived in South Carolina, so this wouldn't be much different, only it would be three days in a row instead of just one.  The first day we made it from Alabama through Memphis to Arkansas, Oklahoma, and halfway through Kansas.

First morning on the road

Our first casualty

Torrential downpours in Wichita, Kansas!

 

We stopped for the night in Salina, Kansas where we promptly found a hotel with an indoor pool.  As soon as we got our stuff inside, we had the kids put on their bathing suits and we went and played in the water for an hour and a half--just long enough to really tire them out.  We ordered a pizza in the room and went straight to bed!  The next morning at 4 am, I hear Marcus rustling in the bed and lo and behold he's ready to get up and go, lol!  But instead of getting us all up, he let us sleep and went and got gas and reorganized the truck and picked up doughnuts and milk for breakfast.  By the time he got back, we were slowly getting up and we were able to get back on the road by 7 that morning. 

 

The second day of travel, we drove from the middle of Kansas to Colorado and up to Cheyenne, Wyoming where we turned west and drove as far as Evanston, Wyoming.  We decided to stop there because we had gone through a lot of rain that day and were all tired, plus that gave us only a few hour drive to Grandma's house the next day.

 

The farther west we got, the more windmills we saw

Intently watching the movie

My chauffeur looks so serious! He's a man on a mission!

Kansas really is all flat...

Entering Colorado! This was a new state for me to check off my list.

A buffalo statue on a mountain marks the spot where we entered Wyoming.

At the time, I thought 58 was cold, but when we got up at 6:30 am in Evanston, it was 49 degrees!

About to hit a wall of rain.

Finally starting to get into some mountains!

The clouds were so low, we couldn't see the tops of the mountain

I thought this was the coolest thing!  We bought the chips in Alabama and didn't open them until we were in Colorado, so the change in pressure made the bag inflate!  Definitely had an impromptu science lesson with the kids, lol!

 

After spending the night in Evanston, we got up on the third day and hit the road for the comparatively short drive to Grandma's house in Burley.  We were only three miles from Utah, so we just had to cut through the northeast corner of Utah through Ogden and head north for Idaho. 

 

Finally some REAL mountains!

The clouds were playing peek-a-boo in the crevices of the mountains.

Leaving Utah and heading towards Idaho.

Our new home state!!

 

We made it to Grandma's house just in time for some fishing before lunch.  Overall, we had a fantastic trip and really could not have asked for better, besides all the rain that we went through in Kansas and Wyoming.  I got to see parts of the country that I had never seen before.  The kids did great watching movies and napping in the car and Marcus and I were able to swap out driving and riding.  We packed lots of snacks and lunch foods, so we didn't have to stop for food, only for gas and potty breaks, which were surprisingly few considering I was 34 weeks pregnant!  It was a really great trip, although I'm not sure I want to be stuck in the car for that long again any time soon! :)

 

Our full journey from SC to ID!





Catching Up!

Since my last post, there has been a ton of things going on in our lives, so it's going to take me a few posts to get it all in.  We spent almost the entire month of June in Alabama with my parents, mostly just hanging out and being lazy for the summer.  We got the kids going with the library's reading program and they devoured lots of books;  we even went on a bear hunt or two! ;-)  I was able to get a few books crossed off my reading list as well during my break from school. 

One of the few books I read

We took a few days to explore the area and visit a couple of museums and local tourist attractions.  The kids loved standing next to the waterfall at the dam because it covered us in a cool mist on a blazing hot summer day.

The overlook at Wilson Dam

One of the waterfalls by the dam

 

The bigger waterfall that gave us a good misting

The water temp was still pretty cool for June

The kids had to squint because of all the mist! It sure felt good though!

 

We spent a lot of time just hanging out and enjoying the company.  The kids sure loved hanging out with Mimi and Poppie.

 

Especially when Poppie gave them tractor rides!

 

Taking a nap with Mimi 

A lazy afternoon of Farkle and cheese puffs

Teaching Tay how to play War (that's Daddy's war face, lol)

The kids spent a week at VBS and had a blast!  They're still singing the songs they learned!

 

When Marcus and I were still dating, one of the first restaurants we went to in Alabama was Casa Mexicana.  We have a framed picture of the two of us at the table.  This trip, Casa was one of our last restaurants to go to, so we thought it was only fitting to get a new picture showing the difference of 10 years.  We've both aged a little bit and we've certainly added to our family a lot! It makes me wonder where we'll be in another 10 years...

 





29 Weeks and Our Last Full Week!

(I originally wrote this before we left South Carolina, but in the midst of the chaos, I forgot to publish! So it's better late than never, I suppose!) 

