The House

Since Wednesday, we've been unpacking more boxes, arranging stuff, hanging wall decor and trying to get our washer fixed. (The lever thingy broke off during the move. I filled it with our sheets and towels and turned it on yesterday. It then filled up with water only to shut off completely without starting again. I can't locate our extra set of king-size sheets so we are sleeping without right now. The people are coming out tomorrow afternoon to fix the dang thing! Meanwhile our laundry pile is reaching record heights. And record stink. Ha,ha.)



Anyway, all is well here. I found a gym and joined for a trial month. It's about an 8-minute drive. I went this morning to try out their kickboxing class. It kicked my butt, and I'm so happy about it! It was fun and made me sweat like crazy, so I'm in love. Plus they have daycare which just makes me break out into song and dance every time I think about it. AK did pretty good in there today. She was sound asleep when I came to get her.

Mike is spending today on the base doing his check-in procedures. He's looking forward to getting into one of those jets as we see them fly over everyday. They're so fast. Before we came down here, Mike had to go out to California to take a "G-test". That's not what it's really called, but it makes more sense to me, and probably you. He had to get into this big machine that spins you around at jet speeds to see how your body handles the G forces. Mike had to go up to 7Gs. That's something like feeling 10 times your body weight. Mike said it literally felt like an elephant was sitting on him. He got to bring home a video. As he goes up in Gs, his face sinks in from the force. It's weird-looking!

After Mike gets home today, we plan to shop for a big rug. The first floor is all tile, so we've got to get something for Abby Kate to play on.

This last picture is dedicated to Sommer. She jokingly gave me this T-shirt before we left Milton. I'm wearing it proudly, Sommer, just for you. Go Milton! If you knew how small Milton, FL is, you'd totally be laughing right now. Ha, ha. Sommer - I miss you so much already!!! I hope to see you soon.

We're Home

The move was pretty painless, I must say. Mike might not say, though. He has a huge headache and a backache today! But we are slowly getting settled with only a few more boxes to unpack. I like the house better than I originally thought I would. I'll upload some pictures when we get everything in place.

Abby Kate doesn't seem disturbed by the move as she slept quite peacefully in her new nursery last night. It's much bigger than her previous room. We'll have plenty of space to get down and play on the floor here. However, the upstairs carpet is blue. Blech! Definitely doesn't go with our decor. Maybe we can persuade the homeowners to change it for us.

Junah is loving all the windows in the front, but DID NOT like it when we left him here for the first time while grocery shopping. There is this dog next door that he chases. I know, unbelievable, right?! If you know Junah, you know he usually doesn't even run to food.

From the small amount of time we've spent driving around town, there seems to be some decent shopping and a few nice restaurants. We plan to drive to the base later today to check it out. I'm excited to see the workout facility they have. I hope it's nice so we don't have to pay for another gym membership. The base also has a pool. I'm so excited for it to open so I can take Abby Kate swimming! She love, love, loves bath time, so I imagine she'll take to the pool pretty well.

Anyway, we have sailed on. More to come on our new surroundings...

Moving Days Ahead

I'm blogging to you today amid household clutter as we prepare for our move this week. The movers come tomorrow to box up all our possessions and then they'll be moving them to Mississippi on Tuesday. We'll also be making the move ourselves on Tuesday night. I can't believe we only have two more days here in this house.

We traveled to Meridian last weekend to find a place to live and to see what the town and base was like. The base is nice, and the town is bigger than I thought it would be. However, there are a lot of things missing. Target, for example. How will I survive?! Ha, ha. We found a house. It's OK. It's yellow. I mean YEL-LOW. We decided to keep our house here in FL and rent it out. So we will be renters of this yellow monstrosity in MS. If we were owners, I'd be getting out my ladder and paint rollers immediately! It's only a year. I'll survive, I suppose.

We're going to be sad to leave our beautiful neighborhood, our wonderful neighbors, and our dear friends, the Tuckers. But there's still a chance Chad and Sommer are going to be moving to Meridian soon after us, so I'm trying not to be so down about it until we know for sure.

I'll hopefully be able to post soon after our move as long as I can get my office set up fairly quickly. Stay tuned!

Easter in Florida

Mike's parents came up to visit last weekend for Easter. They drove their beautiful, new RV from their home in Texas and first met up with us in Meridian, MS. We traveled there (only a three hour drive) to pick out a house. They were kind enough to watch Abby Kate while we drove around frantically searching for a place to live in a matter of hours. Thank you both for entertaining her for a couple of hours!

We had a nice Easter holiday even though the temperatures took a dip. Abby Kate had to wear tights under her Easter dress and a little sweater. We went the morning service at our church - AK to the nursery - and then enjoyed a delicious brunch at a place called "eat!" in Pensacola. It was really good. I wish we had known that restaurant existed when we first moved here.

We enjoyed the Wallaces' company and were glad they could spend some time with their granddaughter. Thanks again for coming to visit!

Sausage, Anyone?

Saturday, the Tuckers and the Wallaces packed up the babies and drove for an hour to get to a sausage festival in Elberta, Alabama. It's an annual festival held by the local firefighters to raise money for the town. We didn't stay long because some huge storms rolled in, but we did have fun. We were on a mission for some delicious, but oh-so-bad-for-you grub. And we were successful: we enjoyed some tasty sausages, funnel cakes and ice cream sundaes! Mmmmm! There were lots of tents filled with crafts and such. We strolled from tent to tent, then ended up taking shelter in one from a brief downpour. Abby Kate and Griffin had a great time people-watching and didn't cry until the drive home. I think they were both extremely tired and ready for their naps!

Two happy kids on the way there.

I know it looks as if Mike is not enjoying his sausage, but he was concentrating hard on taking this self portrait. :)

Sommer and Chad. Thanks for joining us!

Abby Kate loves being outdoors with lots of stuff to look at. I know, you can say it. We look nothing alike. She's 100% Daddy! But you can lie to me and tell me we do look a little bit alike if you want to make my day. haha.

A bit of southern Alabama advertising for your enjoyment. We spotted this at a stoplight on the way to the festival.

And on the way home... not so happy.