Hello! It has been quite some time since I last blogged. Since March, lots has changed. And some of those changes are why I haven't blogged. I am hoping to get back on the blog wagon and stay up with it better now that things are getting settled down.
Back around spring break we decided to move back to Longview. Basically, we needed to be back here to be around our family and Mike's job. The job he had in Bryan was almost over and his company wanted to send him to work in Plano after the Bryan job ended. He'd be staying in Plano during the week and home on weekends. I wasn't too keen on being a "single mom" during the week and he wasn't too keen on staying in hotels. So, as it turns out, the place he worked in Longview when we lived here before needed another project manager and when they found out we were moving back they wanted him to come back. He was excited about it too. He really enjoyed working there. That was pretty much a done deal as soon as they talked about it too. So, plans were made and we needed to get them set in motion.
I started applying for jobs in April. I contacted my principal from Kilgore and also applied at Pine Tree ISD. (I had worked for Pine Tree my 1st 4 years of teaching.) I actually got the Kilgore job and accepted it when I got a call from Pine Tree. I really really wanted to work in Pine Tree at their new schools and have the girls attend school there so I decided to go to the interview. I was up front and honest about the Kilgore job, but a few days later the Pine Tree principal offered me a job. I was ecstatic. Things were falling into place.
During all of this, Mike and I decided to try to buy a house. We weren't sure if we'd be able to buy a house with all that is going on with the housing market, especially since we had decided to use his VA eligibiltiy to get the house. It was such a stressful time! We found the house we wanted immediately. We just knew it was the one. I looked at it on the internet every day. I even had the MLS number memorized -- 122910. :) Getting this house seemed so surreal. It seemed like it was just in sight but not quite in our reach. As we went through the process we were dreaming about all that we could do to it to make it ours, all along waiting for that elusive final approval from the mortgage gods. We literally lived with upset stomachs for about a solid month. I can not begin to tell you the weight that was lifted off our shoulders when we got the e-mail with the approval. We were absolutely elated. The best part of it all was the looks on the girls faces when we told them that we had our own house. Smiles beamed from ear to ear. That's a great part of parenting. Makes it all worthwhile.
Mike and I started packing the house up in April for the move that would take place at the end of May. We were determined to have everything in a box. Sounds so easy, right? Once you get down to the "little things" it seems to get hard. Here we were labeling everything so we'd be able to find things and then we had "leftover" stuff. How do you label that? I finally made the executive decision (brought on by just being tired of all the packing) to just start dumping into boxes and sorting it out later. I can honestly say that this is the first time that we didn't have a lot of loose stuff to throw on the moving truck. We did a great job. And, we moved ourselves with very little help. Our friend, David, helped load the piano on the truck, but Mike did most of the loading himself. I helped when I got off work and then we were off ot Longview.
We moved to Longview on May 29th. We got here late and slept at his parents' house. The next morning his brother, uncle, and parents showed up and helped us unload stuff. So nice since we were still tired from the day before. Over the past few weeks, I have been getting things in order. I still have plenty to take care of, but it will get there.
I have also taken on the task of "redoing" the kitchen. I decided that I wanted to have barn red cabinets. Not the bright red, but a deep dark red. I have been working on that for a few weeks now. It is a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. I have to paint the cabinets with a dark brown before I can paint the red or the red just doesn't cover. Needless to say, painting the cabinets with multiple coats of paint takes time since everything has to dry. I am currently working on the upper cabinet doors. I painted them red yesterday and hope they are dry enough to hang later today. Then, it's on to the bottom cabinets. Can't wait until they are done. Then, I'll paint my kitchen dining room walls. They are currently red and clash horribly with my new red cabinets.
I have lots of projects to tackle in this house. I want to do the girls rooms to match their bedding, paint the girls bathroom, and last but not least, organize and decorate my scrap room! Yep, I finally got myself a scrap room! I am super excited and totally inspired. :)
Mike has lots of projects to tackle outside of this house. We have pool and it is wonderful! It has been frustrating at times because we just didn't know a lot of about it. But I have to give kuddos to Mike. He is amazing at learning new things and troubleshooting problems. I like my pool boy. :) He also wants to do some landscaping in the backyard. He has so many ideas and they are all really great. Now, we just need to get them in motion.
All of these changes really seem to be good for us. We are happy and finally feel settled. That's a great feeling... Pictures coming later!
Much love-
B