 

29 Weeks today!  Miss Paisley is growing like crazy and getting heavier by the day!  I've noticed a definite difference when I walk around and especially when I (attempt to!) bend over.  My belly is getting in the way more, which makes it harder to do things around the house.  It's a good thing we've taught the big kids how to do most of the chores around here-I'm definitely having to delegate more lately!

Tonight is our last Bible study before we move.  I am really going to miss this group of friends!  We are starting to get to those "lasts" that are making the move real for us!  Tomorrow night is our last Wednesday night service and Thursday will probably be our last trip to the beach.  Our last week here is going to be super busy, which will make time go by much faster, I'm sure. 

I am not looking forward to when it actually hits me that we are leaving for good.  We really feel like we have found a home here in Beaufort, if only it were closer to family!  There is something to be said for having very good friends, but the desire to raise our kids near their cousins and aunts and uncles is tangible.  It is such a hard thing to have to choose between many good options, but in the end, we feel like this is what is best for them.  So next week, we'll load everything up and say goodbye, possibly for this lifetime.  I'm trying not to get too emotional yet but I know it is going to hit me sooner or later.  Maybe I can blame it on the pregnancy hormones??  ;)

Sweet Home Alabama! (At least temporarily)

Last week, we finished packing everything that we own into a U-Haul truck and got on the road.  We left South Carolina, our home for the past five years, to be temporarily homeless until we make our final move in July all the way across the country to Idaho. 

In the meantime, we are visiting my parents in Alabama and enjoying our summer break and our last few weeks of not having a mile-long "To Do" list.  Once we leave here, we will be:  driving cross country, moving into a new home, unpacking and getting settled, birthing and bringing home a new baby, beginning school again for the kids and graduate school for me, and job hunting for Marcus.  I'd say that it's going to be a busy fall!!

So for these last few weeks of peace, we are going to get some summer reading in, spend some time at the pool, catch some fish on the river, and just enjoy hanging out with family.  It's going to be over before we know it.

28 Weeks! Third Trimester, Finally!

We finally hit 28 weeks yesterday! Miss Paisley and I made it to the third trimester, yay!  I had my 28 week appointment yesterday and had to sit for the fun glucose testing.  We're still waiting on the results, but I haven't had gestational diabetes with any of the other pregnancies, so I don't expect anything out of the ordinary for this one either. 

I still feel good, although sleeping is becoming more and more troublesome because I can't seem to get comfortable.  Besides my belly getting in the way, I've been having restless legs like crazy!  It makes it hard to get settled and I usually end up tossing and turning until I finally fall asleep.  Other than that, I've been having lots of heartburn in the afternoons and evenings, but I figured out that if I take a Zantac around lunchtime, it seems to prevent me from having heartburn all evening.

 

As far as the moving progress, today is T minus 2 weeks until we hit the road! It feels like we still have a ton of stuff to do, but really we won't be able to make much more progress until we get the U-Haul and can start loading it up.  Our shed has been filling up quickly!  I expect Monday the 8th and Tuesday the 9th to be very busy days and then Wednesday we will officially be moving! 

 

 

The timing has actually worked out really well because I have had to take some time off from all the moving stuff to focus on finals this week!  I just submitted my Governmental and Non-Profit Accounting paper today, and now I have two papers left, Federal Taxation and my capstone course, the Senior Seminar!  My Senior Seminar paper has to be a minimum of 10 pages, and I'd like to have everything done by Friday, so I see a couple of late nights in my near future.  But it will all be worth it because then I will be completely DONE!  I won't officially graduate until August 15, but all of my courses will be finished and I can spend this summer relaxing and getting ready for our move and baby's arrival!

 

Speaking of summer, the kids have been playing outside almost every day this week and today, while waiting on lunchtime, they made "stained glass windows" from the colored magnets for a fun, quick project.

 

 

And sometimes, despite our objections to the contrary, even big kids need naps.  We both sat down with books while the boys were napping and I looked over to see her sound asleep.  Nope, she wasn't tired at all... ;-)



Our Summer Bucket List

I'm so excited that summer is finally here!  We have been using this opportunity while Marcus isn't working to complete our "Beaufort bucket list" before we leave town.  We spent a full day last week at the beach and stopped on the way back and got a yummy watermelon and a cantaloupe from Barefoot Farms.  We spent Saturday morning running errands and going to the farmer's market, where we scored two bags of fresh peaches and a bag of green beans.  Nothing says summer to me like watermelon with salt or a big juicy fresh peach!

We've been to the library and played at the waterfront park downtown and Saturday, we had family pictures taken.  They turned out fantastic!  I am so excited to get a few large prints made to go up in our new house!

This one is my favorite!  I am so thankful to have met Ariel and been able to take advantage of her awesome photography skills, as well as her friendship!  It is finally beginning to hit me that we will only be here two more weeks.  I think as a former military family that you get used to being moved around and moving away from people, but this move is going to hit us the hardest because of the amazing friends, mentors, and support system that we've found here.  I am consciously blocking all of the emotions out of the equation for right now because otherwise I'd be a blubbering, hormonal mess! 

