I mowed the lawn

Yes. I. did. And some of you ladies may say, so what? I do that all the time. no big deal. But I grew up with 4 older brothers and so I never had to do that chore. And come to think of it, it doesn't seem like that bugged them. I have nice brothers. Anyway, I've never mowed a lawn before. Last week Dave was saying how he doesn't know how he's going to have time to mow the lawn and so we better hire someone to do it. uh-uh! I am not going to use the little extra money that we have to pay someone to do something that I am completely capable of doing. I need to save that little stash to help pay for Anna's dance lessons, soccer, or who knows what someday! I will not stand by and let that happen.

So I said I would do it. And do you know what he said? He said, "You can't mow the lawn!" Are you kidding me? I got so mad. Of course I could. And then he said he meant that he didn't want me to mow the lawn because I might chop off my finger. First of all, I'm not an idiot. Second of all, nice cover Dave, but I'm not buyin it.

I was set to prove him wrong and we've had a busy week so far, and today was the day. I had to wait until Anna was napping and I dreaded the muggy heat, but I went out and started the engine up and got mowing. It actually was a nice temperature outside. I was trying to decide which pattern to do. Diagonal, horizontal, or vertical? I've always admired the pretty lines in others lawns. But once I got started I threw all of that out the window. I just wanted to get this over with ASAP. And then it started to drizzle. It felt nice. And then it started to pour. I was NOT going to let the rain interfere with my lawn mowing! So I hurried and finished the front yard as fast as I could. Luckily once it really started coming down, I was under a big tree. Which was good for keeping me dry, but probably not the safest in a thunderstorm. But rain and all, the lawn got mowed. Probably not as good as Dave does it, but I'm a rookie.

I mowed the lawn. July 31st 2008.

Now maybe tomorrow I'll do the backyard...

a visit from Grandma G

We are very lucky and have already had both Grandma's out here to see us! GrandMary came out to help us move, and Grandma G came out last week for my birthday. I am so glad my mom has flight benefits! (too bad I don't get to use them!)

It was so fun to have my mom out to visit. It was good timing because it was during a busy week for Dave and it was my birthday, so I had someone to celebrate with! Anna was so excited when she saw Grandma G at the airport. My mom was worried that Anna wouldn't remember her. Please! Anna was practically jumping out of her car seat.

My mom was a huge help while she was out here. I was in the middle of painting the playroom and she helped me paint and do the finishing touches. It would have taken me 5x as long to do by myself. I am so grateful for her help! Not a very fun thing to do while you're on vacation! It was also nice to have an extra set of hands to help with Anna. I think with excitement of Grandma being here, she was particularly feisty at times, so the loves from Grandma were a huge help! Plus it was nice having some extra company while Dave had some late nights at the hospital.

We were excited to show Grandma our house and our new town. We didn't do anything much eventful besides roam around town and hang out together. Since my mom is usually the one behind the camera, there aren't a lot pictures with her in it, but I promise she was here!

We went on a walk on the "greenway" in our neighborhood. It's a private path surrounded by big fields and bird houses. I love it when it's not humid. Anna of course wanted to try and pull the wagon instead of ride in it.

Anna had a lot of fun playing on the swings with Grandma. I think this picture is so funny. She looks like one of those old fashioned posed portraits. I think this must have been the only moment that she wasn't giggling hysterically. It's probably because she saw the camera. Anna hates pictures.

We went to Old Salem on one of the days during Grandma's visit. It's a cute, historic part of town that dates back to the 1770's when the Moravians established this area. It's kind of like a mini Williamsburg where people are dressed up as tradesmen and making horseshoes, doing printing presses, etc. Too mature for Anna, but look! She's in the stroller!


Since Anna was so good, we went to the Old Salem bakery for some treats. We got some of the famous ginger cookies (they are yummy!) and Anna ate a whole Pumpkin muffin before we done paying.


Anna especially loved how Grandma would let her carry around her travel bag and camera bag. Anna's always been a bag lady.



On my birthday we ran some errands and went to lunch and finished up the playroom. The perfect present! Then that evening, we went to Reynolda Village which once housed the support staff for JR Reynolds' estate. (the great tobacco king) It's a cute charming shopping area now and it also has a very beautiful garden that is maintained by the University. Dave was able to leave the hospital at 6:30 to meet us there! We walked around the garden and enjoyed seeing all of the beautiful plants that can flourish here that would never survive in my old dry climate.

