Action shot!
wood chips
She says she's had enough for awhile.
But you can always pause to take a picture.

yep, still more

This cool bridge goes over a creek that is between some of the fields and playgrounds, and more of the park. Megan enjoyed tormenting Trevor who didn't like the fact that the bridge swayed when you walked across it. (Actually we are all kind of guilty of tormenting him a little on the bridge!)

more

There is also a gorgeous plantation house on the site, but I only made it as far as the church to get a photo.

These are some tired kids. This was at a very cool little general store and antique store. Matthew is actually crying because when we pulled up to park, there was a friendly dog that was walking up to the car to greet us. We were all making "aww" noises at the dog while Mike was putting the windows up. Not knowing that Matthew had stuck his head out the window to see the dog too since he was sitting in the very back seat. Resulting in the poor guy getting his head closed in the window. He was a trooper though, and tried to sit for a picture he knew I was trying to get of the other two kids.
Trevor the bug hunter. He's fascinated by all of the cool bugs out here. Right now there are ladybugs everywhere.





Matthew and the stinky bison. He said he knew we were on the right path because he could smell them without seeing them.

With a rebel yell....

I think Matthew is channeling his inner Billy Idol here. What do you think?

I also think he is D.O.N.E. with me trying to get a nice picture of him. 5 year old boys have so many other things to be doing than standing still for less than one second.

And off he goes....

the COOLEST ice cream truck EVER!

I think I'll blog just about anything anymore, but this ice cream truck really was wicked cool.

Mike was out front doing some yard work and he called me in the house to hear this truck coming down the street. It had strobe lights on the front and the headlights were blinking back and forth. If you couldn't see it, you couldn't miss hearing it too. The music was like carribean party music IN STEREO. (Matthew said it sounded like when we were on a cruise.) This was no ordinary ice cream truck.

It went down our street, and I knew it had to come back out by our house because the street ends in a cul-de-sac. I called the kids outside because my boys LOVE snow cones and this was the coolest part of the whole truck - - - when you ordered shaved ice, you got to put your own syrup on from a little area on the side of the truck!! How cool is that?!?! I knew the boys would freak out!

For some reason blogger is picky and won't let me post all of the photos in one post, so there are more photos below.

Rain

It's raining!! Yes. I looooove this. It is supposed to rain all day. You know how you watch the weather in Arizona and the only red spots are always up north, and Phoenix was always clear? Yeah.... we're in a red spot baaybeee!

Finally.

I guess people always complain about what they don't have. People in rainy areas always complain about the rain, and I always wanted rain. I'm a happy camper today. It is supposed to be off and on until 9:00 tonight. :)

Mike is home for 6 straight days so he's busy doing things that I can't do very easily, like putting the boys' beds together and hanging some heavy stuff on the walls. It is getting more and more put together every day.

I have to say that I am looking forward to one of the first days where we wake up and say, "What should we do today? There is nothing else move related to do." It feels like life has been boxes and packing, and driving and unpacking for so long.

There are a million things I can't wait to get out and do. One of the first things I want to do is go to the aquarium. I am so excited about living somewhere that has one. I'm used to having to visit one when we go to a different city. As much as the ocean freaks me out, as long as I know those funky fish are on the other side of thick glass and can't eat me, I find them fascinating. Oh, and there is also an exhibit right now called the Frog Bog. I can't wait to see the froggies. :)

There are some great state parks nearby that I want to go to. We drove by one the other day and it had these incredible walking paths with trees over them, and lots of people with their dogs.

One of the main streets where a lot of shopping is, is called Turfway. The horse racing park sits at the top of the hill and I just love looking at it when I'm driving by. Not that I'm into horse racing, but I love the stables. I want to go in there SO BAD. I wonder if they need volunteers? Haha!

photos

photos - the last stretch

These are out of order, I don't know how that happened... considering St. Louis comes before Kentucky!

Megan took these as we were crossing the bridge over the river into Kentucky. I'm proud of her for her composition on the river one! Plus she must like cool looking industrial stuff like me:
Another Megan photo. She was pretty happy to finally be close to the end of the trip.

Rest stop photo of Piper.

This was at the rest stop in Missouri. They had a huge grass area for the dogs to play in, plus a huge playset and picnic area for the kids. We stayed there for awhile to let the kids stretch and play a little.

Like I've mentioned before, rest areas here aren't like rest areas in the west. There was a beautiful building with vending machines for snacks, and another area where you could get maps and all sorts of information on the state. Most places have bags that they give the kids with coloring books and stickers too. It was like state to state trick or treating for the kids.

*****

The 'boy' truck.

This one is for my dad. Pop quiz: where are we??

one week?

This is what we looked like last Monday, just after going through downtown Louisville. (Mmm, look at that greeeen.) This is also the view I pretty much had all the way across the country. My truck was faster than Mike's since I wasn't pulling a car, so every now and then I would pass the boys and lead for awhile, or pull off on an off ramp to let Mike pass so the girl truck could catch up again and fall in behind. Might as well have a little fun on the road to break up the monotony right?

Today I realized that we have been here for a week. I can't tell if it feels like it or not. In one way, I feel settled and feel like I know my way around pretty well. It feels like home. But then again, there are the boxes and piles of homeless items that remind me that a week really isn't a very long time.

Here are some pictures from the road. The story is too long and boring to really get into. In short, it took us forever to get here because of TWO, yes TWO replacement trucks from Penske. The one we rolled in with was the third truck. So that also meant 3 times that my furniture got moved. I won't even begin with the frustration of the multiple broken items because of this. Grr. But it's all good now.

a few more...

Mike the suburban husband, mowing his lawn for the first time.

