How to Trick or Treat while in the middle of a move

Well, you might say that traditionally, Halloween was a bust this year. But I happen to think that it actually turned out pretty dang awesome. There were some unexpected twists and turns, but ultimately, we had a grand time.

Originally we were thinking that 13 days was plenty of time to find a place to live, move in, and unpack Alayna's Halloween costume, but it turned out we were wrong.

So the day before Halloween, we ventured over to Annie's garage (where all of our stuff was stored) and climbed over the mountains of boxes searching for the box with Alayna's cowgirl pants.

After a good 40 minutes of climbing, lifting, opening, and searching only to come up empty handed, we decided to go to plan B.

Plan B: Forgo the pants and use a denim overall jumper. We gathered all of the clothing items needed for our little cowgirl. (Luckily the rest of her stuff was unpacked.)

Hat. Check.

Shirt. Check.

Boots. Check.

Jumper. Check.

Everything was good until little miss independent decided she didn't want to be a cowgirl. We got all of her outfit on for about 30 seconds, but no matter what we did, there was no convincing her that it was going to stay on.

Somebody woke up from her nap on the wrong side of the crib and was having none of it. For some reason the only thing she would wear were her Halloween candy corn pants.

So it was on to plan C. With no official costume, and no family nearby to trick or treat at, we decided to trick or treat in the house (going room to room) in her Halloween outfit.

Side Note: This really is the way to do it. No fussing with costumes, no cold outdoors and bundling up, no driving from house to house. It's all done in the comfort of your own home.


Anyway, on to the pictures.

A shot of her candy corn pants that served as her "Halloween costume".

Here she is ready to go Trick or Treating. Can you tell she is a teeny bit excited?

Walking to the first door.

Knock. Knock.

Trick or Treat.

Putting the candy in her bucket.

Checking out her candy.

It didn't take long for her to get the process down.

Dan and I alternated between being the "person at home" and the parent taking her to the doors. Each room had a different candy so it wasn't all the same. After going around to each room twice, she had plenty.

Seriously, it was so fun and with out the hassle of going around the neighborhood. Although, next year I don't know if we'll be able to get by with this version of trick or treating, but it wasn't bad for being in the middle of a move. :)

Oh, help!

I'll start off by telling you the good news. After unpacking every. single. box. I am happy to report that only one thing did not make it (and it wasn't even packed in a box).

Our beloved entertainment center.

We laid it to rest before moving everything to our house that we are currently living in. While Dan was jumping for joy, I was silently shedding tears of sadness. (Ok. Not really, but you get the jist.) Couldn't it just have made it one more move? I know it was made out of particle board and all, but I mean really. Why could it not have just waited one more move? Like to the house that we will someday buy and then we wouldn't have to worry about whether or not to purchase something nice and it getting dinged up on the next move (I know it's bound to happen, but it's all about me and my timing, right?).

Anyway, once Dan noticed the crack in the board where the TV sits, it went from it's entire particle board glory, to a heap of broken-ness in a matter of minutes. All it took was Dan leaning on it, which then caused it to shift to the left and crumble. After pulling a few pieces here and there, it was history.

It lasted almost 6 years for us plus the three years before with it's previous owners. 9 years isn't bad for particle board.

So now for the bad news. (I guess the other part was kind of bad news too, but at least everything else made it safe and sound. ) I started to shop for a new entertainment center today since our TV is currently sitting on our card table. And I found out I have NO idea what it want!

This is what we had before:
We still have the same TV and while we would love to get a big flat screen, it is gonna have to wait. Maybe in the next year or two. We both have discussed getting something smaller like a TV stand, but I will admit I did love having the shelves for decorating purposes, although Dan, of course, could care less.

I am concerned with a TV stand that Alayna will be able to get into everything since it is right at her level, whereas the DVD player was way up at the top on our old one. Our movies were in the cupboard at the bottom, but they were really hard to open so that wasn't a big problem. Anyway, are you seeing my dilemma here? I just don't know what I want.

Tell me. What do you think? What do you have: TV Stand, armoire, entertainment center...? Do you like it? What are the pros and cons? Oh, and does anybody want to just do the shopping for me and surprise me so I don't have to worry about it? Just kidding.

We made it, and we're still alive!

So, we're here. In Thatcher, Arizona that is. 980 miles away from our beloved Laramie.

After 20 hours on the road, we made it and still lived to tell the tale. Alayna did so good. She was AMAZING in fact. After one break down (20 minutes of crying in the car) on the first day of traveling, she seemed to get the idea that we were going to be in the car for quite sometime, and she seriously was so awesome. We couldn't have asked for a better little traveling girl.