Anna even spotted Bunny Foo-Foo!

After our garden stroll, we went to dinner at the Village Tavern in Reynolda Village. Anna loves to eat the lemons that we get in our waters!



At home I got to make a wish on a birthday cake. It was a great day and I'm so glad I got to share it with Anna, Dave, and my mom. It's safe to say that this birthday was much better than last years! (Our house flooded last year on my bday)

The next day I felt adventurous so we decided to try out the zoo. It's not in Winston-Salem, it's in a town called Asheboro and is supposedly one of the largest zoo's in the country. Now, largest does not mean they have the most or best animals. It means it's HUGE! and therefore everything is a mile away from each other! It took about 5-10 minutes to get from one animal to the next. That does not work for a 19-month old! Especially when it is boiling hot outside and you're pulling a wagon up and down hills. They seriously should shuttle you from animal to animal. Sure there's beautiful vegetation around, but we're not there to see plants! We're there to see the animals!

We saw the Polar Bears in the North American region, then we took a shuttle to "Africa" to see Anna's favorite monkeys. After a few animals in between, we had had it! I don't think I will ever go back to that zoo for the remaining six years we are here. Boo to that zoo!

good thing we got ourselves some oreo frosties to cool down for the trip home!

We loved having Grandma G here and it was hard to see her go. She was such a huge help and Anna loved being able to hang out with her again. Hopefully we didn't bore her or wear her out so that it won't be too long before she makes another visit!

We love any visitors, so book your tickets! I promise I won't take you to the zoo!

This is right.

You know when you just know something is right? You can just feel it? It's such a great feeling. It gives you confidence, peace, and comfort for what's ahead.

On match day when Dave opened his envelope and read "Wake Forest", I had this overwhelming feeling of "rightness." I just knew this is what was right for our family.

Months later, now that we are sort of settled here, I felt this confirmation again. This is so right for us. At the end of church today, out of nowhere, I felt this strong feeling that we are here in North Carolina for a reason. I'm not sure exactly why, but I just got this feeling that this experience will be good for us. Not necessarily good as is fun. but good, as in growth, opportunity, learning, etc. And don't worry mom, this doesn't mean it's right for us forever, but for these six years at least.

I know there will be hard times over the next six years and we'll miss our family and friends, but having felt the Spirit whisper this strongly to me twice, I need to document this so I can remember this feeling when those hard times come. Maybe its the hard times that we will go through that will make it good for us in the end. Who knows? All I know for now, that this is right. And it feels good to be here.

I'm a Big Girl Now

I've been so busy trying to get caught up on our life posts that I can't even remember when I last did an Anna post. I desperately need to do one because my little baby is growing up too fast! She has officially decided that she wants to grow up and no longer wants to be a baby despite her promise to always be my baby. No more high chairs, no more strollers (this is not news), no more baby utensils (Mommy fights her on this one), no more mommy picking out her shoes, no more leaving the house without her purse, and to add to all that her favorite words lately are, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!


She is a strong willed, independent little thinker. Nothing gets past her and she is like sponge lately, just absorbing everything every day. And she's becoming my little shadow and wants to do all sorts of grown up stuff. Her doll babies are lucky because she is such a good mommy to them. She grabs her purse and pushes her babies all around the house in the stroller.


She also decided that her pants needed to go on a walk one day too. So she unloaded them from the drawer, piled them in the stroller, and pushed them around all night. This girl cracks me up.






Anna is also getting better at helping around the house.

vacuuming

and sweeping

Her vocabulary does go beyond her favorite word of NO and even though I never documented her first words (Mommy was first, thank you very much!) back in those crazy months, she now says all sorts of words. My favorites are (and I'll translate):

• peas (please)
• tank (thanks)
• hup (help)
• hawwg (hug)
• heeitis (here it is)
• hot (everything is hot, even if it's cold)
• gaba gaba gaba (granola bar)
• sunsign (sunshine)
• Annay (Anna)
• two (when she counts everything is two. It must be her favorite number. Or maybe just the only one she knows. I'm sure she can count to 100 by now, so it's probably just her favorite)
• uh-ohs!