Piper fogging up the window from the deck. I don't think she's used to ever having this much room to run. She is constantly running, and constantly has her tongue out. That fence you can see in the photo is part of the neighbor's fence, which is the only fence around. (It's a dog run to keep thier dog contained.) Otherwise, there are no fences in between the houses. Piper will run all the way down the hill and back. Dog heaven. The other day after it rained there was a huge puddle that she ran right too and happily pranced around in it. We're going to find the lake this week.

Even my frogs love it here. They got a new aquarium after moving in. Who is a cute froggie woggie?!? Yes you are.

(Lisa, click on the photo to make it larger. Come on, I know you want to. You know you love my frogs. He's totally cuter enlarged!)

The boys on the deck. We have told a few new people that we have met how we aren't used to the open backyard thing. The yards are big, but still... no fences. So you feel like you have your own space and privacy, but you wave and go about your business. When we've told people that Arizona has 8 foot cinder block fences between the yards they look at us like we have two heads.


more later. :)

An update! Can you believe it?!?

Well we are here! There is SO much to say, and not a lot of time to post about it all right now.

Today is the first day I've had internet, and even at that, I only have my laptop. Mike promises to hook up my desktop computer tomorrow so I can post a few of the ONE MILLION photos I have taken since leaving Phoenix.

Welcome to Kentucky. It took us f o r e v e r to get here. It wouldn't be a *insert family name here* move without a bunch of speedbumps along the way. Trust me, some of them you WILL not believe.

In short.... yesterday was our first full day here. We woke up to an incredible storm in the morning. Rain. Mmmm. More rain in one storm than Phoenix would get in one year. Niiiiice.

Later in the afternoon though, I was still unpacking boxes and it got dark again really quick. Thankfully Mike was here, because I was totally oblivious. He opened up the back door and the tornado sirens were going off. WHAT? Are you kidding?

He looked on his phone which was the only internet type thing we had going on at the time, and sure enough, our county, our exact area!! So we got to try out our new basement and wait out this storm. I heard today that it touched down not far from here. Doesn't mother nature understand? Did she not get the memo? Remember when I said that I don't do tornadoes? And here I was sitting one out. Those sirens are eerie though. I don't like those at all. I don't like hearing them at least..... I'm grateful for them now. I have to remember to open a door and listen from now on. There are a lot of new things to learn.

Poor Trevor was so upset. He's my worrier. He wasn't too happy and was freaking out that the cat wasn't in the basement with us. And his stuffed dog and blanket. I kept telling him that I was positive we (and the missing cat) were going to be ok because I hadn't grabbed my frogs OR my McDonald's coke that was sitting on the counter.

Today was also the first day to see how perfect this all is and why we did move. Mike went to work this morning, flew to Orlando and a few other places and came home in time for dinner. Then we all were out in our huge grass yard, enjoying the cool weather.

I do miss everybody though. I forget that I am on the other side of the country now. The time difference has been the hardest for me to get used to. Not as much in the morning, but the evening. It is still light out at 9:30 at night. Kids are playing all over the neighborhood until 10:00 or so. I'm sure that it is a summer thing, but it is still so weird. Right now I am consistantly up until at least 3:00 in the morning.

Megan and I swear that Kentucky is heaven on earth. We have seen so many horses. Even the entrance to our subdivision has a huge pasture with horses in it. We like to drive by Turfway Park just so we can peek at the incredible barns and catch a glimpse of the spoiled horses. We are in our element for sure!!

I'll get some pictures posted soon, but I know I haven't been in touch with anybody for a week now and that feels SO WEIRD. Things will get back to normal soon!

Mwah! Love you guys!!!

Oh, and I hope to have my yucky looking blog back to normal by this weekend. Links and all. It's funny how many people have asked me what the heck I did to it! Apparently I'm not allowed to play with new templates by myself. See why I'm technically challenged? Haha!

just one more.... before they yank the plug from the wall and throw the computer in the truck.

Cause we gotta great big convoy,
rockin' through the night

Yeah we gotta great big convoy,
ain't she a beautiful sight?

Come on an' join our convoy,
ain't nothin' gonna git in our way
We're gonna roll this truckin' convoy,
cross the USA Convoy...


Guess who has way too much stuff?? I think the guy at Penske underestimated the size truck we needed. Ha, and this was even after a garage sale. Mike is back down there now getting another truck. Yes, another truck. Wheeee!

Sooo.... guess who is going to be driving one of them? Yep, look out interstate drivers, because K dawg and flyboy have ourselves a convoy.

Am I going to be able to park this thing? Can I get it through the drive through? Didn't Paris Hilton have to drive a truck in an episode of The Simple Life? That gives me hope... not much.... but some. ;)

Wish me luck, and breaker 1 - 9, keep an eye out for the bacon.

Movin' to the country, I'm gonna eat a lot of peaches....

Ok, so I'm not moving to the country...

and I'm not the biggest fan of peaches....

but I love that song and it seemed somewhat appropriate. (Yeah I know, it's a stretch.)

Today is the day!

And looking around, there still seems to be a lot to do. I can't wait to get started at this point just because if I have to pack one more box I might scream and I'm also looking forward to being able to just SIT while I drive.

Of course there are so many mixed emotions about today. I'm excited and ready to get going. We've been getting ready for this for what seems like forever. But of course the reality is that this isn't a vacation and I won't be returning to Phoenix as 'home' anymore. Wow.

I'm looking forward to new things in Kentucky, but I'm kind of a rut girl. I like my routines, but I also like new adventures. Ugh, see? I'm excited about learning a new lifestyle with GRASS in the yard to play in, RAIN, learning a new city, finding new places..... (Steak and Shake, yum.)