So now we are on to the next big task. Finding a place to live. While we were thinking that it wouldn't be too terribly bad, it hasn't, but I will say that it hasn't been all that amazing either. Luckily we are staying with some family friends right now, so we don't have to worry about staying in a motel and their daughter, that also lives here, has let us unload all of our stuff into her garage, so we don't have to pay longer for the U-haul or find some sort of storage. AND we get home cooked meals instead of fast food night after night. So really our situation is good and they are incredibly helpful. They really are just so wonderful.

But the down side is finding a place to live in a timely manner. That just hasn't been happening. While the valley that we now live in is comparable to the size of Laramie (maybe just a bit smaller, actually) there just aren't that many places to rent. And call us crazy, but we kind of want something nice to live in. For example: preferably no cockroaches. Please. Dan may or may not have seen some of them in a place that we looked at. Granted, they were dead. But dead or alive, I don't want them in my house. On the other hand we have seen a few very nice places, but time is not working on our side. I think we may be learning a lesson of patience, as Dan put it.

Anyway, we are here. We are doing good. And we are on the hunt for a place to live. Keeping us in your prayers would be much appreciated! I know we have been praying our little hearts out. Thanks!

FYI: More posts to come. A lot has gone on these last two weeks. It's unbelievable. Hope you don't mind a little catch up. :)

Some Thoughts

• So we have a starting date. Yahoo! I think both Dan and I were beginning to think we would be in the limbo stage forever. We knew we had a job, just didn't know when we would be starting...therefore we didn't know when we would be moving, which ultimately means....when should we start packing?! Anyway, October 25 is the starting date. (We will probably be leaving around the middle of the month to get down there to look for housing.)
• The middle of the month is so soon. Yikes! I am actually feeling a little nervous about leaving family this time. More for Alayna's sake. She loves "Maama's house" (Grandma's house). She has her friends from church that she plays with during the week as well.
• I find it kind of ironic that it will take me leaving Wyoming to live in a small town. And by small, I mean 10,000 or less. I am nervous about that as well.
• One of the first questions I asked Dan when he told me about this job was, "Is there a Target?" When we found out how small the towns were I said, "So, are you saying that there's no Target?" Seriously, I want a Target. Every town that we have lived in besides Laramie has had a Target. I think it's what got me through. Just kidding. I just really like Target. (Can I type the word Target any more times in this bullet?)
• Now that you know what my main concern was, I'll tell you Dan's. Hunting. One of the first things he said was, "I wonder if they have good hunting down there." I am thinking that his question probably has a better outcome than my hoping there will be a Target.
• Let's talk about my small town jitters for a minute. When I told Dan that I was nervous about living in a small town, he replied, "Why? I would think you would be more nervous about living in a city than in a small town." Remember, we're talking about the guy that comes from a small town (like 1200 people small town). I think I will get no sympathy here. I told him I am afraid that I will have nothing to do. I then proceeded to make sure that there was at least a Wal-Mart. You can imagine my sigh of relief when I found out there is one because really, I don't think I would know what to do if there wasn't one. Laugh at me if you want, but I am being honest here. :)
• When we moved back to Laramie, I swore I was not going to get too attached to the fact that my family lives here. Let me explain. We had Alayna away from family. We adjusted to parenthood on our own and knew how it was to have to find babysitters (that are not family), and basically not rely on our parents all the time. We couldn't just stop by if Alayna was wanting to get out. Knowing that our time near family was temporary made me want to try to not get used to the easy babysitting, and place to go if we needed a little time away from home. But let's just face it. I don't think it's possible. I will admit it. I think I am definitely going to feel the change when we move. Alayna is going to miss her Jordy (Jordan), Sahah (Sarah), Aam (Adam), Bampa (Grandpa), Maama (Grandma), Cici (Easton. It's a long story as to why his name is shortened to that.), Kendree, Wonnie (Ronnie), Ka-ee (KaLee), Nonnor (Connor), Craig, Sissa (Karissa), and Phil.
• Despite all my little worries, I truly am excited to start our new adventure in Arizona. I honestly do like the heat and when someone compared the heat in Safford to the heat in St. George, I was excited! I loved St. George and I hope we will feel the same way about Arizona.

A warmer climate

Ok. Ok. Now that I've "left you hanging long enough" as my Aunt put it...

(I'm sorry. It was not intentional. Let's just say that the blogging in our house normally gets done during nap time, and a certain someone has refused to take their nap the last couple of days.)

I will finally let you in on the secret.

Our little family will soon be living in

ARIZONA!!!

More specifically the Thatcher/Safford/Pima/Morenci area. (We're not sure which town yet. We still need to find a place to live.)

It looks like the Lord thinks we need to live in a warmer climate. First St. George, now Arizona.

We couldn't be more excited! Minus the fact that our family will be 14 hours away.

Dan will be working as a Diagnostic Diesel Technician for a copper/gold mine.

So there you have it. Our big news.