These are just the ones that make me chuckle every time she says them. She also has started calling Dave Mommy instead of Daddy. She knows he's Daddy, but she just won't say it anymore for some reason. Dave would feel bad except for the fact that usually she's running up to him when she gets to see him with a big smile, saying "Mommy! Mommy!" I guess it's cause she so used to it only being Mommy? Who knows. I'm sure she'll figure it out soon.

This girl loves a good chair.Or even a bench. It doesn't even have to be a bench. If it's raised off the ground even a little, she'll try and sit on it. She loves sitting on the empty crates at Costco. She still does not however, like to sit in the nifty seat that as invented for shopping carts. One day she found this cute little rocking chair just her size at a store, and I couldn't get her away from it, so I picked up the chair, put it in the cart, and then put her in it. It was heaven! She loved it and she stayed in the cart! I considered buying it just for that reason, but it was a little too pricey for our budget. The good news is, the next day I found a camping chair on clearance at Target. Love Target clearance!

Anna also keeps busy by drawing for about half the day. We're trying to focus on keeping it on paper, but thanks to pencils, Aquadoodle, and Color Magic we haven't had any mishaps yet. I hope I didn't just jinx myself! Yesterday we went to story time at the library and she got to color at the end. I could tell she was particularly proud of this set of scribbles, so I put it on the fridge when we got home. That made her day! She kept going by the fridge and smiling at her picture. It made me excited to cover up the fridge one day with all of her masterpieces.

I know my previous post was about Barney, but that was so yesterday. Lately all she wants to do is watch or read Curious George. She just loves that funny troublemaking monkey. I have to laugh when I'm in the kitchen and I overhear her burst out a good chuckle at his antics. I guess she knows good comedy when she sees it.

And finally, her last latest obsession is shoes. She's a girl after her mom's heart. She loves putting on her shoes, my shoes, Dave's shoes, any shoes. So she was thrilled to try on her new pair of Anniversary Sale shoes.

The shoes go great with her saggy diaper

Anna brings so much fun into our home. It's hard to express how MUCH I love her! Some days she tests me, that's for sure, and I worry if I'm cut out to be a good mom for her. But there are good days, and even moments sprinkled throughout the bad ones and I look at her and can't believe she's ours. She amazes me. That cute little blonde head on that cute little body. When did she go from baby to this? Oh, sigh! I sound so cliche and old. It is true though, I can't help it. She'll always be my baby no matter what size of shoes she wears. Love you baby girl!

Thank you Barney!

Maybe this is a bad sign that Anna is watching too much Barney.

But thanks to that purple dinosaur, all I have to do to get a great big hug and kiss from Anna is start singing, "I love you, you love me..."

And she runs right over and grabs my hand to swing back and forth and them gives me a great big hug with a smooch (sound effects included).

Anna is sometimes stingy with her hugs and kisses, but when she gives them out, they're the best. I love it. And for some reason, this song brings them out of her.

So thanks Barney! Even if she doesn't learn to turn the water off while brushing her teeth, at least she learned the actions to your theme song, and that's by far the best thing you have going for you.

Weekend at the Beach

Last weekend, Dave's last weekend of freedom, we decided to pack up and head for the coast. We've heard so much about the Carolina Beaches, we wanted to go check them out and have a fun weekend together before Dave officially started at the hospital. We headed to one of the closest beaches, Wilmington, which is only 3 hours away. It was seriously one of the greatest weekends we've ever had! It was so great to go on a little getaway amidst the craziness of moving.

And of course there were lots of pictures. We consider this advertising for you all to come visit the great state of North Carolina. So without further adieu...