Last night I took a break from anything move related. Michelle picked me up and we had dinner and desert at the Cheesecake Factory. (Which not only is there one in Kentucky, BUT one in Cincinnati - right across the bridge. So there!!) Where do you all think I'm moving to anyway? There are even paved roads and grocery stores! ;)

Last night was so much fun. I can't even describe it. This is such an awesome group of girls, and I love them all so much. (I refuse to get mushy here right now.) I was showered with the best presents. A straw bag full of road munchies and games (and the coolest brush, that you know if I didn't have to have my hands on the wheel I'd be playing with for 2000 miles. I bet the kids will be fighting over that!) and thankfully... a small box of Tylenol. Haha!

Also, they must know how much I have missed scrapping lately. They put together by far the coolest little kit (I'm still in total awe of the file folder itself! I love organization things!!) with a little album, transparencies, paper, and everything I need to make a little album of our trip. I absolutely CANNOT WAIT to start using this stuff!!! And the baby trimmer... that will be perfect.

Also, the coolest little punch. We had fun putting scalloped edges on just about any piece of paper we could find at the table. I'm looking forward to using that too!!

There is still a ton of things to do here, so I better go visit Eduardo one more time and then get busy. I will be blogging from the road.

Love you all!

k


I'm NOT going to say that I'm going to miss ANYBODY here in the usual kind of miss them way, because I'm going to pretend that I'm still here and emailing people like nothing ever changed.

WHOA!

Talk about perfect timing.

Yesterday we had a cool surprise when we went to pick up mike from the airport. I was going around the corner to go sit in the cell phone lot when there was the unmistakable tail of a 747 sticking up from behind the building at the executive terminal. I couldn't see what color it was or anything but got all excited to point out the huge plane to the kids.

Then me, "OH MY GOSH! IT'S AIR FORCE ONE!"

Beth will understand, she's the only other nerd I know who purposely drove down to Sky Harbor when British Airways would land. You don't have to be an airplane enthusiast to think a 747 is cool.

I had no idea the president was in Phoenix yesterday. So we find a spot up front by the board to watch the flight numbers, and people are getting out of their cars and lining up against the fence. The fence is just across a small street from the executive terminal. We went out to see what was going on. Our timing was incredible. About ten minutes later, a motorcade is coming down the street, and sure enough, there was the president waving at the few people who were against the fence. There were probably only 50 of us. The kids thought it was beyond cool to wave at the prez and have him wave back. I'm just in awe of Air Force One, so I was ecstatic!

I watched them pull the ladder back from the plane and it started to roll. I kind of forgot that Air Force One probably doesn't have to wait in line to taxi. haha. I was expecting a few minutes before being able to see it take off, but whoosh... what seemed like less than a minute later the plane was taking off. It is SO. COOL.

So we had quite a little treat yesterday. I had my camera in the car and got a few pictures, including the limousine where you can see a hand waving. I'm so bummed that my other computer is packed right now. I promise many many photos to be posted as soon as I get the chance.

One more day until the big move. The truck is here and takes up our whole yard. Dang, we have a lot of stuff. Anxiety level is still high.

counting down.... 4 more days.

Today I am feeling sick. Not like pukey, have the flu sick.... but my anxiety level is through the roof.

I've always felt like my heartrate was like a hummingbird. I'm pretty high strung when it comes to worrying about things. It doesn't even have to be worry, like something is bad worry, but just changes... you know.... change is good, but it also brings along its own little brand of anxiety.

I think it's excitement. I am excited, and this week is down to the wire about moving. In fact, it looks like we'll be pulling out on Thursday night. CRAZY.

I feel like I've been on a hamster wheel for months now. Since the decision was made, and then getting things ready for a garage sale, then packing, and getting loose ends tied up everywhere. It has been a constant routine of packing, working, staying up far too late packing, crashing and then getting up early to do it again the next day. I've even forgotten what day it is for the most part.

So... last night my inlaws took the kids overnight after dinner. I had some time to myself, which was nice and I finally did force myself to relax a bit. - and one more trip to Target. I forgot that last night was Sunday and everything was closed early, so that was the only place to go. Then this morning, it was far too quiet with the kids gone. I decided I was going to go out and find something for brunch since I got to sleep in. :)

I ended up going on a little nostalgia tour. I even had my camera in my car. I took pictures of so many things. It's funny, there is so much of my history here. Every time I pass a place, or go into a place that has always been part of my routine I can't help but wonder if it's the last time I'll be there. Like my favorite Target. I'm going to miss the low talking cashier - the one who I could never understand but she was always smiling and knew me pretty well. I know she's going on a vacation with her husband this summer. She was always telling me about that.

I'm going to miss Eduardo... my favorite of the twins who work the drive thru at McDonalds. He's always so nice to me.

Of course I'm going to miss my family, and my friends. I know I'm not going to be gone forever. But for some reason it is feeling very weird to me today. Maybe it's the curse of being a scrapper. You start to overthink every memory you have because you just want to remember it ALL.

It's time to go though. My house is packed, and looks nothing like a home anymore. We are living with paper plates, one bowl and paper cups.

Oh and real quick - a hamster update.

The loose one is living in the laundry room right now. I have seen her, but it is impossible to catch her. Of course she had to find a small room with a washing machine, dryer and refrigerator to hide out in. If I pull one appliance out, she runs under another. I even tried to use a thin pole to scoot her out, but in order to do that, I have to open the laundry room door. So I'm pretty much waiting until Mike gets home and we start pulling stuff out of there anyway. Until then, she's eating and has water and probably thinks she lives in the biggest hamster cage ever. There is nothing like a battle of wits with a hamster. :p

CSI: Gilbert

Today is bizarre.

