Busy summer

Well, it's been 2 months since the big move and my last blog post. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Also hard to believe? Had we stayed in Memphis, the boys would have started the new school year yesterday. Instead, I took them with me this morning to drop off the registration paperwork for them to attend Springboro schools, which start on August 26.

We've been busy this summer. I decided to spend a little extra money to get a membership to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery and we've made the drive there several times so far. Well worth the money spent on it! Bonus point - they have a small zoo, so the kids get to visit the meerkats....

.... after they put themselves in jail.

We also made the drive out to Fort Ancient one Friday with Andy, David and Jessie. After walking around the museum area, we drove out and had a picnic lunch before making the mile hike along one of the trails. This was the view from the south overlook at the end of the trail:

And this was the kids, taking a break while enjoying the view from the south overlook:

The boys and I also drove up to see my family for a few days and to go to the lake with my dad and stepmom. This was the view of the lake Monday morning after I got back to the campsite from my run for the day:

I love how the sun rays are coming down between the clouds in this one. So peaceful - especially since it wasn't even 8:00 and the kids were still asleep in the camper. Later that morning, my dad fired up the boat and took the boys and I out on the lake so they could go fishing. They were happy little clams, having Grandpa Joe all to themselves.

Later that afternoon, my niece and nephew arrived and we got to watch my niece be the "bow fisher queen" that she is fishing off the dock at night trying to catch some carp.

All in all, we've had a great summer. The boys have been making friends in the neighborhood, so while I'm still looking for a job here, it's nice to not be working right now so that they can actually be out playing during the day rather than being cooped up in the house.

Adventures in moving

Oh, what a crazy, busy, stressful 2 months we've had. John left the morning of April 22 to fly to OH and start the new job while the boys and I stayed in Memphis so they could finish out the school year and I could keep working for a few more weeks. 

Here's my advice: never, EVER think that 7 weeks is plenty of time to get your house packed up while you are working full time and have turned in your notice to work up until the day before you will be packing up the moving truck. Up until the last few nights, I knew I needed help but stupidly did not ask for it. And there's only so much help an 11 and 8 year old can give when you are putting 95% of your belongings into storage for 4-6 months and you need to make sure boxes that need to stay with you are appropriately marked. Here's what the truck looked like after we got everything in that was going on it:

Anyway, we are all in one place after being apart for 5 1/2 weeks except for a couple weekends where John drove home. It still doesn't feel real to me that this area will be our new "home," but I'm guessing that feeling will hit with full force as soon as I find a job to start working again and the kids start school in the fall. It was really weird to leave our house in Memphis and see it as empty as the day we bought it 11 years ago.

I do know one thing after all this is said and done: I have some of the best friends a girl could ask for. Everything that got done in order for this move to happen would never have happened if it weren't for them. I  will miss them all dearly and can't wait for us to have our own place so that they can come visit.

Ohio love

I first wrote this almost 2 months ago, but with work and packing and everything else, I'm just now getting back to it. So, without further adieu, below is the first of several posts about our move from Memphis to Springboro (just remember that it was initially written 2 months ago and I haven't gone thru and updated the date references within it).

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So, Alex has been a little obsessed with Ohio lately. We've heard some variation of the following over the last few weeks:
"Daddy is lucky because he married an Ohio girl and Ohio girls are awesome."
"Since I have your blood in me, that means I have Ohio blood, too."
"I think Ohio girls are really pretty."
"Are people nicer in Ohio?"

Why, might you ask, is Alex so obsessed with Ohio?

Well, it started a few weeks back when John got a call from a friend about a possible job opportunity. A few interviews later and.....

We're moving to Ohio!

If you know us at all, you know we've been wanting to leave Memphis for a while but just haven't found anything job-wise to get us out of here. So, almost 13 years after I left NE Ohio to move here and be with John, we're packing it up and heading to SW Ohio.

And the best part? We weren't even looking. This literally fell in our laps during a time that we hadn't even thought about moving. Well, we were thinking about moving, but it was more of moving to a bigger house in the area, not moving out of state. And now, because of a friend of a friend, we're able to make the move. The OH-IN-IL area is one we've always said we'd be willing to move to. So the fact that this opportunity is putting us in one of the top areas we've wanted to move to is just icing on the cake for us.

So, now we're heading into an an extremely busy time for us. John will be leaving soon to head to Ohio to start work and the boys and I will stay to finish out the school year. And during that time, I get to pack up the house, find someone to rent it from us, plan for Alex's First Communion party, find a job in Ohio, and so on and so on. But, this is an awesome opportunity for us and we can't wait.