PackingUp

Anna saw us carrying all of the bags, and insisted on carrying a few of her own. She's a good helper, just a little slow. (And by the way, we stayed at the Town Place Suites by Marriott. It was great! I highly recommend them next time you travel. Reasonable rates, nice new clean rooms with kitchens, free internet, and a yummy breakfast. Fab all around! That's my travel tip for the day)

Wilmington

Wilmington is one of the biggest coastal cities in NC. And, just for your Jeopardy knowledge bank, is also famous for being Michael Jordan's hometown. We had no idea what to expect but we sure loved this charming city! The first night we walked around the historic city along the boardwalk. It was a cute old town with a big party goin on. I kept saying that they should shoot movies here because it was so cute. I found out that they actually do! It's known as "East Hollywood" and they shoot tons of stuff in Wilmington, including Dawsons Creek and One Tree Hill for all you WB (or CW) fans out there, and my favorite, I know what you did last summer. Anyway, that was a tangent. We had a fun night strolling around and then dancing at the party with Anna.

Enjoying some delicious peach ice cream. Yum

Anna loves being with her daddy. When he's with us, she soaks up every minute with him that she can.

the beach!

The next day was beach day! We went to Wrightsville Beach after a quick stop at Wal-Mart for an umbrella and some chairs. Anna LOVED the beach! She was nonstop all day and she couldn't decide if she liked the sand or the water more. Hundreds of pictures later, here are some of my favorites.

As soon as she got in the water, she got the biggest smile on her face.

After a little bit of playing in the ocean, it was time for her to get busy. For some reason she thought it was her job to collect all of the sea shells of the shore and put them back into the water. She went back and forth for a good half hour.

Probably one of her smiliest days!

I think she looks like my brother Ryan in this picture.

And it wouldn't be a day at the beach without sampling some sand.

Going into the ocean with daddy.

Love this picture.

Our beach neighbor dug this big hole and Anna sort of took it over. Don't worry it wasn't a full on invasion, she was invited diplomatically. Anna loved it. The tide would come up and fill the hold and she would just sit in it and laugh and laugh.

We had to call it a day and Anna did not want to leave. Hopefully we can go back again soon!

Greenfield Park

That night we found this cool humongous park. It was so beautiful and unlike anything that we would ever have in Utah. Trees were growing right in the middle of the lake. Not on island, just on huge roots. It was so cool.

Can you tell she really wanted to hang out with her daddy this weekend?

We drove around a little more and found this cool bridge that went across the lake. We went to go check it out and this is what we found under us. Yes, that's an alligator, surrounded by tons of turtles.

Which is why I got nervous when Anna kept doing this...

Actually, she's feeding the turtles rice puffs. A cute couple shared some with her.

In Utah we go and feed the ducks. I guess in North Carolina you feed the turtles?

AQUARIUM

The next day we went to the aquarium before heading home. Anna loved seeing all the fishies and did her best guppie noises ever.

She was so excited and had the funniest expressions all day long. Sorry about the weird ghostly flash.

Shhhhh!

She's telling us that the alligator is sleeping.

I just loved her cute face in this one. I'm glad that's strong glass!

Cute as she is, sometimes she can be a real crab.

That was a glimpse into our weekend at the coast. We hope to visit a new part of the coast whenever we get the chance. And we hope at least some of you will be able to come with us!

Oh, and some people have asked to post a picture of our new house on the blog, but I feel weird about doing it. but I guess if you really want to see it, here it is...

We wish! This is only a wing of the Biltmore mansion in Asheville, NC. We went there with Dave's parents while they were visiting. It is the largest residence in the entire U.S. It really is quite unbelievable. Our home is not so big, but much more cozy. And maybe one day I'll post a few real pics.

4th of July

The week before we moved, we were getting the yard sale signs at the store and I walked past all of the 4th of July decorations. We had been so busy, I had completely forgotten that this holiday was coming up. I always love the 4th and all of the fun festivities that go along with it. But then I got sad thinking, this 4th of July is going to stink! It's such a friend and family holiday. Dave will probably be at the hospital all day, and Anna and I won't have any friends yet to go do anything with. Bummer. So I was very excited when we got our first neighborhood newsletter last week to see that they were having a 4th of July parade! I was so happy because our old neighborhood did this and I loved it!

So the 4th came and Dave was of course at the hospital, but Anna and I had fun meeting some more new neighbors and joining in the parade.

Here is Anna in her patriotic wagon, excited to go to the parade.

We got to be the caboose of the parade. So this was the parade in front of us.

And this is what Anna was doing during the parade. She loved her windmill and watching all of the other kids ride their bikes.