First thing, after having a record heat day earlier in the week my kids started out for school freezing today. Before they got in the car they all went up to get jackets. Now it is raining and cold. You wouldn't know today was the first day of summer vacation. But hey, I'm not complaining about the weather AT ALL. I am loving this!

So we went to McDonald's to get breakfast since it was the last day of school. There was a cute little mini pinscher near a dumpster in the back, which is next to a big field. After trying to get the little thing, we had to give up. We were scaring it more than anything else. There is a vet building on the corner with kennels, and I'm hoping that this wasn't an escapee from there. I told them about it, so hopefully their dog chasing skills are better than mine.

Then I come home from an errand and notice that the hamster cage was on the floor. Bedding scattered everywhere, and no hammies to be found.

We have a crime scene here people.

I also notice the cat is acting suspicious and is sitting in the middle of the family room. I picked her up to put her out in our atrium. She knew she was busted because she clawed and bit the crap out of me. I may look like I lost and have a little pee smell, but she's outside so I WON. damn cat.

I looked around for awhile but hadn't found anything. No blood, except for my own wounds from the cat.... no hammie parts, no scene of the murder as far as I can tell.

I even looked up in the kid's rooms where the cat hides her polly pocket pieces that she hunts in the middle of the night. No body there.

Finally I get frustrated enough to pull out the entire tv and look under the entertainment center with my little flashlight. There is ONE hammie! Poor little thing. Now she's in her cage and running on the wheel.

We're still missing one though, and I have still been looking everywhere with my flashlight. Still, in this entire house and all of the cats favorite places I haven't found any signs of hammie demise.

Did they get out and run in different directions? Making it impossible for the cat to catch both of them? Did the cat eat one in one bite making it to where there wouldn't be any evidence? Wouldn't there be blood or fur or something? Is there one hammie still hiding somewhere in the house? Hmm....

One thing I know for sure... my labrador is NO help. She did find the tennis ball under the couch when I lifted it up to see if there was a hole in the bottom of the couch that the hamster could have crawled into. Thanks for the help there Piper.

So wish me luck in finding the missing hammie. If you were a hammie, where would you hide? I plan on letting the suspect back in later and watching her to see if she'll do the hunting for me and narrow the search down to one area at least. Damn cat.

what day is it? Because I really can't remember at this point!

Sorry Matt, but it's time to bump you down a post. ;)

Update: Still packing. My mom has come over twice and helped me. She is amazing. She can pack a box like a game of Tetris. Thank you mom!!

I was totally worn out one night and decided I'd check out that little tab on the top of blogger that said "new template." I have been bored with my old blog and thought I'd give it a try. Never make decisions at midnight when you are mentally worn out. I hate this new look and that it took off all of my links. So when the technical man gets home I'll have to see if he can clean up my little mess I made here, and make my blog look normal again.

Anyway....

One more day of school for all three of my kids. Tomorrow is a half day and I'm sure won't be productive at all. Actually this whole week has been nothing but parties, field trips and awards for them so this hasn't been a productive week at all really.

It hit me kind of hard in many ways this morning. First dropping off Matthew at his school. He announces as he's bouncing out of the car and dragging his backpack behind him that "This is my last week in kindergarten!!" Wait... is he for real? Yeah.... he's right. He will be in first grade next year. Oh my gosh.

Kindergarten is an amazing year when you think about it. Kindergarten teachers are amazing. You send this child in the first day of school, shy and not knowing what to expect. Most not even knowing how to spell their name much less write it. Then at the end of the year, here is Matthew, writing his own name, writing short sentences, doing basic math and even reading! What a change. It is so cool.

Trevor had a great year. He didn't get his math skills from me that is for sure, but the kid kicks butt in playing around the world. His teacher even said it is almost unfair to the other students because he's so good at it. He has one nemesis from another class... who he has gone toe to toe with several times and the teacher told me it has taken up to 15 math questions for them to finally have a winner. Go Trevor!

Megan. It has been an up and down year for her but thankfully it is ending on such a high note for her. The girl is growing up. She has had a crush on "password boy" for most of the year. His name was her password for Webkinz for a long time. This morning she asked if she could take a towel to sit on because they are walking to a park for a field trip today. I didn't have a towel that I wanted to chance losing, so I asked her if a sheet would be fine. She said, "Oh yeah! That would be perfect because then I can ask Colter if he wants to sit next to me!" No boy crazy stuff yet. Please. Just slow down. You aren't even TEN yet. Talk to your father.

That is about it for now. There will be a lot of changes for everyone in our family in the next few weeks. I'm looking forward to having the kids out of school (and sleeping in past 6:00!) and then heading east.

where I have been...

When you thought I was packing..... ;)

Sorry, I couldn't resist. There is absolutely nothing new going on here. Just more boxes, and errands, and boxes, and picking up kids, and boxes.....not enough time in one day and living off of a constant drip of caffeine.

Lisa and I try to outdo each other on the Sarah Silverman/Matt Damon thing, and you never know when we'll throw in THAT line. So since I have nothing to blog about, I thought I'd take this time and this little blog space to post this for her.

Beat that!

There is life beyond the sea of cardboard boxes!

Still packing...

and packing...

I can't believe that the kids have less than a week of school left. I know I say this every year, but again it is true. This year flew by.

some random stuff on this not so expletive Tuesday

I'm trying not to be a bad blogger. I have written a few posts, but blogger is not my friend and they always seemed to be doing maintenance at the time. So I have a few saved in drafts. Oh well.

So far so good on this expletive Tuesday. The weather is incredible. Yesterday was HOT. But today it is breezy, overcast and even....slightly cool! You can't help but be happy today.