*As of now, Dan's starting date is pending until he passes the physical and drug test that he took a couple of days ago. Once we find out more details of our big move, we'll be sure to keep you in the loop. :)

Sometimes it Stinks to be a Grown-up

Decisions.

They have to be made, but lets just face it. Sometimes they are hard. And not fun.

Dan and I have recently been in the decision making process.

After some thought and prayer, we have decided to go back to school. When I say we, I mean Dan.

He is enrolled in the WyoTech diesel program and is absolutely thrilled! It has been a dream of his to go to WyoTech and now it is coming true!

With this decision comes some bitter-sweet feelings. We have LOVED the people in Casper...especially the people in our ward. We have felt so welcome here. It will be sad to go, but we know that this is what we are supposed to do right now.

On the bright side, we get to be near family! There will be two new babies born while we are there and I am excited to play the role of Aunt.

So there you have it. You are now officially in the loop.

Dan starts Dec 28th (my b-day). Oh, did I mention we are moving in the middle of DECEMBER? By the time he finishes (in 9 months) I will be a pro at moving. Five times in two years.

By the way, does anyone want to contribute to our back to school fund? It is NOT cheap going back to school.

One down...

900 more to go.

Well, maybe not that many, but it sure feels like it. Oh, did I mention we are moving?

Details to come later. As for now, gotta keep packing.

Home Sweet Home

At last! The apartment tour! This post is mainly for family who have been itching to see where we live, but don’t have the time to make the 10 hour trek here- yet. But if you care to see our humble abode…read on. I will write the captions above each picture.

Here is the view you see straight ahead when walking in the front door. To my left is a coat closet, which is mainly used for storage now, since there is no need for a coat (or jacket for that matter) in St. George right now.

This is our living room. It is what you see to the right when walking in the door.

Another view of the living room. To the left is a sliding door that leads to the balcony.
This is the balcony. The door on the right is a storage closet where I have tried to fit as much as possible and still be somewhat organized.



Here is one of the views we see when standing on the balcony. It's beautiful, but we have not spent much time enjoying it since it is at least 25 degrees cooler inside.
And here is the view of the pool from the balcony. We LOVE having access to a pool!
Now a view of the dining room. Notice the 4th of July placemats! (Mom, I know you will appreciate this!) To the right of where I am standing is the kitchen.

A view of the kitchen. It is definitely an upgrade from what we had before. There is more cabinet space and it still has the open feel that I love. The door straight ahead is our laundry/storage room.
Another view of the kitchen.
Here is a view of our storage part of the laundry room. Even though it doesn't look like it, I have organized and know where everything is. :) There is one more shelf that is not pictured and underneath that is the majority of my kindergarten stuff. I never realized how much teaching stuff I really did have until I tried to find a place to store it.
Here is the laundry side of the laundry room. By the way, I LOVE having an actual laundry room versus a laundry closet!

When you leave the kitchen and turn left, this is the view of the hallway. Straight ahead is the master bedroom. The door on the left (which you can see just hinges) is the bathroom. There are the two doors on the right. The first is a linen closet and the second (which you can see only hinges), is the soon-to-be baby Stevens' room.
Here we have the "soon-to-be baby"/"I don't know where else to put it" room. All of the stuff piled on the left is baby stuff that has been given to us that we have not had a chance to assemble.

*Yes, I am aware of the gray dot that keeps appearing in the pictures. I apologize for this. Our camera needs to be fixed.
A tour of our apartment wouldn't be complete without seeing all of Dan's hunting souvenirs. Now, if I could just find a good place to put them. I know, he has already suggested hanging them up on the wall. He thinks the baby will like them.
Here is a view of the closet and the shelf that my wonderful husband made for my classroom. Now it will store all of the baby's things.
Here we see that the closet is not really meant for the baby, just the clothes that need to be hung. The rest of the closet is devoted to scrapbooking and crafts. Oh yeah, and Dan's golf clubs.
And here is a view of the bathroom. I think it is actually smaller than one in our other apartment, but we have a sink and cabinets in our master bedroom to make up for it.

And now we walk into the master bedroom.
A view to the right of the bed. (sorry about the lighting.)

A view to the left of the bed where you can see our office part of the room as well as the sink and cabinets that I mentioned earlier. The door to the left that is closest to the sink leads to the bathroom and the door on the right with the mirror on it, is our walk-in closet.
A view into our closet. It is not as big as the one we had before, but I am not complaining because it IS a walk-in closet and I am sure some of the shoppers at DI appreciated the down-sizing since that is where a lot of our clothes went. AND it helped me get rid of those clothes that you think you will someday wear, but someday never comes.
I just couldn't end the tour with our closet, so I decided to show you a closer look of the fabulous pool that we get to enjoy when the weather isn't TOO blazing hot.