This was the first year they did the parade and I hope they keep the tradition going. We had strawberry shortcake and cookies and Anna's white shirt didn't stay that way for long. I am so happy we ended up in this neighborhood. It feels like a real community and everyone is so nice. We've had at least 10 neighbors stop by and welcome us. At our old house we only had 1! We've even gotten cookies and a warm apple pie. I sort of feel like I'm on Wisteria Lane. I sure hope nobody has something weird locked up in their basement. So far, I love it and I'm glad we could go to the parade and get to know more of our neighbors.

The rest of the day was kind of a bust. Dave got to come home from the hospital around 3:00, so we drove to a park to go for a walk. Then his beeper went off. Some guy fell of his motorcycle. He said it would be quick, so I dropped him off at the hospital. Anna and I went for a walk, but it sort of creeped me out because everything was abandoned and the park was scary because there are so many trees, no one would see me if I got attacked by some strange Independence Day mugger. So after an hour, Anna and I went home figuring Dave was there for the night. He called around 7:30 for me to pick him up, but then I got lost getting there because our GPS has the hospital under Blake Forest instead of Wake Forest. Long story. Anyway. I pick him up, he has to come home and get his car to go back. Anna and I watched the NYC and DC fireworks on TV and she did her favorite twirls to the music. I let her stay up late to party for the holiday, then we both were ready for bed. Poor Dave came home at 11:30 tired from a long week at the hospital, but as soon as he got into bed, that darn beeper went off again. Guess we should get used to it! Some guy's propane tank exploded in his face at his BBQ, but he decided to wait until his BBQ was over first before he went into the ER. Smart. So Dave went to go fix his burns and spent the night at the hospital. The hospital always fills up on holidays with all of the partying and stupid things some people do.

Dave is really liking his rotation. Did I mention he's doing Plastics right now? Sorry I'm so random. My head still isn't it it's right place yet. Anyway, it's cool to listen to him answer his pages when people have questions. I think it's amazing that he knows what to say! And also kind of scary! It was funny at the parade I was talking to one of my neighbors and she was asking what Dave did. I told her and she said, "Oh, He must be Dr. Kelly! My best friends little brother put a nail gun through his hand yesterday and saw Dr. Kelly and loved him!" That was a coincidence! But it was funny for me to hear someone call him Dr. Kelly. I guess he is now, but it took me off guard for a minute. He's Dave!

And that should wrap up this random Independence Day post! I really love this holiday! I even loved it just at home with Anna. No BBQs, just us, in our home. Dancing and watching TV fireworks. I loved it because that's what this holiday is about. Freedom and our families. We can do whatever we want. And I'm grateful for those men who stood up for what they believed in so that we can.

Maune (May and June)

132 - Approximately how many things I want to blog about. But of course I can't. So I'm going to attempt to blog about some of the events of the last 2 months in one post. I want to get caught up without skipping over details. You know how I hate that. So here's the cliff notes version of the last 2 eventful months of the Kellys. I'm not really good at being brief, so I have a feeling this will be a long one. so prepare to scroll. And yes, there will be lots of pictures. Because this is basically my scrapbook. And I was going to do a number thing, but then I got sick of it. So it's kind of random. Nothing creative here. Just the facts.

8 best friends that I will miss dearly. In May my friends got together for a long awaited getaway up in Eden at Abby's parent's gorgeous home. It was A BLAST! We had so much fun laughing and just relaxing with no where else to be, but with each other. It was awesome. We're a weird bunch. When it got late, we started to play around the world ping pong and somehow that turned into muscial chairs. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. It was the most fun ever! I love every single one of these girls SO much and I look up to each one of them for different reasons. I hope to make good friends while I'm here in NC, but I know these old ones will never be replaced. And I'm really trying to get them to plan the next girls trip to NC! Miss you guys!

1 big award for Dave

I am going to try and humbly say this, but it will be hard because I'm so proud of Dave! He was honored with the "Paul Wintrobe Memorial Award" by the medical school. In my opinion, no one was more deserving. Before they had announced the winner, I was listening to the qualifications for the award while eating my dessert and thinking, that is SO Dave. He was surprised when they announced his name because on the way there he commented how he probably wouldn't get anything because awards usually go to the kids who lobby and brown nose the faculty, etc. I wasn't surprised because I knew no one better deserved it than Dave! Way to go honey!