So for the past several weeks we have had a caterpillar sitting on our counter top in a little bug cage. (I have to learn to say NO to some of these little animals coming home huh?) I'll admit the little caterpillar was cute. Not so cute once it crawled to the top and turned into the chrysalis. Don't dare call it a cocoon, because MOTHS live in a cocoon and butterflies live in a chrysalis. A little bit of knowledge brought to you by Trevor who just went through the caterpillar/butterfly science project in second grade. Becuase he will correct you if you get it wrong.

I went to check on my adorable little frogs who sit on the counter near the bug box. Aww, they are so cute and swimming around like, "Please feed us Kerry. We love you! We are so cute with our big webbed feet!"

Then... OH MY GOSH. You all know how I feel about butterflies. - and if you don't... they are pure evil creepy little things. They eat people when you aren't looking. Trust me.

ACK. The dang chrysalis has turned into a full fledged butterfly, staring at me with it's beady little eyes and fluttering its creepy wings. I about had a heart attack, and quite honestly I'm feeling more than a little creeped out knowing that it is sitting behind me about 4 feet away while I'm on the computer at the kitchen table. So gross. There are no words.

The kids will be releasing that mofo as soon as they get home from school today while I watch from the security of the upstairs window. In fact, we may just have to drive it back to school whence it came just so I know that it won't eat me when I take out the garbage later. This block isn't big enough for the both of us.

Ok, and one last totally random PSA for the day:

If you are going to put a political bumper sticker on your car (or any sticker for that matter) please put it on straight. It sends my OCD into overdrive when I get stuck behind you in traffic. The political ones especially because long after the election we'll be staring at that same now faded, crooked sticker and thinking, "Oh yeah, I forgot that person was running for president way back then."

Thank you!

Now back to my lunch break from packing. :)

Kentucky bound

I wish I could say this was mine, but I do get to see plenty of it from now on.

I have told some people, but haven't 'officially' broken the news yet. We are going to be moving to Kentucky in one more month. Mike and I have talked about it off and on for quite some time, but due to a lot of circumstances we have finally decided that this move will be the best thing for our family right now. We are planning on heading out the first part of June.

It hasn't been a secret that the commuting with Mike's job has been difficult on all of us. Since his domicile airport is Cincinnati (which is actually IN Kentucky across the river from the city of Cincinnati) he will be able to spend much more time at home. When he is on reserve, he'll be home. When he has been on a trip, he'll be home at the end of the day. This is mucho relief. I wish he could count the hours spent in an airplane flying back and forth to AZ and back as flight hours because I'm sure he's logged a lot just in coming home.

So that's the story. I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about this. I mean, I am a self proclaimed rut kind of girl, and the thought of moving across the country means A LOT of work. I mean I've been in this current house for 4 years now and I finally feel like everything has a home and unpacked! Here we go again!

But, I'm a horse girl. So I will really enjoy that aspect of it. Rolling green hills with white fences, big red barns....

Weather.... I know, ask me again after the first real winter but right now I am so excited at the prospect of seeing FOUR real seasons. We don't get much of a spring or fall in Arizona, there are more like three levels of summer. Warm - bearable hot - and hotter than hell I want to jab a fork between my eyes and end it all HOT. - and a nice mild winter in between.

I know we are going to be such geeks when it comes to seeing our first snow. I have these romantic ideas of snow days with hot chocolate, making snowmen, and white Christmases. Realistically I know that this desert dweller is going to freeze her rear end off, that ice storms suck, shoveling snow sucks, brown/black dirty snow and wet feet suck, plus I have no idea where you keep an ice scraper. Mike called me one day from the airport parking lot during an ice storm and said that the car door was frozen shut. So if you keep the ice scraper IN the car, how do you get to it if your door is frozen shut? Do you keep one on your keychain? What does an ice scraper even look like?!?! This will all be new to me for sure.

No matter what, I really am looking forward to the adventure. I have lived here since I was small, so there are a lot of things I'm looking forward to that will be different. That area of the country has so much to offer, and I plan on taking advantage of free flight benefits to visit Washington D.C. to see the cherry blossoms, go to American Girl in Chicago with Megan, go to New York, and a million other places. I love history, and so much of what I've read about I can go see.

So this is where I have been and why I've probably seemed so quiet. This has been a stressful decision. I'm going to miss so much out here though. Of course my family and my friends. I'll be back though. I don't think they have real mexican food out there. I went to In & Out on the way to taking Mike to the airport today and realized that may be the last time for quite awhile I'll be there! Wow, that freaked me out a bit. I'm so spoiled! California won't always be one state away to just go over on a long weekend. Lots of things.

The kids are really excited! They are all young enough that they aren't worried about meeting new people there. Megan is just as excited as I am about the horsie-ness of it all. I mean, there are horses on the license plates!! And they are all excited about Mike being home more again. We'll be moving at a perfect time too. Right when they get out of school here. Then we'll have a big family road trip, which we are all excited about.

I'll keep in touch. There is always email and blogs. I promise! But there you have it. It feels like such a load off of my shoulders knowing that we've made the decision and things are starting to roll. :) Now... who's good at packing? ;)

saturday

I don't know why, but for some reason when I would see my blog up and that photo with the side mirror of the car I'd get a small anxiety attack. To the point where the picture actually ticked me off. Maybe because it looks hot, and knowing summer is on the way. Who knows, but it irritated me enough that I couldn't stand it anymore. So time to post something else. Please tell me somebody else gets this way once in awhile. Or maybe constantly seeing it was also a reminder of how I feel so incredibly behind on EVERYTHING right now. Details later. I seriously have a lot of catching up to do on so many levels.