So instead of thinking about how soon we're leaving, we've been taking time to take advantage of Beaufort's natural beauty and get outside and enjoy!  We have even been getting the outside of the house spruced up and ready for closing in a few weeks.  Marcus wanted to pressure wash the driveway and it made a huge difference!  I have been clearing out weeds, mowing the grass, and edging the sidewalks.  It's been so nice outside that it has been very relaxing to get to work in the fresh air.

 

Yesterday afternoon, while the boys were napping, Marcus took Taylor to the pier to try and catch bait for their early morning fishing trip this morning.  They caught a few greenies, so Marcus threw his big pole into the water and a few minutes later, reeled in this guy:

 

His first cobia of the year! So he brought it home, fileted it and I shelved our regularly scheduled dinner plans and we had a fish fry!  It is still amazing to me that we can have fish for dinner that was just swimming around the Broad River a few hours ago!

 

 



We've still got quite a few things that we want to do before we leave, but as we wrap up our Beaufort bucket list, we're looking forward to adding quite a few fun things to add to our Alabama summer bucket list with Mimi and Poppie!

Trusting God in the Midst of Change

(Photo Credit)

The past few days have been very interesting to say the least.  After Marcus made it through the entire hiring process to become a Sheriff's Deputy, we got the email on Tuesday that they were not going to hire him.  Talk about a huge disappointment.  We have spent many hours praying for and working towards this goal, including flying him across the country twice on our own dime in order to go to interviews and testing. 

Once he made it through all of these steps, we honestly thought that the job was his and we began planning as if it was.  So that email Tuesday was definitely a sobering dose of reality and we began to wonder if law enforcement is really where God wants Marcus to be.  So we continued to pray for God's provision and we trusted that He would provide a job, whether it was in law enforcement or in a different field. 

Well, yesterday (Friday), Marcus got a follow up email from the HR director at the Sheriff's department saying how sorry she was that he wasn't selected for the patrol job, but would he be interested in a different job within the department?  They will be hiring this summer for jobs in the Detention Center, which is what Marcus has been doing here for the past eight months.  He has heard great things about the job itself.  The benefits are great, hours and pay would work well for our family and our schedule as well.  So although it isn't the job that he originally applied and interviewed for, it was one of the other jobs that he was interested in. 

I find it interesting that between Tuesday and Friday there really was no panic when our original plan went up in smoke.  I think both of us just knew that God would provide.  Knowing that we serve a God that is bigger than any of our little issues brings such peace in the midst of what could be a very stressful situation.  He has been so faithful throughout this whole process from us deciding to move and getting an offer on our house that would allow us to stay here until June, to working everything out with moving Marcus's truck and all of the other small little details that come with packing and moving cross-country.   Romans 8:28 tells us that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him.  We have seen this so vividly in the past few months! 

(Photo Credit)

The first verse that came to my mind on Tuesday night when everything seemed up in the air was Psalm 46:10.  The NASB says, "Cease striving and know that I am God." The ESV renders it "Be still..."  This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible because it reminds me that He is in control, no matter what our circumstances are.  He is able and He is faithful to do what He has promised.  Our part is to stop trying to do it all ourselves and allow Him to work! Our prayer is that we can continue to do just that.

25 Weeks and the Packing Begins

Another week down!  It seems like time is moving really fast this pregnancy.  Maybe it's just because of everything we've got going on with the move, and Marcus traveling back and forth to Boise, and everyday life raising three rambunctious kiddos!

I felt super big this week and I haven't been sleeping as well because my feet and hips have been hurting when I lay down.  We finally started packing up the stuff that we're not using between now and our move day, so we've been doing a lot more physical work than I am used to.  We got the shed cleaned out and organized on Monday and yesterday we tackled the kitchen and my craft supplies.

Today was errand day, so we didn't get anything packed up, but we took several returns back to various stores and ended up with over $100 in gift cards!  Definite score!  Those will come in very handy after we move. 

It has been wonderful not having to rush around and get everything boxed up fast.  We've been able to take our time and organize things into the rooms that they're going into when we get to the new house.  We even bought different colored tapes so we can see quickly which boxes go where.  I am trying to keep this move as low stress as possible.  It is going to be hard enough trying to unpack at 30+ weeks pregnant and getting everything ready for new baby and the kids' new school year and Marcus's new job!  We will have a lot going on within such a short period that we absolutely must simplify as much as possible!

I'm also looking forward to being able to bribe family to come over and watch the kids while Marcus and I unpack.  It's kinda hard to get things done when you have to stop and break up fights every 15 minutes! :)