Here is the description for the award:

The gold Wintrobe Medallion is presented annually to an outstanding graduating senior, based on evaluation of his or her character, breadth of interest and culture, scholastic attainment, interest in research and promise for the future. Since the award was first presented in the mid 50s, recipients have gone on to distinguished careers in diverse medical specialties.

It was a great night for us and Dave really deserved it after all of his hard work and dedication throughout medical school. It was also so fun to be there with our friends to hang out before we all head our separate ways. We'll miss you Faulkners and Barneys!

Is there doctor in the house?

DAVE GRADUATED!!! He is officially an M.D. and I can't believe how fast those 4 years flew by. And yet so much has changed since he began medical school. Again, I am so proud of Dave for working his hardest throughout medical school. Not only in studying, but his dedication every aspect of it that he participated in. I admit that sometimes I wished he didn't try so hard so that I could have more time with him to myself, but that just wouldn't be Dave. He doesn't do things half way. He does his best. Always. And I'm so grateful for it. CONGRATS on 4 years, and here's to 6 more!

It wouldn't be graduation with lots of picture posing. Here's just a few...

me and my M.D.

"The Gunners"

Dave, Nate, and Brandon

The Gunner Family

Dave, me, Brandon, Kerstin, Nate, and Jacey

Dave and his dad, Colin

I love this picture.

The Kelly Boys

Dave was lucky to have all of his brothers come and support him for his graduation. Paul even flew up from Arizona for the day, just for Dave! All the SLC Boyacks came as well. It was great to have everyone there. Dave has so much respect for each of his brothers And the benefit of being the youngest is to have all of these great examples to look up to not only growing up, but through each stage of life.

Our family photo. Sorry for my cheesey smile.

Anna made it through about half of the long ceremony. It must have been at least 2 hours. She was very proud of her daddy and especially liked his tassel from his neat hat.

One of my favorite moments.

Caroline and Anna held each other's hands going down the stairs. And then they wouldn't let go. So cute. We sure miss that darling Caroline.

Only 1 Darcie, for 3 babies! Anna sure loves her aunts!

And that baby in Darcie's belly was born on the 17th. We can't wait to meet sweet Madelyn!

14 augmented cupcakes to form 2 perfectly round desserts!

I laughed so hard when I saw this. We had a wonderful celebatory lunch back at the Kelly's. It was fun looking through Dave's dad's U med school yearbook along with Dave's. In case you can't read it in the picture, the cupcakes along the bottom read, "Do your breast job!"

CONGRATS DAVE!

1 last visit to the zoo with Grandma and Caroline.

They both had to sit on Grandma's lap for the train ride.

2 Bouncy Girls in twiner pants. And they didn't even plan it.

Cruisin

It seems like a dream that we even went on this cruise because we left the day after Dave's graduation and then came home, sold our house, packed up and moved. It's still kind of a blur. But it was a fun little trip and it was good just to have a trip by ourselves before Dave starts his 6 years of slavery to the hospital. We just wanted to go somewhere quick and easy. We left Anna home with the 2 excited Grandma's and went on a crusie from LA, San Diego, Catalina, Ensanada Mexico, and back. This was our first cruise, so we were excited to see what the party is all about. It was fun, but just really cheesey. So cheesey. I can be kind of cheesey, so I take it when it comes, but the cheese is nonstop here. I sort of felt like I was at a high school dance for 5 straight days. Don't get me wrong, we had a blast. But we're just not sure if it's our traveling style. Plus all these people want you to do is spend more money on the boat! We're kind of cheapskates, so we didn't buy any pictures (we brought our own camera, duh), fine art, jewelry, or refillable soda drinks. We had a good time though! Thanks Royal Caribbean!

leaving San Diego

The "formal" night. And I love how the lady behind us is also posing for our picture.

Dave and I both honestly fell asleep during this singing and dancing show. And yes, I have my fleece over my "formal" I made my black fleece pretty trendy on this trip. I wore it with just about everything. It was pretty good weather, but there was just enough wind always to make me chilly.