SO... onto a photo that makes me happy. Saturday was another all day horse camp at the stable where Megan used to take riding lessons. She did this last year and had a blast. Due to circumstances, we stopped lessons for awhile, but when the instructor called last week and said she was doing another clinic, I knew Megan needed to go. Like last year, she had a great time. (I secretly wish I could have stayed all day too. I loved being around the horses again. Just touching them is good therapy.)

The poor girl did end up a little overheated yesterday, and very red from so much sun.

Then on the way home we stopped at a new Danny's Family Car Wash at the Tempe Marketplace. They were doing free carwashes for their grand opening. It wasn't busy when we went, and the timing was great since my car had a new layer of horse dust all over it. While we were waiting, I got this picture of Matthew:

Kind of Tara-esq don't you think? Haha. I can only wish. Truth is, he stood still for less than a second when I got that picture. Then when he saw the camera pointed towards him he went right into 'boy' mode. Dork.

But I do think if given the chance to actually compose a photo, it could have turned out pretty cool. I think now I'll be looking for painted stucco walls for backdrops. Only I'll bring a more willing subject. ;)

More soon.

Seeing the country at 75 MPH. Phoenix to Albuquerque -

leaving Phoenix. Road trip! Road trip!

Bear with me, these are long posts but I wanted to get this down somewhere before I forgot.

The plan was to take Mike's car back to Kentucky so he could get rid of our Chrysler that he originally drove out there. There was no sense in having the audi sitting in the garage here. Plus I'm always up for a road trip! As long as I get fed along the way. I have to say I like this trend of hotels having free breakfast, which each one we stayed in had a waffle maker. I had a waffle every single morning. Can you start the day any happier?

Holbrook is so kitschy. I love it. We needed to stop for gas (and a soda.) This whole town reminded me of Matthew and his obsession with the movie Cars. I know from watching the second disc of the movie that when the people from Pixar were doing research for the movie, they went to places like Holbrook and along the old Route 66. There was a version of the "Cozy Cone" with teepees. There were old cars parked out in front of the teepees like in the movie. I guess this was Mater:

There were also these huge dinosaurs everywhere. I'm not sure of the significance of dinosaurs and Holbrook, but apparently they like them there. Matthew liked this picture.

**** continue driving... forever....

New Mexico was windy. So windy that I had a hard time opening the door on the car trying to get out at a place we stopped at to get a snack. It kind of pushed you along when you were walking with it. Also, I don't know what it is about my hair. Mike and I laugh that even if I face the wind, my hair still comes back into my face. It's weird and squelches any dream of owning a convertible. ;) This photo is actually very tame. I'd get these funky swirling vortexes on top of my head that made my hair not only go in my face, but straight up. We were trying to get a picture for the kids, but alas... never got the perfect one. But since I'm hardly ever in pictures, I thought I'd add this. (Proof that I was there.)

New Mexico - Colorado Springs. And you thought expletive Tuesday didn't extend to road trips??

We left Albuquerque in the morning and headed towards Colorado Springs. Which we were planning on driving through until we got to Denver to stop for lunch.

The car clearly had other plans.

When we were just outside of Colorado Springs the car kept feeling strange. Like it was slipping out of gear or something. No. Please. What day is it?? ACK. Tuesday. If something can go wrong it will on Tuesday right?

While we were freaking out about this at first, it actually ended up being a good thing. There aren't that many Audi dealers, especially in some of the areas we were going through. Thakfully this didn't happen in a small town or worse, on the interstate somewhere. But the car finally did it's thing in Colorado Springs.... literally a mile or two in front of an Audi dealer.

So we rolled into the service department. Can I just say how much we LOVE Phil Long Audi of Colorado Springs??? They were friendly, helpful and got us in right away. Thankfully the problem was something with the fuel system and they were able to order a part that would be in first thing in the morning. They would fix it. We got a rental car, and 'stranded motorist' something or other from our warranty that allowed us some money to cover the rental car, a meal and hotel. I'm grateful for that. This little stopover ended up not costing us anything but time.

But it was a much needed time honestly. We got a chance to breathe. We went out for dinner, and then drove to a place called "Garden of the Gods." It is a beautiful green and hilly area with huge red rock mountains scattered around. There are hiking trails and scenic overlooks.

We also drove by where the cog railway leaves to climb Pike's Peak. When I graduated from high school, my dad and I took a trip to Colorado Springs. This was one of my favorite memories of going on this train. It takes you up Pike's Peak, and has the most gorgeous scenery.

Leaving Denver, Kansas - Kansas City Missouri

After leaving Colorado Springs we headed towards Denver, where we were going to have lunch. This time last year Mike had gone for some training in Denver and lived there for a month. I loved being able to see where he had lived, where the training center was and places he had been. It was neat to see these places other than pictures he had shown to me.

One place he had talked about a lot was a mongollian grill place in downtown Denver. It was called BD's. He knows I love mongollian grill, so this place was the be all end all of them. Sorry YC's but this place made you look like chumps. I had steak mixed in with my noodles. And little potatoes, and just about everything else I could cram into the bowl. Yum. If I was a seafood person they had it ALL. I won't be forgetting this place, and I guarantee that the next time I'm in Denver I'm going to be craving that! - Can you tell I'm totally motivated by food?

We were only in the restaurant for about 30 minutes, but when we came out the sky was gray and it was getting colder. After we got back on the interstate, there were snow flurries, but I found out on the news later that day that we had stayed just ahead of a storm that had dumped 7 inches of snow on Denver! Talk about lucky. That would have slowed us down a lot.

