Where you can find me

Don't worry. I haven't forgotten about you little blog. I've just been spending more time over here these days.

Do you ever blog in your head? I feel like I blog about stuff all day long - it just never makes it from my brain to the keyboard. And uploading pictures from my phone and/or camera just seems to be an extra hassle I haven't wanted to deal with lately.

So, because I kind of hate when people make excuses for not blogging; I have decided to do exactly that and give you a brief list of my excuses for not blogging lately.

1.No Internet at the new house. (We can actually use the 3G network on our Verizon phones to connect, but I don't really know for sure how much it's costing me so I've been limiting my usage.)

2. Work is killing me. (Read:  I've been reeeeeaaaal busy and probably shouldn't be blogging from work anyway...)

3. I'm pooped. (Summer hours ended last week, so I'm back to the usual 8 to 5. Throw in an extra 30 minutes each way on my new commute, plus dinner, dishes, laundry at the old house because we don't have our laundry room set up yet, playing and bath time with Luke, attempting to unpack boxes, chores, etc and whew! I'm ready for bed.

There it is. I haven't forgotten you. Just because I have a new mistress in the form of This Vine Life, doesn't mean our relationship has to end. I'll be back, I promise!

(Right after I get some rest, stop working so much and start putting together coherent thoughts again.)

Thoughts On Moving

I wish my moving experience could be more like a movie montage.

It would go something like this:  Paint rolling, floor sweeping, window washing, furniture carrying, photo hanging, flower arranging, etc. - all done in a fast forwarded, three-minute segment set to a peppy song culminating in real time when the cutely disheveled, pony-tailed, looks-awesome-in-jeans protaganist tosses a perfectly matched throw pillow onto her well-placed couch and then plops down looking adorably exhausted.

Sadly, my experience is a little more realistic, but it does have these two guys going for it.

And despite the paint covered hair, the five or six hours spent AFTER work getting the place ready (I'm very Type A about my painting) and the ick factor of cleaning up someone else's dirt, as well as the new "country bug" situation I am facing; I am reminded why we are doing it and just how blessed I am in this whole endeavor. Here's to embracing the adventure!

(I still wish I could be the cutely disheveled protaganist though.)

An Unexpected Break

We were planning to be moving/painting/unpacking/etc. during our week long vacation at the end of July. Since that didn't happen, we decided to make the most of our completely free week and relax. Our house in boxes, we thought getting out of town was the best course of action. With new house expenses coming, we didn't want to spend a ton of money, so here's how we spent our week:

Boating with the In-Laws

Luke enjoyed his first time on the boat - for the most part. He was much more comfortable ON the boat than swimming in the lake. Could be due to the fact that one of his first in-lake experiences was a quick jump into the water with his dad. He may be traumatized for life. He felt better when we let him float on the knee board.

(For the record, we really didn't pull him on the knee board - it was just for show.)

After a day at the lake we stopped at the Nut Tree in Vacaville for dinner and a chance to play on the fun equipment.

Next up - visiting the dentist in Oakdale!

Normally a trip to the dentist wouldn't be the highlight of a vacation, but since our dentist is an old college friend we planned a dinner date after our appointments. While waiting for daddy to get his teeth cleaned, Luke made his way through all of the books and magazines in the waiting room. After he finished those he found a Gideon Bible in a drawer and carried it around the room and up and down various chairs. Dr. Simon was glad to hear that someone finally put it to good use!

Monterey Bay

The next day we got up early and headed to Monterey for a couple of nights. Thanks to our Monterey Bay Aquarium membership (yay Aunt Pat!), our entertainment was free! My camera batteries died, so the best I could do were cell phone pictures on this trip.

The outer bay exhibit just reopened so we stared in awe at the big blue tank for quite awhile.

Luke loved all the little areas built especially for people his size.



He loves the ones that go "round and round and upside down" like in his fish book (Hooray for Fish - check it out!)



We also went to Dennis the Menace Park for the first time. 

(A typical Luke shot these days involves me getting a great view of his back as he runs away from me.)

Friday we came home and spent the weekend packing, meeting up with friends for dinner and stopping by the new (yet to be official - but we're close!) house to check on progress and decide on paint colors. Sunday night we finished off the week with a going away party for one of my favorite co-workers. She's leaving to become a stay-at-home mom for awhile (sniff sniff). As you can see, my boss' dog was a big fan of Luke.

That's it! A recap of our "relaxing" and unexpected vacation week.

Photo Challenge Day 23: Sunflare

Enjoying the sunshine in Monterey.

A longer post on our vacation to come!


I'm doing the 30 Day Photography Challenge. View the challenges