26 miles across the sea

Our favorite stop on the cruise was Catalina Island. I love this little island and it's charm. We skipped the excursions from the ship and hopped on a trolley to see the island. Then we went to the beach and rented snorkel gear and hopped in for a bit. And my very favorite part was just relaxing on the beach on the soft grass. I know it sounds weird, it should be sand, but the sand there is rocky and so they have this skinny long stretch of grass that was so comfy and cozy. I never wanted to leave. Plus, this was our view...Perfection

Ensanada

The last port was Ensanada, Mexico. We took a bus to the main attraction there, the blow hole. It was pretty cool. Just like the one in Hawaii, but a little smaller. Then basically there's a whole street full of vendors trying to sell you sunglasses, purses, and prescription medication. We didn't want to spend our money on junk we would have to pack when we got home, so we went exploring ourselves and found this cool little cove.

And that was our cruise. We had fun and we sat with a fun couple during our dinners. He reminded me exactly of Jack Black. I loved being able to order 3 desserts and taste each one just because I could. The comedians were actually very funny. And Dave and I had fun just being there together.

The OC

After the cruise, we rented a car and drove down to the o.c. to spend a few days. We were glad we had a few days to do our own thing. We cruised the PCH and walked along Dana Point, did some shopping, Wahoo's, In N Out, the temple, Balboa beach, Balboa bars, Cheesecake, and Laguna. The cruise and this visit to the OC was bittersweet because we had such a great time, but it was weird thinking we probably won't be anywhere near the Pacific Ocean for the next 6 years at least.

Dana Point

Laguna Beach

Whew! Almost done.

The Big Move

Packing stinks! I don't know how people move around so much becuase I think it is one of my very least favorite things ever. Especially packing up the kitchen. It's amazing that one room can hold so much stuff. And most of it needs to be wrapped in newspaper or bubble wrap or something. My mom is a rock star and came and helped us pack up every day our last week. We couldn't have done it without her.

One priceless little package.

Poor Anna was a trooper this last month. She didn't know what was going on and endured lots of late nights, minimal attention from Mom and Dad, and lots of DVDs. I felt like the worst mother ever. She also spent a lot of time on our neighbor Madde's tramp. Don't you just love this picture?

Once we got the truck, Anna loved running up and down the "slide". She was so happy to have one of her favorite cousins, Romey, come and play. Anna had so much fun with her all night and didn't want her to go. I think she must have known something was up, because when Romey had to go, Anna had a total breakdown. It was like she knew it was a real goodbye. It made me so sad. Come visit us Romey!

26 feet on wheels

We drove this humungo truck with a trailer holding our Subaru on back. I can't believe we have enough stuff to fill this thing. And we even had a yard sale to get rid of stuff! I think about half of it was Anna's stuff. It was a weird morning. Waking up and driving away from home. Especially with out Anna. We left her with Grandma G and then Dave's parents flew her back to us so she wouldn't have to endure the road trip. It's a strange thing to walk through your house and know that you will never be coming back to it again. We loved our little house and it was sad to say goodbye. But we knew this day would come and we're ready for the next adventure.

2037 miles we drove from our old house to our new house. We made it in 3 1/2 days with no flat tires, breakdowns, or accidents. It was a long, bouncy drive. And I'm glad it's over. The countryside was nice (except for Wyoming and Nebraska) and we had good company.

The roads in Iowa. The waves were literally breaking on the highway. I hated when my house flooded. I can only imagine what it would be like to have a whole city flooded!

Dave the trucker driving past the arch in St. Louis.

It seems weird not to have an ending picture of us at our house. We took one, but I think it's on Dave's parent's camera. We're here! Dave's parents brought Anna and helped us unpack and get settled. They were a HUGE help and it was nice having some company while we were transitioning. It's still all a blur. But it's definitely feeling like home now, but strange. I feel like I'm living someone else's life. Living in their house, driving thier car, in their city. It's weird. I like it here. It's just different. Change is uncomfortable, but once you get through that uncomfortable stage, it can be so rewarding and usually better than how things were before. We're excited to see what the next 6 years have in store for us here in North Carolina!

1 million thanks to my parents for their help packing up and Dave's parents for their help UNpacking and getting us settled in. We couldn't have done it without you!!!

Seriously, if you made it this far, you are a true friend.