Oh, and Denver officially has the longest dang airport in the world. I swear it went on for MILES.

So now picture fields of hay bales and red barns. Kansas - which I have to add a disclaimer that I enjoyed Kansas, it just seemed long. I've been through Texas... which is exactly why we chose this route. I wanted to avoid Texas at all costs. Sorry any Texans out there... but been there, done that and don't plan on driving through again. It's like that movie Groundhog Day. You keep waking up in hotels and you are STILL in Texas. Couldn't they have split that state up a bit??

Kansas was pretty. I was just ancy to get to Kentucky. I loved seeing the farms. I never got tired of seeing them. It was like God's playground of Fisher Price little people farms. Huge bright red barns, with silos and windmills and green tractors. Farms and animals. And those adorable hay bales.

(Picture more photos of hay bales and red barns because those photos are on a different camera.)

Why do states outside of the western US have these nice welcome centers, and we don't? I honestly remember stopping at them when we moved from Florida when I was a kid. These aren't your typical rest stops. Oh no... they are monuments to the state you are in. I started to notice signs that said "Tornado shelter." Um, what?? Kerry doesn't do tornados. I'm just glad I didn't have to rush into one of these places to wait one out. Holy cow that has to be scary. I do enjoy Arizona's lack of natural disaster type weather, earthquakes and volcanos. ;)

We stopped in Kansas City, Kansas for the night.

Missouri/Kentucky - almost there!

A giant bug splat right in the middle of the windshield. Great. But hey, you get the point. ;)

We got up the next morning (and had another waffle!!) and headed towards St. Louis. The trip from Kansas City to here was still just as gorgeous. Rolling green hills, dotted with little perfect farms.

I was talking with my dad on the phone right before seeing this. He's from St. Louis. Hi dad!

I love the first time you see a monument or landmark that you've seen on tv and movies forever. Kind of like the first time I went across the Golden Gate Bridge, or saw Times Square or the Empire State Building. You kind of forget that these things are real. Then when you actually see them, it is cool. It's hard to describe. I figured the St. Louis arch was big, but I didn't think it would be this big. Photos do it absolutely no justice. It is HUGE. Especially when you see it in contrast to the city that is on the right, with all of the big buildings.

We kept on driving... and driving....

through southern Illinois (I waved at Mandy up north!) and Indiana. I forget what state it was in, but we stopped at a place called Effingham. My fourth grade humor kept thinking that was funny. "Let's stop at the Effing McDonalds and get a Effing soda!" I'm so easily amused.

**** almost there.

It's hard to remember after living in Arizona forever, that there are cool bridges like this, with wide rolling rivers underneath. It is quite a contrast to our concrete bridges that usually go over dry rivers. This was the last one before arriving in Kentucky. Infact, right on the other side of it is the 'Welcome to Kentucky' sign.

taken while driving, which is why there is a speed limit sign in the way. Dang. But this is Mike's 'office.' - Where he hangs when he's not at home.
There are tulip beds all over the airport. To a desert dweller, trust me, that is impressive!! They were so pretty!!!

We got into Kentucky a little before dinner time. We drove around a little and I got a chance to see a bit more than I did on my last trip out there. We had dinner and then went across another bridge into Cincinnati. This area of Kentucky is right on the border (it's the little bump on the northern most part of the state) so basically you have a very short drive across another one of those cool bridges into downtown Cincinnati.

Then back to the hotel to get some sleep before I headed back home early the next morning. I never got used to the 3 hour time difference. I stayed up late, and of course had a hard time getting up the next morning! Blah.

I enjoyed the fact that Mike could go through security with me since he was in his uniform and was heading to work shortly after my plane left. So he was able to take me to the gate and see me off. (Like the old days!)

The plane ride home was great. It was a newer plane that had the screens built into the back of the seat in front of you. You can watch pay per view movies, HBO shows, and some free tv. I ended up watching E! channel. Nothing like mindless celebrity stuff on a 4 hour flight. I watched the top 30 celebrity fights, and then E! True Hollywood Story on Lindsay Lohan. I was home before I knew it! I'm spoiled now. I can't go on a plane that doesn't offer this. I even played trivia with about 10 other people on this screen, and programmed my own little playlist from the CD's that you could choose from.

It was great to get back and see the kids. I missed them. It was a fun trip.

Back home + some random stuff.

Today I met the cutest, and most interesting man.

I promised the kids I would take them out when I got back home. We had an errand to do. Trevor had to go to the bathroom, and there was a mcdonalds on the corner. Plus with cries from the backseat of being thirsty, (like it takes a lot of arm twisting for me to stop and get a soda anyway. haha!) We went inside, which is something I never do because I hate the play areas with a passion. My kids always get sick after being in one. But I set out rules that we weren't there to play, and nobody seemed to care. They were happy with the lunch that we ended up having instead.

Anyway... we were sitting up at this counter with barstools that are against a wall. This little old man walked by and commented on Matthew's stuffed animal sitting on one of the stools. He had a sundae that he had bought and looked like he was going to be spending some time there eating it and reading a couple of books that he brought in with him. He seemed lonely. It didn't take much to engage him in a conversation. He sat down next to us after I asked him if he wanted the seat where the stuffed animal was.

About an hour later I had learned that he had flown sea planes out of Miami, and he told me all about landing on water. He had been in an accident 30 some years ago that ended his flying career. - He was 19 when he was sent over to fight in WWII. He told me a story about how one day his troop (or whatever they were called) had been sat down and given a couple pieces of paper each. They were told to write down the names and addresses of family, and to write a letter home. When they asked why, they found out that they were leaving for Japan and were told that more than half of them wouldn't be coming back! Can you even imagine? He told me about some of the guys he remembered that didn't make it back with him.

He told me about the day somebody had told him that the war was over. He asked how this person knew and he said that he heard about a bomb being dropped in Japan, and that it was over. He said he remembered exactly where he was when he found out that it was for real. I just thought that was cool. I loved hearing a story from somebody's experience rather than reading it from a book or magazine. It was hard to look into his eyes and imagine him as a young guy who probably had seen more than anybody should. I was sad, but fascinated. Needless to say, he made it home. :) But I started to feel bad about the people he was just telling me about. Guys that were 19 years old, and died decades before I was even born, and here I was talking to somebody who was there and had lived a long life afterwards.

I felt so bad since his ice cream was melted so much by this time, but he seemed happy to have somebody listen to him. He said he lived near one of his sons, so I imagine his wife was gone.

I think I could have listened to his war stories forever, if my kids weren't starting to get restless. (we'd already been there 45 minutes) It was just so interesting. It made me realize even more that the generation that fought in that war are all starting to go away. It makes me sad to know that there are so many stories that are going with them. I love history, and WWII is one of my favorite things to learn about.

so I really don't know where I am going with this story other than I thought the man was really interesting. I'm glad he stopped to talk to me. I just wanted to write about him on my blog because he totally made my day.

I have to load some pictures that I'll post later. I had fun on our little road trip, but it feels good to be home. :)

where in the world is Kerry you ask? Because I know you've been wondering. ;)

Hey, we're not in Kansas anymore!

Kansas is one long ass state. It isn't as boring as I expected though, because I like farms. I loved seeing all of the real barns with horses and cows along the way. And these adorable hay bales. But it is looooong. I even fell asleep for an hour and woke up STILL in Kansas.

Why am I passing through Kansas anyway?

Mike and I are on a quick road trip. We are driving the audi back to cincinnati. He had three days off to do it, so I went along for the ride. Kind of hoping for a chance to reconnect since this separate coast living is taking it's toll. I'm flying back on Friday.

later!

U2 and the real answer to peace on earth.

A little random U2 photo for me and Kaelene. ;)

And speaking of funky things Trevor has said... I was telling a friend today via email about something that we are both struggling with. I was trying to explain how one nice thing about getting older is realizing that you start to like yourself better, and learn more about who you are. We're both pretty big people pleasers, which is pretty much like running on a hamster wheel. No matter how fast you keep going, you still end up in the same place. You just end up out of breath.

So I was telling her about a little quote we use around our house a lot that pretty much translates into: "Whatever makes YOU happy." People pleasing is tiring. And doesn't always work.

A couple of years ago Matthew and Trevor were watching a bug crawl on a rock. Matthew being the typical boy wanted to lift up his foot and squash it. For no reason other than him just being a boy. (Ok, and I admit to some bug torture when I was a kid too. I coudn't read, I had NO toys and I walked uphill in the snow to school both ways...ok, maybe that is a little dramatic and untrue, but who hasn't smushed at least one bug in their life? I own it.)

So back to the rock.

Matthew is about to lift his foot up and says, "I want to squash it!!"

Trevor,"No don't squash him, he's just doing his buggay thang."

It's a good life theory huh? ;) There'd be peace in the world if we all just did our buggay thang.

So there you go people. Just keep on keeping on and doin' your buggay thang. It will keep you happy. I swear.

tsk tsk Trevor.

Chris Daughtry is on the radio while we are eating breakfast.

Trevor says to me:

"Hey mom, do you ever think that one of those U2 guys will ever try out for American Idol?"

*sigh* looks like I've been lacking in my parenting. ;)

and hey, another good opportunity to post a U2 picture. because THAT makes me happy!!

and the winner of the most boring blog of the year goes to......

ME.

Seriously, there is nothing going on right now. I'm not complaining, trust me. Having a lot going on is not exactly what it is cracked up to be. Infact, looking back at this time last year I was spending HOURS at hospitals because Mike had the kidney stone from hell that wouldn't go away. So yeah, nothing exciting going on is not such a bad thing.

But I have to comment about this. I'm watching the news. If you were doing a story about tap water, and you had a camera and had to do a close up of a faucet for a story, would you NOT try to find a NICE faucet?? Seriously, I think the one they used for the close up had to have been at a truck stop. It was totally rusted, circa 1970 and had that weird calcium deposit stuff on it. How gross! Ha, especially in HD!!!

MANDY!

No, I'm not talking Mandy from Barry Manilow....

and this picture of Geddy Lee is for HER! OH MY GOSH! Do you ever lose touch with somebody that you really don't mean to and somehow you keep finding each other?!?!? But then you lose each other again? I'm not letting it happen again.

My friend Mandy. BFF from high school. Who's better? Rush? U2? man we spent hours debating that but she knows in the back of her mind that it really is U2. ;)

This post is for her. We lost touch again for a few years and low and behold there are comments from her on my blog! How freaking COOL is the internet???? We're like two lost souls swimmin in a fishbowl... year after year....

I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy and nostalgic. Has it really been 20 years? No. Way!

April

Is it really April? How did this happen?

That means two more months of school before summer vacation. That means after summer vacation, I'll have three kids in the same school. One in 1st grade, one in 3rd grade, and holy cow one in 5th grade! Ack! Who will also be turning double digits this year. Oh my gosh.

Today was a good day. Megan and Trevor had a half day at school. Megan had planned on going over to a friend's house after school so I picked up Trevor and we had lunch together at Chili's. It was nice to have some one on one time with him. That is one thing that is so hard to do with Mike being gone so much. When he's home we're all together doing family stuff. But I can't forget how important the one on one time is. It's good for all of us.